Perdido Street School

I know, seems like crazy talk - and yet, here it is, in plain English:



The Federalist, a conservative Internet outlet, puts the Clinton comment in perspective: 

According to U.S. Department of Education statistics, there were just over 98,000 public schools in the U.S. as of the 2011-2012 school year, the most recent year for which complete data are available. Under Hillary Clinton’s proposed education plan to shutter all average and below average schools, that would mean that nearly 50,000 schools would have to be shut down, assuming that the median and average national school performance were roughly equal. Nearly two-thirds of those schools targeted by Clinton’s proposal–over 30,000–would be elementary schools.

Well, that's how the plan would play out initially.

But then, after you've closed half the schools in the country, you'd have to re-calculate the whole thing, as Mercedes Schneider points out:

A numeric average is a relative statistic. If I have a set of numeric values and I calculate an average using the set, by definition, some individual values will fall below average, and likely, some will be right on the average. If I remove these below-average and average values, the original average does not remain fixed– and if I average the remaining originally-above-average values, some will newly be below average, and likely, some exactly average.

...


Of course, closing “below average” and “average” schools only leads to a recalculated average among remaining schools– some of which would be “below average” upon recalculation– and some of which would likely be exactly average.

In short, by the end of the evaluation process, if we keep closing schools that are "less than average" we will end up with just one school left.

But even then, that school wouldn't be above average, since it would be the only one left.

As Schneider notes, under the Clinton education plan for closing schools, that one would have to go too.

An entire school closure plan for the country -  that, it seems, is what Hillary Clinton intends.

That would be the Obama administration's Race to the Top policies on super steroids.

Now perhaps she misspoke, perhaps she's tired from all the time and energy spent on the campaign trail, perhaps she doesn't understand what the word "average" means in the way that she used it.

Perhaps.

Or perhaps she is the same pro-charter, pro-privatization shill who sat on the board of Walmart for all those years getting set to do to the country's public school system what George W. Bush and Barack Obama could only dream of doing.

I'll say this:

I don't trust her, I don't like her and I wouldn't vote for her for any reason.

After this latest Clinton mess, I am so glad my union, the American Federation of Teachers, already endorsed her during this summer, a full year+ before the election.

One final point:

Since her pal, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has said multiple times he wants to "break" the public school "monopoly" and called for the "death penalty" for "failing" schools, perhaps Clinton can hire him as secretary of education to carry out her closure policies?

Given the destruction Clinton plans for the public school system, Cuomo sounds like he would be perfect for the job of Head School Closer.

Assuming Cuomo's not in prison, that is...or Hillary isn't, for that matter...

The NY Post points out Cuomo's hypocrisy on his latest campaign donation scheme - scalping World Series tickets:

The Post reported Tuesday, Gov. Cuomo is using the Mets’ home games in the World Series to raise himself some campaign cash.

His staff picked up a “very limited number” of tickets to this week’s Games 3 and 4 at Citi Field — and is selling tickets to supporters for as much as $5,500.

...

Now, scalping is perfectly legal in New York; a whole secondary market exists for that purpose. But Cuomo’s charging a major markup: The average Series ticket at Citifield is going for about $1,600 on StubHub.

Worse is the unseemly air of insider access here. It’s far easier for a high-ranking official (or his flunkies) to score seats than it is for the average Joe. Did Cuomo forget the anger when Gov. David Paterson scored Yankees tickets?

And to then milk the prized passes for campaign cash . . .

It’s particularly tacky when Attorney General Andrew Cuomo was so tough on scalpers. Back in 2010, he went after folks who sat in line for free Shakespeare In The Park tickets, then resold them on Craigslist. Under Cuomo’s prodding, the site agreed to ban such ads.

And that was to stop some low-level types from earning a few extra bucks.

Now Cuomo is scalping to let a few fat-wallet friends catch the game with him and help out with his next re-election.

Frankly it's more than "tacky" that Cuomo's scalping Mets tickets after going after Shakespeare in the Park scalpers back in 2010.

It's hypocritical and he should be called to account for it.

Why is it not okay for people to wait on line all day for Shakespeare in the Park tickets, then resell them on Ebay, but it's okay for him to get special access to World Series tickets and then scalp them for campaign donations?

A commenter at Capitol Confidential runs down the Rogue's Gallery of criminal politicians we've had (or currently have) running our state:

A commenter on the Bill Mahoney Capital NY piece about Cuomo taking $250K from the guy in charge of land development in the Village of Kiryas Joel in return for vetoing a bill that passed the New York Legislature with wide bipartisan support in both the Assembly and the Senate that would have given Orange County some say in the annexation of some land next to Kiryas Joel:

Cuomo, lobbied fiercely by both supporters and opponents of Kiryas Joel's potential expansion, waited until around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday - less than two hours before his deadline - to announce his veto. He said in his message that the measure would violate the state constitution by giving counties "control over local annexation petitions that would not impact a county's boundaries," an argument Kiryas Joel's attorneys also had made.

 

Skoufis, D-Woodbury, called Cuomo's reasoning "flat-out wrong" on Thursday, pointing out that the clause in the constitution about annexations specifically says that "the consent of the governing board of a county shall be required only where a boundary of the county is affected." He noted that his bill didn't involve the county's governing board - the Legislature - and didn't require consent, since county planners would only have made recommendations.

“Sadly, Governor Cuomo's veto message appears to be nothing more than fabricated reasoning to reach a predetermined outcome," he said in a statement. "It is extremely disappointing that the governor chose to ignore the voices of thousands of residents from every municipality in Orange County.”

Kiryas Joel officials applauded Cuomo on Thursday, contending the bills were intended to prevent Kiryas Joel's expansion and would have hindered other annexation efforts in New York.

“We appreciate that Governor Cuomo was able to see through the angry rhetoric being advanced by Assemblyman Skoufis and looked at these bills for what they really were, a thinly veiled attempt to stop the natural growth of the peaceful, family-oriented community of Kiryas Joel,” said Ari Felberman, the village's government relations coordinator.

Skoufis lamented that Cuomo "decided to play politics with the Hudson Valley" by blocking the bills.

"This bipartisan legislation would have provided significantly increased scrutiny of the current Kiryas Joel-initiated bids as well as all future controversial annexation proposals throughout the state," he said.

Yes, but vetoing the bills would have provided hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash to Governor Cuomo as well as potential future votes from the citizens of Kiryas Joel (some of whom apparently vote early and often, sometimes in both Orange County and Brooklyn.)

Andrew Cuomo is definitely in a New York State of Crime these days, what with the hedge fundie donations and fundraisers in return for the pro-charter and pro-education reform agenda, the Glenwood and REBNY cash in return for the pro-real estate industry agenda, the Hollywood donations in return for the movie and TV tax credit program and now the Kiryas Joel donations in return for the veto that will help them expand and make money on the deal (since the guy who donated to Cuomo owns a lot of the land in question.

Jon Campbell at Politics on the Hudson:

Looking to purchase a private aircraft or a luxury yacht? You may be in luck, courtesy of the new state budget agreement.

Lawmakers on Monday are set to pass a budget bill that includes a state tax break on the purchase of small planes and big boats, which has drawn protest from lawmakers and advocates who unsuccessfully pushed for an increase in the minimum wage.

Under the bill, the purchase of a private airplane that seat fewer than 20 people and can carry less than 6,000 pounds would be exempt from sales tax. When it comes to boats, the amount of the purchase price greater than $230,000 wouldn’t be subject to sales tax.

How did these tax breaks get into the budget?

LI boat dealer credits @NYGovCuomo for listening to tax concerns. (#nybudget features yacht sales tax exemption) http://t.co/xPQOymvcWJ
— Yancey Roy (@YanceyRoy) March 30, 2015

Aren't you glad Governor Cuomo has the best interests of the state in his heart?

From the "Doesn't This Sound A Lot Like Shelly Silver's Case" files comes this report from Newsday on how Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos makes his money:

Dean Skelos, 67, makes as much as $250,000 a year for his part-time work "of counsel" at Ruskin Moscou, according to his financial disclosure forms. In addition, he makes a $120,000 state salary, which includes his leadership stipend. In Albany, the Rockville Centre Republican is one of the "three men in a room" -- with the governor and Assembly speaker -- who negotiate major legislation and the spending of billions of dollars of taxpayer money behind closed doors. 

 

Skelos is the only lawyer on Ruskin Moscou's website who doesn't list a specialty. There's no detail on what he does to earn his outside income or how he specifically avoids potential conflicts of interest. A Skelos spokesman also has declined to discuss it. The law firm represents major real estate, health care and corporate interests in New York City and on Long Island. 

 

...

 

 

Former Assemb. Arthur "Jerry" Kremer, 79, is a partner in Ruskin Moscou and chairman of its government affairs department. Kremer also lobbies Albany under his own small firm, Empire Government Strategies, a registered lobbyist, which the law firm describes as its "government relations arm." Those clients include real estate, health care and corporate interests, as well as towns and school districts in Skelos' Nassau County district. 

 

Real estate is one area in which legal clients and state legislation can overlap. For example, former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has been charged in a corruption scheme that in part involves what federal authorities said was a powerful real estate developer. 

 

NBC New York reported in January that a federal prosecutor was looking at Skelos' income from his law firm and taking a specific look at real estate clients. Skelos criticized the report as thinly sourced and told Newsday the next day that neither he nor his attorneys had been contacted by the federal authorities. 

...

Skelos and Kremer said they make sure their work poses no conflict. "My policy -- all the years -- was I don't deal with Dean," Kremer told Newsday. "I do not. It's off-limits." 

Instead, Kremer said, he lobbies other senators, including those in Skelos' Republican conference, and Assembly members. His lobbying pitch says he benefits from "lifetime friendships" that make "the doors of government swing wide open" for his team. Last year, he said Empire Government Strategies landed $3.5 million in state and city grants for clients, while it defeated $200 million worth of "anti-business legislation." 

"There is a wall," said Skelos' spokesman, Scott Reif. "He doesn't have anything to do with that. There is a total wall. They don't discuss it . . . anything relevant." 

"The problem," said Eliason, former head of a public corruption unit in the District of Columbia, speaking generally, "is the backdoor stuff, the secret stuff." Eliason said the Skelos-Kremer-Ruskin situation appears to be "a concern, at a minimum, of an appearance of impropriety." 

He said, however, that such dealings may not break any specific laws, but voters and taxpayers won't know for sure because of the lack of transparency. "There are a lot of things in politics that can smell bad or look sleazy but aren't criminal," Eliason said.

Perhaps this arrangement Skelos has making $250K for his part-time work at Ruskin Moscou that's never been disclosed publicly is all above board but it sure sounds like it could use a little sunlight to, you know, make sure.

What say you, Dean?

Want to tell New Yorkers what the hell you're doing for that $250K a year?

The WSJ last night:

U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman’s investigation into lane closures at the George Washington Bridge and other alleged abuses at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is expected to wrap up in coming weeks after more than a year.

The investigation has seemed to quicken in recent weeks, with prosecutors returning to witnesses with questions that indicated they were close to finishing this stage of their probe, according to people familiar with the matter.

It remains unclear whether the findings will implicate current or former allies to Gov. Chris Christie and whether prosecutors can answer questions that investigations by the governor’s office and the Democrat-led Legislature haven't. 

What isn't unclear is what prosecutors are looking at.

First, Christie ally David Samson:

In recent weeks, attorneys for potential witnesses have turned over documents and emails to prosecutors that relate to former Port Authority Chairman David Samson, according to a person familiar with the matter. These documents include accounts of communications between Mr. Samson and United Airlines.

Prosecutors are looking into whether Mr. Samson asked the airline for a special weekly flight to Columbia, S.C., near his vacation home while the company was negotiating with the Port Authority. The flight was canceled after Mr. Samson left his position.

Prosecutors have interviewed people and asked questions that indicate they are looking for evidence of quid pro quo, according to a person familiar with the matter.

United declined to comment, referring to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that said the company and senior executives are cooperating with a federal investigation. A spokeswoman for Mr. Samson declined to comment.

Mr. Christie’s advisers have long worried about Mr. Samson’s future and the political implications it could have for the governor.

Mr. Christie stayed in touch with Mr. Samson, a longtime friend and political ally, after the bridge revelations even as he cut contact with others, according to people familiar with the matter.

And former Christie "friend" David Wildstein:

Prosecutors also have focused on any possible attempt to conceal the lane closures or misrepresent why they occurred in September 2013.

Prosecutors have asked about photos depicting the governor and David Wildstein, then a Port Authority official, talking at a ceremony for 9/11 at ground zero in Manhattan, and whether the governor told any of his staff about their interaction, a person familiar with the matter said.

Mr. Wildstein, who was hired by the Christie administration, was involved in the decision to close lanes at the George Washington Bridge allegedly in retribution against the mayor of Fort Lee, N.J.

Prosecutors also have quizzed potential witnesses about how the administration explained the closures publicly even as documents later showed they fretted privately, asking detailed questions about conversations among Mr. Christie’s political orbit in late 2013.

The governor has said he doesn’t remember what he discussed with Mr. Wildstein on Sept. 11, 2013, when the bridge lane closures had entered their third day. He has denied knowledge of the lane closures before they occurred.

Mr. Wildstein’s calendar indicated he met with Christie administration officials in 2013 after the bridge lane closures and frequently talked to allies of Mr. Christie, including Mike DuHaime, the governor’s top political adviser, and Bill Stepien, a senior Christie aide who lost his role after emails concerning Fort Lee were disclosed.

Mr. Wildstein’s lawyer, Alan Zegas, declined to comment. He has written to the Port Authority saying “evidence exists” that would show Mr. Christie knew of the closures while they were occurring.

I'm not a lawyer, don't know much about the law or anything like that, but it seems to me from the WSJ story that prosecutors are targeting Samson and Wildstein, looking to squeeze them and see what information comes out.

And with Wildstein having indicated that "evidence exists" to show Christie knew of the lane closures as they were happening, I would say that Christie is going to have some trouble with this matter when all is said and done.

Hard to know what Samson has said to prosecutors, but Wildstein sounds like he wants to talk, having been thrown under the bus by Christie back in that January 2014 news conference.

Not mentioned here is Bridget Anne Kelly, the writer of the infamous "Time for some traffic problems" email - she's been thrown under the bus by Christie too, so I wouldn't be surprised if she isn't looking to take Christie out too.

Finally, all this stuff is a problem because prosecutors are able to sift through an email trail.

No wonder New York's Criminal-In-Chief Andrew Cuomo is burning the midnight oil having all emails over 90 days burnt from the servers.

No, seriously, that's his excuse:

The press coverage of Cuomo is brutal these days.

Here's Gothamist on The Great Cuomo Administration Email Enema:

It's a new dawn in the Empire State. Unemployment is below 6%. A $10 billion deficit is now a $5 billion surplus. Crime keeps falling. Pre-K for all. Lucrative book deals for some. Because every 90 days, Governor Cuomo deletes a shitload of his administration's internal emails.

Capital reports that while Cuomo's inbox enemas have been standard procedure since 2013, it's only now, after the governor disbanded his ethics commission and watched the federal government arrest his legislative partner and the second most-powerful Democrat in the state, that this mass-deletion policy is being strictly enforced.

...

Is Cuomo concerned that federal prosecutors might find some interesting emails in his administration's inbox? Exchanges with former Speaker Silver? Emojis to the real estate lobby? Hot rod .gifs to Comcast? Details about how he oversaw the passage of tax breaks that benefitted News Corporation, the parent company of the publishing house that gave him an $188,000 book deal for hagiographic trash that no one wants to read?

The International Business Times noticed that oh yeah, gosh, that special tax break for online-only publications, like the one that News Corp created, and additional tax breaks for movie shoots, they were passed with Cuomo's help right before Cuomo got that book deal with HarperCollins, a News Corp subsidiary.

In other news, the Cuomo administration has announced the ghost of Rose Mary Woods has been hired by the administration to handle all email archiving.

It's official: Cuomo's lost control of the narrative of his administration.

Let's keep the pressure on, folks - blog, tweet, post on Facebook and write letters to your newspapers:

What's Cuomo hiding with his mass email purge?

What evidence has he already had destroyed in the hopes of saving himself?

And when does he join Shelly Silver for a police car ride to central booking?

Behind a paywall at the WSJ, but here's the opening:

The federal investigation into the George Washington Bridge lane closures likely won’t wrap up until sometime in 2015, people familiar with the matter said, potentially complicating New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s path to a possible presidential run.

A little more:

GWB probe is broad; Has looked for possible crimes in any coverup, money lost to the Port Authority http://t.co/ZDUIOqfTTZ via @WSJ
— Heather Haddon (@heatherhaddon) November 14, 2014

Christie wants everyone to think the investigation's all but over and he's in the clear.

Somebody leaked to WNBC 4 back in September that Christie would have been charged already if the feds had anything on him.

It was probably leaked by Christie's people themselves to WNBC 4 - then Brian Williams reported it on the NBC Nightly News like it was gospel truth.

It wasn't and Christie isn't in the clear by a longshot, no matter what he wants people to think - as the WSJ report from Friday demonstrates.

In fact, Bridgegate could resurface for him just as he's embarking on his presidential bid and put an end to it before it starts.

Won't that be karma?

And let's not forget, the investigation also entails looking into the shakedown of Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer in a Shoprite parking lot by Christie's lieutenant governor and a whole host of corruption and conflict of  interest allegations around Christie's Port Authority cronies.

There's a lot for investigators to look into here and it's going to take some time.

Better make a sandwich.

Albany remains a cesspool of corruption and Governor Andrew M. Cuomo sits right in the middle of it:

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who added $2.1 billion to an incentive program for the movie and television industry, has collected almost $900,000 in campaign contributions from Hollywood since taking office in 2011. 

Cuomo, who lured NBC’s “The Tonight Show” back to New York City from Los Angeles, collected $121,600 from Comcast Corp. (CMCSA:US) and its NBCUniversal unit, campaign-finance records show. Paramount Pictures Corp. Chairman Brad Grey gave $35,000, while Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (6758) Chief Executive Officer Michael Lynton and nine other executives donated a combined $45,200. Paramount’s “The Wolf of Wall Street” and Sony’s “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” are among productions that took advantage of New York’s tax-credit program, the most generous in the U.S.

“What makes this industry more special than any industry that would invest here if you paid them to do it?” said E.J. McMahon, president of the Empire Center for New York State Policy in Albany, which opposes government subsidies. “The difference is, well, it’s high-profile and it’s really glamorous. And oh, incidentally, it’s run by people who are really savvy, generous political givers too.”

Cuomo, a 56-year-old Democrat, who ran for governor vowing to clean up Albany’s pay-to-play culture of corruption by limiting contributions, has instead reaped the benefits of a system that allows individuals to give as much as $150,000 per year -- and even more through limited-liability corporations. Federal prosecutors are also probing the Cuomo administration’s effort to stymie investigations by an anti-corruption committee he created and then disbanded before its term was finished. 

Cuomo took millions from overseas gambling consortia and expanded legalized gambling in the state.

He took hundreds of thousands from the real estate industry and handed out millions in tax breaks to his real estate industry donors.

And he took nearly a illion bucks from Hollywood and has handed them $2.1 billion in tax incentives.

Why isn't this criminal in prison?

How is this any different than convicted former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell who took money and gifts from donors in return for favors?

In Cuomo's case, he's getting money in return to bludgeon his political opponents and maintain his power and political office.

And remember, this is just the stuff we know about - you can bet there's a whole bunch more under wraps that we don't know about yet.

 From State of Politics:

Independent Democratic Conference Leader Jeff Klein on Friday touted his endorsement from the New York State United Teachers union.

“I’m honored to have the endorsement of NYSUT, whose membership works hard each and every day on everything from shaping young minds in our public schools to educating adults in our colleges and universities. I’m committed to being a voice for our educators in Albany,” Klein said in a statement released this afternoon.

Klein faces former city Councilman Oliver Koppell in a Democratic primary next month.
NYSUT announced its slate of endorsements in the Legislature this week, but declined to endorse in the race for governor.

“Those who earn endorsements are friends of public education and labor,” NYSUT President Karen Magee said. “Over the last two years, they earned our support by advocating effectively for our public schools, colleges and healthcare institutions; listening intently to the concerns and aspirations of our members, and voting consistently the right way.”

Let's leave aside that you can't turn your back on State Senator Klein without getting a knife in it.

Let's leave aside that he's a mob-connected politician who belongs in prison, not the state senate.

Let's leave aside that he's been a good friend to Governor Cuomo, ensuring Cuomo got his tax cuts for the 1% and other Wall Street budget priorities.

All those things are bad enough.

But this is a guy who is pro-charter school, pro-voucher, and pro-APPR, a guy who's a favorite of StudentsFirstNY and other education reform groups, a guy who was one of only two Senate Dems who voted a few years ago to end seniority protections for teachers.

If NYSUT leaders had their rank-and-file members interests at heart, they would have turned on Klein and endorsed his opponent, Oliver Koppell.

Instead they endorsed the pro-charter, pro-voucher, pro-APPR guy with the mob ties and education reform bona fides.

Your NYSUT leaders in action

Maybe some of Klein's organized crime friends made them an offer they couldn't refuse?

Earlier I posted a Star-Ledger article from the March that revealed the games Governors Christie and Cuomo played with Port Authority bridge and tunnel increases as well as a PATH fare hike.

The gist was this:

Both governors wanted to raise the tolls and PATH fare but wanted political cover to do it.

So they had their Port Authority appointees play games with the fare and toll increases, releasing outrageous hikes in order to let the governors swoop in and "demand" smaller increases, thus looking like "heroes."

In addition, they made sure public hearings over the increases took place at times when the general public couldn't attend but members of construction unions that would benefit from work paid for by the toll increases could, thus Christie and Cuomo could say that some in the public were supporting the fare and toll increases.

In the end, Christie and Cuomo already knew what the increases were going to be, they just wanted some political theater to give them political cover.

It was, in the words of one former PA official, "all bullshit."

And guess who helped Christie and Cuomo play their bullshit games?

Some of the same people who played games with the George Washington Bridge:

BRIDGING THE SCANDALS

And, the sources said, the fictional plan was led by the same people who two years later would arrange the September 2013 George Washington Bridge lane closures, which have engulfed the Christie administration in scandal.

The two were Bill Baroni, the former Republican state senator and GOP campaign lawyer named by Christie to the agency’s deputy executive director post in early 2010, and David Wildstein, the former political blogger and Republican mayor of Livingston, where he went to high school with Christie.
Baroni’s lawyer, Michael Himmel, said his client had “no comment” on the assertions.

Wildstein’s lawyer, Alan Zegas, called the officials' version of the toll hike “inaccurate.”

He did not specify how. He also suggested there was a conspiracy to tar his client. “It is a snippet, and a not fully accurate one, of reality,” Zegas said.

The Christie administration did not return phone calls or emails. Ranking officials at the authority also did not comment. Cuomo’s office likewise did not respond to calls or emails.

While none of those officials would comment, a committee chaired by Assemblyman John Wisniewski has subpoenaed all documents and correspondence between the Port Authority and the Christie administration regarding the toll hike.

Wisniewski was one of the original skeptics of the hike when it was announced, and he still isn’t buying it.

“My suspicion is — I think it’s pretty well understood as fact — that the original announcement of whatever the toll increase was was all theater, so that would allow the governor to say, ‘No, no, it has to be lower,’ ” Wisniewski said in an interview following the most recent round of subpoenas.

For him and others, the toll hike scenario was too pat. How, the skeptics asked, could Christie not have known about the initial proposal when he had appointed two of his closest political allies to Port Authority leadership, Chairman David Samson and Baroni?

One source said complete responses to the latest subpoenas from the legislative committee would reveal that the bridge closures and the toll hike were engineered out of much the same playbook.

A minimum of agency officials were made aware of what was happening with the toll hike and sworn to secrecy under the implied threat of losing their jobs, the six sources said. And both actions included some of the same players.

“He’ll find emails,” the official said of Wisniewski, who co-chairs the joint committee with state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen). “And he’ll find the emails between Baroni, Wildstein and the governor’s office. And he’ll also find emails between Baroni and Cuomo’s office.”

So we now have a direct connection between Cuomo's office and the actors who carried off Christie's Bridgegate scheme using the same "playbook" to carry out the PA toll hikes and PATH fare increase.

Cuomo's PA man, Patrick Foye, has been subpoenaed by the US attorney in New Jersey investigating the Bridgegate matter.

I have posted before about Cuomo has played fast and loose with his own Bridgegate timeline (and if you haven't read the terrific Zack Fink Salon piece on that part of the story, please do so.)

I have surmised that if prosecutors dig deep enough, they will find a connection between Cuomo and Bridgegate.

GOP gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino's campaign has insinuated that Christie is helping Cuomo in his re-election bid despite being the head of the National Governors Association in the opposing party, perhaps in return for Cuomo's help in the Bridgegate matter.

That we now know there is a direct connection between Cuomo's office and Christie cronies in the Bridgegate scheme means there needs to be a thorough investigation of what Cuomo's role in these PA games has been.

I am hoping Paul Fishman, the US attorney in NJ, is doing some of that investigating because I am doubtful that Dems in the NJ Assembly and Senate are going to do it no matter what Wisniewski or Weinberg say.

And if not Fishman in NJ, then perhaps Preet Bharara in New York as part of the larger Moreland mess - he is allegedly looking into Cuomo's interference in the Moreland Commissions subpoenas of his own donors.

It's pretty clear Cuomo's got some funkiness going on at the Port Authority.

It's time to get to the bottom of that rank smell.

It is important that Governor Cuomo be made to publicly defend what his administration is doing here:

ALBANY—The state Public Authorities Control Board on Wednesday approved a controversial loan for the Tappan Zee replacement bridge, but not before the amount was cut in half without explanation and officials admitted for the first time there would be a toll hike to pay for the project.

The board voted to approve a $255 million loan from the state clean water fund to pay for parts of the $4 billion bridge project. State officials acted as if that was the plan all along, even though a printed copy of the meeting agenda included the original $511 million request that was to be voted on Wednesday. The Environmental Facilities Corporation, largely comprised of appointees by Governor Andrew Cuomo, approved the full loan last month.

Thruway Authority director Tom Madison admitted at the meeting that bridge tolls would likely rise next year to help pay for the replacement, but would not say by how much. The admission was the first acknowledgement by the Cuomo administration that systemwide toll hikes are coming, but after the election.

Cuomo is using money from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, money that is meant for sewer upgrades, but he managed to finagle it to build a bridge instead, one that he is touting as a major accomplishment of his administration.

But not everyone thinks Cuomo's doings are on the up and up:

Republican Senator John DeFrancisco of Syracuse, who threatened to vote against the loan weeks ago, said he was the one who cut the $511 million in half because not all of the funds would be spent appropriately.

“We got half of the loan off the table until we see what's being done with this part of the project to make sure it's spent appropriately,” DeFrancisco said.

DeFrancisco said $100 million was for engineering and other items that were “difficult to pin down.” He said he was concerned the Cuomo administration had “fudged” some of the intended uses of the loan because they had nothing to do with environmental projects.

“What this is all about is the Thruway Authority and, indirectly, the governor doesn't want to be able to say what the actual increase in the bridge toll is going to be, that's what it amounts to,” DeFrancisco said. “The plan is obvious, borrow money and then pay for it out of tolls.”

This is similar to the game Cuomo played with toll increases on the NY/NJ bridges and tunnels, as well as the PATH fare - though that time he had help from his pal, New Jersey Criminal-In-Chief Chris Christie.

It's called "Head Fake The Toll Hikes":

On Aug. 5, 2011, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey issued a jaw-dropping proposal to immediately raise bridge and tunnel tolls by $4 for E-ZPass subscribers and $7 for cash customers, followed by another increase in 2014. The proposed hikes amounted to a 75 percent increase for E-ZPass users and 112.5 percent for those paying cash.

The authority also proposed PATH fares go up $1, from $1.75 to $2.75.

The reaction was swift and angry, with commuters and lawmakers blasting the increases.
Gov. Chris Christie, who said he had no advance knowledge of the proposal, was among them.

“You’re kidding, right?” Christie told reporters three days after the announcement, describing what he said when briefed on the proposal.

But within two weeks, after a blizzard of 36 press releases by the Port Authority on behalf of toll hike supporters and after public hearings packed with union laborers backing the plan, Christie and his New York counterpart, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, consented to a more modest increase. Even then, the governors conditioned their approval on a top-to-bottom financial review of the agency.

The thing is, a former Port Authority official told The Star-Ledger, “It was all bullshit.”
From the start, the fix was in, said that former official and five others who occupied key Port Authority posts when the toll hike was rolled out and eventually approved.

The whole process, the authority officials said, was orchestrated from the outset to make the governors look good even as they reached deeper, through the long arm of the authority, into the public’s pockets.

The former Port Authority officials (five who are no longer with the agency and one who is still there) outlined the strategy and execution of the plan in separate interviews with The Star-Ledger. Each asked that their names not be used because they feared repercussions from speaking out even after they had left the agency.

The first proposal disclosed to the public, the former officials explained, was deliberately inflated. Also planned was Christie and Cuomo’s shocked — shocked! — reaction and an unusual one-day series of eight public hearings. Those hearings were all held during the morning or evening rush hours to discourage attendance by irate commuters, but were stacked with union members who backed the hike because of the construction jobs it would fund.

All this, the sources said, was designed to set up the governors’ ostensibly reluctant approval of a more modest hike, accompanied by their stern admonitions that this was it and that the agency had better get its financial house in order once and for all.

But it was all Hollywood on the Hudson, the six sources said, scripted all the way through.

“They knew what the toll increase would be,” said one former official. “They set the governors up to look like heroes. It was all a farce.”

BTW, the PA officials Cuomo and Christie played "Headfake The Toll Hikes" with were some of the same officials involved in Christie's Bridgegate - Bill Baroni and David Samson.

So if you're looking for a connection between Cuomo and Bridgegate, there is one - he got help in his PA toll hike game from the same guys who worked the GWB bridge closure.

In any case, the game Cuomo is playing with the toll hikes around the state as a consequence of the TZB work is the same game he and Christie played with the Port Authority toll hikes and PATH fare increase.

And, to quote the former PA official when talking about the Port Authority toll hikes that were engineered in such a way as to make the governors look like heroes by lowering the increases from what was originally released, "It's all bullshit."

Cuomo needs to be called on this BEFORE the election - how much are the tolls going up on the bridges, tunnels and roads as a result of the TZB work?

Why is there no plan available for the TZB to be viewed by the public?

Why hasn't Cuomo owned up that there would have to be toll hikes?

Cuomo needs to be held accountable here.

Yeah, I know - technically this is Sandra Lee that was hit with a lawsuit for being a deadbeat, but don't forget who shares that home with her:

Food Network star Sandra Lee has made good on an $800 overdue bill from a Putnam company that removed snow from the roof of her $1.2 million home earlier this year, a court clerk said Tuesday.

Lee had been scheduled to appear in Town Court last Thursday after The Honey Do Men Gutters and Roofing Corp. of Mahopac sued her for $800 plus interest, claiming she paid only part of a $4,000 bill after company workers spent two hours clearing snow from her roof in February.

But the matter was settled prior to Thursday evening's court date, which was then canceled, the clerk said. The company's attorney, Francis J. O'Reilly, confirmed Lee paid.

A message left through the website of Lee, 47, seeking comment was not immediately returned.

Lee is known for her "semi-homemade" cooking method in which she primarily uses prepackaged products along with fresh products. She shares the New Castle home with her boyfriend, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo,

In the lawsuit filed in Town Court, the company claimed a representative of Lee, a woman named Irma Martinez, called them Feb. 20 to remove snow from the roof of Lee's home at 4 Bittersweet Lane.

Honey Do Men said it did $4,294 worth of work but that Lee only paid them $3,494 after they contacted her three times for payment.

Now if only Deadbeat Cuomo would let the town assessor into his home to do a proper assessment of improvements he and Sandra Lee had done to it:

Lee's home has been in the news in recent weeks after lohud.com Tax Watchdog David McKay Wilson reported that Lee had made many improvements to the property without town approval.

By improving the home without proper permits, Lee likely had avoided paying higher taxes because town officials had not been aware of any changes that could potentially increase its value, Wilson concluded.

In the wake of Wilson's reporting, a town assessor visited the house and came up with a tentative reassessment raising its value by 29 percent. The value was based on an exterior inspection of the home because the assessor was not allowed inside. Cuomo later told Wilson he was not aware the assessor was not allowed inside.

Can you imagine what the Cuomo campaign would be doing if his GOP challenger, Rob Astorino, were as big a deadbeat as Sheriff Andy Cuomo and Sandra Lee are?

Hell, Cuomo sent David Paterson out after Astorino yesterday to dredge up some political corruption Astorino's father was involved in over 20 years ago.

I noted the following in a comment on State of Politics:

From Ken Lovett at the Daily News:

ALBANY - Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara has asked the state Senate and Assembly to preserve all documents related to Gov. Cuomo's anti-corruption commission, the Daily News has learned.

It’s the latest sign of an investigation by Bharara’s office in the aftermath of Cuomo’s decision in March to disband the now-defunct Moreland Commission.

At the time it was terminated, the commission had been looking into the outside income of lawmakers and how legislators spent their campaign cash.

Bharara previously took control of the panel’s files and was said to be following up on its unresolved leads.

The prosecutor is also said to be looking into whether Cuomo interfered with the panel’s work and if an improper deal was cut in which the governor pulled the plug on the panel in exchange for the Legislature approving an ethics reform package.

In his new request, Bharara asked lawmakers and staff to save all documents and records relating to actual or potential investigations by the commission, Joanne Barker, a counsel to the Assembly majority, wrote in a memo obtained by The News.

Offering further proof that it is still looking into Cuomo's handling of the commission, the memo also asked that all records pertaining to the commission's funding, formation, operation, management and dissolution be retained.

Officials in both houses said they are cooperating.

A Cuomo spokesman wouldn't say if the administration received a document retention request, but added that the "the governor has previously said, any state agencies should be fully cooperative" with the investigation.

On Friday, the commission itself hired a criminal defense lawyer to handle inquiries by Bharara's office.

Two things to note here - the Moreland Commission announced they were lawyering up on a Friday right before a holiday weekend, always a great time to hide news you don't want noticed.

And Cuomo's office won't say if they have received a document retention request from Bharara.

Which means that they have.

Dunno if Bharara will find anything dirty on Cuomo over this or, if he does, if he'll use it on Sheriff Andy, but it seems pretty clear from the news we're getting that he means business.

Governor Cuomo is famous for avoiding on the record interviews and Q&A's with reporters because this is the kind of thing that can happen with a shifty politician like Sheriff Andy - they can catch him in a lie:

Gov. Cuomo appears to have misled reporters Thursday when he said a decision on whether to seek the Independence Party nomination would be made “down the road.”

Documents submitted by the party to the State Board of Elections indicate that Cuomo signed an official acceptance form Thursday in Suffolk County – site of the state Democratic Party nomination. Cuomo traveled from Suffolk to Cooperstown, where he spoke to reporters at the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

“Clearly, the governor lied to reporters when he was asked about it last night, which is extremely troubling” charged Jessica Proud, a spokeswoman for Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino.

“Sadly this is what we have come to expect from him, protecting his political allies over every day New Yorkers,” Proud continued. “He’s got to come clean about why he lied about it.”

Requests for comment sent to Cuomo’s press office, his campaign and state Democratic Party officials have so far not been returned.

During his Q&A in Cooperstown, Cuomo was asked whether he would seek the Independence Party’s line.

“Those are decisions that we’re going to be making down the road,” Cuomo replied before moving on to talk about the state Democratic Party’s nomination earlier that day.

The Independence Party is a bogus party with a lot of controversy surrounding it, so Cuomo didn't want to go on record saying he was going to take the Independence Party ballot line.

But given that the Independence Party line helped Bloomberg win City hall three times (people often vote on the line thinking it means "Independent") and given that there is an outside chance the Working Families Party doesn't nominate Cuomo and puts somebody else on their ballot line, I think it makes sense politically that Cuomo would seek the ballot line of the bogus (and kinda criminal) Independence Party.

Too bad he didn't have the guts to admit it to the press when he was asked about it.

Now they have caught him in a lie.

Will they pursue it and get him on record explaining why he lied directly to their faces?

Or will he go back into hiding now that the Democratic Party convention is done and only surface for non-Q & A events and motorcycle rides with Billy Joel?

From State of Politics:

Former Gov. David Paterson on Wednesday was formally installed by the state Democratic Committee as its next chairman, assuming the post from Harlem Assemblyman Keith Wright.

Paterson, addressing the delegates on the first day of the Democratic convention here in Melville, naturally opened with a joke.

“So you thought you were rid of me,” Paterson said.

A woman in the crowd yelled, “We love you David.”

Paterson, not missing a beat, said: “Give it a few minutes.”

It was only four years ago that Paterson declined to run for re-election as Democrats in the state coalesced around Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

Now Paterson is assuming a more overtly political role for Cuomo, and his speech reflected that, hitting on similar themes the state party wants to get across at the convention.

What State of Politics fails to report is the reason why Paterson didn't run for re-election as governor himself - because he had engaged in witness tampering and perjury:

New York Governor David Paterson in 2010 was accused of witness tampering to protect an aide accused of abusing his girlfriend and lying under oath about whether he intended to pay for 2009 World Series tickets at Yankee Stadium. In the wake of the scandals there were calls for him to resign as governor. Paterson suspended his campaign for re-election. Five staff members have resigned. However no criminal charges have been brought against him although his aide has been charged in the abuse case.

The witness tampering claim came to light in February 2010 involving staffer David W. Johnson after New York State Police and his staffers talked to the woman to get her to drop the case. Paterson was accused of talking to the woman personally a day before the case was dropped.^[1] Paterson dropped his re-election bid on February 26 but has maintained his innocence and rejected calls for his resignation.

On March 3, 2010, charges were made he had lied under oath with regard to charges that he through Johnson had solicited free tickets from the Yankees for the World Series.

Timeline

• October 28, 2009 – Paterson and Johnson attend the opening game of the 2009 World Series at Yankee Stadium. Included in the party is Paterson's 15-year-old son, a friend of his son and another member of his staff, allegedly using free tickets provided by the Yankees. Paterson would be formally accused of improperly accepting the tickets by the New York State Commission on Public Integrity on March 3, 2010.^[2]
• October 31, 2009 – Johnson (born in 1972) who is six feet seven, upon finding his live-in girlfriend Sherr-una Booker and a female friend dressed in Halloween costumes he did not like is accused of choking Booker and throwing her against dresser and ripping off the costume. When she tried to call the police he took her phone and left. New York City Police who have jurisdiction in the case in the Bronx arrive at 9:50 p.m. Police reported there were no visible signs of injury but she later reported she had been bruised.^[3][4][5]
• November 1, 2009 – Johnson attempts to contact State Police superintendent Harry J. Corbitt to discuss the case. Failing that he contacts Charles Day, head of the governor's security unit, who gets permission from First Deputy Superintendent Pedro J. Perez to talk to Booker even though the state does not have jurisdiction in the case.^[6]
• November 2, 2009 – Booker gets an order of protection against Johnson and complains that the state police are harassing her. Police say they are just offering her counseling options. No charges are filed against Johnson.
• November 4, 2009 – Booker in court says that Johnson is avoiding being served on the order.
• December 17, 2009 – In court Johnson's lawyer refuses to accept the order on his client's behalf.^[7]
• Late January–Early February 2010 – Paterson asks press secretary Marissa Shorenstein and staffer Deneane Brown, who actually knew Booker, and arranged for Booker to call the governor.^[8]
• February 7 – Booker at Brown's request calls the governor. Paterson says he did not bring up the assault allegation in the conversation. He said he just offered her his help and said he wanted to check that the woman was all right.^[6]
• February 8 – Booker does not attend a hearing on the order and the case is dropped.
• February 9 – In another high-profile abuse case, the New York State Senate expels Hiram Monserrate, who was convicted of assaulting his girlfriend with a broken drinking glass.^[9]
• February 9 – Rumors circulate that the New York Times has a story that will force the governor to resign or drop out of the governor's race. Rumors speculated it would be about womanizing or drug use.^[10]
• February 16 – The New York Times runs a profile on Johnson and his rise to power from being Paterson's intern and chauffeur to being his closest adviser. The Times reports on the abuse case.
• February 17 – Paterson denounces the New York Times for reporting on Johnson and stands by his aide, saying as to Johnson's conduct, "I profoundly believe in this principle of redemption and giving young people a second chance." ^[11]
• February 20 – Paterson formally begins his bid for election in a speech at his former law school Hofstra.
• February 24 - The New York Times reports on the state police connection and Paterson's involvement. Paterson suspends Johnson and asks State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to investigate.
• February 25 - Denise E. O’Donnell, deputy secretary for public safety which supervises the state police, resigns in protest saying that State Police superintendent, Harry J. Corbitt, had assured her that the state police were not involved in the case.^[12] Corbitt was quoted in the media saying state police visits were customary in episodes that might attract media attention—a comment that the Times "dismissed as false by many inside and outside the State Police." Corbitt denied that he misled O'Donnell.^[4]
• February 26 - Paterson withdraws in a speech in New York City during the Third North American blizzard of 2010. Paterson says "It hasn't been the latest distraction; it has been an accumulation of obstacles that has obfuscated me from bringing my message to the public...I give you this personal oath: I have never abused my office - not now, not ever - and I believe that when the facts are revealed the truth will prevail."^[13]
• March 2 – Gillibrand calls for Paterson to resign saying, "At the end of the day, if the allegations of abuse of power are true, then the governor will be unable to govern and he will have to step down,’’ ^[14]
• March 3 - Corbitt announces he is taking an early retirement Corbitt had earlier retired but came back at the request of Paterson. Corbitt said, “I'm not an elected official; I'm a public servant, I'm a cop. And a good cop. So to continue to face that pressure, and even pressure from my family, the media showing up in my driveway — that's unacceptable. So for my own health and for my own sanity it's the right thing to do.”^[15]
• March 3 - Long-term ally Charles B. Rangel resigns his chairmanship at least temporarily from the House Ways and Means Committee as he faces his own ethics issue. The local NBC station notes that Rangel's and Paterson's problems further indicate decline in power and influence for "Harlem's Gang of Four" (Rangel, Basil Paterson (the governor's father), David Dinkins, and Percy Sutton (who died in December 2009)).^[16]
• March 3 - The New York Commission on Public Integrity acting a complaint from the New York Public Interest Research Group issues a report saying Paterson lied under oath with regards to the five World Series tickets behind home plate that had a face value of $425 each. The Commission said that Paterson testified he intended to pay for them and that he backdated a check for them. The report said that Johnson had asked for the tickets because Paterson was to play a ceremonial role in the game but he did not participate in any formal way and was not introduced.^[17][18]
• March 4 - Communications director Peter Kauffmann, top spokesman for Gov. Paterson resigns saying, "Unfortunately as recent developments have come to light, I cannot in good conscience continue in my position." Kauffmann's email and testimony were taken in the World Series scandal.^[19]
• March 9 - Perez announces his early retirement, saying in his letter, "My retirement is not premised on the current investigation by the attorney general, as I know my decisions were honest and rightly motivated,”^[20]
• March 11 - One day after Paterson said he was recusing himself from decisions on the Aqueduct Racetrack "on the advice of his lawyers," his office announced that the office was no longer supporting Aqueduct Entertainment Group's bid and that the Division of Lottery will handle a new bidding process that is "transparent" and "apolitical."^[21]
• March 12 – Andrew Cuomo recuses himself from investigating the case saying, "I wish to avoid any possible appearance of any political interest or conflict whatsoever." Judith Kaye, who had sworn Paterson in as governor, was named independent counsel with powers to bring criminal charges in the cases.^[22]
• March 16 – Paterson’s new attorney Ted Wells released an email exchange between the Yankees on October 7–8 showing that the Yankees had invited Paterson to the playoffs. Paterson declined the tickets but said he would be interested in World Series tickets.^[23]
• March 17 – Shorenstein resigned, saying, “Due to the circumstances that have led to my unwitting involvement in recent news stories, I can no longer do my job effectively.”^[24]
• March 18 – WNYC releases a story detailing how New York governors have used the state police to meddle inappropriately dating back to George Pataki when he in meddled in the parole board.^[25]
• March 18 - Paterson told John Gambling of WOR (AM) that he was the person who leaked the information about the February 7 conversation with Booker saying "the individual who first made it clear that there had been a conversation was myself." The New York Times responded by saying the Administration (via Kauffman) only responded after the Times specifically asked about the conversation.^[26]
• March 24 - The New York Times reported that Paterson on February 16, 2010, instructed an assistant in office to send an email to Booker asking her to issue a statements to the press saying that Booker’s and Johnson’s breakup months earlier “had been unfriendly but not violent, and that any charges related to the altercation had been dropped.” Booker declined. The Times said Paterson and Booker spoke several times as the Times was preparing its February 24 article. The Times article also said that State Police Maj. Day spoke to Booker between the October 31 altercation and the arrival of the New York City police. Paterson’s attorney Wells was quoted in the story as saying “he will not comment on a piecemeal basis to incomplete and often factually inaccurate press reports.”^[27]
• July 28 - Judith Kaye in a 54-page report says Paterson showed "remarkable lack of judgment - but violated no criminal laws" and recommended against any prosecution although the final decision could be made by the Bronx District Attorney.^[28][29]
• August 12 - Johnson is formally charged with third-degree assault, three counts of criminal mischief, menacing and harassment. ^[30][31]
• August 17 – Kauffmann testifies before State Commission on Public Integrity that after being contacted by a New York Post report he advised the governor the “smartest thing to do was to pay for all the tickets” but the governor refused initially. Executives for the Yankees testified that they had not given the tickets to Paterson as a gift. The Commission could fine the governor $93,000 for the infraction. Paterson or any representative for him do not attend the hearing.^[32]
• August 26 - Kaye in a report on the World Series tickets issues says that Paterson may have lied under oath to members of the state Commission on Public Integrity investigating the matter. The report leaves it up to Albany District Attorney David Soares to decide whether charges would be filed.^[33]
• August 31 - Paterson says he plans no formal action against Clemmie Harris (an aide who had the earlier contact with Booker) or Johnson. Harris remains on the staff and Johnson has not been paid since February.^[34]
• December 20 - The Commission on Public Integrity says Paterson lied about the tickets and fines him $62,125.^[35]
• March 2, 2011, Johnson pleads guilty to misdemeanor second-degree harassment. If he stays out of trouble for a year it will be removed from his record.^[36]

David Paterson doesn't belong running the New York State Democratic Party for Andrew Cuomo.

He belongs in prison.

At the very least, he ought to be drummed out of politics for good.

But Cuomo has brought him back into the public sphere and made him the public face of the State Democratic Party.

Which I guess is pretty emblematic of circumstances these days.

Michael Fiorillo on Sheriff Andy Cuomo's shutdown of Moreland and the subsequent furor that shutdown has caused, with US Attorney for the Southern District Preet Bharara picking up the Moreland investigations and refusing to rule out an investigation of Cuomo himself:

The abrupt shutdown of the Commission was surprising, immediately suggesting that it was not the the PR and negotiating weapon that our Reptilian Governor intended it to be.

It's hard to imagine that there aren't players in both parties who would like to see the man go down. In the past, he was always his own worst enemy, and he has been skilled/fortunate in controlling his political narrative in recent years.

That good political fortune is going to run its course, as it has for Christie, and maybe everyone will see what a nasty piece of work Cuomo is, and he too will have a swift fall.

It is said that Cuomo has no friends, only associates who go along with what he wants and enemies he turns into roadkill.

You can bet that lots of those who have ended up as roadkill on the other end of Sheriff Andy's motorcycle are going to look to stick him with a shiv.

The shivs are out for Christie, with a US attorney, a district attorney in New York and a legislative panel in New Jersey investigating him over a whole host of potential criminal or unethical activities.

All of these investigations stemmed from one "stupid move" by Christie's people, closing three access lanes to the George Washington Bridge in retaliation for something that pissed Christie off about Fort Lee (what that is has never been quite settled upon, though it's thought to be against the Fort Lee mayor for not endorsing Christie's re-election bid.)

Once the scrutiny started on Christie, it hasn't stopped - today the Newark Star-Ledger has yet another brewing Christie scandal over his sticking a bunch of Christie shills with conflicts of interest onto the state conflict of interest board/ethics agency.

Hard-bitten politicians like Christie and Cuomo can seem invulnerable for a long, long time, so long as the FEAR they engender keeps people in check.

But once that veneer of invulnerability is pierced and blood hits the water, the sharks circle.

They're encircling Christie right now, with all these criminal and ethics investigations being conducted on him and his administration.

The shutting down of Moreland and the furor it has caused, with US Attorney Preet Bhrarara wondering aloud in the media just what caused Cuomo to close the commission down so suddenly and just how far the Cuomo administration's interference into the commission's work went may turn out to be the first pricking of Cuomo's veneer of invulnerability.

If so and Cuomo's reputation bleeds a bit into the water, you can bet the sharks will circle him the way their circling Chris Christie right now.

We may yet see the turning of Sheriff Andy's political fortune.

I don't know how deeply US Attorney for the Southern District Preet Bharara intends to probe Cuomo and his aides over their interference into the Moreland Commission work, but from accounts of former Moreland Commissioners given to Ken Lovett in the Daily News, it seems there's a lot there:

ALBANY - Some members of Gov. Cuomo's short-lived anti-corruption commission are angry and bitter.

The Daily News spoke to close to 10 sources tied to the soon-to-be-defunct panel, and a number of them denounced what they said was interference from Cuomo's office.

Others expressed frustration that Cuomo pulled the plug before the panel could finish its work.
All asked for anonymity for fear of blowback from the governor.

One commission member was so angry that he wouldn't take a call from The News, signaling through a secretary that he was afraid of what he might say.

Another source called it the worst time in her professional career.

"It was an exercise in frustration," said a third source.

...

The commission formed to root out corruption in state government was often divided, with the investigators on one side and Cuomo's $175,000-a-year executive director Regina Calcaterra on the other.

"There was no trust there," said the first commission source. "It was pretty widely understood that anything Regina Calcaterra knew, it would immediately be on the desks of" top Cuomo aides Larry Schwartz and Mylan Denerstein.

Denerstein was described as "measured" but Schwartz as aggressive. "I heard the word 'bully' mentioned more than once," said the source.

The panel's zeal to investigate was repeatedly curbed by the governor's office, the source said.

The commission wanted to subpoena prior ethics complaints from its ineffectual predecessor, the Legislative Ethics Commission, but was ordered not to, sources said.

And as they probed how lawmakers spend their campaign money, commissioners wanted to send subpoenas to vendors like hotels or florists to see what was purchased.

The subpoenas never went out, the sources said.

The frustration mounted when subpoenas were held back from entities with ties to Cuomo, including the powerful Real Estate Board of New York.

Another subpoena earmarked for the state Democratic Party was initially killed. And one that had actually been served on the ad firm the party used to promote Cuomo's agenda was rescinded after Cuomo aides erupted in fury, the sources said.

The Lovett News article goes on to say that Cuomo's people really tried to derail the commission after it released an "explosive preliminary report" in December - for example, the Cuomo administration deliberately let a contract with a company that provided advanced data analytics to expire just as commissioners were getting a handle on how to use it for investigations.

Then the chief investigator for the commission, Danya Perry, resigned in protest over the Cuomo administration's interference in the commission's work.

By the end of the year, Cuomo was looking for any old excuse to shut the commission down because it had become a "liability" for him - both with the work it was doing on legislators and the headaches it was giving him over his own donor connections.