By Sarah N. Lynch and Daniel Trotta
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Justice Department is investigating Democrat Andrew Cuomo, a leading candidate for mayor of New York City, over Republican allegations that he lied to Congress about what he did as New York governor during the coronavirus pandemic, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
The probe represents another example of what critics say is the Justice Department’s readiness to move against President Donald Trump‘s political rivals. Trump, who has painted past legal cases against him as an improper political use of law enforcement, has in a number of instances called for probes of his foes.
Several people familiar with the matter confirmed the Cuomo investigation, which was first reported by the New York Times. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment.
A spokesperson for Cuomo, Rich Azzopardi, said the campaign had not been informed of the probe. He accused Trump and the Justice Department of “lawfare and election interference plain and simple – something President Trump and his top Department of Justice officials say they are against.”
Cuomo resigned as governor in August 2021, when a report from state Attorney General Letitia James accused him of sexual harassment and other transgressions. Cuomo, 67, denies the allegations.
He is seen as the front-runner in the Democratic primary election for New York City mayor on June 24. The winner will challenge current Mayor Eric Adams, a former Democrat who is running as an independent. Adams was once the subject of a federal investigation, having been charged with bribery and fraud, but the charges against him were dropped after he embraced Trump policies on immigration.
Last year, a Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee had referred Cuomo to the Justice Department for possible prosecution based on closed-door testimony he gave to the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, the Times reported.
“Governor Cuomo testified truthfully to the best of his recollection about events from four years earlier, and he offered to address any follow-up questions from the Subcommittee – but from the beginning this was all transparently political,” Azzopardi said in his statement.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch in Washington and Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, California; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Stephen Coates)
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