New Report: New York Dem Gov Andrew Cuomo Violates Own Executive Order On Campaign Cash

Already facing a mounting crisis stemming from his top-aide’s corruption trial, New York Democrat Governor Andrew Cuomo is again under fire for ethics violations. This time, Cuomo is reportedly violating an executive order he himself signed into law.

The New York Times reported over the weekend that Cuomo is benefiting from an ethically challenged system of campaign contributions, in which he accepted campaign contributions from his own wealthy government appointees. Yet despite renewing a 2007 executive order aimed at stopping that practice on his first day in office, the New York Times finds that Cuomo is now openly violating his own directive.

Mr. Cuomo renewed the order on his first day in office. But a New York Times investigation found that the Cuomo administration has quietly reinterpreted the directive, enabling him to collect about $890,000 from two dozen of his appointees. Some gave within days of being appointed. The governor also has accepted $1.3 million from the spouses, children and businesses of appointees, state records show.”

Cuomo is raking in campaign cash in an apparent quid-pro-quo scheme despite his own executive order explicitly forbidding the practice. The New York Times continues,

The executive order explicitly forbids appointees from soliciting donations for the governor. Yet multiple appointees have done so, like Mr. Weiss and Mr. Manning last fall, raising a considerable additional amount for Mr. Cuomo.”

After seven years, watchdogs say Mr. Cuomo’s ethics record, despite some new measures, has been mostly a disappointment, from his disbanding of the Moreland Commission on public corruption to his aggressive use of campaign-finance loopholes.”

This latest bombshell report is yet another piece of evidence that shows Cuomo is just another politician looking out for himself.