I know making these tapes was illegal, but is reprinting them?

By FREDRIC U. DICKER

EXCLUSIVE

ALBANY — An angry Gov. Pataki yesterday called for a federal investigation into who recorded and leaked the explosive secret tapes of private telephone conversations involving him, his wife, Libby, then-Sen. Alfonse D'Amato and others.

"We have requested that the U.S. attorney for the Southern District investigate how these private conversations were recorded and disseminated, and who was responsible," Pataki spokesman David Catalfamo said in a statement.

"Taping anyone's private conversations without proper consent is illegal," Catalfamo added.

The existence of the tapes and excerpts from the recordings were published in yesterday's Post in an exclusive front-page story headlined, "SECRET PATAKI TAPES."

The tapes, which were obtained by the paper from an anonymous source, contain sensitive personal and political conversations and, at times, obscenity-laced tirades from Thomas Doherty, once one of Pataki's most important aides and his chief patronage dispenser.

The tapes are believed to have been made in 1996 and possibly 1997.

In new excerpts from the tapes published in today's Post, Doherty discusses a problem with an employee at the Javits Center with his mother and, in another conversation, rails against someone being promoted by Pataki for a particular job.

"Oh, he's not one of us," Doherty says in the secretly taped conversation of the person Pataki is pushing.

"Tell the governor . . . all the guy did was kill every Republican in Westchester County when he had a chance to do it . . . He's a liberal Democrat supporter."

In one of the taped conversations excerpted in yesterday's Post, Mrs. Pataki is heard complaining about having to attend too many political events, saying, "I told George, 'George, it's exactly this kind of thing that pisses me off.' "

She also complains that former New York City First Lady Donna Giuliani was getting a lot of press attention for a special event while she was getting none.

Doherty also angrily complains to D'Amato that top state officials were resisting the hiring of Republican patronage appointees.

"Just between you and me, if the f- - -ing commissioners of this state were any slower with this s- - -," Doherty rages at one point on the tape.

Catalfamo attacked The Post for publishing excerpts from the tapes, even though the governor's office had raised no objections to the publication when given an advanced look at their contents Friday.

"Printing those conversations — when they serve no public interest — is unethical and potentially illegal," Catalfamo said yesterday.

"The notion that a media outlet would reprint private conversations that they know to have been illegally recorded is outrageous," Catalfamo added.

"It's sad and unfortunate that today the bar for journalistic integrity has been lowered."

Post editor-in-chief Col Allan said the paper had done nothing wrong.

"Even if these tapes were illegally made — and we don't know yet that they were — we believe the Supreme Court of the United States has affirmed our right to publish the contents of the tapes," Allan said in a statement.

"There is a clear public interest for our readers to understand how important patronage jobs in state agencies are doled out in Albany and how the governor and the first lady's schedules are decided."

Allan added, "If the governor's office had legal or ethical issues with our publishing the contents of these tapes, they failed to raise them when we contacted them about the tapes Friday morning."

Herb Hadad, a spokesman for Southern District U.S. Attorney David Kelley, said Pataki's request for a probe had been received but had no further comment.

Meanwhile, state government was abuzz with speculation about who was responsible for making and leaking the tapes.

"There's real shock that these tapes got out there," said Brendan Quinn, a state GOP official.

" 'Embarrassing' is the word that's being used most often."

Some insiders speculated that Doherty must be the source of the tapes because he is heard on all of the recorded conversations.

But Doherty has insisted that he had nothing to do with them.

He issued a statement yesterday saying he was "appalled that my private conversations were recorded without my consent or knowledge."

Others said it was possible that a federal or state investigative agency may have recorded the tapes, and then lost possession of them.

State law makes it illegal for anyone to record a two-way telephone conversation without the permission of one of the parties — unless a court order is obtained.