After months of stonewalling, Gov. Paterson released hundreds of e-mails between his staffers and reporters, providing a rare peek into Albany rumor-mongering that includes a New York Times reporter’s query on whether the governor was caught “in compromising positions” by State Police.

Gawker and Columbia Journalism Review had each sought the e-mails, sent in early 2010, under the Freedom of Information Law. When Paterson’s office refused, they filed a lawsuit and the governor’s office turned them over.

The e-mails were sent earlier this year when Albany reporters were scrambling to confirm wild and never-substantiated rumors that the Times was working on a sex-scandal story involving Paterson.