Longtime Aide To Governors Andrew, Mario Cuomo Faces Federal Investigation
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo spoke the first time Monday night about federal subpoenas that hit his administration last week.
As CBS2's Brian Conybeare reported, Cuomo called the allegations against a former top aide "deeply troubling."
The probe targets Joseph Percoco, who has been one of the governor's closest advisors and confidants for nearly 30 years. The former top aide also worked for the late former Gov. Mario Cuomo, the current governor's father.
He was thanked for his service during the elder Cuomo's funeral.
"This is just a terrible situation," the current Gov. Cuomo said. "There's always a potential for fraud, mistakes, wrongdoing."
According to Percoco's 2014 state mandated financial disclosure statement, he received $50,000 to $75,000 in consulting fees from 'Cor Development' and $20,000 to $50,000 from CHA Consulting, two companies involved with Buffalo Billions, a state-funded upstate revitalization program.
"They will be going through the entire program exhaustively, and you have the U.S. Attorney who is, as he should be, doing his job," Cuomo said.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara's office issued subpoenas last week. Percoco took a leave of absence in 2014 to work on Cuomo's reelection campaign, and the governor admits Percoco told him he might do outside consulting at the same time – which is technically legal.
"When he came back to state service, obviously he stopped representing the other clients," Cuomo said.
When asked whether Percoco violated his trust, Cuomo said, "I want to know the facts first."
The governor's office said it has hired an investigator to look into any wrongdoing including the possibility that Percoco was doing work on behalf of the governor while working in his new role in the private sector as Senior Vice President of Madison Square Garden. He has been in that position since January.
Percoco's attorney released a statement saying, "Joe Percoco believed that he was acting appropriately at all times."
Blair Horner is from the New York Public Interest Research Group. He said real reform is needed.
"It's more dirty laundry for Albany," he said.
Horner said the allegations are surprising even when it comes to New York state politics.
"The intertwined relationships between lobbyists and representing the government at the same time – that makes this an unusual story even by Albany's unusual standards," he said.
He said this controversy could very well affect the governor's future decisions to push or not to push for ethics reform in government.
Cuomo, for his part, said he hopes no crimes were committed.
"He is a good man, and I would be shocked if he did anything wrong," Cuomo said.
In one strange twist on Monday, Cor Development – one of the companies Percoco said he consulted for, said they "did not hire, retain or pay Joe Percoco in any capacity."