New York Times: “Governor’s Office Hobbled Corruption Investigations”

The New York Times dropped a bombshell this morning, with a front-page article reporting that one of Gov. Cuomo’s top aides interfered with the Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption that the Governor established in July 2013. (The Commission was terminated as part of the state’s 2014-15 budget agreement. Read my blog post on the Commission’s Dec. 2013 preliminary report.)

The Times is scathing in its assessment, finding that “the governor’s office deeply compromised the panel’s work, objecting whenever the commission focused on groups with ties to Mr. Cuomo or on issues that might reflect poorly on him.”

Gov. Cuomo’s office responded with a lengthy letter arguing that the premise of the Times story – that Gov. Cuomo and his staff undermined the Moreland Commission’s efforts – is false. They say that the Moreland Commission was not and never could have been an “independent” commission.

Common Cause/NY said the article “reveals the stark contradiction between the Governor’s public statements promising the independence of the commission and the behind-the-scenes actions of his staff.”

NYPIRG wants the Governor to “immediately release all relevant documents relating to its interactions with the Commission and hold an in-person news conference to respond to the Times’s reports.”

Not surprisingly, the Governor’s political opponents have weighed in as well. GOP candidate for Governor Rob Astorino said the article “reveals clear obstruction of justice and calculated public dishonesty by Mr. Cuomo and his subordinates.”

Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Zephyr Teachout said the Governor should resign if he directed, or even knew, that his subordinates were interfering with the Moreland Commission’s work.

Republican Comptroller candidate Bob Antonacci called on current Comptroller Tom DiNapoli to audit the Moreland Commission’s spending.

Senate Democratic Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins defended the Governor and his staff, saying that since it was his entity, he was free to be involved in its work.