It’s a sad day, indeed, when one of New York’s most powerful political figures decides he has to steer clear of the State Police because he can’t trust them not to spy on him.
Yet that’s exactly what Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno has done.
Talk about dysfunction in Albany.
As The Post’s Fredric U. Dicker reported yesterday, Bruno has officially notified State Police Superintendent Preston Felton that he no longer wants the protection from state troopers to which he is entitled – even though he’s received death threats.
Instead, Bruno says, he’ll rely on Senate employees who are themselves retired troopers or will use his campaign fund to pay for private security guards.
The reason, of course, is that he no longer trusts the State Police to act strictly as law-enforcement agents – rather than as spies for Gov. Spitzer.
And after all that’s happened over the past few weeks, who can blame him?
There are still a host of unanswered questions surrounding Bruno’s allegation that the police engaged in “political espionage” against him on the governor’s behalf – and that Spitzer and his aides plotted to generate criminal investigations of the Senate leader.
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo reportedly is looking into a wide range of allegations.
Which is good.
Because Bruno isn’t the only one who deserves answers. All New Yorkers need to know that the State Police are not the governor’s private hit squad to be used in political squabbles.
Spitzer promised to end Albany’s dysfunctional political climate. The State Police affair makes things worse.
Far worse.
Meanwhile, you can’t blame Bruno for taking the prudent course and arranging for his own protection.