Cuomo already touting Trump DOJ probe as advantage in NYC mayoral race with new campaign ad
New York City mayoral hopeful Andrew Cuomo wasted no time dropping a campaign ad casting himself as a bulwark to President Trump after news broke that he’s facing a Department of Justice probe – raising eyebrows as experts said it could give him an election boost.
The ad titled “Target” released Wednesday parades a long list of Trump’s political enemies who now face potential criminal trouble with the feds – ending with the ex-governor, who is reportedly being eyed over his House testimony about the COVID-19 pandemic.
“If Donald Trump doesn’t want Andrew Cuomo as mayor, you do,” the ad declares.
Cuomo’s campaign also quickly used the probe as fodder for fundraising, as they bundled the ad in an email asking for contributions.
The 30-second clip ropes in state Attorney General Letitia James – whose sexual harassment probe into Cuomo helped lead to his resignation as governor in 2021 – painting her as a fellow victim of Trump’s political weaponized vengeance.
One Democratic operative angrily condemned Cuomo as “shameless” for trying to grow his campaign coffers less than 24 hours after The New York Times reported the DOJ had opened a criminal probe into him last month for allegedly lying to Congress about nursing home deaths in New York during the pandemic’s early days.
Adding insult to injury, the source said, was Cuomo using James – whom he recently accused of leaking embarrassing testimony about his alleged “emotional romantic relationship” with a married top aide – in the ad.
“Less than a month ago Cuomo was dragging Tish’s name through the mud, and now he’s trying to use her to score points,” the operative raged.
“Cuomo uses black women when it’s convenient — and attacks them when it’s not.”
Political insiders told The Post that news of the probe, which was confirmed by the Associated Press and NBC News, could very well help Cuomo in the June 24 Democratic primary – even as legal experts warn the mayoral frontrunner potentially faces serious charges
“Cuomo can turn around and use the investigation as a badge of honor by saying, ‘Trump is coming after me. Trump is coming after me by weaponizing law enforcement,'” noted Bail Smikle, a campaign strategist and former executive director for the New York State Democratic Party, who is not involved in the mayoral race.
No Democratic voters believe that Trump is an equal arbiter of justice, a Dem political source said.
The source drew a comparison with the DOJ’s controversial move to dismiss Mayor Eric Adams’ federal corruption case – which many Democrats saw as the Trump administration meddling in the race, helping a growing ally to the president, or both.
“I think short of Andrew Cuomo being led off into jail, this is a boon for him,” the source said.
“It’s clear weaponization of government against him. In the same way Democratic voters in the primary believe Eric (Adams) is guilty, they will see right through this.”
James faces a Trump administration-driven criminal probe of her own into accusation she committed mortgage fraud – which she denies and has called part of a “revenge tour” by a president angry at her successful civil fraud prosecution against him.
Legal experts were also skeptical about the nature of the probe, which centers around accusations Cuomo lied to Congress about the consequences his infamous March 25, 2020, directive forcing recovering COVID patients into nursing homes.
Cuomo testified to a House subcommittee in 2024 that he had not drafted, reviewed or presided over an audit that drastically undercounted the total number of deaths in New York senior care facilities during the pandemic.
But emails allegedly show Cuomo made handwritten edits to the audit, adding fuel to accusations, including from Jeanine Pirro – a longtime enemy of Cuomo who is now leading the US Attorney’s Office in Washington, DC, that’s handling the probe – he tried to cover up the deaths.
Kentucky Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, made a criminal referral to the DOJ in 2024, and renewed it again this year, urging the department to prosecute Cuomo for lying to the panel investigating New York’s coronavirus response.
This referral sparked the DOJ probe, the Times reported, citing two sources with knowledge of the matter.
Comer’s office said it could not immediately confirm Wednesday whether the DOJ had taken up the congressman’s referral for prosecution.
Cuomo could face charges of making false statements to Congress and obstruction of justice, said Neama Rahmani, former federal prosecutor and president of West Coast Trial Lawyers.
Obstruction carries a 20-year maximum prison sentence, while a false statements conviction is punished by up to five years, Rahmani said.
“They’re not easy prosecutions,” Rahmani said.
“You would need the people who were there to testify against him.”
The probe likely would start with subpoenas targeting emails, internal communications and documents from Cuomo’s inner circle, said Duncan Levin, a former federal prosecutor with the Eastern District of New York.
But Levin said the investigation reeks of hypocritical politicalization in the justice system from an administration that professes to be against such a thing.
“The timing is suspicious, the target is convenient, and the potential political benefit to Eric Adams — a mayor clearly aligned with the administration — is hard to ignore,” he said.
“If DOJ is seriously pursuing criminal charges against Cuomo, we could be looking at allegations like obstruction of justice or honest services fraud. But whatever the legal theory, the optics here are unmistakably political.”
— Additional reporting by Joshua Christenson
