What Andrew Cuomo was worried about, maybe
Briefing: Cuomo. Lauren Murphy via flickr
9:49 am Jul. 31, 2012
Today, Danny Hakim spins two separate but related stories out of some documents from Andrew Cuomo's attorney general days.
One story details a request by former governor David Paterson to replace ten white members of his State Police detail with black and Latino officers. The request was made by Paterson aide David Johnson, and was eventually rebuffed.
Another story reports that Cuomo "angered top officials at the agency by discouraging them from obtaining legal representation during the inquiry," an allegation that is disputed by the Cuomo's press office and the attorney who was recruited by Cuomo to lead the investigation at the time.
The allegations, if true, would speak poorly of Cuomo's ethics as a lawyer, but wouldn't entail any legal consequences for him.
The accuser is a longtime critic of Cuomo, and the governor's office strongly denied the allegations—claiming important witnesses were almost always represented by counsel—so Hakim qualifies the main anecdote as a "reputed conversation," which undoes a little of its explosiveness.
But for Cuomo it portends the kind of scrutiny he'll have to learn to live with at some point between now and 2016.
CORRECTION: The original version of this post stated that the documents the Times based its story on were obtained from the state archives. According to the governor's spokesman, the documents are at the attorney general's office but not at the archives.
Romney World Tour
Mitt Romney's traveling press secretary tells reporters to "shove it." [Justin Sink]
“Kiss my ass; this is a holy site for the Polish people,” said aide Rick Gorka. “Show some respect.” [Jonathan Martin]
Earlier, in Israel, Romney angered Palestinians by suggesting Israeli "culture" was responsible for its higher GDP. [Ashley Parker and Richard Oppel Jr.]
The Times editorial board says Romney's pro-Israel rhetoric "would complicate America’s ability to act as a broker in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts." [The New York Times]
It was the end of a rough trip for Romney, but will it matter? [Chris Cillizza and Aaron Blake]
2012
Democrats took the first step toward adding same-sex marriage to the party platform. [Chris Johnson]
The young, telegenic mayor of San Antonio will be the party's keynote speaker. [Byron Tau]
The Obama campaign debuted a new, high-tech canvassing app. [Michael Shear]
Romney will announce his vice presidential pick on a new app called "Mitt's VP." [No link]
David Brooks jumps on the "dullest campaign ever" bandwagon. [David Brooks]
Guns
New York is a "market state" for guns, says an ATF supervisor. [David Seifman, Sally Goldenberg and Bob Fredericks]
New York City
The city's bike-sharing program is already asking for a little more cash up front. [David Seifman]
Brooklyn residents are pushing back against a $40 million gift that would put a velodrome in Brooklyn Bridge Park. [Lisa Foderaro]
A Spanish tourist got hit with a claw hammer in City Hall Park. [Sarah Armagan]
The Cuomo administration raised its deficit projection for next year to $982 million from $950 million. [Erik Kriss]
The administration also said the LIBOR scandal might have cost the state $136 million. [Ken Lovett]
Azi Paybarah is out today. We'll return with the regularly scheduled, full-length Briefing tomorrow.
