#Assembly asked to investigate Cuomo aide Percoco ethics flap

The Assembly panel investigating Gov. Andrew Cuomo is being asked to look into more alleged misconduct — this time involving the botched handling of an ethics case involving imprisoned ex-Cuomo fixer Joe Percoco.

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics in January 2019 had discussed whether to open a probe into Percoco when word leaked to Cuomo within the hour of how members had voted on the matter.

Cuomo was reportedly not pleased that JCOPE was targeting his own pal for potential violations of the Public Officers Law. Percco at that point had already been convicted of public corruption following a federal trial.

His displeasure had been passed along to Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) over how Heastie’s appointees had voted on the matter.

It’s a misdemeanor crime to leak information about JCOPE’s confidential deliberations and investigations.

Julie Garcia, a former member of JCOPE and a Heastie appointee, blew the whistle on the alleged leaking of JCOPE’s actions after someone from Heastie’s staff contacted her about Cuomo knowing about how she voted.

Another Heastie JCOPE appointee, James Yates, also reported that his vote on Percoco was leaked to the governor and he referred the matter to the state inspector general’s office, the Times Union reported in July.

But JCOPE, largely controlled by allies of Cuomo, never took action against Percoco and a report by the Cuomo-controlled state inspector general’s concluded it couldn’t find the leaker, though it never even interviewed key recipients tipped off — Cuomo and Heastie — to find out.

Cuomo — who announced last week he’s resigning after a devastating investigative report released by state Attorney General Letitia James found he sexually harassed 11 women including current and former staffers — said in November 2019 he did nothing improper in the Percoco case.

But three Republican appointees of JCOPE on Monday sent a letter to Assembly Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Lavine (D-Nassau) urging him to open a separate probe into the Percoco ethics mess, claiming the Cuomo team engaged in a cover-up.

“Recognizing Governor Cuomo’s intention to resign, Joint Ethics Commission members
Gary J. Lavine, David J. McNamara and George H. Weissman nonetheless request that the Assembly Committee on Judiciary complete its inquiry into the conduct of the Governor,” the three JCOPE members, appointed by Senate GOP leader Robert Ortt, said.

“We specifically request that the ambit of this inquiry include the illegal breach of confidentiality from the Commission’s meeting of January 2019 to the Executive Chamber and the ensuing cover-up of the wrongdoing by the Office of Inspector General,” the JCOPE members said in the letter provided to The Post.

At the time, state Inspector General Letizia Tagliafierro, a former JCOPE staffer, recused herself from the case and it was overseen by a top deputy.

“It is salient to note that the Inspector General reports directly to the Governor’s Secretary,” the JCOPE members said in the letter to Levine..

They called the IG’s report on the Percoco matter “a sham”, adding, “the apparent cover-up raises the specter of official misconduct.”

“It is likely, in our view, that the Governor and several of his close associates were
complicit in the cover-up of the breach of confidentiality,” Lavine, McNamara and Weissman wrote.

“The breach of confidentiality and its cover-up constitute a fundamental subversion of the state’s ethics administration meriting the scrutiny of the Judiciary Committee,” they said.

A rep for the inspector general’s office defended its handling of the Percoco case.

“In 2019, the Inspector General’s Office was notified of a potential leak. The matter was investigated and found to be unsubstantiated. There was and is no ‘coverup,’” the IG’s spokesman, Lee Park, said in a statement.

“The Inspector General Office’s investigation included interviews, document and record reviews, and signed affirmations under penalty of perjury from JCOPE staff and commissioners in attendance at the executive session of their January 29, 2019 meeting, which included, among other representations, that they did not disclose information regarding any matter discussed in the executive session,” he said.

“Inspector General Tagliafierro was and remains fully recused from this matter.”

Lavine and Cuomo had no immediate comment.

Meanwhile, Speaker Carl Heastie announced that the Assembly Judiciary Committee has suspended its impeachment proceedings of three-term Democrat Cuomo after he agreed to vacate the governor’s office, but on Monday said it will issue a public report of its investigative findings.

In addition to the harassment allegations, the Assembly’s impeachment probe was examining allegations that Cuomo used taxpayer resources to draft his $5 million COVID memoir, misled the public about nursing home deaths during the pandemic and covered up safety issues at the new Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, which replaced the Tappan Zee.