19 January 2022: Cuomo Spends $2M in Campaign Cash on Lawyers and PR

Cuomo spent $2 million in campaign cash since resigning, still has $16 million war chest

We have a running joke about Andrew M. Cuomo's desperate need for more legal help and better PR people. This report confirms Cuomo agrees, because he's spent $2 million just on those two things since resigning-in-disgrace as New York's governor.

Former governor Andrew Cuomo still has a hefty $16 million in his campaign coffers, financial disclosures filed with the state Board of Elections revealed on Tuesday evening.

Since resigning in disgrace following a bombshell report detailing a pattern of sexual harassment and bad behavior in August 2021, Cuomo has spent about $2 million on attorneys and a spokesman, the records show.

The next excerpt details where most of the money spent has gone:

One of the 64-year-old’s biggest expenses since stepping down in August has been his legal costs.

According to the filings, Cuomo has paid Glavin PLLC about $899,000.

Cuomo’s campaign also paid $800,000 to Sullivan & Cromwell, a law firm that represented him in the state attorney general’s investigation into the harassment claims made by nearly a dozen women....

Cuomo also has a few former state employees on his payroll. Records show he’s paid about $42,000 to Bulldog Strategies, a communications firm run by one-time senior adviser Rich Azzopardi.

Former top aide Stephanie Benton, who served as director of the governor’s offices and featured prominently in Attorney General Letitia James’ report detailing the “toxic” work environment in the Cuomo administration was paid around $16,000 from the campaign account.

So far, these expenditures have gone toward addressing criminal charges being considered against Cuomo. Very little has been spent to address civil litigation, where multiple cases are expected but have yet to be filed by Cuomo's alleged victims.