On Wednesday, Governor Andrew Cuomo responded for the first time to accusations against Republican leader Dean Skelos, but refused to say whether he thinks he should step down.
Skelos was arrested Monday on charges of trading political favors for payments to his son Adam Skelos’ business, according to Capital New York. The complaint appears to refer to Glenwood Management’s Leonard Litwin, a major donor to both Skelos and Cuomo. Cuomo has been challenged to return the $1 million he received from Litwin.
However, yesterday he made it clear that he has no intention of doing so.
“I don’t believe anyone said Glenwood has done anything wrong,” Cuomo said. “If somebody did something wrong, then obviously I wouldn’t associate with them politically. But, if no one did anything wrong, then you can’t just say, ‘You have no right to participate in the political process.’”
In response to whether he will continue to work with Skelos, he said, “I don’t pick who the conference leader is from the Republicans, from the Senate… I will work with whatever leader they pick.” [Capital NY] — Tess Hofmann