FBI Executed Search Warrants In Four Different Locations In Buffalo Billion Corruption Investigation

From the NY Times:

Financial disclosure statements from a former senior aide and campaign manager to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, currently at the center of an investigation involving improper lobbying and conflicts of interest, show that he earned at least $70,000 in consulting fees in 2014 from two entities that do business with the state.

The aide, Joseph Percoco, was one of Mr. Cuomo’s closest confidants and was employed by him as his executive deputy secretary until early January, when he left for a job as senior vice president at Madison Square Garden.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are currently looking at whether Mr. Percoco and his wife failed to properly disclose thousands of dollars in income they had received from entities doing business with the state, according to people briefed on the matter.

The state’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics, known as Jcope, received a federal grand jury subpoena seeking copies of Mr. Percoco’s financial disclosure forms more than a week ago, according to a person familiar with the subpoena. F.B.I. agents from the Buffalo office have executed search warrants at locations around Buffalo, Albany, New York City and Washington, several people briefed on the matter said.

Also last week, the governor’s office received a grand jury subpoena seeking a broad range of records, including correspondence and other documents, reflecting whether Mr. Percoco may have sought a benefit on behalf of any of the companies that paid him and his wife, or anyone else, a person with knowledge of the subpoena said.

Search warrants at locations around Buffalo, Albany, New York and Washington.

Subpoenas to JCOPE and the governor's office.

Cuomo talked to the press last night in an extraordinary effort toward damage control.

But the governor's jive is meaningless in the face of search warrants and subpoenas.

Cuomo Dines With Executive Director Of JCOPE At Her Family's Restaurant, Says Meeting Was "Coincidence"

Ken Lovett in the Daily News:

ALBANY - Gov. Cuomo earlier this week dined with the executive director of the state ethics commission that oversees his administration at a restaurant in upstate Saugerties owned by her extended family.

Kingston media reported Cuomo ate at Sue's Restaurant — but not the fact that a dining companion was Letizia Tagliafierro, the executive director of the Joint Commission on Public Ethics that has jurisdiction not only over the Legislature, but also the executive branch.

A source said Cuomo and his aides arrived separately from Tagliafierro, who joined the group later for a dinner that ended at midnight.

Tagliafierro worked for Cuomo in both the Attorney General's office and the governor's office. The fact she and her old boss had dinner about 45 minutes south of the Capitol raised eyebrows.

 "Given how (the governor) gets involved in everything, how he got involved with the operations of the Moreland Commission, it just doesn't look good," said one source.

Cuomo's flying attack monkey, Rich Azzopardi, said the meeting was an innocent coincidence, that Cuomo went to the Kingston restaurant owned by Tagliafierro's extended family on the recommendation of aides and she just happened to be there.

Sure.

You can't make this stuff up.

Silver already under arrest, rumors swirling that Skelos is next and Cuomo's still playing games.

Hey, Preet, when are you taking the third amigo out in cuffs?