Trump administration probes of Democrats Cuomo, McIver show readiness to target rivals

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By Andrew Goudsward

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Trump administration is investigating former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and pressing charges against a New Jersey congresswoman, leveraging its control over the criminal justice system to pursue Democratic rivals.

Cuomo, a candidate for New York City mayor, is under federal scrutiny over allegations he lied to Congress about his actions as New York governor early in the coronavirus pandemic, sources said on Tuesday.

 News of the investigation emerged on Tuesday, a day after Alina Habba, the acting U.S. attorney in New Jersey, filed assault charges against U.S. Representative LaMonica McIver over her involvement in a May 9 confrontation with federal agents at an immigration detention center in Newark.

Four months since reentering the White House, the Republican President Donald Trump has marshaled his authority to pursue perceived opponents while characterizing previous legal cases against him as inappropriate political exploitation of law enforcement.

The Department of Justice accuses McIver of slamming her forearm into and forcibly grabbing a Homeland Security Investigations agent and pushing an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent to try to prevent Democratic Newark Mayor Ras Baraka’s arrest. Habba on Monday moved to drop charges against Baraka, a candidate for New Jersey governor.

A federal judge in Newark on Wednesday called that an “embarrassing retraction” and told prosecutors to “operate with a higher standard than that,” U.S. media reports said.

McIver appeared virtually at a separate Newark court hearing on Wednesday where she waived the reading of charges of assault and impeding law enforcement, her spokesperson said. McIver says she is a victim of a politically motivated prosecution.

Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi accused Trump and the DOJ of “lawfare and election interference plain and simple – something President Trump and his top Department of Justice officials say they are against.” 

The probe has yet to lead to any criminal charges.

The Trump administration dropped a corruption case against Cuomo’s main rival in November’s election – New York Mayor Eric Adams – after he signaled support for Trump’s immigration crackdown. When prosecutors moved to drop the charges, a Trump appointee argued the case could interfere with Adams’ reelection campaign.

DOJ officials say it was the two federal criminal cases against Trump and others against his supporters brought during the presidency of his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden that represented a politicization of U.S. law enforcement.

“The way they talk about Democrats, there is a fear they are using their discretion to target certain people,” said Thea Johnson, a professor and associate dean at Rutgers Law School in New Jersey.

‘THERE TO DO MY JOB’

McIver’s lawyer Paul Fishman, who served as U.S. attorney in New Jersey from 2009 to 2017, voiced confidence in the congresswoman’s defense, saying immigration agents mishandled the Newark confrontation.    

“In the courtroom, facts – not headlines – will matter,” Fishman said in a statement.

McIver, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, and two other Democratic representatives from New Jersey visited the Newark facility as part of what they called congressional oversight. A scuffle ensued with federal agents when they moved to arrest Baraka.

The Department of Homeland Security accused the three lawmakers of storming the facility. Habba accused the lawmakers of “running amok and running their mouths as usual.”

A federal magistrate judge in the case against Baraka warned Habba about the “boundaries of propriety for public comment” on an ongoing case.

McIver told the “CNN News Central” program on Tuesday that the case against her was “ridiculous.” 

“I was there to do my job,” McIver said.

TESTING PUBLIC CONFIDENCE

    Several Trump appointees to the DOJ – some of whom previously represented him as personal attorneys – have heralded law enforcement actions as political wins in a way that American prosecutors traditionally avoid.

FBI Director Kash Patel appeared to confirm the existence of an ongoing federal investigation into New York state Attorney General Letitia James during an interview on the Fox News program “Sunday Morning Futures,” while noting he could not discuss specifics. 

James, a Democrat, brought a civil fraud case against Trump that resulted in a $454 million judgment. Trump, who is appealing the ruling, has called for James to be prosecuted.

Patel posted a photo of an elected Wisconsin judge being led into a police vehicle in handcuffs last month following her arrest on federal charges accusing her of helping a migrant evade a federal immigration arrest.

Federal prosecutors have wide latitude to decide when to bring criminal charges, with internal safeguards in place that are meant to ensure even-handed law enforcement.

The Trump administration has sidelined many career officials and suspended the ability of a Washington-based unit to advise on charges related to public corruption and election fraud.

(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; additional reporting by Karen Freifeld and Bo Erickson; Editing by Scott Malone, Will Dunham and Howard Goller)