Gov. Andrew Cuomo is standing by a former aide who is now the focus of a federal investigation.
Documents surrounding the Buffalo Billion program investigation state Joe Percoco earned money from Cuomo’s re-election campaign and state contractors. The investigation will help determine if the action was a conflict of interest.
The governor said he does not want the investigation to discredit what the money has done for Western New York. He added that Western New York should not be too quick to assume wrongdoing.
“I’ve learned the hard way that sometimes what it looks like isn’t what it turns out to be. So, before you speculate what about this, what about this, get the facts first,” Cuomo said.
The governor said he has launched his own internal ethics investigation as well.
