Editorial: Troopergate story needs to be public

Only in New York state could the public integrity be left out of the Public Integrity Commission.

That seems to be the case involving Gov. Eliot Spitzer's expected testimony in the "Troopergate" scandal. Last week, Spitzer said he won't make that testimony public because the rules of the commission, like its precursor Ethics Commission, prohibit the group from releasing testimony.

So change the rules. It makes no sense for a commission charged with investigating ethical issues involving public officials to operate in secrecy. That goes against the very idea of open government.

Commission spokesman Walter Ayres did a bureaucratic dance around a clear answer when asked whether a person being questioned by the commission could request that the information be made public.

"Although the law does not allow me to comment about ongoing investigations, I can confirm that it has not been the policy of the commission to provide transcripts of depositions or to allow witnesses to record their testimony," Ayres said.

When pressed on whether that meant the commission policy prohibited release of testimony to the public, Ayres didn't reply.

The whole process makes a mockery of "public integrity." Especially frustrating is that Spitzer himself initiated the campaign for more open government when he mandated tougher rules on his staff regarding gifts, honorariums, etc., the day he took office. He continued to push for broader changes, and in September, the state Ethics Commission and Lobbying Commission were merged into one, the Public Integrity Commission.

Now Spitzer's own integrity remains clouded and could be made much clearer if he came clean on the scandal in which two of his former aides are accused of trying to discredit Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno. The aides are accused of misusing state police to compile records compile records of Bruno's use of state aircraft on days he mixed meetings with lobbyists with GOP fundraisers.

An investigation by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo found that the aides acted improperly, although no crimes were committed. Albany County District Attorney P. David Soares also found no laws were broken and found no proof of a political plot to smear Bruno by releasing the records to a reporter who had requested them.

So what did happen?

Spitzer could tell us, and Sen. George H. Winner Jr., said the governor could choose to waive his confidentiality in testimony to the commission.

Winner, whose Senate Investigations Committee also is investigating the scandal, added that the commission could establish rules for the testimony that would make it public, if Spitzer or commissioners - more than half of whom Spitzer appointed -- so desired.

For the sake of open government, that should be the way to go.