Andrew Cuomo Shuts Down Committee To Save New York PAC So That He Doesn't Have To Reveal His Donors

The NY Times reported yesterday that Andrew Cuomo's PAC, the Committee To Save New York, is shutting down:

The Committee to Save New York, a coalition of business leaders that spent millions of dollars supporting the agenda of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and that seemed, overnight, to become the biggest lobbying force in Albany, said on Friday that it was shutting down. 

“From our perspective, we believe our mission was largely successful,” said Michael McKeon, a spokesman for the group. He added that the decision to shut down was motivated by the election calendar, as the group did not want to be seen as interfering with next year’s state elections. 

“We decided that to avoid any suggestion that we would play in electoral politics, the time had come for us to close up shop,” Mr. McKeon said. 

The committee was formed near the end of 2010, as Mr. Cuomo was preparing to assume office, and proved to be a critical ally for him. Over the next two years, it reported spending more than $16 million to support his agenda, financing television commercials advocating his positions. The group spent more money on lobbying than any other organization in New York State in 2011 and 2012.

While it was active, the committee was not required to reveal where it was getting its money from. Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, came under scrutiny last year after a report that the committee had received $2 million from gambling interests at the same time the governor was developing a proposal to expand casino gambling in the state. 

Under a state ethics law approved by Mr. Cuomo in 2011, nonprofit lobbying groups are now required to disclose the sources of their funds. The Committee to Save New York has been dormant since the disclosure requirement took effect, and Mr. Cuomo has instead used the State Democratic Party to finance commercials promoting his agenda. 

A spokesman for Mr. Cuomo declined to comment on Friday.

If you read the article carefully, you see the Times buried the lede in the fourth and sixth paragrpahs:

The committee was formed near the end of 2010, as Mr. Cuomo was preparing to assume office, and proved to be a critical ally for him. Over the next two years, it reported spending more than $16 million to support his agenda, financing television commercials advocating his positions. The group spent more money on lobbying than any other organization in New York State in 2011 and 2012

 ...

Under a state ethics law approved by Mr. Cuomo in 2011, nonprofit lobbying groups are now required to disclose the sources of their funds. The Committee to Save New York has been dormant since the disclosure requirement took effect, and Mr. Cuomo has instead used the State Democratic Party to finance commercials promoting his agenda.

Cuomo never revealed who the Committee raised money from and never revealed the level of coordination between his administration and the Committee.

We do know that that the Committee took in a couple of million in donations from overseas gambling interests right before Cuomo expanded gambling in the state.

But the rest of the money raised - millions and millions of dollars that they threw into ads hawking Cuomo's anti-union, pro-corporate agenda - we have no idea where that money came from.

And now, with CSNY closing, they'll never disclose it.

But you can bet Cuomo, who put not one Wall Street criminal in jail while he was attorney general during the worst financial collapse since the Great Depression, and his PAC took money from some pretty crooked people.

And we can assume the quid pro quo we have seen with Cuomo and the gambling industry and Cuomo and the real estate industry was a pattern followed closely with the CSNY donors.

Andrew Cuomo likes to position himself as the sheriff of Albany but in point of fact, he is one of the most corrupt politicians up there.

So far, his power and his willingness to use it to crush opposition and critics has saved him from disclosure.

But if and when he runs for president in 2016, this stuff will come out.

Andrew Cuomo will not be able to stand the scrutiny of a presidential campaign anymore than Joe Bruno or Alan Hevei could have if they'd chosen to run for president.