Preet Bharara: Cuomo Can Talk About Moreland

Governor Cuomo likes to refuse answering Moreland-related questions by claiming the feds don't want him talking about it.

US Attorney Preet Bharara says that's not the case at all:

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a television interview with MSNBC airing this week that Gov. Andrew Cuomo can talk about the federal government’s probe into the Moreland Commission To Investigate Public Corruption.

“People are able to exercise their public role in the way they see fit. They are allowed to exercise their first amendment rights,” Bharara said.

...    

Cuomo in the summer said the “public dialogue” around the commission is not helpful to the U.S. attorney, saying that he would no longer comment on the case as a result.

 ...

Asked whether he put a gag on Cuomo to discuss the case, Bharara said, “I don’t think that’s true, because I’ve heard comments that have been attributed to the governor. So, you know, how he wants to interpret what he can and cannot say is up to him. And you can direct those questions elsewhere.”  

In short, Cuomo's full of it when he says he can't answer Moreland-related questions.

What the US Attorney told him to do last summer was to stop tampering with potential witnesses in the case, not stop commenting publicly about it.

So Albany press corps, ask away - Preet says it's okay.