"Will Judith Kaye Use Her Jimmy Choo Shoes to Run to the Nearest OAG Exit?" - Judith Kaye - Andrew Cuomo, Conflict of Interst. Cuomo Family Secrets.
"" Once upon a time, a prince named Andrew who would be king, prevailed upon his fairy godmother named Judith to wave her magic wand and make his problems miraculously disappear. . .
Ms. Kaye,
Since you now have an email address at the OAG, presumably with office space, staff, and expenses paid with tax dollars (courtesy of Andrew Cuomo), I will be resending the three emails I previously sent you at your private law office on 3/12/10 to your OAG email address.
As to your own lack of monetary compensation, the financial arrangement you made with Andrew Cuomo to work pro bono appears to be a generous offer to an uninformed public and a sleeping and non-inquisitive NY press.
I am not in either category. Therefore, I am insisting that you accept $1.00 from NYS funds--not a penny more or less--in payment for your services as independent counsel to the OAG. Informed individuals and lawyers know the legal significance of either offering or accepting state funds--even $1.00--in a situation rife with the possibility of potential criminal charges later being sought.
I would also request that you go on public record that you have accepted $1.00 as salary to serve as independent counsel. Andrew Cuomo's refusal to offer $1.00 from state funds and your refusal to accept $1.00 from state funds could be very telling re: what you knew before agreeing to be independent counsel and what Andrew Cuomo expects from you as independent counsel.
My instincts are hardly ever wrong.
Andrew Cuomo has already gone on public record claiming that his appointment of you as independent counsel was to insure the public of the integrity of the investigation. I believe otherwise--that he had an ulterior and improper motive for appointing you.
Andrew Cuomo is first and foremost a politician and politicians are infamous for granting favors now and collecting payment later. Andrew Cuomo's appointment of you can reasonably and legitimately be viewed as his collecting a delayed payment that was still owed to his father by you..
Governor Paterson has known for some time about the Cuomo family's dirty little secrets. He may be legally blind, but he's not dumb. Rest assured, he knew exactly what he was doing when he asked Andrew Cuomo to investigate any charges against him.
I would venture that he's not laying awake at night worrying whether there will be any criminal charges brought against him.
As to your own predicament and for your own consideration, I acknowledge that claims of appearance of impropriety/conflict of interest do not arise simply out of mere friendship. However, your relationship with the Cuomo family goes well beyond that standard, as even you should be willing to admit. To be blunt, your professional standing and social status is undeniably associated with Mario Cuomo.
Who would Andrew Cuomo be if his father wasn't Mario Cuomo?
Like most attorneys, he would most likely be toiling away in relative obscurity at some non-prestigious law firm or employed by some government agency in an equally obscure position--similar to the career path you possibly would have suffered except for the same Mario Cuomo.
Please don't take this last comment as a personal insult--it's just a recognition of reality, even for myself. There is always someone more intelligent, more capable, more insightful, more principled, more connected, etc. when it comes to filling any position.
Given the Cuomo family dirty little secrets, doesn't it seem strange to you that Andrew Cuomo would ask you to be independent counsel when there are thousands of NY lawyers with prosecutorial experience who have no indebtedness to the Cuomo family or connection to any of NY's hidden political scandals?
Doesn't instinctively knowing that Andrew Cuomo will very possibly expect you to remain silent about crimes and misconduct not connected to David Paterson but linked to the OAG and the NYSP cause you any angst?
Wouldn't any deliberate decision to look the other way be in violation of certain provisions of the Lawyer's Code of Professional Conduct? As a former chief judge for NYS who has written books on ethics, you very likely know this code forward and backward.
Additionally and perhaps irrelevant, you most likely are aware of Christine Anderson's lawsuit claiming that the disciplinary committee for the 1st department of the NY OCA whitewashed and covered up charges made against politically connected attorneys. If you recall, this suit was filed during the last years of your service as chief judge.
Furthermore, any future claim by you that you were only appointed to investigate the Booker matter and World Series tickets matter and, therefore, can ignore any damaging information re: your main benefactor, his son, and others would be subject to justifiable ridicule.
I would hope that you, as a former NYS chief judge, would hold yourself to the highest ethical standards possible and won't resort to "lawyer speak" in defense of your actions if ever questioned.
Andrew Cuomo, and not me, has placed you in a compromising position that should mandate your own withdrawal as independent counsel.
It would be naive to believe that attorneys representing various targets of your investigation who have already been sent the three emails you were sent would not want concessions for their clients or input into any of your findings in return for their own silence.
The fact that each side knows of the Cuomo family's dirty little secrets need not be verbalized, knowledge alone being sufficient enough to cast doubt on the credibility and integrity of any investigation.and its findings.
It would seem to me that there is only one available option if you wish to continue as independent counsel, i,e., to make a full and public disclosure of the compromising position Andrew Cuomo has chosen to put you in--something, I doubt, you would be willing to do.
In the event that you are not a true liberal like myself who can stand on principle, this insignificant nobody and ordinary US citizen would offer this advice: Use your Jimmy Choo high heels and presumed arthritic knees to run as fast as possible to the nearest OAG exit. Prince Andrew, who would be king, is not worthy enough for you to risk the potential damage to your own public reputation. ""
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