24 July 2021: The Investigation of Andrew M. Cuomo

Debra Katz: New York State Assembly Speaker Is Engaged in a ‘Cover Up’ of Gov. Cuomo Sexual Misconduct Allegations

We're featuring this analysis because it's one of the best we've seen that ties together many of the events we've recently featured independently in the timeline, including providing background in the attorneys engaged in the matter and how the criminal investigation of Andrew Cuomo has evolved the way it has. Here's an excerpt of a portion of the analysis presenting information we haven't seen reported elsewhere:

Notably, James’s efforts to investigate the sexual misconduct allegations against Cuomo only came after several bitter days of back-and-forth between the AG’s and the governor’s office about the form and contours of the investigation. Cuomo wanted the inquiry to be much more informal and stacked with loyalists but James pushed back. Eventually, Cuomo gave in and the AG got what she wanted.

The New York State Assembly is currently conducting its own parallel investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations as part of a broader impeachment probe that includes the Cuomo administration’s documented and admitted withholding of nursing home death data during the COVID-19 pandemic and the improper use of government funds to promote the governor’s book about his leadership during the first few months of the crisis.

The Assembly’s wide-berthed investigation has previously been criticized for lacking focus and for being run by attorneys close to Cuomo ally and New York Court of Appeals Chief Judge Janet DiFiore.

DiFiore owes her current position to the governor. She recently came under fire after it was discovered Cuomo pulled strings to ensure DiFiore’s daughter obtained a seat on the state Supreme Court in the Ninth Judicial District. That move drew criticism from several Democratic Party leaders throughout New York, but the story faded as the nursing home deaths data scandal and sexual harassment allegations took up most of the oxygen.

James herself pointedly rejected a Cuomo proposal to have DiFiore co-investigate her political patron alongside the attorney general. Democratic leaders also dismissed that idea out of hand.

After several months and several million dollars of public money spent on the effort, James now faces the prospect that her office’s work–which is being overseen by former acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Joon H. Kim and employment discrimination attorney Anne L. Clark–might be ignored by state lawmakers.

“We have no comment,” a spokesperson for James’s office told Law&Crime when asked about Heastie’s and Katz’s Friday comments.

Do read the whole thing!