Now that the report is out, it is up to District Attorney David Soares to decide whether or not criminal charges are appropriate here.
"We all want free tickets but we had to pay sometimes," said Pat McVeigh, from Albany.
"The whole system is in the toilet, we need to fix the government and all we're worried about are his Yankees tickets? Come on," said Steve Stazza, from Castleton.
Yankees fans are split tonight about whether or not Governor David Paterson should have paid for World Series Tickets. Good government groups say that question is just the beginning.
"He hits up the Yankees for tickets, lied about what's going on and has made what was an ethical molehill into an ethical mountain," said Blair Horner, with NYPIRG.
An independent council released her report today saying that parts of Governor David Paterson's testimony to the Public Integrity Commission about those tickets was "inaccurate and misleading."
"Lying is a powerful word to use instead they say the Governor misled, misstated facts. It's pretty clear the Governor lied," said Horner.
The report lays out several examples. One where the Governor testified to writing a check on October 28th, 2009, the day of the game. But the check submitted to the Yankees is dated the 27th. And may have actually been written on the 29th, by aid David Johnson. The report saying inaccuracies like that warrant "consideration of possible criminal charges."
"If he's lying about something like that who knows what else he's lying about," said McVeigh.
"They all lie. He's a politician it's his job, that's what they do," said Stazza.
Horner hopes that the story of the Paterson administration will change that.
"The legacy is going to be an ethically challenged administration that didn't do enough to clean up Albany. Hopefully that will change come January," said Horner.
The Governor's Attorney Ted Wells released a statement tonight saying, "The Governor did not lie. When he testified about the Yankee tickets and the report does not recommend the bringing of criminal charges or conclude that the Governor intended to give false or misleading testimony. We are therefore hopeful that DA Soares will ultimately conclude that no criminal charges are warranted."
The DA's office released this statement: "We are aware of the report issued by Judith Kaye this afternoon and the matter is under review. We will have no further comment until our review is completed."
