The scandals that cost former Gov. Andrew Cuomo his job have now cost New York state taxpayers roughly $60 million in legal fees, according to a new breakdown by the Office of New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli.
The Comptroller’s office has identified more than a dozen law firms that they say received payments from the state to work on Cuomo related controversies. Some of the money - almost $18 million, according to DiNapoli’s office - paid for private lawyers to defend Cuomo and his top advisors in civil sexual harassment cases.
Millions more went to attorneys who repped other state agencies including the New York State Police, the Executive Chamber (Governor’s Office) and State Health Department involving probes about nursing home deaths and Cuomo’s $5 million book deal.
One contract that cost the state $6.6 million went to the firm Cleary Gottlieb, which Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi says helped finance AG Letitia James’s investigation into Cuomo — not Cuomo’s defense.
According to the State Comptroller’s office, the State so far has spent $9 million defending Cuomo and top aides against a suit by Charlotte Bennett, $256,000 on a case brought by Brittany Commisso and $8.6 million defending a federal case filed by a plaintiff identified as “Trooper 1.” Some Court filings in the Trooper 1 case express concerns that Cuomo’s discovery tactics were “invasive and aggressive,” including last December seeking to depose as many as 30 non-parties to the Trooper 1 case instead of the more typical number of about 10.
With some cases still in court and costs expected to grow, some want DiNapoli to cut off the funds. In a Feb 11 letter obtained by NBC New York, Susan Lerner of Common Cause and Erica Vladimer of the group Harassment Free New York urged DiNapoli to immediately pause taxpayer spending on Cuomo’s legal defense, noting the Comptroller’s “fiduciary duty to protect New York’s taxpayers.”
Two state government sources said they have little power to cut off funding for Cuomo’s legal defense, as it was authorized by a court.
But the letter to DiNapoli says he has authority - and an obligation - to determine whether the costs are reasonable and conduct an audit.
“The lack of sufficient oversight of reimbursements has enabled Mr. Cuomo to perpetuate the harassment of women he was already found to have harassed by multiple investigations, now through the legal system and at taxpayer expense,” Lerner and Vladimer wrote.
DiNapoli’s office has not yet responded to NBC New York’s specific questions about whether they plan to conduct an audit or rein in the legal spending related to these controversies.
Now the issue has caught the attention of NYC mayoral candidate and comptroller Brad Lander, who said his review determined the expenditures totaled about $60 million.
“I have a very simple question for Andrew Cuomo,” Lander said Monday of his new rival in the mayoral race. “Will you promise to not spend a penny more of their money on your sexual harassment cases? It’s a yes or no question."
"We need a mayor who’s in it for New Yorkers, not himself,” Lander added.
At the official launch of Andrew Cuomo’s mayoral campaign in Manhattan on March 2, his longtime, public-facing attorney Rita Glavin was present, cheering on her client in a room mostly filled with union carpenters and painters endorsing him that day.
When approached by NBC New York and other reporters, Glavin confirmed their legal team had sought Charlotte Bennett’s gynecological records. Glavin said a confidentiality order prevented her from explaining why the request was justified but insisted it was relevant, based on something an “independent expert” hired by their legal team had seen in Bennett’s file.
Bennett’s attorney Debra Katz has said Cuomo had taken “every opportunity to harass, embarrass and humiliate her client,” citing “requests for medical records for unrelated specialists, including gynecologists, optometrists, and others, as well as medical records dating back more than 10 years ago from when she was a minor.”
Katz called the aggressive legal tactics a “fishing expedition” designed to smear Bennett and distract from what she said was Cuomo’s harassment of her.
In 2021, New York Attorney General Letitia James concluded that Cuomo had sexually harassed 11 women. And in a 2024 settlement, Department of Justice Investigators said the former governor and his staff subjected women to a “sexually hostile work environment” and retaliation for complaining about it.
Cuomo disputes the findings of the AG’s report and denies touching anyone inappropriately.
“Governor Cuomo never harassed anyone. We are following the law…” said Rich Azzopardi, the ex governor’s longtime spokesman, adding that the need for much of the spending on outside attorneys was a result of the recusal by the State Attorney General who ordinarly represents state agencies in such cases.
Azzopardi also said one of the items on the State Comptroller’s list is a $4.3 million contract for Gov. Kathy Hochul to conduct an after-action report on COVID.
A Congressional COVID Subcommittee investigation referred Cuomo to the Department of Justice for prosecution for allegedly making willfully false statements to Congress. The Subcommittee said it had obtained evidence that the former governor had reviewed, drafted and edited sections of an allegedly “independent and peer-reviewed” Health Department report that undercounted nursing home deaths. Azzopardi and Cuomo have long described the Republican subcommittee investigation as a politically motivated stunt in an election year.
New York Public Officers Law 17 entitles public officials sued in their official capacity to a legal defense if approved by the AG. In 2022, Cuomo sued James for initially denying him such a tax-funded defense. Then, in 2024 he sued the State Comptroller for refusing to pay for his ongoing legal battle with James. Cuomo was fighting to obtain unredacted transcripts of witness interviews from her investigation into his treatment of multiple women. Cuomo’s team has insisted the transcripts would ultimately help discredit both the AG’s investigation - which they say was politically motivated - and also discredit Trooper 1, who was a member of the governor’s Protective Service Unit.
In a federal lawsuit, Trooper 1 claimed Cuomo made her feel violated with “creepy” behavior while she was on duty. She said he ran his finger down her back in an elevator - and on a different occasion - moved the palm of his hand across her abdomen to her hip where she carried her gun.
In 2021, Cuomo spokesman Azzopardi said Cuomo did not recall touching Trooper 1. In response to a request for comment on the mounting legal fees, Azzopardi said in a statement “… the truth is that Trooper 1 decided to Xerox the same discredited AG report that five district attorneys looked at and decided there were no cases to bring.”
Bennett dropped her civil claim against Cuomo in December, saying she had had enough.
“Former Governor Andrew Cuomo can no longer use this lawsuit to harass me and my family," she said in a statement. "His abusive filings and invasive subpoenas are meant to humiliate and retaliate against me and those who have supported me over the last five years of this living nightmare. “
In 2021, Bennett said Cuomo had subjected her to unwanted advances and questions about her sexual relationships. According to Bennett’s federal complaint against Cuomo “He told her he was ‘lonely,’ wanted a girlfriend who lived in Albany, and was willing to date someone over the age of 21 years old.” Bennett was 25 at the time. Bennett said after reporting the alleged sexual harassment to senior staff, she was transferred to an inferior position.
Cuomo’s spokesman said, “Bennett decided to drop her case on the eve of her deposition, where she was going to be confronted with a mountain of texts and videos she produced during discovery that directly contradicted her claims -- a process that her attorneys dragged out for months — adding more to costs.”
Bennett attorney Katz reminded New Yorkers that in 2021, when he was hoping to avoid impeachment and stay in office, Cuomo initially publicly apologized to Bennett for “making anyone feel uncomfortable” and “whatever pain I caused anyone,” adding, “I acknowledge some of the things I have said have been misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation. To the extent anyone felt that way, I am truly sorry about that.”
