NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo filed a lawsuit against New York Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday, claiming that the state should have covered his legal costs after a state trooper who accused him of sexual misconduct sued him.
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The disgraced Democrat's attorney, Rita Glavin, filed the suit in Manhattan Supreme Court, alleging that the AG's office wrongfully denied his request to pay for his legal counsel to defend the suit.
The suit came one year to the day after Cuomo announced he was resigning amid mounting sexual harassment allegations.
According to the suit obtained by the Daily News, Glavin argued that the decision was "arbitrary, capricious, contrary to the plain text of the statute, biased, personally and politically conflicted," even a dereliction of duty by James.
The unnamed trooper filed her suit in Manhattan in February against Cuomo, New York State Police and Cuomo's former top aide Melissa DeRosa. The suit seeks attorney fees, damages for "severe mental anguish and emotional distress," and a declaratory judgment that Cuomo, DeRosa and state police violated civil laws on the federal, state and city level prohibiting sexual harassment.
Rich Azzopardi blasted the suit at the time, arguing Cuomo "will fight every attempt at cheap cash extortions and is anxious to have the dirty politics stop — we look forward to justice in a court of law." Azzopardi was then added to her suit.
A month after the trooper took legal action against Cuomo, the 64-year-old requested the state provide him with representation or pay for private counsel, court papers said.
However, James' office reportedly declined the request after finding that New York was not responsible for covering any of his legal costs.
Cuomo resigned days after an independent probe found he sexually harassed nearly a dozen women and that he and aides worked to retaliate against one of his accusers. Those accusers included the trooper on his security detail, who said he allegedly subjected her to sexual remarks and on occasion ran his hand or fingers across her stomach and her back.
Several district attorneys in New York said they found Cuomo’s accusers "credible," but said the available evidence wasn’t strong enough to press criminal charges against him. Cuomo has continued to maintain his innocence.
Azzopardi, who defended Cuomo's lawsuit on Twitter Thursday, said that James' report "was nothing more than a political document and holds no legal weight."
The court documents filed Wednesday argue Cuomo is entitled to a state-funded representation since the alleged acts took place "while he was acting within the scope of his public employment and duties."
Glavin even accused James of denying the request over "her political ambitions" and her "obvious personal dislike of Governor Cuomo."
The court papers also rehash previous allegations criticizing James for her "long-standing refusal to provide Governor Cuomo with all evidence underlying the Report for careful scrutiny" and "her refusal to correct, amend or supplement the Report despite being made aware of its material omissions and errors."
A spokesperson for the attorney general's office said in a statement on Thursday that "Cuomo is trying to force New Yorkers to pay his legal bills because he believes sexual harassment was within his 'scope of employment' as governor."
"Sexually harassing young women who work for you is not part of anyone’s job description," the statement continued. "Taxpayers should not have to pony up for legal bills that could reach millions of dollars so Mr. Cuomo’s lawyer can attack survivors of his abuse."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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