As we told you last night, Gov. Andrew Cuomo is under fire after it was reported that his campaign received a $25,000 contribution from Harvey Weinstein’s former law firm, Boies, Schiller & Flexner, right before the governor suspended the state’s investigation into the failed prosecution of Weinstein in 2015″
BREAKING: NY Gov. Cuomo suspended Weinstein sexual assault investigation just as he raked in $25,000 from Weinstein’s longtime law firm https://t.co/hevKEmzeTs
— David Sirota (@davidsirota) August 29, 2018
But then team Cuomo made things worse and argued that the $25,000 donation is meaningless as Weinstein’s law firm really gave $200,000 over the past 10 years. From Cuomo press secretary Dani Lever:
As you point out, the firm donated $200K over the last 10 yr & that didn’t stop the Gov from directing the probe in the 1st place. You can’t have it both ways. The only reason to postpone for 6 months was to avoid interference w/ the ongoing criminal prosecution against Weinstein https://t.co/GIJEiQLgh9
— Dani Lever (@Dani_Lever) August 29, 2018
That’s not a good look, obviously. That the firm is a huge donor to the governor makes this better somehow?
Interesting: Andrew Cuomo's spokesperson is arguing that Cuomo previously vacuuming in $200,000 from Weinstein's lawyer & law firm means everything's totally cool. https://t.co/pTElIPFQVe
— David Sirota (@davidsirota) August 29, 2018
Team Cuomo then went on to claim that the story is inaccurate because the law firm in question, Boies, Schiller & Flexner, reportedly stopped representing Weinstein in 2017:
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Start with the fact that they haven’t been his lawyers since at least Nov 2017 (according to the @nytimes) time and space matter.
— Rich Azzopardi (@RichAzzopardi) August 30, 2018
So when the lead of the story is about someone’s lawyer who isn’t actually that person’s lawyer, feels inaccurate.
— Dani Lever (@Dani_Lever) August 30, 2018
But, SURPRISE! The investigation that Cuomo stopped was into whether or not Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance acted inappropriately in accepting campaign donations from Boies, Schiller & Flexner. So the fact that Boies, Schiller & Flexner is no longer Weinstein’s attorney doesn’t matter at all. From Capital & Main:
Amid explosive headlines about Boies’ donations to Vance and the district attorney’s decision not to prosecute Weinstein, Cuomo in March called for the New York Attorney General’s office to investigate the handling of the case, which revolved around accusations that Weinstein groped an Italian model.
While Vance in May opted to reverse course and charge the Hollywood producer, Cuomo declared that an investigation into Vance’s original decision to not prosecute Weinstein was necessary because, the governor said, “it is critical not only that these cases are given the utmost attention but also that there is public confidence in the handling of these cases.”
However, BuzzFeed on Tuesday reported that Cuomo reversed himself in June, sending a letter to New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood asking her to suspend the investigation for six months. The suspension effectively shields Boies from scrutiny of any potential relationship between his 2015 donation to Vance and Vance’s decision not to prosecute Weinstein.
Sorry, governor! Try again!
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Related:
'Cynthia is gonna LOVE this'! Looks like Andrew Cuomo's wrapped up in some VERY shady business https://t.co/I7zvDUwrFj
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) August 29, 2018
"SELF-OWN": Andrew Cuomo accidentally admits he's a liar in fiery debate with Cynthia Nixon https://t.co/hGW3vE5tke
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) August 30, 2018
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