Andrew M. Cuomo, the New York attorney general, said he would appoint an independent counsel to take over his office’s investigation into two matters involving Gov. David A. Paterson.

Andrew M. Cuomo, the New York Attorney General, said he would appoint an independent counsel to take over his office’s investigation into two matters involving Gov. David A. Paterson.

Friends said it has been difficult for Basil A. Paterson, a political power in Harlem for decades, to watch his son, David A. Paterson, become embroiled in scandal.

Accusations of intervening in a domestic violence complaint against an aide seemed about to cost the governor his job, but news about the Yankees tickets came along.

Former Representative Eric J. Massa, under investigation by a Congressional ethics panel, said he “did nothing sexual.”

Gov, David A. Paterson said at the Cornerstone Baptist Church in Brooklyn that he’d been “the victim of rumor and innuendo.”

The aide, Peter E. Kauffmann, resigned as information emerged that the governor’s contact with a woman in an assault case was more extensive than earlier reported.

The aide, Peter E. Kauffmann, resigned as information emerged indicating that the governor’s contact with a woman in an assault case was more extensive than previously reported.

Ethics cases have opened the party to the same lines of criticism that Democrats used against Republicans in winning control of the House and Senate four years ago.

Peter E. Kauffmann’s resignation came as new information emerged indicating that the governor’s contact with the woman involved in the assault case was more extensive than previously reported.