New York taxpayers shelled out another $1.3 million since late May to defend former Governor Andrew Cuomo and the state police from a sexual discrimination case brought by a trooper he placed on his security detail, according to new figures released by the state comptroller’s office.
That brings the state’s costs for the case alone to $10.5 million under a law that entitles state employees to reasonable litigation expenses if they are accused of wrongdoing while serving in their positions.
In total, the suits brought by Cuomo’s accusers have racked up more than $21 million in fees footed by the state.
The costs are extraordinary compared to any other case funded by taxpayers under the same law. In June, THE CITY reported that the suits against the former governor accounted for a third of all litigation fees paid by the state in 249 cases since January 2020.
While Cuomo’s crusade to return to public office fizzled out following his defeat in the mayoral election last month, his legal battles show no signs of fatigue. In a hard-fought hearing earlier this month, his legal team warred for nearly five hours as it sought to admit additional documents and testimony in the case, occasionally drawing the ire of the judge.
Rich Azzopardi, a spokesperson for the former governor said, “There’s such a thing as defending yourself. This is America.” He added: “The governor believes he did nothing wrong.”
Azzopardi is suing the trooper, known as Trooper 1 in legal filings, in state court for prosecutorial misconduct. Cuomo has denied all accusations of harassment.
The hearing roped back into the proceedings Lindsey Boylan, a former aide who first accused Cuomo of harassment in a Medium post in December 2020. While Cuomo ran for office, Boylan was one of several accusers who attended rallies and press conferences to oppose his campaign. The allegations became key fodder for mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani as he posed to Cuomo during a heated exchange at the final debate: “What do you say to the 13 women who you sexually harassed?”
“The cases were dropped, right?” Cuomo quipped. “What you just said was a misstatement, which we’re accustomed to.”
While Boylan is not a party to the case, she is named in the complaint and is a potential witness. The judge ruled that Boylan’s attorneys must review documents that had been previously marked as exempt from disclosure in order to confirm that they should remain exempt.
Though a seemingly small detail, the decision forces Boylan to continue paying for legal representation and keeps her enmeshed in the case, even though she has not pursued litigation against the former governor herself.
“The only reason that he’s able to continue to harass me is because New Yorkers are paying for it,” Boylan said in an interview with THE CITY. “It never ends.”
The discovery phase of the case involving Trooper 1 has already dragged on for three and a half years and included 26 depositions. Ten are typically permitted in a federal civil case. The length of the court proceedings is in part due to the plaintiff’s decision to name Cuomo’s other accusers in the suit, opening them up to subpoenas for documents and testimony.
Despite the discovery phase finally closing in late September, the judge reopened it in a limited way so that Cuomo’s team could review a list of additional medical providers for Trooper 1 that had not been previously disclosed.
Cuomo’s defense attorneys maintain that additional medical records are necessary to rule out any other source of Trooper 1’s claims of emotional distress. His team raised doubts about the extent of her suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
“The plaintiff claims to have every symptom of PTSD,” said Theresa Trzaskoma, a lawyer for Cuomo. “She has been doctor shopping.”
Valdi Licul, a lawyer for Trooper 1 quickly shot back that the allegation of doctor shopping was “knowingly false.”
The defense also sought to depose additional witnesses in the case, including Trooper 1’s mother, in part citing the plaintiff’s family relationships as a potential source of her emotional distress. The judge ruled that no more depositions will be allowed in the case.
Meanwhile, critics remain fixated on the high costs of the case, pointing out that the law only provides that “reasonable” litigation fees and attorney expenses are covered.
“This most recent discovery hearing is just another piece of evidence that the Comptroller needs to rein in his illegal use of taxpayer dollars to fund his legal warfare,” said Erica Vladimir, an advocate who runs Harassment Free New York.
Last week, Cuomo filed a new lawsuit against the state Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government to block an ethics probe into the $5 million book deal he received while governor.
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