Andrew Cuomo

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Andrew Mark Cuomo (born December 6, 1957, in Queens, New York) is the New York State Attorney General. He was elected on November 7, 2006. Previously Cuomo was the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Bill Clinton between 1997 and 2001.

Background and early career

Cuomo is the elder son of former New York Governor Mario M. Cuomo and the older brother of ABC News journalist Chris Cuomo. Andrew and his ex-wife, Kerry Kennedy, the seventh child of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel Kennedy, have three daughters. The couple announced their separation in 2003 and have subsequently divorced.

He attended Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens, NY, graduating in 1975. He then attended Fordham University and Albany Law School.[1] He was a top aide to his father during his father's 1982 campaign for Governor. He then joined the Governor's staff as one of his father's top policy advisors, a position he filled on and off during his father's 12-year governorship. Cuomo became active in issues affecting the homeless and housing policy in New York during the 1980s and 1990s. He founded a non-profit organization focused on homeless and housing issues, Housing Enterprise for the Less Privileged, or HELP.

During the administration of former New York City Mayor David Dinkins, Cuomo served as Chairman of the New York City Homeless Commission, which was charged with developing policies to end the homeless crisis in the city and to develop more housing options.

Political career

Clinton Cabinet position

Cuomo was appointed to the Department of Housing and Urban Development in 1993, as a member of President Bill Clinton's administration. After the departure of Secretary Henry Cisneros at the end of Clinton's first term under a cloud of an FBI investigation, Cuomo succeeded him as HUD Secretary in 1997, serving until 2001 when Clinton's administration ended. In 1998, Cuomo's lauded work in the department garnered speculation that he could challenge Senator Al D'Amato but he ultimately declined, saying that he had more things to revamp in the Department. He was also mentioned as a candidate for U.S. Senator in 2000 but deferred to First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.

New York Gubernatorial campaign

In 2002, Cuomo ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for the Governor of New York. His running mate was Charles King. Though rival Carl McCall was the favorite of the Democratic establishment, Cuomo initially had more momentum and led in fundraising and polls. A turning point in the campaign was on April 17, 2002, when Cuomo said "Pataki stood behind the leader. He held the leader's coat. He was a great assistant to the leader. But he was not a leader. Cream rises to the top, and Rudy Giuliani rose to the top." The remarks were widely derided, and even his father Mario later admitted it was a mistake.[2]

On the eve of the state convention, he withdrew from its consideration when he concluded that he had little chance of its support as opposed to the favored party candidate, H. Carl McCall, the then-State Comptroller.[3] Later, in September 2002, on the all-but-certain defeat that loomed in the state primary, again at the hands of McCall, Cuomo withdrew from the race, but his name remained on the ballot, as it did in the general election, as the Liberal party candidate. In the primary, the withdrawn candidate only received 14% of the vote. And then in the general election, he received about 16,000 votes, out of 2.2 million cast, handing a costly defeat to the Liberal Party, which thereby lost its automatic spot on the New York ballot. McCall, who ran a poor campaign and failed to resonate with voters, was defeated in a landslide by Governor George Pataki.

Campaign for New York Attorney General

Some expected him to run for Governor of New York again, as a candidate for the Democratic nomination in 2006, but Cuomo decided against a run when New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer entered the race in late 2004. Cuomo declared his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for New York State Attorney General in 2006, and on May 30, 2006, captured the Democratic Party's endorsement, receiving 65 percent of the delegates' votes. Though Cuomo won the endorsement, former New York City Public Advocate Mark J. Green, Charlie King, a two-time candidate for lieutenant governor, and Sean Patrick Maloney, a former aide to President Clinton, also earned places on the Democratic primary election ballot.[4] King dropped out of the race before the primary and endorsed Cuomo.

Cuomo won the primary with a majority of the vote, defeating his nearest opponent by over 20%. He won the general election against the Republican nominee, former Westchester DA Jeanine Pirro on November 7, 2006, winning 58%-40%, the closest statewide race that year. Cuomo won New York City in a landslide, and did quite well upstate, defeating Pirro in the Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany areas, as well as in Westchester and Rockland counties. Cuomo only narrowly defeated Pirro on Long Island.

Notable Work as Attorney General

Police surveillance by the Governor's Office

On July 23, 2007, Cuomo's office admonished the Spitzer administration for ordering the State Police to keep special records of Senate majority leader Joseph L. Bruno's whereabouts when he traveled with police escorts in New York City.[5] At the direction of top officials of the Spitzer administration, the New York State Police created documents meant to cause political damage to Bruno.[6] The governor's staff had stated they were responding to a Freedom of Information request from the Albany Times-Union in late June.[5] A scathing 57-page report issued by the Attorney General's office concluded that Spitzer aides did not simply produce records, as the state Freedom of Information Law requires, but were instead engaged in planning and producing media coverage concerning Senator Bruno's travel on state aircraft before any FOIL request was made. [7][8] The investigation looked into both Bruno's travel and the senate leader's allegation that Spitzer used State Police to spy on him.[9] It also suggests that the governor's staff lied when they tried to explain what they had done and forced the State Police to go far beyond their normal procedures in documenting Mr. Bruno's whereabouts.[10]

The report cleared Bruno of any misuse of the state's air fleet, which had been alleged.[11][12][13][6] The report criticized Spitzer's office for using State Police resources to gather information about Bruno's travel and releasing the information to the media.[14] New York Republican State Committee Chairman Joseph Mondello claimed that "Today's explosive report by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo validates the frightening charges that Governor Spitzer's administration abused the New York State Police and New York's F.O.I.L. laws in an attempt to set up Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno"[5] and that "This disturbing abuse of power by a Governor is unprecedented."[5] The findings of the report were endorsed by Spitzer's own Inspector General, Kristine Hamann.[5][12][13][9]

Spitzer responded at a July 23 press conference that "As governor, I am accountable for what goes on in the executive branch and I accept responsibility for the actions of my office"[5] and that his administration had "grossly mishandled"[5] the situation.[13] The Governor issued an apology to Senator Bruno and stated that "I apologized to Senator Bruno and I did so personally this morning […] In addition, I apologized to the men and women of the State Police, and to acting Superintendent Preston Felton personally for allowing this esteemed institution to be drawn into this matter."[5] Felton said he didn't realize he was part of a political scheme, and claimed in a written statement that "I have never, in my 26-year career with the state police, knowingly undertaken any such action and never would […] To the extent that circumstances previously not known to me have now given rise to that appearance, I am particularly saddened."[9]

Spitzer subsequently announced that he would indefinitely suspend his communications director, Darren Dopp, and reassign another top official.[15] When questioned about his promise to bring a new dawn of ethical responsibility to state politics, Spitzer responded by saying "I will not tolerate this behavior […] ethics and accountability must and will remain rigorous in my administration",[6] and that "I have always stated that I want ethics and integrity to be the hallmarks of my administration. That is why I requested that the State Inspector General review the allegations with respect to my office, and that is why we have fully cooperated with both inquiries."[11] As of July 2007, Cuomo's office was considering recommending disciplinary action against the Governor's office.[7]

Student Loan Inquiry

In 2007, Cuomo has been active in a high profile investigation into lending practices and anti-competitive relationships between student lenders and universities. Specifically, many universities steered student borrowers to "preferred lender" which resulted in those borrowers incurring higher interest rates. This has led to changes in lending policy at many major American universities. Many universities have also rebated millions of dollars in fees back to affected borrowers.[16][17]

The Safety of Facebook

Andrew Cuomo has spoken out against Facebook, saying that it is not safe enough for minors.[18]

"My office is concerned that Facebook's promise of a safe web site is not consistent with its performance in policing its site and responding to complaints," Cuomo stated on September 25, 2007. "Parents have a right to know what their children will encounter on a web site that is aggressively marketed as safe."

Cuomo cites an investigation by the Office of Attorney General which discovered "deficiencies that stand in contrast to the reassuring statements made on the web site and by company officials." This investigation found numerous occurrences of other users approaching undercover Facebook accounts for adult reasons, as well as lewd or pornographic Facebook groups that users under 18 were allowed to join.

Controversy

On November 7, 2007, as part of his probe into the mortgage industry as New York Attorney General Cuomo announced subpoenas for Freddie Mac (FRE) and Fannie Mae (FNM) requesting the companies retain an independent examiner to review mortgages and appraisals. Cuomo sued First American Corporation (FAF) and its eAppraiseIT unit for allegedly colluding with Washington Mutual to use a list of select appraisers to inflate mortgage appraisals. Washington Mutual stock responded with a sharp decline. CNBC's Jim Cramer labeled Cuomo a "communist" who "wants to shut down the mortgage market."[19]

Cuomo's gun control and anti-hate speech activities while Secretary of HUD caused alarm among First and Second Amendment activists.

Cuomo faced criticism for a series of lawsuits and investigations surrounding a Florida based Savings and Loan Association institution in which he was accused of illegal, hostile take-over maneuvers among other things. This problem tapered off after Attorney General Janet Reno declined to initiate a full investigation. A spectrum of excuses and accusations were offered to explain this situation.

In tandem with the Florida S&L situation is the criticism coming from Catherine Fitts, formerly HUD Assistant Secretary and FHA Administrator under Jack Kemp during the first Bush administration and HUD independent contractor under Henry Cisneros and Andrew Cuomo. She essentially accuses him of fraud and links his name to HUD vendors who also provided him with lucrative benefits of various types.[20]

On June 10 2008 Cuomo, then New York Attorney General, announced that three major Internet service providers (Verizon Communications, Time Warner Cable, and Sprint) would "shut down major sources of online child pornography" by no longer hosting many Usenet groups. Time Warner Cable ceased offering Usenet altogether, Sprint no longer provides access to the alt.* hierarchy, and Verizon limiting its Usenet offerings to the Big 8. The moves came after Cuomo's office located 88 different newsgroups that contained child pornography. Barry Steinhardt, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's technology and liberty program, compared the action to "taking a sledgehammer to an ant."[21]

Personal life

Cuomo was married to Kerry Kennedy, the seventh child of Robert F. Kennedy, for 13 years. They have 3 children together, Cara, Michaela and Mariah, and were divorced in 2003.

Contact Information

Office of the Attorney General
The Capitol
Albany, NY 12224-0341

External links

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.


References

  1. ↑ Sorkin, Andrew Ross. "Andrew Cuomo Joins Law Practice in New York", The New York Times, February 17, 2001. Accessed November 3, 2007. "Andrew Cuomo, 43, who received his law degree from Albany Law School in 1982, practiced law first as an assistant district attorney and then in private practice until 1988."
  2. ↑ Where the Son Doesn't Follow by Rod Dreher, National Review Online, Sep. 4, 2002
  3. ↑ Let a political connection be your umbrella? by Bill Schneider, Inside Politics, CNN.com, Sep. 6, 2002
  4. ↑ Cuomo Wins Democrats' Backing in Primary Race for Attorney General by Jonathan P. Hicks, New York Times, May 31, 2006
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 Spitzer's Staff Misused Police, Report Finds by Danny Hakim, The New York Times, July 23, 2007
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Cuomo: Spitzer aides used state police to try to damage Bruno by Cara Matthews, The Ithaca Journal, July 23, 2007
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "With BC-NY--Bruno Flights" (Cuomo report excerpts) Newsday.com, July 23, 2007
  8. ↑ Cuomo criticizes Spitzer for using State Police to monitor Bruno by Tom Precious, The Buffalo News, July 23, 2007
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Report: NY Governor's Office Leaked Data by Michael Gormley, The Guardian, July 23, 2007
  10. ↑ His Aura Faded Now, Spitzer Faces Bolder Enemies by Danny Hakim, The New York Times, July 23, 2007
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Spitzer punishes aides after AG report by Melissa Mansfield, Newsday.com, July 23, 2007
  12. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named sun072307
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Report: Governor's office compiled, leaked data on Bruno by Sally Goldenberg, Staten Island Advance, SILive.com, July 23, 2007
  14. ↑ http://www.nysun.com/article/58958 by Jacob Gershman, New York Sun, July 24, 2007
  15. ↑ AG report faults Spitzer aides in Bruno scheme by Jay Jochnowitz, Albany Times-Union, July 23, 2007
  16. ↑ Cuomo: School loan corruption widespread USA Today
  17. ↑ The First Casualty by Doug Lederman, Inside Higher Education, May 15, 2007
  18. ↑ Ars Technica article: "NY Attorney General: Facebook not 'safe' enough for minors"
  19. ↑ CNBC's Cramer: New York AG Cuomo a 'Communist'
  20. ↑ Unanswered Questions about Andrew Cuomo by Catherine Austin Fitts, FromTheWilderness.com
  21. ↑ [1] N.Y. attorney general forces ISPs to curb Usenet access
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