Astorino, a Republican who unsuccessfully challenged Cuomo during the 2014 gubernatorial elections, said that if the governor “really wanted to regain the public's trust, he'd finally appoint a special prosecutor to investigate whether he broke state laws -- and it's pretty clear he did -- when closing the Moreland Commission,” he said in a statement.
On Monday, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said there was insufficient evidence to bring charges against Cuomo or his staff, or prove that there was a federal crime, involved in the shuttering of the ethics panel, Daily Voice reported Jan. 11.
Astorino also reacted angrily Monday to Cuomo's being cleared, especially in light of the recent corruption convictions of state Senate Majority Leader Dean G. Skelos and state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.
In his speech Wednesday, Cuomo Wednesday proposed several ethics reforms including limiting lawmakers’ outside incomes, not allowing convicted legislators to collect their pensions, and the closing of a legal loophole that allows corporations to funnel campaign funds through limited liability companies, the Daily Voice reported.
Astorino also pounced on Cuomo’s vow to remake the state’s infrastructure projects, calling it “simply delusional.”
“For five years he's failed to find $3 billion in funding for the new Tappan Zee Bridge, and now he's throwing out pie-in-the-sky ideas that could cost taxpayers $100 billion or more,” Astorino said, adding: “There's a reason companies like GE and so many middle-class families are leaving our state.”To read related Daily Voice stories, click here and here.
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