By Heather Grossmann
DNAinfo News Editor
MANHATTAN — Gov. David Paterson asked a state worker to tell a woman accusing his top aide of domestic violence that he wanted "her to make this go away," the New York Times reported.
The worker, Deneane Brown, who knows both the governor and the alleged victim, Sherr-una Booker, told investigators from Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office that Paterson wanted her to convey a message.
“Tell her the governor wants her to make this go away,” the Times reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the probe.
Booker accused Paterson aide David Johnson of choking her on Halloween night 2009, throwing her against a mirror and preventing her from calling for help, according to reports.
State Police are also believed to have pressured Booker to drop the case, according to several reports, and State Police Superintendant Henry Corbitt resigned Tuesday evening because of the scandal.
A growing chorus of public officials have called for Paterson's resignation.
But a poll conducted Monday and Tuesday showed that 61 percent of New York voters still think the governor should serve the rest of his term. The Quinnipiac poll found that just 31 percent of respondents think he should resign.
“New York State voters give Gov. David Paterson big negatives, his lowest ever in a year-long crash dive, but they’re not ready to pull the trigger,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
“Whether it’s mercy, pity or a fear of stepping into the unknown, it runs across all the demographic categories.”
Paterson has called a private meeting with his cabinet at 11 a.m. this morning.
