Cuomo Defends Former Aide Under Federal Investigation

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is defending a former aide and campaign manager who is under federal investigation.

Joseph Percoco was the Democratic governor’s executive secretary until early January. In 2014, he took a leave of absence from government to work for Cuomo’s campaign and for companies that did business with the state.

“I’m saying I’ve known Joe Percoco for many years and he’s a good man and I’d be shocked if he did anything wrong, but let’s get the facts and then we can make our own decisions,” Cuomo said Monday night after attending the Association for a Better New York’s annual Spirit of ABNY Awards in Manhattan.

“He was a consultant to my campaign during the time he was gone. He told me he might accept other consulting contracts. He then came back to state service after the campaign,” Cuomo said. “When he came back to state service, obviously, he stopped representing those other clients.”

Percoco’s own disclosure documents show that in 2014 he received up to $75,000 from COR Development and up to $50,000 from CHA Consulting. At the same time, he was paid between $100,000 and $150,000 from the Cuomo campaign.

Cuomo also reiterated that former criminal prosecutor Bart Schwartz would conduct a “full internal review” into the matter. On Friday, the governor announced that Schwartz had been hired to review the governor’s upstate economic development initiative after learning that U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara was investigating potential conflicts of interest and improper bidding regarding the Buffalo Billion initiative.

The Buffalo Billion centerpiece is a $750 million factory the state is building for SolarCity.

This article appeared in print on page 24 of the May 4th, 2016 edition of Hamodia.