Perdido 03

Perdido 03

Monday, June 8, 2015

Another Cuomo Moreland Mystery (UPDATED)

Fred Dicker in today's Post:

Where’s Joe?

It’s a question many Albany Democrats are asking regarding longtime Cuomo aide Joseph Percoco, who appears to have dropped from sight.

“There are a lot of questions about what’s going on with Joe and very few answers,’’ said a Democratic activist and Democratic Party insider.

“You can occasionally get him on the phone but he’s not around the way he once was and people are wondering why not.”

Percoco was up to his next in post-closure Moreland tampering:

Joseph Percoco, a longtime political aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, contacted several members of the state’s now-shuttered anti-corruption commission during the past week and encouraged them to make public statements supporting the governor and affirming the panel’s independence.

According to multiple sources familiar with the matter, Percoco allegedly offered to provide draft statements to those he contacted, and in some cases encouraged them to communicate with him through private emails rather than using their government email accounts.

Monday’s flurry of statements from Moreland members prompted a warning Wednesday from U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who is looking into allegations that the administration interfered with the panel’s investigations.

Percoco, who previously served as the governor’s executive deputy secretary, has worked for Cuomo’s re-election campaign committee for several months. A quiet but formidable lawyer, he has been a behind-the-scenes fixture in Cuomo’s inner circle for many years, including during his four years as state attorney general and in his earlier role as U.S. housing secretary.

Attempts to reach Percoco were not successful. 

Percoco's dropped from sight?

Given his history with helping tamper with the Moreland Commission, that is interesting.

It remains a mystery for now.

Perhaps we'll get some clarification in the near future.

If the weirdness the governor is displaying is any indication, I bet we might.

UPDATE: And now we indeed get some clarification:

ALBANY—Longtime gubernatorial confidant Joe Percoco has returned to the office, more than a month after undergoing hip surgery, according to administration officials.
Percoco, whose title is executive deputy secretary, is a political counselor who doubles as Governor Andrew Cuomo's enforcer. Percoco managed both of Cuomo's gubernatorial campaigns, and the governor has likened him to a brother.

Cuomo's spokeswoman Melissa DeRosa said on Twitter and in an email that Percoco had surgery to repair a torn labrum in his hip. Another administration source said the April 29 procedure was in the works for months, and that Percoco is in Albany today using crutches.

The officials spoke in response to a New York Post column by Fred Dicker on Monday, which quoted a “Democratic activist and Democratic Party insider” as saying Percoco was “not around.”

Well, now we know they read Dicker's column.

Interesting that they responded to the part of the column that wondered where Percoco was but not the part of the column that reported the sucttlebutt from Albany that Cuomo is in the sights of the US attorney.

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