Cuomo has $16.4 million war chest after sex-harassment claims

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo still has a $16.4 million campaign war chest, five months after he resigned from office amid sexual-harassment allegations, new filings from the state’s campaign finance board show.

Cuomo raised more than $224,000, much of it in seemingly unsolicited small-dollar donations, since the last filings were released in mid-July. The largest donation came from former New York Mets majority owner Fred Wilpon’s Sterling Mets LP, which gave $44,700. Wilpon and his son Jeff, each gave another $22,350 to Cuomo in July. Other donors included Dan Klores, who started public relations firm DKC, and real estate executives William Mack and William Rudin, according to filings released Tuesday.

About $30,000 in campaign contributions came from more than 500 donors who gave to his campaign even after New York Attorney General Letitia James released a damning report accusing him of harassment of multiple women, including state employees. Many of the donations came after he resigned in late August. Cuomo has denied any wrongdoing.

Cuomo, 64, also spent big on legal and consulting expenses. Cuomo spent $2.09 million in recent months, including $1.8 million on legal expenses, the filings show. He paid law firm Sullivan & Cromwell LLP $800,000 and the law firm of Rita Glavin, his top attorney, $899,000. The campaign also paid $42,500 to Rich Azzopardi, through his public relations firm Bulldog Strategies, and $20,944 to Stephanie Benton, who both worked for Cuomo in the governor’s office.

The former governor has faced an array of criminal and civil probes from multiple local, state and federal investigators, and has fought against efforts by the state’s ethics commission to claw back more than $5 million he received for a 2020 book about his handling of the covid-19 pandemic.

Cuomo had more than $18 million in cash on hand in July. That sum, sitting idle in his campaign account, has for months sparked questions about whether he might run for governor again or some other public office.

The speculation that he might mount a political comeback has only grown following decisions by two district attorneys to cease criminal investigations against him.

In late December, Westchester County District Attorney Mimi Rocah announced her office wouldn’t prosecute Cuomo for kissing two women on the cheek, one of whom was a state trooper at the time. And earlier this month, David Soares, Albany County’s district attorney, formally dropped criminal charges brought against the former governor for allegedly groping Brittany Commisso, a woman who worked as an executive assistant in Cuomo’s office.

Shortly after, Cuomo began tweeting about vows to fight back, with his spokesperson telling supporters to “stay tuned.”