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Paterson: I did not use campaign funds for hotel rooms

BY JAMES T. MADORE | james.madore@newsday.com

10:22 PM EDT, March 20, 2008

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Gov. David A. Paterson said Thursday he never used campaign money to pay for a Manhattan hotel room for a liaison with a woman other than his wife.

"I can tell you affirmatively that I never used my campaign funds for anything other than campaigns," Paterson said, speaking in Rochester. He added that the campaign's attorney was reviewing records for potential discrepancies and a report would be forthcoming. If there are any discrepancies, the governor will reimburse.

"I never knowingly used any campaign funds for any purposes other than what related to campaigns and even what they're looking at are two or three items out of several items and it appears that we'll have a report," he said.

Paterson was responding to the Daily News, which said Thursday its reporters had been told by Paterson Wednesday he may have improperly billed his campaign for at least one hotel rendezvous with a girlfriend while serving as a state senator.

The newspaper said Paterson "admitted" in an interview that sometime when he was minority leader in the State Senate -- from November 2002 through 2006 -- he apparently used a campaign credit card at the former Quality Hotel (now Days Inn) on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The paper quotes Paterson as saying, "I do remember that there was a time I might have had to use the card because my other card didn't work."

He told the paper the hotel stay cost about $100 but couldn't recall when it occurred.

A Newsday review of records filed by Paterson's campaign committee -- Friends of David A. Paterson -- shows a $103.87 payment on Dec. 20, 2002, to the Quality Hotel with the reason listed as "constituent services."

There also are three other payments to the hotel: two in 2001 and one in 2003. The explanation given for both 2001 payments are "office" expenses, while the 2003 payment is listed as "constituent services."

It is unclear from the records who stayed in the rooms or whether the committee was reimbursed for the expenses.

When Paterson first acknowledged Tuesday he committed adultery with multiple women, he told reporters he "would never use campaign funds for that purpose." He added that "a couple of times" he had a personal credit card that didn't work and "I used the campaign credit card and then reimbursed it."

In Albany Thursday, officials at the state Board of Elections said although state law prohibits the use of campaign funds for personal expenses, prosecutions for such violations are rare.

"We really wouldn't notice for the most part," said spokesman Lee Daghlian. "We don't audit all these accounts."

If serious violations of the law are found, the board could report them to local district attorneys, who could investigate and prosecute, if need be.

Daghlian couldn't remember a single prosecution in the past dozen years. The few such problems that have arisen, he said, were resolved by the candidate's reimbursement.

So far there has been no public call for Paterson's prosecution. And political insiders doubt it will come, in part because Democrats don't want to hand over the Executive Mansion to the state's top Republican, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno of Brunswick.

Another potential problem for Paterson is his 2002 payment of $500 to Lila E. Kirton, who has been identified as his former girlfriend. The money is listed as being for "professional services." But he has said he was reimbursing her for a donation she made on his behalf to H. Carl McCall's gubernatorial campaign.

Such a move is illegal, experts said, because the true source of the campaign contribution was hidden.

This story was reported by Erik German, James T. Madore and Melissa Mansfield. It was written by Madore.