But Bob McManus of the NY Post writes that the Silver verdict should make Cuomo very worried:
Monday’s guilty-on-all-counts verdict was swiftly arrived at, and surely chilled the air in the nearby courtroom where US Attorney Preet Bharara has put another erstwhile Albany power broker, former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, on trial for his future.
Not to rush things, but Bharara’s brief against Skelos — a sad man who allegedly indulged an arrogant, greedy, stupid son by strong-arming businessmen — isn’t nearly as nuanced as was the case against Silver.
That is, jury deliberations in the Skelos case aren’t likely to last longer than the minute and 45 seconds that it took to convict Silver.
And then there will be one man left standing — Gov. Cuomo, who has been squarely in Bharara’s sights for months now; not-guilty verdicts in Silver’s case would have let the steam out of whatever it is that the prosecutor is planning for Cuomo, and that didn’t happen.
Which has to weigh heavily on the governor. Though no one is suggesting that he ever put an untoward penny in his own pocket, he’s beefed up his campaign accounts with millions from people who figured prominently in both the Silver and Skelos cases.
If there’s something there, no matter how minuscule, Bharara will stretch it to its limits. If nothing else, he’s the hardest-charging New York prosecutor since Maurice Nadjari.
No, wait, make that former US Attorney Rudy Giuliani — not to project career ambitions or anything.
The feds have subpoenaed Cuomo donors in the governor's vaunted Buffalo Billion Project in an effort to find out just why the contract bids in the project seemed, well, rigged just for them.
Here are some links on the Buffalo Billion case (here, here, here, here and here.)
Maybe nothing comes of this and it's all fine for Cuomo administration officials, Cuomo donors and Cuomo himself.
But something to keep in mind:
Bharara hasn't leaked this kind of stuff before without acting on it later (certainly not in the Silver and Skelos cases.)
The Buffalo Billion leaks came two months ago.
The timeline in the Silver and Skelos cases was for concrete actions to come a few months after the initial leaks.
For example, the Skelos leaks came in January but he wasn't indicted until May.
Maybe there is no pattern, maybe none of this means anything.
But I wouldn't yet dismiss it out of hand either.
I bet Cuomo hasn't.
Cuomo and Hillary Clinton have been given de facto immunity by the Obama administration. If politics were a chess game, then Hillary would be the Queen and Cuomo a rook. The Democratic Party will not give up these "pieces" without a long deliberative process. In fact the Obama folks have lied to win elections as in the Bengazi cover up. They are also willing to cheat as in cheating the justice system.
ReplyDelete10:15AM is quite correct in their estimation that Cuomo is well "insulated" by his party's establishment. 10:15AM does, unfortunately, err in their election and Benghazi narratives in such a way as to suggest that the manufactured confusion of the right wing is wildly effective. That is, though, beside the point here.
ReplyDeleteThe real truth here is that there is nothing but assumptions to suggest that Preet is focused on Cuomo.....yes there are subpoenas and all that, but those can lead a million places other than Cuomo. Cuomo is the establishment Dems guy in NY and is insulated as such. Nothing suggests otherwise. Even Schumer's dislike of Cuomo doesn't really count. Two hard-on's from NY who both have oversize egos dislike each other!!!!!???? Shocking.
Beyond that, the media has a real and tangible interest in going with the assumptions and speculation. So when someone from the NY Post or Nowhereville News speculates out loud that "Cuomo HAS to be next!!" well, we should take that for what it is. Self-interested speculation that is, unfortunately, much too easy to perceive as close to fact or truth.....when it is no different than me or whoever else saying it. They are trying to sell papers and gin up drama.
Cuomo stays. Perhaps he is even re-elected.
I believe Cuomo will come under very tough scrutiny by Preet. I do not agree with the other commenters at all.
ReplyDeleteOrdering mass deletion of emails and decommissioning an investigation does not portend well for the old scorpion.
ReplyDeleteJustice delayed is justice denied.
ReplyDelete11:40 a.m. needs to understand that Chuck Schumer does not like Cuomo at all. Steve Israel does not like Cuomo at all. Say what you want about Bill deBlasio, but he heads the strongest political organization in the country. We know that he doesn't like Cuomo. Do you think Carl Heastie likes Cuomo? Andrea Stewart-Cousins?
ReplyDeleteSo, when the leaks get especially hot and heavy, we will see just how few friends Cuomo really has in the party establishment. I suspect he doesn't have many.
http://buffalochronicle.com/2015/12/01/emboldened-by-silver-conviction-bharara-to-indict-cuomo-jan-2nd/
ReplyDelete