Politics on the Hudson

Disgraced former Gov. Eliot Spitzer was interviewed on WNYC-AM radio this morning in one of his first lengthy interviews since he officially left office a year ago yesterday.

In the nearly 20-minute interview, Spitzer focused mainly on his investigations in AIG, saying his probes of Wall Street as attorney general are now the “flavor of the month.”

He also knocked those who are focusing only on the bonus pool given out by AIG, saying the real problem is the federal bailout money, as much as $183 billion, that was passed through AIG to other banks.

One of the main critics of the bonuses is Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who succeeded Spitzer as AG.

“The bonuses yes, they matter, but they are penny ante compared to this money,” Spitzer said.

Host Brian Lehrer only once brought up that it’s a year since Spitzer resigned, to which the former governor said:

“I am obviously disappointed in what led to that. I’ve apologized and in my view have acted in the past year the way I should have, which is to say I will remain quiet, others will step in and pursue these issues, whether it’s the MTA refinancing or AIG investigations and continue to move forward.

“I like others also am disappointed in what I have seen in terms of public policy in these domains and as you suggested, there was a period when as attorney general of New York I was pursuing issues that nobody else wanted to pursue.

“And we pursued AIG and Wall Street’s structural failures in a way that others shied away from because it was politically unpalatable for them to address those issues.

“Now it is the flavor of the month. Everybody is jumping up and down serving subpoenas, beating their chests trying to be tougher than the next person. That’s wonderful.

“But I think as you say, there was a moment when that was not the case. And so perhaps I can add a slightly different perspective.”

Lehrer asked Spitzer if writing a column for Slate is a sort of comeback for Spitzer as a journalist.

“No, I am simply trying to add a few words, occasionally as I best can, to shed light on some very vexing policy problems that are out there that have not been addressed necessarily in the best possible way by our leadership.

“And we all have to work together to do what we can to move forward. To the extent that writing a few columns and adding my perspective can help, I’m thrilled to do that.”

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