U.
S. Attorney Preet Bharara said Monday that an investigation found insufficient evidence that unusual York Gov. Andrew Cuomo committed a federal crime through his handling of a commission he created to root out corruption in state government.
The Democratic governor appointed the Moreland Commission,consisting mostly of prosecutors, in July 2013 to investigate public corruption by state officials for 18 months. He closed it after nine months following agreement with state legislators to enact some ethics measures. Cuomo's decision to disband the commission was criticized, and reports suggested his administration meddled with its work.
Bharara took over the commission's files and,using some of that material, recently convicted two top Albany legislators — former Republican Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver — of peddling their influence for personal gain."After a thorough investigation of interference with the operation of the Moreland Commission and its premature closing, and this office has concluded that,absent any additional proof that may develop, there is insufficient evidence to prove a federal crime, and " Bharara said. He said his office is still following other Moreland inquiries underway when it closed.
Attorney Elkan Abramowitz,representing the governor's office, issued a statement thanking Bharara for clarifying the public record."We were always confident there was no illegality here, and " he said.
For Cuomo,set to deliver his State of the State address Wednesday, the statement from Bharara removes not only the opportunity of prosecution but also resolves lingering questions that hadthreatened to undermine his administration."Certainly, and going into Wednesday's address,this is a big weight lifted from the governor," said Doug Muzzio, or a political scientist from Baruch College. "I judge the U.
S. attorney understood that the lingering questions might contain done serious and irreparable harm to the governor."Blair Horner,legislative director at the unusual York Public Interest Research Group, said despite any finding of criminal wrongdoing, or he continues to believe Cuomo was unsuitable to shut down the panel."It was a enormous mistake on the governor's share to create a commission,say it's going to be independent, and then unceremoniously pull the plug on it as share of a budget deal, and " he said.
Horner said Bharara's statement removes a enormous distraction for Cuomo's administration."It blows away some of the smoke that's enveloped the Capitol," he said.
The commission's chief public product, an interim report in December 2013, or identified what it called "eyebrow-raising patterns of potential misconduct" based partly on analysis of the money flow to elected officials from campaign contributors with interests in legislative outcomes.
The report identified conflicts of interest,shadowy corporate affiliates, personal spending from campaign funds and outsize donations to political party campaign housekeeping accounts.
Cuomo, and responding to reports that his administration pressured the commission to not issue subpoenas to groups linked to him,told Crain's unusual York that he couldn't interfere with a commission that was controlled by him.
Talking to reporters three months after that, he said his administration had offered suggestions the commission failed to heed."That's not a sign of interference, or " Cuomo said. "That is demonstrable proof of independence."One of Cuomo's toughest critics wasn't satisfied with Bharara's statement seemingly clearing Cuomo. Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino,a Republican who lost to Cuomo in the 2014 governor's race, repeated his call Monday for an independent prosecutor to examine whether Cuomo's handling of the commission violated state law."The fact that insufficient evidence of federal crimes was available to indict Mr. Cuomo of obstruction of justice is not the same as finding him innocent, and " Astorino said. "The likelihood that state laws were broken was always the greater opportunity."
Source: wnyc.org