Add The New York Post on Google ALBANY – Taxpayers are off the hook for more than $700,000 in legal bills for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s close confidant Melissa DeRosa, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Albany County Supreme Court Judge Danielle Jose-Decker slapped down DeRosa and her high-powered legal team’s attempt to reverse a decision by the state comptroller’s office’s not to reimburse her for the fees, which were racked up after she was dismissed from asexual harassment case against her and Cuomo by an anonymous state trooper.
Lev Radin/Pacific Press/Shutters “Any argument that the dismissal could have been reversed in the future and they therefore had to continue representing is speculative and remote,” Jose-Decker wrote in her ruling.
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Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello, who represent DeRosa and Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi, have still been reimbursed for around $2.6 million in legal fees, and those of Cuomo’s various investigations and ongoing legal battles have cost taxpayers more than $60 million overall.
“As a direct result of the Attorney General’s fatally flawed report, a public servant was sued baselessly and dragged through litigation for years — Ms. DeRosa was rightly dismissed from Trooper #1’s blatant attempt at a money grab, but the Court’s decision is not consistent with the law or past precedent,” DeRosa’s attorney, Catherine Foti, wrote in a statement to The Post.
“We look forward to this decision being overturned on appeal,” she added.
State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office declined comment.
