ALBANY — Lawmakers in the state Assembly anticipate discussions about possibly issuing subpoenas to witnesses involved in the wide-ranging impeachment investigation into Gov. Andrew Cuomo during a meeting scheduled for Wednesday, sources told The Post.
Assembly Judiciary Committee members will convene in Albany Wednesday morning — the fourth meeting pertaining to the investigation since March.
It will also be the first in-person discussion as previous meetings have been conducted virtually due to the pandemic.
“That’s the reason for the meeting, we’ll be discussing making an application for subpoenas,” one pol told The Post on the condition of anonymity.
“There are people with information and sometimes people don’t want to give up that information,” the lawmaker explained, but declined to say who would be subpoenaed and for what purpose.
Lawyers have been hired by New York City law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell to probe several allegations of sexual harassment against Cuomo by current and former female aides, whether or not the administration knowingly withheld information pertaining to the death count of nursing home residents related to COVID-19 as well as the alleged misuse of resources involved in the production of Cuomo’s $5.1 million book deal.
“Smart investigators issue subpoenas to protect cooperative witnesses, bring in uncooperative witnesses and to ensure they get all of the documents they asked for,” the member explained. Another committee member said the topic of subpoenas has been raised in the past, and other panel members admitted they don’t have many details going into the meeting.
“I expect that most members are waiting for the attorney general’s report. She’s also looking at several areas. We should not have a conflict between our conclusions and hers. This is like Congress waiting for the Mueller report.”
Attorney General Letitia James is also conducting a parallel, separate investigation into Cuomo’s sexual harassment allegations and the book deal.
There is also another, ongoing federal probe into the Cuomo administration’s handling of nursing home data.
But critics argue the inquiry lacks independence from Cuomo — the husband of Chief Justice Janet DiFiore, an appointee of the governor, was a longtime partner at Davis Polk before retiring.
Speaker Carl Heastie (D-The Bronx) has also been put under the microscope for his relationship with the governor and the Assembly has been slammed for spending just $250,000 so far — which some have argued would quickly be eaten up in lawyer fees.
