Dan Abrams Calls Out Albany Sheriff in Filing of Cuomo Charges: An ‘Unusual Maneuver’ to ‘Pressure’ the DA

ABC News chief legal analyst Dan Abrams told Good Morning America on Friday that the filing from the Albany County Sheriff’s Office – “effectively going around the district attorney and directly to the court” – in charging former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was a very “unusual maneuver.”

“I spoke to a number of assistant district attorneys who have worked in this office before. A couple of them didn’t even know that the Sheriff could do this,” said Abrams — who is also the founder of Mediaite. Cuomo was charged on Thursday with forcible touching of a former aide. The way in which the charges were filed raised eyebrows across the media and legal world.

“The fact that the D.A. did not know that this was coming tells you that this is the Sheriff [Craig Apple] trying to put pressure on the D.A. to actually file charges,” Abrams explained, in a case that’s “really hard to win because not only do you have to prove that it was intentional, you have to prove that it was done for the purpose of abusing, degrading or for sexual gratification.”

A spokesperson for Cuomo issued a statement on Friday accusing state Attorney General Letitia James of using her office for political gain, as James announced her run for governor the day after the complaint was made. James led the initial investigation into Cuomo, detailing the allegations against him in a report which led to his resignation two months ago.

Abrams cautioned that the Sheriff’s actions “give Cuomo’s attorney a very good legal argument to make that this charge should be dismissed altogether,” but added one thing we now know for sure is “that Andrew Cuomo will be in court to respond to it.”

Watch above, via ABC.

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