Waste of the Day: New Yorkers Spend $25 Million on Ex-Governor’s Legal Troubles

Topline: The State of New York has spent $25.4 million to defend former Gov. Andrew Cuomo from sexual harassment lawsuits and criminal investigations over the last three years, The New York Times reported this month.

New York still must defend its former governor

Key facts: More than half of the money was spent on four lawsuits in state and federal court. The rest was used to defend Cuomo against a state investigation into his alleged workplace misconduct and a recent House of Representatives investigation into the 15,000 deaths at New York nursing homes during the Covid-19 pandemic.

New York state law says taxpayer funds must be used for Cuomo’s defense because he was an elected official at the time.

The court cases are just one piece of the total taxpayer bill.

In 2021, the state attorney general released a report accusing Cuomo of sexually harassing at least 11 women. It cost the state $7.7 million to prepare, according to the Times.

Cuomo resigned following the report’s release but has maintained his innocence and says the attacks against him are politically motivated.

Had Cuomo not resigned, the State Assembly was ready to impeach him with the help of a private firm that earned $7 million to prepare a case against him, the Times found.

Search all federal, state and local government salaries and vendor spending with the AI search bot, Benjamin, at OpenTheBooks.com.

Why not settle?

Critical quote: Valdi Licul, a lawyer representing one of the alleged victims, told the Times that the state could save money by settling the cases instead of trying to prove Cuomo’s innocence.

The state has already found that these women were subjected to a hostile work environment. Every state and federal agency that has looked at this has corroborated those findings. It’s mind-boggling that the state would now pay tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer money to try to defeat the victims here.

Supporting quote:

We have a right to defend ourselves against baseless claims and uncover the facts that were hidden away in the political arena. These cases have already started falling apart, and once they are entirely dismissed we fully intend to seek attorneys’ fees from the plaintiffs to reimburse the state. Rich Azzopardi, spokesman for former Gov. Cuomo

Summary: Cuomo certainly has the right to defend himself in court, but he should do it on his own dime.

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This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.