TIMELINE: DONOVAN’S EVER-CHANGING INTERPRETATION OF

DA RULES
12/3/04 As a sitting District Attorney, Donovan endorses his friend
Bernard Kerik, who later became a convicted felon, to be
George W. Bush’s Homeland Security Secretary. In reaction
to Bush's appointment of Kerik in 2004, DA Donovan said:

"He will be a great advocate when he appears before

Congress for money for homeland security, and the
adequate and fair distribution of those funds," said District
Attorney Daniel Donovan, who has known Kerik for 15 years.

"He's a down-to-earth guy," Donovan said. "You can sit

down over dinner and have a conversation about a vast
array of subjects with him."
(Staten Island Advance, 12/3/04)

9/22/10 But in his campaign for AG, Donovan repeatedly refuses to

comment on racist emails sent by Paladino, claiming that as
a sitting District Attorney, he is somehow not allowed to do
so as it might appear that he is making an endorsement.

In a NY1 televised interview, Donovan declines to denounce

the use of the N-word and racist emails depicting the
President as a blaxploitation pimp sent out by Carl Paladino,
because, he claims, to do so somehow is not allowed if you
are a District Attorney. (Link)

NY1 Exchange:
NY1: What do you think of some of the language that
[Paladino]’s used? Do you think it’s been too inflammatory?

Donovan: I don't want to comment on somebody's else's.

I'm very conscious...I'm running as an ethics reform
candidate. I want to reform ethics in Albany, I'm
certainly not going to take a chance at violating any ethical
ban that I have myself. Commenting on Mr. Paladino, Mr.
Cuomo, Mr. Wilson, Mr. DiNapoli, may be interpreted as
something of an endorsement of one or the other person, so
I really am prohibited, Michael.

9/22/10 In the same interview, Donovan refuses to comment on

Paladino’s comparison of Sheldon Silver, an orthodox Jew, to
the “anti-christ” and “Hitler.” (Link)

NY1 Exchange:
NY1: What about language by some of his supporters
comparing Sheldon Silver to Hitler, the anti-christ?

Donovan: Again, voters will decide that, it's not something I

have said. So for me to take a position on something
somebody else said would be improper for me. I haven't said
that.
9/23/10 Donovan appears on Capital Tonight and continues to claim
that, as a sitting District Attorney, he is somehow not
allowed to condemn acts of racism, including the use of the
"N-word," because it violates DA rules prohibiting political