Cuomo Says He’s Unaware of Federal Probe in Buffalo Project

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday he’s unaware of any federal probe into the state’s economic development efforts in Buffalo and nobody in his office has been subpoenaed.

Asked about a New York Post report citing an unnamed source that federal prosecutors in Manhattan are looking into the Buffalo Billion project, Cuomo said the city’s economic comeback has included more than 14,000 jobs and $8 billion in private sector investment.

“Buffalo is really the poster child for the turnaround in upstate New York,” he said. “It’s going great. Beyond that I have no idea.”

Cuomo, a Democrat, was then asked if it’s a problem that people getting state grants are contributing to his campaign fund.

“It hasn’t been a problem for the past 100 years, so I don’t know why it would be today,” he said.

He added that an investigation doesn’t necessarily mean anything wrong was done. The cases in which state legislators have gone to prison involved bribery, he said, drawing a distinction.

“Anyone who takes a bribe should go to jail,” he said.

A report said that U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan is focused on the multimillion-dollar contracts awarded to build facilities for high-tech, drug development and clean-energy businesses. SUNY Polytechnic Institute has received subpoenas over the past several months for documents in connection with the investigation.

This article appeared in print on page 4 of the September 21st, 2015 edition of Hamodia.