Thursday, November 18, 2010

Cuomo: Rattner Is ‘Worst Example’ Of Pay-To-Play Fraud by Liz Benjamin - Capital Tonight

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Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo fired back at financier Steve Rattner today, telling me during a CapTon interview that the persident’s former car czar exhibited some of the “worst behavior we’ve seen” in the AG’s four-year pay-to-play pension fraud probe.
I asked Cuomo about Rattner’s claim that the dual lawsuits filed against him by the AG’s office were politically motivated. The governor-elect told me he had “no idea” what Rattner was talking about, and then got in some digs of his own.

“I think that Steve Rattner is in many ways the worst example of this fraud,” Cuomo said.
“Steve Rattner is making a lot of comments to the press today. When he came into the office he took the Fifth Amendment 68 times, Liz, 68 times he took the Fifth Amendment.
“…He refused to answer questions about his involvement in the corruption in the comptroller’s office. This is a multimillionaire who took $150 million from the state pension fund. He paid off Hank Morris, who was the quote-unquote fixer in the situation.”
“They then offered a special gift to a state employee, the brother of a state emloyee, who was in charge of making the state investments…I think this case is the worst behavior we’ve seen.”
(As you can see, Cuomo joined me by phone. The full interview, during which the AG also addressed his involvement in the state Senate recounts and his upcoming inauguration, will air at 8 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.)