9 September 2021: Cuomo Accused of Violating NY Election Laws in Hiring of PR Flack

Cuomo under fire for re-hiring flack, good government groups demand probe

Andrew M. Cuomo put his loyalist dead-ender spokesman Richard Azzopardi on the payroll of his campaign organization. That action is drawing strong criticism from four separate good government groups, who state the move violates New York election laws in their letter to New York's Board of Elections.

The groups — which include Common Cause New York, Reinvent Albany, the state League of Women Voters and the NY Public Interest Research Group — made the demand to BOE Chief Enforcement Counsel Michael Johnson in a letter outlining “a potential violation of election law.”

“Former Governor Cuomo is in clear violation of New York’s election law. It is a misuse of campaign funds to keep a former spokesperson on payroll,” said Common Cause Executive Director Susan Lerner in a separate statement. “His donors gave him money to run for public office, not for private purposes. We urge the Board of Elections to open an investigation immediately.”

The joint letter specifically cites a prohibition against using campaign cash for “a personal use” that’s unrelated to a political campaign.

“Recently resigned former Governor Andrew Cuomo left office with a campaign war chest of over $18 million. Almost immediately, he hired a former press aide to be his ‘spokesman,’ apparently paying for those services from his campaign funds,” the letter states. “This raises questions about the appropriate use of his campaign funds.”

The letter goes on to point to news stories reporting Cuomo has “no current plans to run for office” to support the view that he’s potentially run afoul of campaign finance law.

Here's a link to a Twitter post featuring the letter the four groups sent to the Board of Elections.

Watchdog groups demand investigation into Cuomo’s spending

This report covers the same territory as the previous article, but has deeper coverage of the four government group's criticism of Richard Azzopardi's role as Cuomo's chief PR flack:

John Kaehny, of Reinvent Albany added: “A campaign contribution becomes more and more like bribery if a candidate can spend it on whatever personal whim they have and in Cuomo’s case that may be punishing and terrorizing people he doesn’t like.”

“Azzopardi was Cuomo’s attack dog in charge of defaming and denigrating the women who came forward with the sexual harassment allegations,” Kaehny said.

“There’s no reason to think he is going to suddenly change his ways. He exists to serve Cuomo’s most belligerent and aggressive mood.”

The report quotes Azzopardi's reponse to the groups' letter seeking the NYBOE to investigate Azzopardi's new employment:

In an email, Azzopardi said, “I’m on board to help answer press inquires related to the Governor’s time in office and ongoing legal reviews — which is permissible.”

He didn’t elaborate and Cuomo’s defense lawyer, Rita Glavin, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

It seems Andrew M. Cuomo's desperate need for better PR people and more legal help didn't stop with his retirement!