ALBANY — Lawyers for Joseph L. Bruno prepared today for an indictment of Mr. Bruno, the longtime leader of the state Senate who has been under investigation for his business interests.
The office of Acting United States Attorney Andrew T. Baxter did not respond to phone calls about the case Friday morning, but Mr. Baxter has scheduled a press conference for this afternoon to discuss “public corruption.”
Mr. Bruno, who stepped down last summer, was preparing to hold his own news conference on Friday afternoon.
A lawyer for Mr. Bruno had no comment on Friday morning.
The Times Union of Albany reported Friday morning on its Web site that Mr. Baxter, the acting United States attorney, whose main office is in Syracuse, arrived at the federal courthouse in Albany in the morning “carrying two large briefcases and an easel.”
Gary Lewi, a spokesman for Mr. Bruno, said, “If in fact there was action on the part of a grand jury, Senator Bruno would make himself available to speak to reporters.”
“He has not been notified that this action is in fact going to take place,” he added.
The three-year investigation, which became public in December 2006, has spanned a range of subjects, from Mr. Bruno’s overlapping business and political ties to a longtime friend, Jared E. Abbruzzese, to his purchases of real estate and thoroughbreds, to his relationship with a Connecticut investment company that was seeking to grow its pension business among New York labor unions.
Federal investigators have also scrutinized what work was done by Capital Business Consultants, a consulting business the senator ran out of his residence, and flights by Mr. Bruno on a private jet that were arranged by Mr. Abbruzzese.
During the investigation, federal grand jury subpoenas were issued to business executives, Senate staff members, thoroughbred owners, labor leaders and lobbyists.
Throughout the inquiry, Mr. Bruno has maintained his innocence.
“My take is that they’re looking to see if they think anything was done wrong,” he said in an interview last month. “I’ve never been charged, never even been told that I was a target, by anybody. So I am doing my thing, making what contribution I can to the health and welfare of myself and the business community here.”
Mr. Bruno, 79, is a Republican from the Albany area and led the State Senate for 14 years. He became the de facto leader of the state’s Republican Party after Gov. George E. Pataki left office. An outgoing and gregarious politico, he remains a friend of Gov. David A. Paterson and has close relationships with a number of political figures, though he was a bitter rival of former Gov. Eliot Spitzer.
Many consider Mr. Bruno a classic politician from the old school. State money helped enshrine Mr. Bruno’s image and name across his district, from the Joseph L. Bruno Stadium in Troy to a bust at the Albany International Airport to the Joseph L. Bruno Community Park in Hoosick Falls. He took reporters on a three-hour bus tour of such monuments when he retired last year.
In a testament to his popularity, he was named the chief executive of CMA Consulting Services, an information technology and software firm based just outside of Albany, after stepping down, despite the overhanging cloud of the federal inquiry.
