Cuomo Wants State To Pay His Legal Fees in Groping Case

One year to the day after resigning, Governor Cuomo is asking New York state taxpayers to cover his legal bills.

AP/Seth Wenig
New York Governor Cuomo at a Hispanic Clergy Organization meeting in March 2022. AP/Seth Wenig

In what would amount to an anniversary gift of sorts, Governor Cuomo is asking the New York taxpayers to pay his legal fees.

On August 10 last year, Mr. Cuomo announced his resignation following a flurry of accusations of sexual misconduct. Now, he is suing the state attorney general’s office, claiming it should have paid his legal fees.

Mr. Cuomo claims that Attorney General Letitia James wrongfully denied his request for legal counsel in a lawsuit brought by an anonymous state trooper who alleged that Mr. Cuomo inappropriately touched her and made suggestive comments.

Mr. Cuomo argued that, because the alleged misconduct occurred “while he was acting within the scope of his public employment and duties,” the state was obligated to provide representation or reimbursement for representation.

The case, brought Wednesday in the Manhattan Supreme Court, arrived on an inauspicious date for the governor: It was filed exactly one year after he announced his resignation.

It also came just one day after Mr. Cuomo found himself in the spotlight for comments relating to the FBI search of President Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago.

In a statement, Mr. Cuomo said that the justice department “must immediately explain the reason for its raid and it must be more than a search for inconsequential archives or it will be viewed as a political tactic.”

Mr. Cuomo has been compared to Mr. Trump not only because they both claim investigations against them are politically motivated, but because both have an ongoing feud with Ms. James in her role as New York’s attorney general.

Mr. Cuomo filed his suit on the same day that Mr. Trump appeared in court to answer questions as part of an investigation by Ms. James into alleged misvaluation of properties and associated tax fraud, among other alleged crimes.

Mr. Cuomo’s statement — seen by many as strange and unhelpful — looks to be a politically savvy repositioning of the former governor in a race for the center lane in American politics.

The success of Mr. Cuomo’s attempts to stay politically relevant remains to be seen. What is certain is that Mr. Cuomo enjoys a fairly large personal following and is positioning himself to appeal to a growing number of moderate Democrats.


The New York Sun

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