Six months after calling himself a reformer in his inaugural State of the State speech, Gov. Eliot Spitzer is in the middle of an old-fashioned political scandal.

State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo released a report Tuesday stating two of the Democratic governor's top aides abused their power to smear state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, a Republican.

Spitzer's spokesman Darren Dopp and New York Assistant Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security William Howard plotted the release of records showing Bruno's use of state transportation to attend Republican fundraisers, the report stated. Dopp has since been suspended and Howard has been re-assigned.

The governor said he was completely unaware of his staff's alleged activities, adding, "I will accept...full responsibility for the failures that occurred within my administration." Spitzer said, "There were absolutely no violations of law, but there were absolute improper judgment calls made and there is no excuse for that."

St. Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre), a member of the Senate Investigations Committee that might visit the issue, isn't convinced Spitzer was in the dark. "It's hard to believe. In all honesty, I hope he didn't know."

Long Islanders were mixed on the budding scandal.

"I think he lied," Melville resident Gail Groll said. "I think he lied about everything he said."

Others were more sympathetic.

"I don't know if he knew anything about it and I think he's being proactive now," said Russ Plotkin, of Commack. Plotkin intends to put his faith in Spitzer for now.

Related Information: Statement from Gov. Eliot Spitzer