For Cuomo, Allies’ Graft Charges Are Best Bad Outcome

“No one can say that the governor was in any way involved in this,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic political consultant who has worked for him in the past. “He comes out of this as noncorrupt and in a position to root out corruption.”

Others seemed less sure of that. They included an array of government watchdog groups that over the past year had followed the paths of Sheldon Silver and Dean G. Skelos, once the top two leaders in the Legislature before both were convicted on federal corruption charges. Their downfalls shook Albany, yet prompted only modest ethics reforms during the legislative session this year.

“I think there is going to be enormous pressure on the governor to use this as a road map for reform,” said Blair Horner, executive director of the New York Public Interest Research Group. “The problem is he’s gotten other maps before and he’s never used them.”

Mr. Horner and Mr. Sheinkopf agreed that the complaint against Mr. Percoco, which describes in excruciating detail shakedowns of businessmen and his often juvenile insults (“fat boy” was a nickname he gave to one associate), was not flattering or fun for the governor.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/24/nyregion/cuomos-silver-lining-in-new-albany-graft-case-no-sign-he-did-wrong.html