{"id":10511,"date":"2014-07-23T16:39:02","date_gmt":"2014-07-23T20:39:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gunpoliticsny.com\/?p=10511"},"modified":"2014-07-23T16:39:02","modified_gmt":"2014-07-23T20:39:02","slug":"ny-times-hits-cuomo-hard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gunpoliticsny.com\/?p=10511","title":{"rendered":"NY Times hits Cuomo hard"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Times hits Governor Cuomo<\/a> hard, “Cuomo\u2019s Office Hobbled Ethics Inquiries by Moreland Commission<\/a>“:<\/p>\n

“… [The Moreland Commission<\/a>] was barely two months old when its investigators, hunting for violations of campaign-finance laws, issued a subpoena to a media-buying firm that had placed millions of dollars\u2019 worth of advertisements for the New York State Democratic Party<\/a> … Word that the subpoena had been served quickly reached Mr. Cuomo\u2019s most senior aide, Lawrence S. Schwartz<\/a>. He called one of the commission\u2019s three co-chairs, William J. Fitzpatrick<\/a>, the district attorney in Syracuse. \u201cThis is wrong,\u201d Mr. Schwartz said, according to Mr. Fitzpatrick, whose account was corroborated by three other people told about the call at the time. He said the firm worked for the governor, and issued a simple directive: \u201cPull it back.\u201d …”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Larry Schwartz was involved?\u00a0 Here’s my shocked face<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“… The pulled-back subpoena was the most flagrant example of how the commission, established with great ceremony by Mr. Cuomo in July 2013, was hobbled almost from the outset by demands from the governor\u2019s office … many commissioners and investigators saw the demands as politically motivated interference that hamstrung an undertaking that the governor had publicly vowed would be independent.\u00a0 The commission developed a list of promising targets … The panel also highlighted activities that it saw as politically odious but perfectly legal … But a three-month examination by The New York Times found that the governor\u2019s office deeply compromised the panel\u2019s work, objecting whenever the commission focused on groups with ties to Mr. Cuomo or on issues that might reflect poorly on him …”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

No kidding.<\/p>\n

Is this the beginning of the end for Andrew?<\/p>\n