David Paterson: I Leaked Damaging Information About Myself

New York Gov. David Paterson said Thursday that he was the source for a New York Times report that he had spoken to a woman who had filed assault charges against a member of his staff. The woman did not appear in court following the conversation.

The report prompted an ethics investigation, resignations from five members of his administration, and calls for Paterson to resign. Paterson announced in the wake of the report that he would not seek a new term as governor.

CNN's Steve Kastenbaum reports that Paterson said he had leaked the conversation to the press during an interview on New York's WOR radio Thursday morning.

After host John Gambling said to the governor the story "might not have come out if we didn't have the press write the story about this, right?," Paterson said "that's not actually true."

"Uh, well, I don't want to go into it but the person who informed others that there was such a conversation was me," Paterson said. Asked to confirm that he leaked the news, he said, "correct."

"That's all I'm going to say about it," Paterson said. "And it's not my surmise. It's an actual fact. But the individual who first made it clear that there had been a conversation was myself."

Paterson has attacked the media for its reporting on him, lamenting "unsubstantiated rumors" that bubbled up in the press about what would be in the Times story.