By Heather Grossmann
DNAinfo News Editor
MANHATTAN — On the two-year anniversary of his swearing-in as governor, David Paterson appeared on Don Imus’ radio show Wednesday to proclaim his innocence in a World Series tickets scandal and assert that he did not persuade an alleged victim of domestic abuse to drop her case in another investigation dogging him.
Paterson is accused of breaking state ethics rules by allegedly taking free tickets to Game 1 of the World Series last year, and there are claims he improperly interfered in top aide David Johnson’s domestic abuse case.
“I would never nor did I ever try to persuade anyone not to take the natural course of the law that would protect them,” Paterson said of claims that he called the alleged victim, Sherr-una Booker, and urged her not to pursue the case against Johnson.
Paterson said he did not want to talk about the specifics of the World Series tickets scandal because of the ongoing investigation, but he did attempt to bolster his claim that his office had worked out the logistics well in advance of the game.
“The point is that this is a situation that was discussed in advance and a situation where we wrote to [the Yankees] in advance explaining what we were going to do,” Paterson said.
When Imus teasingly asked the governor why he’d want to go to the baseball game in the first place, being that he’s blind, Paterson — who has derided the portrayal of him on “Saturday Night Live” as insensitive to handicapped people — laughed along with the talk-show host. Paterson said he went to the game because it was part of his civic duty.
Imus asked the governor about his relationship with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who Paterson appointed last year and who recently said that he should resign if the allegations against him proved true.
“Whenever you get in a jam, there are people who will throw you under the bus,” Paterson said of Gillibrand. He appeared to put the senator on notice by saying that when people get out from “under the bus,” those that put them there “should be forewarned.”
Imus also pressed Paterson on the possibility of resuming his aborted run for governor this year, but Paterson said that there were too many distractions to address now and that by the time they were resolved, he didn’t think he would “have the money or resources to run for office.”
