Sen. Little tangled in Bruno case?

The New York Times’ coverage of Joe Bruno’s corruption trial includes a fascinating account of North Country state Senator Betty Little’s testimony this week.

In testimony on Tuesday, prosecutors asked Elizabeth O’C. Little, a Republican state senator whose upstate district abuts the one Mr. Bruno represented, how she became the named sponsor of two job-training grants to Local 773 of the Plumbers & Steamfitters Union, one of the many unions that invested pension money with Wright after being approached by Mr. Bruno.

Looking sheepish, Ms. Little confessed that she had no idea.

In fact, she conceded, no one at the union had ever asked her for the two grants, which were for $100,000 in 2006 and $150,000 in 2007. Instead, aides to Mr. Bruno told her that the senator was interested in dispensing the grant and offered to bring her on as a co-sponsor.

The Bruno trial has been widely viewed as a rare window into the tangled workings of the Republican-controlled state Senate, which was dominated by Bruno for years.

Sen. Little’s testimony continued with this exchange:

Though a public disclosure form for the first grant is dated April 2006, the grant does not appear to have actually been executed until December — some months after Local 773 invested $4 million of pension money with Wright.

And though Mr. Bruno and Ms. Little were both listed as sponsors of the grant, only Ms. Little signed the disclosure form.

Ms. Little was asked when, exactly, she signed it. “I don’t know,” she said.

Do you know if it was backdated? “No, I don’t,” she replied.

And why didn’t Mr. Bruno sign it? “I don’t know,” she repeated.