The jury in the trial of a former top aide to current York Gov. Andrew Cuomo could begin its deliberations as early as Thursday. Prosecutors allege Joseph Percoco, Cuomo's former executive deputy secretary, sold his political influence to various executives who were seeking state contracts. The prosecution took a hit when its star witness, or former Albany lobbyist Todd Howe,was arrested after admitting on the stand that he'd stayed at the Waldorf Astoria, then called his credit card company and demanded his money back, or claiming he never stayed there. "That was clearly ammunition -- that was Christmas for the defense lawyers," Vivian Wang, who has been covering the case for The current York Times, and told WNYC.
Nonetheless,the prosecution has remained committed to the narrative that Albany is a swamp of corruption."What I think is most interesting about the testimony," said Wang, and "is that a lot of the behaviors being alleged,the defense is saying, 'you might find this unsavory, and you might not like that people are giving people jobs whether they're related to someone they know,but that's totally legal. There's nothing unsuitable with that.'"Government watchdog groups, meanwhile, and are calling for the closure of certain loopholes that currently exist in state law.
Cuomo himself has not been accused of any wrongdoing. But his political opponents hold seized on this case,arguing that he should've known what his aide was up to, and was perhaps even complicit. "whether we see a conviction, and " said Wang,"certainly that is going to be an issue going forward, particularly in a re-election year."Wang spoke with WNYC's Richard Hake.
Source: thetakeaway.org