Updated 02/25/2010 01:05 PM
Governor suspends aide, calls for investigation
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ALBANY, N.Y. -- Governor Paterson has suspended a close aide and is asking for an investigation by the attorney general after a report linked the aide to a claim of domestic violence involving an ex-girlfriend.
The governor said David Johnson, 37, was also suspended because serious questions are being raised about contact the State Police may have had with the woman who repeatedly went to court to testify she had been assaulted by Johnson.
According to the New York Times, the woman had been seeking an order of protection against Johnson. The paper reported that the woman testified in Bronx Family Court that State Police had been pressuring her to drop a criminal case against Johnson.
Citing court records, the Times said the woman tried several times to serve Johnson with papers. The case was dismissed after she failed to appear for a hearing earlier this month.
Paterson said he has asked for an internal investigation by the State Police and is also asking for Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to look into the matter.
"I've now turned this over to the attorney general," said Paterson. "This is now an investigation. I want to get to the bottom of it. He wants to get to the bottom of it. And the best thing for me is that the actual facts come out."
Johnson has risen from volunteer to driver to confidant in more than a decade of working for Paterson.