Spitzer refuses to talk about Bruno scandal

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer stopped in Rochester to announce new state funding would now be available to help small businesses stay in New York. But the scandal surrounding State Senator Joseph Bruno seemed to cast a shadow over Spitzer's visit.

Moments after Governor Eliot Spitzer announced he was awarding McAlpin Industries nearly half a million dollars to reinvest in the sheet metal processing plant, Spitzer was bombarded with questions about the scandal surrounding State Senator Joseph Bruno.

"All I'm going to say about that at this point is I've answered all the questions for weeks, time to move on and everything is there and all the points that need to be made. Let's focus now on the issue here with McAlpin," said Governor Eliot Spitzer, (D) New York.

It all started when questions began to surface whether the State's top Republican was using State resources improperly by using State helicopters and State police to travel to New York City. Bruno has said all along, he did nothing wrong. Instead, Bruno says Spitzer and his staff have been spying on him, investigating every move he made. The Governor denies that. Now the investigation is in the hands of the State Ethics Commission.

Spitzer again refused to talk about the issue.

"The rules are the rules. I can't tell the Ethics Commission what their rules should be whatever their rules are I'm happy to comply with them," said Spitzer.

Whether Spitzer wants to talk about the scandal or not, the latest Siena New York poll shows Spitzer's approval rating has slipped since he first took office seven months ago. Two days ago, he had a 59% approval rating down from 62% in June and even lower from 75% in January.

"The purpose is so we can stand here and say we're building jobs, that's what it all comes back to," said Spitzer.

According to the Attorney General's report released several weeks ago, Bruno was in his legal right to use a State aircraft and there was no evidence of any illegal surveillance on the part of Spitzer's office. However, the A.G.'s investigation found two of Spitzer's aides were out of line when they used information they gathered to attack Bruno negatively. They have since been fired. Spitzer says he was not aware of what his aides were doing.