Cuomo: What do I know, I'm just the AG (Updated)
In a story in the New York Times today, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo weighs in on questions about whether former Spitzer aide Darren Dopp can be prosecuted for perjury in the Troopergate case that won't die.
He is apparently under investigation by the Albany DA because of contradictions between a "sworn" written statement he gave to investigators for Cuomo, who was the first to investigate Troopergate, and later statements he has made to the state's public integrity commission. But there's a problem, the Times has reported: Dopp's statement to Cuomo was notarized, but not sworn to under penalties of perjury, and therefore may not be prosecutable.
Today, Cuomo tells the Times that Dopp's statement was not "material" to his investigation, and also says: “My report spoke for itself. As far as the legal issues — what does sworn mean, what’s sworn, what’s unsworn, when you said it was sworn what did you mean — those are all issues that are going to have to be sorted out by the public integrity commission and the district attorney.”
From our vantage point, Cuomo's report has been a large part of the problem here from the start. He purported to do an investigation, reported that some people had lied to his investigators, but also claimed he couldn't issue subpoenas and couldn't prosecute people for perjury. Claiming to lack the ordinary legal tools for determining the truth, it was never clear why he claimed to have determined it. And so, months later, the mess is still a mess.
Now, here's a few questions about today's story:
1. Should New York's Attorney General be opining to the NY Times about an active criminal investigation?
2. Should New York's Attorney General be undercutting an active criminal investigation conducted by another law enforcement agency -- one that, unlike him, actually has criminal jurisdiction -- by declaring that an element of the crime (materiality) is missing? Isn't the appearance here particularly unfortunate given that Dopp has a longstanding relationship with Cuomo's family, having been a press aide for Mario?
3. On what planet other than Cuomo's were the statements of Dopp, the central figure in gathering state police records on Joe Bruno, not "material" to Cuomo's investigation of the gathering of state police records on Joe Bruno?
4. Why is Cuomo the attorney general if he doesn't know "what does sworn mean, what’s sworn, what’s unsworn, when you said it was sworn what did you mean" on a statement that was given to him? Isn't he supposed to know? Isn't that his job?
Just asking.
Update: During the day, we've been filled in from a couple of places about this post. Most significantly, in comments Cuomo made to a group of reporters, not just the NY Times, he did not actually use the word "material" according to a transcript from our Albany bureau. The Times characterized his comments that way twice, but the word does not appear in his quotes.
The idea that Cuomo expressed a conclusion about a legal aspect of the investigation, by saying Dopp's statement wasn't material, was central to the suggestion that he was undercutting someone else's investigation. We don't know what he may have said separately to the Times, but in his remarks in the transcript he did not do that.
So, the answer to my questions seems to be that based on his quoted remarks, Cuomo was not out of line, but some of the questions were.
After the jump, transcript of Cuomo's comments
Cuomo's comments:
"This is a matter being handled by the public integrity commission, and the district attorney, and the senate may have an investigation. I will leave it to them. My report spoke for itself. As far as the legal issues, what does sworn mean, what’s sworn, what’s unsworn, when you said it was sworn what did you mean, those are issues that are going to be sorted out by the public integrity commission and the district attorney.
"The statements to our office were ultimately not used by our report. We didn’t include them in the report, so we did not spend a lot of time on the statements because we didn’t make them part of the final report."
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Comments (5)
This realy should be front page news. If this blog is correct, and unscores the tragedy of Mr. Cuomo's victory over Jeanie Pirro, who may actually know a thing or two about prosecuting criminal cases. Anyhow, here are some legal definitions which should be helpful to Mr. Cuomo, taken from the penal code. Isn't amazing how Democrats - from Clinton up until the present day - still cannot understand the meaning of the term "perjury."
NYS Penal Code § 210.00 Perjury and related offenses; definitions of terms.
The following definitions are applicable to this article:
1. "Oath" includes an affirmation and every other mode authorized by law of attesting to the truth of that which is stated.
2. "Swear" means to state under oath.
3. "Testimony" means an oral statement made under oath in a proceeding before any court, body, agency, public servant or other person authorized by law to conduct such proceeding and to administer the oath or cause it to be administered.
4. "Oath required by law." An affidavit, deposition or other subscribed written instrument is one for which an "oath is required by law" when, absent an oath or swearing thereto, it does not or would not, according to statute or appropriate regulatory provisions, have legal efficacy in a court of law or before any public or governmental body, agency or public servant to whom it is or might be submitted.
5. "Swear falsely." A person "swears falsely" when he intentionally makes a false statement which he does not believe to be true (a) while giving testimony, or (b) under oath in a subscribed written instrument. A false swearing in a subscribed written instrument shall not be deemed complete until the instrument is delivered by its subscriber, or by someone acting in his behalf, to another person with intent that it be
uttered or published as true.
6. "Attesting officer" means any notary public or other person authorized by law to administer oaths in connection with affidavits, depositions and other subscribed written instruments, and to certify that the subscriber of such an instrument has appeared before him and has sworn to the truth of the contents thereof.
7. "Jurat" means a clause wherein an attesting officer certifies, among other matters, that the subscriber has appeared before him and sworn to the truth of the contents thereof.
I'm not aware that Cuomo's original report ever said that some people had lied to his investigators. Can you explain where that occured?
Jerry -- It's not comprehensive, but I did an item this summer (http://weblogs.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/politics/blog/2007/08/howards_role.html") that laid out the places in the report that assert or imply misstatements by homeland security official Bill Howard: "At six different points (page 14 twice, 15, 25, 29-30 and 38) it found that his testimony was "plainly wrong," "plainly untrue," contradicted by e-mails, contradicted by the state police superintendent, contradicted by Howard himself, or some combination."
This mess is the result of reporters who cover gov't/elected offcials going to work for them for big bucks. It seems they use their position as the fourth estate to become part of the elected estate. Newdays former Albany Bureau Chief is now Spitzer $150,000 plus mouth piece.
BTW WHAT WAS HIS SALARY AT NEWSDAY ????????
Two current newsday reporters put forth the don't supeona us LCA resolution.
Which seems to be a favor to the Editor of the Albany Times Useless, who was also a former Newsday Albany Bureau Chief.
This revoling "darkside door" needs to be stopped.
Newsday and all the other newspapers need to put rules in place that forbid reporters from going to work for the people or business the report on.
The public is not served by this revoling door.
How can they trust what the read in the papers if the reporters are working for the paper oneday and the next working for the person they wrote about.
This whole mess should be called "REPORTERSGATE"
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