It’s not every day that we have a reason to praise former New York Democrat Governor Andrew Cuomo for getting something right, but his recent comments on prosecutors in the district attorneys’ offices in several states using investigations to go after former President Donald Trump are mostly spot-on.
Obviously, the one on most people’s minds this week has been from Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s office, over a hush money payment made for Trump by Michael Cohen for the alleged affair with Stormy Daniels. But late on Wednesday, as we reported, a letter from 2018 emerged that may blow up the entire case.
That came on the heels of Bragg’s office responding to a House Judiciary Committee inquiry earlier in the day, over the decision to reopen the case:
Bragg was responding in part to the following letters from the House Judiciary Committee calling his actions an “unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority.” They were trying to talk to the prosecutors who quit over Bragg’s refusal to proceed with the matter when he first came in because they likely this will shed more light that this action is political.
Which brings us to Cuomo nailing the problem with these kinds of prosecutions (or attempts at them) against Trump in the lead up to the 2024 election.
Cuomo sat down for an interview on “The Cats Roundtable,” a talk radio show on WABC 770 hosted by John Catsimatidis. According to The Hill, “He said he ‘doesn’t understand’ why Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) is ‘putting such an emphasis’ on the case.”
Cuomo argued that the case should be over a possible misdemeanor, but also that it should be a federal case instead of a state one.
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Cuomo said a campaign finance violation case would be a federal case, but that type of case is necessary for it to be a felony instead of a misdemeanor. He said prosecutors bringing “partisan” cases confirms people’s “cynicism.”
Cuomo also talked about other cases—past and future—that Democrats are or have considered prosecuting, including NY AG Letitia James’ case against the Trump Organization and a potential case in Fulton County, Georgia, about 2020:
Cuomo said he does not believe that what he characterized as Bragg, New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) going after Trump is a coincidence.
He didn’t mince words:
“I don’t believe a Democratic prosecutor just happens to be attacking a Republican. I don’t believe a Republican prosecutor just happens to be attacking a Democrat. I think it’s all politics, and I think that’s what the people of this country are saying,” he said.
But while Cuomo comes to the right conclusion about what’s happening to Donald Trump, the last part of what he said above gives a hint that it’s for the wrong reason. As usual, it’s all about Cuomo. Remember, it was the report James released that “found he sexually harassed 11 women,” which led to his resignation:
A Cuomo spokesperson told The Hill in a statement that James’s report was a “sham” and noted that prosecutors did not move forward with any case from either investigation.
