Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is arguing that former President Trump's hush money case should never have been prosecuted.
Appearing on HBO's “Real Time with Bill Maher” on Friday, the disgraced Democrat said prosecutors in District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office pursued the former president's conviction solely because of who he is and what he wants, The Hill reported.
“Frankly, the New York attorney general's lawsuit should never have been filed,” Cuomo told Maher, “if his name wasn't Donald Trump and he wasn't running for president… I'm a former attorney general of the state of New York. [and] I am saying that lawsuit should never have been filed.”
“That makes people uncomfortable, and it should be, because if there's anything left, it's faith in our justice system,” added Cuomo, the former New York attorney general.
Late last month, Trump was convicted on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with payments made to silence adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign.
Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels, and his lawyers have said they plan to appeal the verdict.
Cuomo, who resigned as governor in the summer of 2021, said people lose faith in the system when politics get involved.
“I want to talk about a threat to democracy. If people believe that the justice system is being used to play politics and put people in jail or convict people for political reasons, then we have a real problem.”
Cuomo resigned from office on Aug. 10, 2021, three weeks after an investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James found that he sexually harassed or abused 11 women while in office.
The former governor is reportedly looking to return to politics after leaving office, with sources recently telling The Washington Post that he could face Eric Adams for New York City mayor in 2025.
