Specter repeated his disapproval of Goodell’s decision to destroy the notes and tapes confiscated during the initial investigation last fall, as well as the “piecemeal” way the league has revealed details about the tapings. He also cited the fact a Patriots attorney sat in on Walsh’s meeting with Goodell as proof the investigation has not been impartial.

“That sequence is incomprehensible,” Specter said. “It’s an insult to the intelligence of the people who follow it.”

Specter’s interest in Spygate centers in part on the two NFL teams in his state. The Philadelphia Eagles lost to the Patriots in the Super Bowl in 2005, the same season in which the Steelers were defeated by New England in the AFC championship game.

Pittsburgh defeated New England earlier that season, and the implication is that taped signals from that game helped the Patriots in the rematch. Steelers chairman Dan Rooney has called the matter a “non-issue.”

“I have a different perspective,” Specter said. “I’m elected by 12 million people, and a lot of them are Steeler fans. ... Frankly I’m incensed about what happened with the Steelers, and I’m incensed about the notes being destroyed. I really am.”

Specter was again asked whether his interest in the matter has to do with Philadelphia-based Comcast, one of his largest campaign contributors. Comcast has been involved in a dispute with the league over the placement of the NFL Network on its cable system.

“They have been a campaign contributor,” Specter said, “along with 50,000 other people ... I’ve been at this line of work for a long time, and no one has ever questioned my integrity.”

In an interview with HBO scheduled to air Friday night on “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel,” Walsh dismissed Belichick’s attempts to minimize the impact of the taping.

“If it was of little or no importance, I imagine they wouldn’t have continued to do it, and probably not taken the chances of going down onto the field in Pittsburgh or shooting from other teams’ stadiums the way we did,” Walsh said.

Slide show   Week in Sports Pictures A Duck goes for a ride, a NASCAR driver takes flight, some bankers take to boxing, and much more. more photos

Walsh told HBO that his superiors coached him on how to evade NFL rules limiting the number of camera operators per team to two, and that team officials instructed him on ways to avoid detection.

Walsh also talked about Belichick’s claim that he misinterpreted NFL rules.

“When I was doing it, I understood what we were doing to be wrong,” Walsh said. “We went to great lengths to keep from being caught. Just saying that the rules were misinterpreted isn’t enough of an apology or a reasoning for what was done. ...

“Coach Belichick’s explanation for having misinterpreted the rules, to me, that really didn’t sound like taking responsibility for what we had done, especially considering the great lengths that we had gone through to hide what we were doing.”

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