Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday he won’t release his client list from his time working as a consultant after his 2021 resignation due to privacy issues, an issue that has been pressed during this year’s mayoral election.
Cuomo’s opponent, Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor, called on his rival to release the client list in a video posted on Tuesday, accusing him of trying to cover up scandals.
But Cuomo, during a press conference Thursday on economic development plans, said he couldn’t name names because of “attorney-client privilege.” He did say he’s worked for “podcasts, I’ve advocated for certain causes that are dear to me, worked with organizations, pro-Israel organizations among others, practicing law.”
The former governor said he had no clients before the city or state government, and that he hasn’t done any lobbying work.
It’s been previously revealed that his clients include a crypto firm that pleaded guilty to operating illegally in the U.S. and a luxury marina in Puerto Rico. Cuomo also joined a legal team defending Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from allegations of war crimes in Gaza.
A spokesman for the former governor said that the “podcast” he worked on was his own, titled “As a matter of fact with Andrew Cuomo.”
“We learned Andrew Cuomo advised an offshore illegal crypto exchange and failed to disclose nearly $3 million in nuclear stock options only after investigate journalists uncovered it — what else is he hiding?” Mamdani spokeswoman Dora Pekec said in a statement.
“After four years of endless corruption at City Hall, New Yorkers deserve a mayor who will wake up every day and work for them, not engage in pay-to-play.”
Rich Azzopardi, a spokesperson for Cuomo, said the campaign corrected their stock disclosures and that the marina project didn’t end up going through.
“Mamdani clearly can’t take the heat and is desperately trying to change the subject from his own hypocrisy,” he said.
Cuomo created his consulting firm, Innovation Strategies LLC, after resigning as governor after several allegations of sexual harassment, which he denies.
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