Disgraced New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo collected roughly $565,000 worth of tax-funded legal fee reimbursement from the Empire State.
The $564,918 was made out to Cuomo’s campaign, the byproduct of a state law that mandates the coverage of legal costs for state-elected officials who failed to be convicted of a crime, according to a report.
Officials within the state comptroller’s office are responsible for authoring the check.
If he should ever seek office again, the war chest for the former governor now sits at an estimated $7.8 million following this latest injection, the report noted.
Cuomo has appeared to entertain the idea of running for New York City mayor, but the 66-year-old has made no official announcement pertaining to his political future since he resigned as governor in 2021.
The resignation was forced by state Democrats, who threatened to impeach Cuomo for myriad sexual misconduct allegations, and he also faced heavy criticism for his governance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cuomo also brought his own legal action against New York state’s ethics panel.
A misdemeanor forcible touching charge brought against Cuomo was ultimately dismissed, and reimbursements to the former governor could eventually total millions, according to the report.
“Whether it was Joe Bruno [the former state Senate majority leader acquitted of federal corruption charges in 2014] or Andrew Cuomo, it’s wrong for taxpayers to reimburse political committees for personal legal defense,” New York Senate Deputy Leader Mike Gianaris said.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“The law needs to change to prohibit that.”
Gianaris is pushing legislation to prohibit state reimbursements to “campaign and political committees, or legal defense funds, for payments made on behalf of the criminal defense of a state employee.”