Chief Counsel To Andrew Cuomo, Tied Up In Moreland Mess, Resigns

From the Wall Street Journal:

One of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's longest-serving senior aides, Mylan Denerstein, will leave her post with the administration on Friday, a spokeswoman for the governor's office confirmed Tuesday.

Ms. Denerstein, who has worked as counsel to the governor since he took office, will depart for a job in the private sector, the spokeswoman, Melissa DeRosa, said. Ms. DeRosa declined to specify Ms. Denerstein's next role or provide a reason for her departure, but her exit had been expected for several months.

The WSJ fails to mention this bit of news from over the summer:

Federal prosecutors investigating Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s shutdown of an anticorruption commission have subpoenaed the assistant to its former executive director to testify before a grand jury in Manhattan, suggesting that the criminal inquiry has moved to a new stage, people briefed on the matter said on Thursday.

Federal agents served the subpoena on the assistant, Heather Green, on Wednesday morning, appearing at her doorstep before 7 a.m., the people said. Ms. Green, who is not believed to be a target of the inquiry, worked as an executive assistant to the anticorruption panel’s former executive director, Regina Calcaterra, until Mr. Cuomo announced he was disbanding the panel, known as the Moreland Commission, on March 29.

The subpoena, according to two people who have seen it or been briefed on its contents, asked for documents and correspondence, including any communications with Mr. Cuomo and his senior aides. It also directed Ms. Green to appear July 28 to testify before a grand jury in Manhattan, the people said.

Separately, Mylan L. Denerstein, counsel to the governor, has agreed to be interviewed in early August by federal prosecutors about her involvement with the panel, one of the people said. 

...  

The direction of Mr. Bharara’s criminal inquiry remains unclear, but it appears to be focused on whether shuttering the panel, or any actions before it, interfered with any prospective federal investigations.

It was not immediately clear how Ms. Green’s testimony fit into the criminal inquiry. While news reports have disclosed that several subpoenas had already been served in connection with the investigation, all of those were for documents and other materials, not for testimony.

And then there was this news from late July:

ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo has lawyered up in response to the growing scandal over the way he handled his anti-corruption commission, the Daily News has learned.

Cuomo hired prominent white-collar criminal defense lawyer Elkan Abramowitz in May to represent the governor’s office in U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s probe into the administration’s dealings with the Moreland Commission, sources told The News.

Cuomo’s top aides, Secretary to the Governor Larry Schwartz and counsel Mylan Denerstein, have also hired their own personal attorneys, the sources said. Cuomo separately has sought advice from several lawyers, the sources said.

Abramowitz confirmed to The News, which first broke the story on nydailynews.com, that he was hired to represent the executive chamber. He said he is serving in much the same role Denerstein might have filled if she wasn’t a potential witness in Bharara’s probe. Denerstein, who is leaving the administration soon, is scheduled to meet with Bharara’s investigators sometime this month.

Perhaps Denerstein's resignation has been expected for months, as the WSJ reports.

But that doesn't detract from the fact that she's tied up in the Moreland Commission mess and that may be another reason why she's going.

Shame the pro-Cuomo WSJ didn't think adding Denerstein's being interviewed by the US attorney in the Moreland investigation and lawyering up to deal with the mess was relevant to the story about her resignation.

It certainly seems relevant to me.