FBI EYES GOV
‘Hid salaries’ to beef up his p.r. staff
The feds are investigating Gov. Cuomo for allegedly expanding his staff — without expanding his spending — by paying employees using other agencies’ budgets.
The feds are investigating the Cuomo administration over its practice of hiring people to work in the Governor’s Office but paying them through state agencies or public authorities.
FBI agents have grilled people who work for Gov. Cuomo’s office but are paid by agencies or authorities about how they were hired, according to the Albany Times Union, which first reported the story.
In some cases, hiring letters said employees would be working for the agency or authority even though they were actually going to work for the governor.
The feds are also looking at whether workers in the Executive Chamber had any duties connected to the agencies or authorities that paid their salaries.
The practice of hiring political appointees to work for the governor but paying them through other state entities has allowed Cuomo and his predecessors to beef up their staffs without getting slammed for hiking their budgets.
Sources said the probe is being conducted by the US Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn.
Many state agencies and authorities receive federal funding, which could explain the Justice Department’s interest.
“What crime? It’s legal and it’s been going on for years. Only angle for a criminal case is if they are being paid federal money or part of a federal grant and they are not working on the project the money is designed for,” a Republican source told The Post.
A Democratic source said, “Unless they are alleging these are no-show jobs or that the governor is using tax dollars to pay for campaign work, I don’t see what they could be investigating.”
The practice is said to be common in both state and federal government.
A Times Union report a year ago revealed that 89 out of 209 employees in the Executive Chamber were on the payroll of public authorities or agencies.
That number grew in March, when the governor announced 27 new hires or promotions, with all but five of them being paid by an agency or authority.
Many of the new appointees were veterans of the Obama administration or of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, fueling speculation that Cuomo, a critic of President Trump, was eyeing a 2020 presidential run.
Team Cuomo acknowledged receiving a subpoena for documents several months ago and said it had cooperated, but called the Times Union story “absurd” and the probe a “charade.”
“The agencies are all part of the same executive branch, and this administration follows the exact same lawful hiring process we inherited from previous administrations stretching back decades. If there are questions about it, call [former Gov.] George Pataki,” said Cuomo spokesman Richard Azzopardi.
“In this environment, anyone can ask about anything, but the fact is the longstanding practice of detailing staff from agencies to work in the Executive Chamber dates back over 50 years to at least the Rockefeller administration and extends to the White House and the federal Depart- mentt off JJustice,”ti” AAzzopardidi said.id
“Given that the federal Department of Justice and the White House have a long history of utilizing this practice, perhaps the FBI can investigate them when this is charade is over.”
The Times Union reported that some employees do have a connection to the agencies or authorities that pay them while others do not.
In one case, former Post journalist Tom Topousis was hired in 2015 at a $125,000 salary as a “special assistant” at the Office of Children and Family Services, although his real job was speechwriter for the governor.
Another speechwriter, Jamie Malanowski, earns $120,000 from the Affordable Housing Corp., a quasigovernmental agency that helps subsidize affordable-housing projects.
Joel Wertheimer, an ex-Obama White House employee, was hired in March to serve as a Cuomo staff secretary on a $120,000 salary that was paid by the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services. He left in September.