Rob Astorino: Cuomo May Be Helping Christie Cover Up Bridgegate Scandal

Rob Astorino today outside Tweed courthouse, reacting to statements made by Chris Christie that he, as head of the Republican National Governors Association, won't help Astorino in his race against Cuomo:

At a press conference in Manhattan Tuesday, Astorino said, “If Gov. Christie is unable to help a Republican candidate for governor, then maybe he should consider stepping down as chairman of the RGA. That's his job.”

...

Astorino said he had a good relationship with Christie, but “my take is maybe it’s inconvenient to come over the bridge to New York to help a Republican candidate for governor here. That’s his call, whether he wants to or not, but as RGA chair he has governors and candidates who have a chance to win ... and it’s incumbent upon him to help all of us.”

He also suggested that Gov. Cuomo was in cahoots with Christie in the Bridgegate scandal that has cast a shadow over Christie’s presidential ambitions.

“I don’t know if there’s a connection between him and Andrew Cuomo on Bridgegate, or if Cuomo has something that he’s holding back, information that could be damaging to the governor,” Astorino speculated.

“Whatever Gov. Christie knew or didn’t know is probably the same for Gov. Cuomo. And if there’s anything being held back that Gov. Cuomo knows and if he’s holding that over Gov. Christie’s head, I don’t know.”

Astorino made his comments at a joint press conference with Democratic Primary gadfly Zephyr Teachout, to highlight what they called the "growing corruption crisis in Albany" under Cuomo.

I have already speculated the very same here at Perdido Street School blog (see here and here.)

It would be great if Cuomo got some scrutiny for his actions (and lack of action) in the Bridgegate matter.

In addition, Astorino, along with Zephyr Teachout, called out some more Cuomo corruption:

Republican candidate for governor Rob Astorino and Democratic hopeful Zephyr Teachout in a joint news conference on Tuesday knocked Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s record on ethics and his decision to shutdown the Moreland Commission investigating the Legislature.

The unusual joining of forces for Astorino and Teachout at the Tweed Courthouse in New York City comes as both candidates struggle to raise their name recognition with voters as polls show they continue to be largely unknown.

Both Teachout and Astorino called on Cuomo to stop airing television ads touting the state’s business climate, which is being paid for by the Empire State Development Corp.

And they criticized Cuomo’s closure of the Moreland Commission on Public Corruption, a panel he set up and then disbanded in April after state lawmakers agreed to an ethics package in the state budget.

Astorino and Teachout should hit Cuomo again and again and again on ethics - that is where he, like his partner in crime Chris Christie, is most vulnerable.