Percoco trial no small matter

Not since Franz Kafka wrote The Trial has the word “trial” meant so much.

We all should know by now that I am referring to the trial of Joe Percoco, the man that Andrew Cuomo once called his “third brother” -- the one that papa Mario loved the most.

Now Percoco and a group of other alleged miscreants are on trial and that could spell years of incarceration. The heroic (now fired) U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara made it clear that Andrew Cuomo was not one of the many Cuomo-ites on trial for various corruption and ethical breeches. But things are coming out now that raise questions about the Dark Prince’s fitness to hold any political office, let alone that of governor of New York or President of the United States. It has yet to be determined what Cuomo knew or should have known as the alleged corruption was taking place right under his governmental nose. One of the most amazing pieces of information came out of the mouth of Cuomo’s Chief of Staff, Linda Lacewell. When Percoco allegedly called the governor to tell him that the FBI was at his door confiscating his various computers, he told him that he had apparently done some off kilter things and the governor responded, “What?”

That obviously gets the governor somewhat off the hook. It substantiates the Cuomo assertion that he knew nothing about Percoco and his associate, lobbyist Todd Howe’s, alleged bad actions and choices. But, and it’s a big but, there remains the question of who was watching the Cuomo governmental store. In other words, if indeed the allegations prove true and two of Cuomo’s top friends and aides were plotting to rip off “ziti” (using “GoodFella’s” synonym for money in the form of payoffs) and trying to convert public assets into personal wealth, as in “How did you get to pay for the big new Westchester house you are now living in while you had money pressures,” what will Cuomo’s stewardship look like? What other things were taking place on the governor’s watch that needed attention? How could the governor justify his lack of internal controls when as Attorney General he put a lot of politicians away for ethical transgressions?

Of course, lobbyist Todd Howe has already turned state’s evidence, as the old detectives might have said. He will testify as to all the skullduggery that may have been going on. The defense is calling Howe all kinds of names and the Cuomo people seem to be distancing themselves from Howe who pled guilty as opposed to their “brother” Percoco who did not.

But there are problems for the prosecution. Much of the trial revolves around an alleged “low paying” job for Percoco’s wife as a payoff but there is a long distance between a low paying job and a no paying job. Not only that, there is the famous “McDonnell” decision from the Supreme Court which is making “theft of honest services” harder to prove. I’ve often wondered if perhaps the Justices might have been thinking, “There but for the grace of God go I.” In any case, this is not a slam dunk for the prosecution.

As for key defense witness Linda Lacewell, one can understand her need to protect her boss but she may have damaged her testimony by insisting that crucial evidence was entitled to executive privilege. One of the funniest moments in all of this came when one senior journalist seemed to get Lacewell’s name confused with that of porn star Linda Lovelace (corrected before publication).

Maybe the best thing going for Andrew Cuomo right now is the fact that President Donald Trump seems to have sucked all the air out of the political room. Cuomo’s trial has been somewhat relegated to the status of state news or warm spit. There’s a lot more trial to go. Kafka would have been proud.