Manhattan Adult Entertainment: AP Interview: NY’s Paterson lashes back at rumors
He said it has distracted him from the state’s fiscal crisis and tense budget negotiations with legislators, and from defending his veto of what he considers the Legislature’s weak ethics reforms.
He said he is unsure who pushed the rumors and wouldn’t speculate, saying “that would be just as unfair … but it is certainly serving others’ interest and not mine, and I think it’s a callous and sleazy way to treat a governor who is just trying to do his job and, in a democracy, is trying to keep his job.”
Paterson ascended to the job in 2008 when Eliot Spitzer resigned amid a prostitution scandal. When he became governor, Paterson admitted he had been unfaithful to his wife in an attempt to head off questions about his personal life.