Bruno: Stone Has Resigned.

I just posted about the allegation of Robert Stone in connection to the threatening phone call to Spitzer's father . Here is the scoop:



In a just-released statement, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno called the Roger Stone phone call flap "a distraction from the real issues - the abuse of government power, political espionage and a cover-up of information," but said the consultant has agreed to "resign and end his relationship with us at our request."


"We are not going to let this incident become a distraction or to be used as an excuse to hamper people from getting at the truth," Bruno said. The investigations into the Executive Chamber are continuing. We hope that both District Attorney Soares and the Ethics Commission will conduct full and thorough investigations to get at the truth that the public demands."


Bruno's statement appears in full after the jump.




UPDATE: DN Capitol Bureau Chief Joe Mahoney attended Bruno's press conference at the Saratoga race course, which was called regarding legislation that would prohibit the slaughtering of horses for human consumption, but where some questions focused on Stone.


Bruno insisted he had no idea what Stone did or didn't do, but said the allegations were "serious enough, despicable enough" for the Senate Republicans to end their relationship with him.


Bruno confirmed that he had asked Stone to depart, and said the connection between the majority and their erstwhile consultant has been severed "totally and completely." The senator then went on to stress, yet again, the need to "find the truth" where Troopergate is concerned.


FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Wednesday, August 22, 2007 http://www.senatorbruno.com/


STATEMENT BY SENATE MAJORITY LEADER JOSEPH L. BRUNO


The news reports today on allegations regarding Roger Stone can only serve as a distraction from the real issues - the abuse of government power, political espionage and a cover up of information. These are the real issues that are being reviewed by Albany County DA David Soares and the State Ethics Commission.
Roger Stone was hired as a consultant to the Senate Republican Campaign Committee in June. He has agreed to resign and end his relationship with us at our request. We are not going to allow this incident to become a distraction or to be used as an excuse to hamper people from getting at the truth.


The investigations into the Executive Chamber are continuing. We hope that both District Attorney Soares and the Ethics Commission will conduct full and thorough investigations to get at the truth that the public demands.


Senator Winner and the Investigations Committee are moving forward with their legislative response, including a meeting on September 5th on a bill to automatically refer Inspector General investigations to the Attorney General when there is a conflict.


We hope that we can get the truth and clear the air so we can also move forward on critically important issues such as investments to create jobs and more property tax relief for senior citizens.

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2007/08/bruno_stone_has_resigned.html