New York State

Assembly’s impeachment law firm raises concerns

Davis Polk, hired to lead the impeachment investigation law firm, has ties to Cuomo allies.

New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie

New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie lev radin/Shutterstock

The Assembly’s impeachment investigation into Gov. Andrew Cuomo took a small step forward Wednesday, as Speaker Carl Heastie and Judiciary Committee Chair Charles Lavine announced they’ve hired a law firm to assist with the probe. But the announcement was met with almost immediate backlash because the firm, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, has ties to Cuomo allies. The announcement also comes as Heastie reels from a leaked conference meeting in which some Assembly members suggested that he’s using the impeachment investigation to stall for time and potentially to protect Cuomo.

Three lawyers from Davis Polk will take charge with the Judiciary Committee to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct, Cuomo’s handling of nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic and an alleged coverup of structural problems with the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge. Greg Andres was notably part of then-special counsel Robert Mueller’s team investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and potential collusion with the Trump campaign. He prosecuted ex-Donald Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort as part of that probe. Martine Beamon is a former federal prosecutor in New York and Angela Burgess leads the law firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigation Group. “Hiring Davis Polk will give the Committee the experience, independence and resources needed to handle this important investigation in a thorough and expeditious manner,” Heastie said in a statement, adding that he has “the utmost faith” that Lavine and the Judiciary Committee will conduct a “full and fair investigation.”

But already, questions have arisen about the Assembly’s choice of law firms. Observers on Twitter pointed out that Davis Polk has ties to Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, a Cuomo ally and appointee. Last month, after two former aides had come forward with accusations of sexual harassment, the governor tapped DiFiore to jointly appoint an independent investigator with Attorney General Letitia James after receiving backlash for attempting to appoint an investigator himself. Cuomo soon caved to continued public outcry and referred the investigation to James alone (James’ investigation of sexual misconduct allegations is independent of the Assembly’s.). DiFiore’s husband Dennis Glazer, now chair of the SUNY Purchase College Council, spent over 30 years at Davis Polk, where he led its litigation practice. Cuomo appointed Glazer to his SUNY Purchase position in 2019, and since 2014 has been a member of the state Gaming Commission.

The decision drew the ire of Debra Katz, the attorney for Charlotte Bennett, one of Cuomo’s accusers. “We were alarmed to learn that Speaker Heastie has hired Davis Polk to assist with the investigation, given the connection between Dennis Glazer, who spent over 30 years as a partner at Davis Polk, and the Governor,” Katz said in a statement. “This is an unacceptable conflict of interest.”

Republican Assembly Member Michael Montesano, the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, expressed confidence in both the investigation and choice of law firm his Democratic counterpart decided to hire. “I think it's going to be fair, I think it's going to be equitable,” Montesano told City & State after the hiring was announced. “I have confidence in what we do. Like I say, a lot of us argue about a lot of things, but when certain things have to get done, they get that.” He said that looking at Davis Polk, the law firm seems to have the “background and experience” not just to help conduct a thorough and fair investigation, but to do so expeditiously. 

The hiring announcement came the morning after a leaked conference meeting laid bare divisions within the Democratic conference about the investigation. At the leaked March 11 meeting, in which he futilely criticized such leaks, Heastie emphasized the importance of “due process” as he defended his decision to move forward with a preliminary investigation rather than formally beginning impeachment proceedings. “We need to get witness testimony,” Heastie said, according to Yahoo News. “We need to hear from people who have this information. You put them under oath.” 

Some progressive members of the conference, including Assembly Members Ron Kim and Jessica González-Rojas, criticized the move in the closed-door meeting as an attempt to buy time for Cuomo. And Heastie admitted he has “no idea” how long the investigation may take.

The leaked conference led Heastie to abruptly pause session on Tuesday in the middle of voting on high-profile legislation to end solitary confinement in prison to conference with his members. According to reports, he said he would no longer hold virtual meetings with the full conference, instead meeting with members in smaller groups.

With reporting by Zach Williams

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.