Aqueduct "Memo-gate"?

From the NY Times:

The messy bidding process over a casino at Aqueduct got even messier on Friday.

John L. Sampson, the leader of the State Senate, said on Friday morning that last year he leaked an internal Senate assessment of the various bids to a lobbyist for one of the bidders, the Aqueduct Entertainment Group.

Mr. Sampson, a Democrat of Brooklyn, said that the document had never been considered confidential and that he did not believe it gave A.E.G. an advantage. A.E.G. eventually won the bidding but was dumped by state officials this year after the process was enveloped in scandal.

The document and Mr. Sampson’s role have emerged in an investigation of the Aqueduct Racetrack bidding process by the office of the state inspector general, Joseph Fisch. The New York Post reported on Mr. Sampson’s involvement this morning. The inspector general has no jurisdiction over the Legislature, so it is not clear what, if any, legal or ethical exposure Mr. Sampson might have in the matter.

“The document was not confidential,” Mr. Sampson said. “It contained all the information, public information, that was constantly going back and forth.”

However, much of the information in the detailed memorandum, which was provided by Senate officials on Friday, was not generally available in September, when the document was produced, and it is the latest in a long line of developments to cast doubt on the integrity of the entire process.