Paterson Expresses Support For O’Byrne
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- October
- 20
Gov. David Paterson expressed support for his embattled top aide Charles O’Byrne today after O’Byrne failed to pay $200,000 in back taxes from 2001 through 2005.
“Do I think that it’s rising to the level where a person should not be working? I wouldn’t think so,” Paterson told reporters in Manhattan today.
O’Byrne has come under scrutiny over the weekend after the Albany Times-Union first reported that he was delinquent on his federal and state taxes.
O’Byrne admitted in a statement Saturday that he didn’t pay taxes during those years because he suffered from clinical depression.
“As those who suffer from this disease understand, I became neglectful of certain responsibilities in my personal life,” he said.
Paterson said O’Byrne notified him of his tax problem and depression when Paterson, then Senate minority leader, hired him as a speechwriter in 2004.
When Paterson was sworn in as governor in March, Paterson said he was told that O’Byrne would have to go through a background check. So Paterson said he assumed the tax issue was resolved because O’Byrne was still on the job.
“So at that point, I assumed that things were fine,” he said.
The issue comes up as the Democratic governor is calling on the state Legislature to trim spending and with just a few weeks before the Nov. 4 election.
Paterson said that “he still has my confidence as top aide.”
This entry was posted
on Monday, October 20th, 2008 at 4:26 pm by Joseph Spector.
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