New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg acknowledged that he had concealed the domestic violence arrest of former Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith, but said he would not apologize for his actions, even as Goldsmith said he regretted keeping the event secret, reports the New York Times. Bloomberg said he had immediately decided Goldsmith would have to leave because of the July 30 arrest, but he did not want to cause suffering for the Goldsmith family by making the case public.
Bloomberg denied that he had misled the public when he issued a news release Aug. 4 saying that Goldsmith was “leaving to pursue private-sector opportunities in infrastructure finance.” Said Bloomberg: “I have longed believed that public officials are all too willing to humiliate the people who work for them whenever it's politically convenient or advantageous. It's an outrage, and I refuse to play that game.” He added that the assumed the news would emerge later, “but it's not my responsibility to spread a story.”