Paterson Acknowledges He Told Staff to Deny Kennedy Peeps Statements
ALBANY - For the first time, Gov. David A. Paterson acknowledged Friday that he personally ordered his staff to contest Caroline Kennedy’s version of events in the hours after she withdrew from consideration to be United States senator.
However, Mr. Paterson said that he was bewildered when his staffers subsequently unleashed harsh personal attacks against Ms. Kennedy, saying he merely wanted them to challenge the assertion from Ms. Kennedy’s camp that she had been his first choice to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton.
“The things said about Caroline I found despicable and shocking and very painful,” the governor said in a telephone interview, adding, “I never would have imagined removing the idea that this is my first choice meant a character assassination.”
The governor’s handling of the Senate selection process and his administration’s treatment of Ms. Kennedy drew intense criticism. Ms. Kennedy withdrew her name just after midnight Jan. 22, a development that embarrassed Mr. Paterson and set off fears in his inner circle that anyone he then selected would look like a second choice.
That afternoon, members of the administration called reporters, and, under cloak of anonymity, claimed that serious tax problems and issues with a domestic worker had emerged during the vetting of Ms. Kennedy, helping to derail her candidacy. Those claims were highly exaggerated, all sides now acknowledge; no serious or disqualifying issues had arisen.
The attack bewildered Democrats across the country, and Mr. Paterson’s poll numbers suffered significant declines in the subsequent weeks.
Mr. Paterson stressed in the interview that he had been acting only out of a desire to rebut the specific point that Ms. Kennedy had been his first choice.
He said he told his staff: “Let’s try to point out that we’re not indicating that anybody is the No. 1.”
“I understood we’d be pushing back for that,” he said, adding, “How that turned into what happened is something I have to take responsibility for.”
Mr. Paterson has not previously said he had any role in the matter. A few days after Ms. Kennedy withdrew, he was asked at a public appearance whether the anonymous attacks had come from inside his administration.
“I’m denying it,” he said then, but later in the appearance equivocated, saying, “There have been leaks coming from my administration throughout this entire process of choosing a senator, of contradictory types of information.” He condemned those leaks.
Mr. Paterson would not say whether he had apologized or spoken to Ms. Kennedy since she ended her Senate bid.
“I’d rather not go into my private communications with her,” he said.
The governor also said his top communications strategist, Judith Smith, no longer worked for him.
After speaking to the governor on the morning of Jan. 22, Ms. Smith directed the attacks on Ms. Kennedy, according to advisers to the governor who were involved in the effort.
“She hasn’t formally resigned,” the governor said Friday, but added, “She will.”
In a statement, Ms. Smith confirmed that she had parted ways with Mr. Paterson, but declined to address other questions.
“Last Sunday we informed the governor that our firm would no longer be providing him with services,” Ms. Smith said.
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