Government

Now Andrew Cuomo Tied To Shielding Harvey Weinstein In Exchange For Campaign Donations

Have these people never heard of optics?

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These guys have it all figured out. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Cy Vance has taken the bulk of the guff when it comes to “campaign donations for dropping prosecutions” accusations. The Manhattan DA looked the other way when it came to prosecuting Ivanka and Don Jr. and got stage fright when it came to going after Harvey Weinstein several years ago. And then got another donation from Harvey’s lawyer immediately afterward. Throughout all of these revelations, I’ve maintained that no matter what it looks like, Vance wasn’t on the take, but just maintaining relationships with the rest of the NY bar’s most elite. That’s still reason for him to resign and allow the office to move on with new leadership untainted by his terrible leadership, but it’s not public corruption.

But now the media is pointing out that New York’s Andrew Cuomo has his own suspiciously timed campaign donation to deal with just in time for his primary election. Page Six points out that Boies Schiller & Flexner, the firm that famously covered for Weinstein for years, gave Cuomo $25,000 in June… just days before he ordered Attorney General Barbara Underwood to halt an investigation into Cy Vance’s mishandling of the Weinstein case in the first place!

The firm, for its part, notes that it’s given money to Cuomo before and doesn’t see any connection here. Besides, they’d already stopped representing Harvey by this point. Except, of course, the Underwood investigation was looking into actions taken back when Boies very much did represent Weinstein, giving them a vested interest in seeing the whole thing go away. Personally, I don’t think the firm would do something this hamfistedly shady. Then again, I didn’t think the firm would hire former spies to protect an accused sex offender so there’s a first time for everything.

But as much as I don’t buy the insinuation of a quid pro quo on Boies Schiller’s part, I can’t say the same about Andrew Cuomo. While Vance is a dupe who just tries to impress the fancy lawyers who tell him to let their rich clients off the hook, Cuomo has spent years cultivating his image as Mid-Atlantic Putin. His right-hand man is heading to prison — though he conveniently won’t be sentenced until after the primary — and he brazenly shut down the anti-corruption commission that he created when it inched too close to his inner circle. Could Cuomo have used his authority to do a solid for a law firm that wasn’t even asking him to do something untoward? I want to say no, but there’s not a lot out there to provide confidence in that answer.

The ostensible justification for suspending the probe into Vance’s handling of the Weinstein case was an interest in not interfering with the ongoing criminal case. That seems like some weak tea. AG Underwood is a true professional and could more than capably balance a probe into wrongdoing with the needs of the prosecutors working the Weinstein case. If Cuomo was so concerned that the probe might inappropriately aid Weinstein’s defense, then why did he order it in the first place? Currently, the investigation is only suspended for six months, but if Weinstein gets convicted, which is a fair bet, this probe may permanently fade from public consciousness.

That Cuomo may well win another Democratic nomination despite all of this is mind-boggling. In a stable political climate, he would be drenched in subpoenas right now, but his buddy Trump fired the only guy with the guts to go after him so New York is stuck with this “Trump, but with subsidized college tuition” of a governor and stories like this Weinstein donation just roll off everyone’s backs as par for the Albany course.

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Cuomo received donation from Weinstein law firm before halting probe into his case [Page Six]

Earlier: These Cy Vance Scandals Pile Up So Fast I Can’t Keep Track
Cy Vance And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Month
Ivanka And Don Jr. Avoided Indictment The Old-Fashioned Way: By Being Rich

HeadshotJoe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.

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