9 June 2021: Former Aide Worked Secretly as Cuomo Lawyer on Scandals

Cohen an attorney for Cuomo during Boylan issues

Steven M. Cohen is a former secretary to Governor Cuomo who has been appointed by the governor to be a commissioner to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. At his confirmation hearing in New York's state senate, his previously secret role in providing legal advice to Governor Cuomo during his multiple scandals came to light:

Steven M. Cohen, a longtime confidant and advisor to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, said he was working as an attorney for the governor’s administration during the time when there were internal discussions about leaking the personnel file of former staffer Lindsey Boylan, who accused the governor of sexual harassment in December.

Cohen avoided detailing the nature and scope of any legal advice he provided Cuomo during that time, but he told the state Senate Finance Committee this week that he was serving as an attorney for the governor on a voluntary basis.

“I suspect that if I got into too much detail here, I’d probably be waiving an attorney-client privilege,” Cohen told the committee that was questioning him about his nomination by Cuomo to serve as a board member to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The committee later approved Cohen's nomination for the influential Port Authority position.

The report describes some of that role:

Cohen authored a lengthy statement on behalf of the governor in February defending the administration's nursing home policies, including the withholding data from the public.

"I really had nothing to do related to the nursing home issues other than basically being brought in to take a look and make a statement and explain the administration's position," Cohen told legislators during his confirmation hearing on Monday. "I don't have first-hand knowledge with respect to what came before me and I leave it to others in the administration those issues."

When O'Mara shifted gears from nursing homes to Boylan's personnel file, Cohen immediately offered less information, citing attorney-client privilege. News reports have placed Cohen in the room during the decision process by the executive leadership to push out Boylan’s personnel record in the wake of her initial allegations at the governor.

“Steve Cohen was in the room where Cuomo folks decided to leak a supposed personnel file on me when I spoke about abuse from our boss,” Boylan tweeted earlier this week about the Port Authority nomination. “This is all so monstrous and I know history will treat it this way. I will help make it so.”

In a statement to the Times Union on Tuesday, she said: “I wouldn’t be surprised if Steve were part of the organized smear campaign against me because for so long he’s done the governor’s dirty work."

In the previous passage, O'Mara refers to NY State Senator Tom O'Mara (R-Big Flats).

The decision to publish Boylan's personnel records is being investigated as an act of unlawful retaliation by New York's attorney general's office. Boylan was the first woman to come forward with allegations of sexual harassment against Governor Cuomo, making her allegations public on 14 December 2020.

Returning back to Cohen, it appears he took steps to keep his role in providing legal advice to Governor Cuomo off the books:

Cohen said he provides legal consultation for the administration "from time to time." It was not immediately clear from Cohen's testimony whether he has been compensated for any legal work or consulting that he has provided to the governor.

O’Mara asked Cohen whether he was choosing to avoid talking about the Boylan situation to prevent self-incrimination. Cohen responded that he was just avoiding speaking out of turn before the governor’s administration. O’Mara pressed Cohen on whether he was an attorney for Cuomo during the Boylan personnel file discussions six months ago.

“I was operating as an attorney,” Cohen said, “but I can’t really characterize what I was or wasn’t advising on.”

The Port Authority has long been considered a "political patronage job paradise", which the governors of both New York and New Jersey have used to reward loyal supporters and donors.