Even the NY Post is reporting on the Governor’s fervent denials. Paterson called the rumors “callous and sleazy” and said that papers (the Post obviously included) have been “stretching the bounds of journalism.”

Paterson met with the Times reporters yesterday for an hour and half. At a press conference afterward, when Paterson asked if he was asked of the more gritty rumors said “No such questions related to any of that information was asked of me at any interview.” He continued: “The article will be written about other subjects.”

Now the story itself, rather than its contents, are becoming news. Today Lawrence Schwartz, the Governor’s Chief of staff, sent a letter to Clark Hoyt, the public editor of the Times. The Public Editor is the Times’s ombudsmen. His profileon Times site describes his job: “The public editor works outside of the reporting and editing structure of the newspaper and receives and answers questions or comments from readers and the public, principally about articles published in the paper.” Schwartz’s letter says that the Times should have denied the rumors and notes that

over the last several weeks:
the New York Times has prepared a profile of a major public figure;
misinformation about the content of that profile sparked intense, false and damaging accusations directed at the profile’s subject;
the Times was aware that the rumors were untrue;
the Times admitted as much to the subject during the article’s preparation;
the Times did nothing to correct the public record; and
when the article at last appears, it will do nothing either to justify or undo the permanent reputational damage suffered by the subject.

The letter also asks that Hoyt conduct an inquiry in to the matter. In response to the letter Times spokeswoman Diane McNulty says the newspaper isn’t responsible for what other news outlets and blogs reported. That echos what Joe Sexton, The Times’s Metropolitan Editor, said Tuesday evening: “Obviously we are not responsible for what other news organizations are reporting. It’s not coming from The Times.” That seems like a cop-out to me, they might as well have said “Well, it’s not our problem and we look forward to you all buying our paper.”

One thing is known for sure: Paterson is not resigning. At yesterday’s news conference he said: “The only way I’m not going to be governor next year is at the ballot box, and the only way I’m leaving before that is in a box.”

To stay on top of the story, it seems worth it to reproduce a portion of the link filled article from the Huffington Post:

The Daily News‘ Elizabeth Benjamin says it’s “far worse than his acknowledged extramarital affair with a former state employee.”

New York Magazine, who just ran a lengthy profile on the governor, couldn’t get a peep out of the Times, but writes that they hear the paper is “coming up with something big about the Paterson administration.”

Many believe the scandal is linked to a story that appeared in the New York Post this past weekend that further detailed Paterson’s recent decision to ban state troopers from the Governor’s Mansion.

According to the Post, a trooper accidentally caught the governor in a somewhat-compromising position:

The trooper opened the door and the first thing he saw was the governor and a woman inside and the two of them snuggling together, embracing. There was nothing more than that, snuggling, and they had their clothes on.

The AP reported today that Paterson met privately with democratic leaders this weekend and

A Democrat close to the situation [] said the meetings included discussions about whether Paterson would resign or announce he will not run. The Democrat spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The Business Insider added:

We spoke with a member of Governor Paterson’s communications team who denies that the governor is planning to resign. The official confirmed that a New York Times story is in the works but says it will not run Monday.

No matter what the the story is, I am certain it will be an interesting week in New York politics. We are going to post a short profile of Lt. Gov Ravitch soon, just in case he gets a promotion.