Hi, friends -

I am reaching out to provide some important results and takeaways from the hearing I recently led to investigate the Joint Committee on Public Ethics (JCOPE), New York’s ineffective public ethics committee.

During the hearing, I had the opportunity to question many individuals who have been affiliated with JCOPE, including Julie Garcia, a former commissioner on the committee. Here are some important details from her testimony:

• When Garcia voted to conduct an investigation into one of Governor Cuomo’s allies, her vote was leaked to Cuomo. Whoever leaked this information was guilty of a misdemeanor under New York state law
• When Garcia reported this incident, the Inspector General’s office conducted a perfunctory investigation, declining to interview Governor Cuomo or keep Garcia updated on their progress
• Garcia says that she eventually resigned from JCOPE because she did not want to be part of an organization without integrity

We also heard testimony from former JCOPE members who painted a picture of a corrupt institution that is:

1. Worse than useless
2. Accountable to no one, and
3. Enables abuse of power in state government

Now, only one day out from our hearing, we began to see some signs that members of JCOPE are feeling the pressure.

On August 26th, JCOPE referred the case of the leak against Julie Garcia to the Attorney General’s office. The body also referred an investigation into its own Inspector General’s ineffective investigation into that leak. JCOPE even pledged to demand Andrew Cuomo return the royalties from his $5 million book deal if it is found that the former governor violated state law.

These are good signs, and I am hoping that they will result in some accountability for those who were hurt by JCOPE’s obfuscation. But JCOPE will not reform itself, and it is on those of us in the state government to truly push for this committee to function as originally intended.

Please, add your name to say you support my continued fight to reform JCOPE. This has been a lengthy process, but I truly believe that we have made important headway already — and that a reformed JCOPE can be the cornerstone of a new and improved culture of accountability in Albany.

Thank you for your support, and I will share more information on the newly referred investigations once I have it.

- Alessandra

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