Gov. Andrew Cuomo during his 2017 State of the State speech in Buffalo on Jan. 9, 2017. (image from New York Governor’s Office)
ALBANY – An investigative report from the Albany Times-Union is revealing that the recently convicted aid to Gov. Andrew Cuomo allegedly used tax-payer funded phone lines while working on the governor’s reelection campaign.
According to the report, longtime Cuomo Aide Joe Percoco left the state payroll for eight months to work for the governor’s reelection effort in 2014.
However, records show the taxpayer-funded phone line in Percoco’s former government office was used 68 times to call the Cuomo campaign office in Manhattan.
Percoco’s attorney said Percoco never made campaign-related calls on the government phone and that others may have used the phone for that purpose.
State Law prohibits the use of “property, services or other resources of the state” for political campaigns.
The law is intended to prevent incumbent politicians from using taxpayer funds to gain political advantage over electoral opponents.
Cuomo has said he believed that during the nearly eight months Percoco was his 2014 campaign manager, Percoco was simply doing work in his former office to transition out of his former position as the governor’s executive deputy secretary.
Percoco was recently convicted in federal court on bribery and corruption charges.
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