March 13 (Bloomberg) -- Eliot Spitzer's resignation hasn't altered the New York Senate Investigations Committee's demand that the governor's aides respond to subpoenas in the so-called Troopergate case, the panel's lawyer told a state judge.

The Republican-led committee was fighting an attempt by Spitzer, a Democrat, and his former spokesman to quash the subpoenas. The formal requests seek information about the executive branch's use of state police resources to track the activities of Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, a Republican.

State Supreme Court Justice Richard Braun, who is considering whether to block the subpoenas, said today that he was ``a little surprised'' that the committee chairman, George Winner Jr., intended to proceed after Spitzer's resignation yesterday. He didn't issue a ruling at the hearing in Manhattan.

``This is not about Governor Spitzer,'' Winner attorney David Lewis said in an interview after arguing for the subpoenas in court. ``This is about the power of the Legislature to make inquiry when it learns about abuses by any branch member.''

The committee subpoenaed the governor's office and Darren Dopp, Spitzer's former communications director, after a July 23 report by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat. Cuomo found aides to the governor acted improperly, though not illegally, in asking state police to assemble travel records documenting Bruno's use of state aircraft on trips that included political fundraising.

Troopergate Scandal

New York City tabloid newspapers dubbed the matter ``Troopergate,'' and it became the first scandal of the Spitzer administration. After less than 15 months in office, Spitzer resigned yesterday after allegations that he patronized high- price prostitutes.

Attorney Michael Koenig, who represents Dopp, said his client shouldn't be subjected to the battle between two branches of government, especially given Spitzer's resignation.

``In light of recent days' events, there has come a point where these subpoenas should be quashed,'' Koenig told the judge.

Dopp, who was suspended after Cuomo's report, later joined Patricia Lynch Associates, an Albany-based lobbying firm. He had worked for the governor for nine years, having handled press relations when Spitzer was attorney general.

Dietrich L. Snell, an attorney with the law firm Proskauer Rose, who represented the governor's office, told Braun that ``the only purpose here was to harass and embarrass and pursue a politically motivated agenda against the executive branch.''

Snell told the judge that Winner ``has spurned even now the opportunity to work with the new administration and therefore rejected any notion of working this out.''

Nothing `Spurned'

Lewis responded that ``nothing's been spurned'' and that he couldn't imagine that Snell had knowledge of communications between Winner and Lieutenant Governor David Paterson, who will become governor on Monday.

Two other probes of ``Troopergate'' also are continuing. Albany County District Attorney David Soares, who initially concluded Spitzer and his staff didn't break the law, found new evidence and reopened his investigation. His office expects to issue a report at the end of the month, Soares spokeswoman Heather Orth said today in a phone interview.

A separate probe by the New York Commission on Public Integrity, which issued a subpoena in the case last year, also is continuing. ``The law does not allow us to comment on investigations,'' spokesman Walter Ayres said today in a phone interview.

To contact the reporter on this story: Karen Freifeld in New York at kfreifeld@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 13, 2008 17:38 EDT