Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, was first out of the gate with a call for the impeachment of Eliot Spitzer over the recent unpleasantness. Specifically, from news reports, he said:

The state "cannot have this hanging over their heads," said New York Assembly Republican Minority Leader James Tedisco.

"This" being, presumably, the freshly revealed fact that Eliot Spitzer had consorted with prostitutes.

Now, if Spitzer's transgressions cannot hang over the collective head of the state and require his immediate removal via impeachment, surely, the state also can't have hanging over our head that the incoming acting lieutenant governor, Senate President Pro Tem Joe Bruno, was issued an FBI subpoena in March of 2006 in connection with a Federal investigation into his consulting company. Specifically,

The senator refused to discuss what, exactly, the FBI is looking into. He declined to say whether it has anything to do with Evident Technologies Inc. - the company to which he steered $500,000 via two state grants with no strings attached.

Bruno has personal ties to several of Evident’s directors, Jared Abbruzzese, one of the company’s founders and a former co-chair, and Wayne Barr - both of whom share the senator’s interest in horse racing.

Abbruzzese is being investigated by the state Lobbying Commission for providing his plane to Bruno for several trips, including a fund-raiser and a tour of several Kentucky horse farms that Barr arranged.

Bruno said he doesn’t believe this inquiry will affect his ability to serve as majority leader - a post to which he was recently re-elected by Senate Republicans.

It's worth pointing this out again: the FBI subpoenas issued to Bruno and others remained known only to their recipients from March of 2006 until the Senator gave a press conference on December 19th, 2006. That press conference wasn't prompted by leaks from prosecutors - it came about because someone inside the state capitol was shopping the story. Since then, the investigation has remained airtight. By contrast, the Emperor's Club investigation concluded on Thursday, March 6th; the New York Times began calling the governor's office late the next day. But that's gravy, though probably worth an investigation by (Democratic) Attorney General Cuomo.

So back to Tedisco. Joe Bruno is being investigated for, as far as we know, steering public contracts to private firms in which he has an interest. That's likely to shake public confidence in the administration of government far more severely than anything having to do with Spitzer's private, self-funded spending habits.

So when is Assemblyman Tedisco going to introduce articles of impeachment against Joe Bruno?

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