27 July 2021: Cuomo Diversion of Campaign Donations to Pay Personal Legal Bills Drawing Fire

Cuomo scandal prompts NY lawmakers to reconsider campaign finance rules

Should it be legal for New York politicians to divert funds given by political donors to support their election to instead pay their legal expenses when they run afoul of non-election campaign related laws?

This report describes a reform movement that seeks to stop politicians from tapping their campaign's bank accounts to pay for non-campaign related expenses, which points to Andrew M. Cuomo's diversion of campaign funds to provide him with the benefit of paying for lawyers to defend him from sexual harassment allegations:

Some legislators want to change New York’s campaign finance rules after Gov. Andrew Cuomo used $285,000 in political donations to pay lawyers representing him in sexual harassment and misconduct investigations.

New York politicians have used millions of dollars in campaign funds in recent years to pay lawyers defending them against allegations of wrongdoing, according to tallies kept by the New York Public Interest Research Group. The list includes former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, former state Senate leader Dean Skelos, former state Senate leader Joseph Bruno and former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

That kind of campaign spending is allowed under certain conditions but many still find it distasteful.

“It’s completely bizarre and it makes no sense because campaign contributions are supposed to be for campaigns, not for other things,” said John Kaehny, executive director of the ethics watchdog group Reinvent Albany. “Defending yourself in a criminal matter is not the same as running a campaign and it’s fairly obvious.”

As New York's Governor, Andrew M. Cuomo is also drawing cash to pay for his defense attorneys from state taxpayers. We think his recent diversion of campaign funds is intended to keep the legal bill New York taxpayers will be paying below the $2.5 million already contracted for his legal defense for as long as possible. Doing so will keep Cuomo from having to request additional taxpayer funds to pay legal bills that would require New York's State Comptroller to review and make his legal contracts available for public review.

In other words, Cuomo's action to tap money in his election campaign's bank accounts indicates he believes his legal bills will add up to significantly more than $2.5 million. Without reform, under New York's current law, he can take money campaign donors contribute to his election campaigns to pay for the benefit of covering his legal bills without having to withdraw any money from his personal bank accounts. That's quite a fringe benefit for a politician.