NEW YORK – David Paterson, who became the governor of New York Monday after Eliot Spitzer resigned amid a prostitution scandal, may have broken state campaign finance laws when he used campaign cash to pay for a hotel room for a woman with whom he was having an affair, the New York Daily News reported Thursday.
Paterson and his wife, Michelle, acknowledged Tuesday that both had had extramarital affairs during a rough patch in their marriage. Paterson said he didn't think he had used any taxpayer money to pay for his trysts.
The Daily News on Thursday cited campaign finance documents that show Paterson made a $500 payment to a woman with whom sources said he had an affair. The payment was listed in campaign documents as "professional services." Paterson said he was reimbursing the woman for a campaign event.
Paterson also told the Daily News that he recalls using a campaign credit card to pay for a liaison in a hotel room, but he recalls reimbursing the campaign for the $103 charge. There is no apparent record of the reimbursement, the Daily News reported.
The News found that Paterson also used $1,400 of campaign cash in March 2004 to pay off a credit charge listed as "constituent services," although it was not clear what the specific charge was for. He reimbursed the campaign a few weeks later.
Click here to read the full report in the New York Daily News.
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