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Gov. Kathy Hochul is seeking to spend around $5 million in taxpayer money to pay the legal bills of dozens of current and former state employees who got caught up in the sexual harassment scandal that forced ex-Gov Andrew Cuomo from office, The Post has learned.
The move could benefit Cuomo cronies including former aide Melissa DeRosa, who was accused of scheming to smear Lindsey Boylan, the former state economic development official who first went public with allegations against him.
Hochul has been discussing the matter with Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and Attorney General Letitia James, a source familiar with the matter said.
“If a viable legal basis is created in order to authorize payment of the type of legal fees at issue here, we expect that law firms representing approximately 30 current and former chamber employees would submit invoices for payment for up to approximately $5 million,” the source said.
The spending would either be included in the 2023 state budget that’s due on April 1 or come from a special fund that covers the cost of lawsuits against the state, the source said.
In June 2021 — less than two months before he resigned — Cuomo signed a bill authorizing lawmakers to tap the $156 million fund to pay for an Assembly impeachment investigation against him.
The state workers hired private lawyers on the advice of Cuomo’s former special counsel and senior adviser Beth Garvey after James launched a probe that led to a blockbuster report in which she accused the thrice-elected governor of sexually harassing 11 current or former state employees, the source said.
Cuomo has denied any wrongdoing but admitted in his resignation speech, “There are generational and cultural shifts that I just didn’t fully appreciate.”
None of the legal retainer agreements signed by the workers were pre-approved by the Comptroller’s Office and several of them have been unable to obtain reimbursement for their bills, the source said.
It’s unclear if Hochul will try to prevent DeRosa or others accused by James of taking “retaliatory” actions against Cuomo’s accusers from getting their bills paid, with the source saying “it’s premature” but adding that Hochul was reviewing all “legal options.”
A Hochul spokeswoman confirmed the effort, saying “We believe that well-meaning public servants who cooperated with an investigation related to their official duties should not face financial liability.”
“Upon taking office, we conducted a thorough and extensive legal review and determined there was no legal basis to authorize these contracts and make these payments,” spokeswoman Hazel Crampton-Hayes said.
“That being said, we have been working to find an equitable resolution, and we expect to resolve this in the near future.”
Neither DeRosa, the AG’s Office nor the Comptroller’s Office immediately returned requests for comment.
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