29 June 2021: NY Assembly Probe Won't Talk to Cuomo Security Detail

Troopers not interviewed in Cuomo's impeachment investigation

The law firm investigating Governor Cuomo's alleged offences for the New York Assembly's impeachment probe isn't doing much investigating when it involves talking to members of Governor Cuomo's personal security detail.

The law firm retained by the state Assembly to conduct an impeachment investigation of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has declined to interview numerous current and former state troopers who have worked on the detail that protects the governor and may have information about the culture and practices in the administration dating back years.

The troopers who have not been interviewed include high-ranking former members who worked for the State Police's Protective Services Unit and were close to the governor through their work, which included protecting him and his staff at the Capitol, the Executive Mansion in Albany, and residences where Cuomo has lived during his three terms in office.

The Times Union first reported June 11 that current and former troopers assigned to the elite unit were being interviewed by the state attorney general's office, which is probing sexual harassment and groping allegations that multiple women have been made against Cuomo. Those troopers said the attorney general's office contacted them several months ago, and some of the interviews led the investigators to contact additional State Police members.

But some of the same troopers interviewed for that story this week confirmed that the Assembly's investigative team, headed by the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell, had declined to interview them despite being contacted about three months ago. At least one of those former troopers said he provided leads to the Assembly's investigators about members who were in the protective unit and might have information about the women's allegations or other purported misconduct.

You would think the investigators might want to follow up on those leads. The article cites an anonymous member of the New York Senate Judiciary Committee, who indicates the Davis-Polk law firm's investigators may be seeking the power to subpoena the troopers to compel their testimony. The committee will meet on 30 June 2021 where that topic is expected to be raised in a closed session.

We'll see what comes out from that.