11 August 2022: Cuomo Sues to Compel New Yorkers to Pay His Legal Bills in Trooper's Sexual Harassment Suit Against Him

Cuomo sues N.Y. AG Tish James, wants state to cover legal bills in trooper harass suit

The resigned-in-disgrace Andrew M. Cuomo has chosen a very strange way to mark the one year anniversary of his resignation announcement. Here's an excerpt from this report:

Former governor Andrew Cuomo thinks New York taxpayers should be on the hook for his legal bills.

A year to the day after announcing his resignation amid sexual harassment allegations, the disgraced Democrat filed a lawsuit against Attorney General Letitia James for failing to provide him with legal representation after one of his accusers took him to court.

Cuomo’s attorney argues in the suit, filed Wednesday in Manhattan Supreme Court, that James’ office wrongfully denied the ex-gov’s request for counsel after a state trooper who accused him of misconduct sued him.

Lawyer Rita Glavin alleges that the denial was “arbitrary, capricious, contrary to the plain text of the statute, biased, personally and politically conflicted” as well as a dereliction of duty on James’ part.

The unnamed trooper, who alleges Cuomo repeatedly touched her inappropriately and made suggestive comments after she was appointed to his protective detail, filed a civil suit in Manhattan federal court against the former governor and two of his top aides in February.

In March, Cuomo requested the state provide him with representation or pay for private counsel in connection with the suit, according to court documents.

James’ office determined, however, that the state was not responsible for covering any of the ex-pol’s related legal costs.

The last we checked, allegedly engaging in the sexual harassment of a female state trooper while serving as New York's state governor is not an official responsibility of the position. That also appears to be the position of New York's Attorney General's office:

A representative for the attorney general’s office argued that Cuomo is “trying to force New Yorkers to pay his legal bills because he believes sexual harassment was within his ‘scope of employment’ as governor.”

“Sexually harassing young women who work for you is not part of anyone’s job description,’ James spokeswoman Delaney Kemper said. “Taxpayers should not have to pony up for legal bills that could reach millions of dollars so Mr. Cuomo’s lawyer can attack survivors of his abuse.”

In other news, the pace of stories on Andrew M. Cuomo's COVID nursing home deaths scandals has stalled over the last several weeks. That's also true of the U.S. Department of Justice's probe of New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy's COVID veterans homes deaths scandal, which hasn't shown any sign of progress in months.