Buffalo Billions Corruption Trials To Be Major Year-Long Headache For Cuomo

Governor Andrew Cuomo’s political prospects took a major hit last night. The federal judge overseeing the Buffalo Billions corruption trial split the case into two separate trials. Now the trial of Joe Percoco, Cuomo’s former top aide, will start in January, and the second trial involving Louis Ciminelli and Alain Kaloyeros will start in May at the earliest, and perhaps as late as September.

The implications of this for Cuomo’s political future are impossible to understate. Ever since the Governor shut down the Moreland Commission, his unethical behavior has been a foremost concern for many New Yorkers.

Now this development means that Governor Cuomo will have to deal with headlines all year updating voters on how the corruption trials of his well-connected allies are going:

“The cases have implications for Cuomo’s political future. Though not accused of any wrongdoing, Cuomo will have to react to two trials that will now drag on over at least the first half of 2018 and involve either close former advisers or major upstate economic development projects that he spearheaded. The governor is expected to seek re-election in November 2018.”

The culture of corruption Governor Cuomo has perpetrated throughout his administration will be a major theme Republicans use against him next year. Now thanks to a federal judge, federal prosecutors will be doing a lot of that heavy lifting against Cuomo’s reputation.