William Hochul, Jr. is the United States Attorney for the Western District of New York. He is also the husband of Kathy Hochul, the Lt. Governor and Andrew Cuomo’s 2014 running mate. Last year, during the gubernatorial campaign, the US Attorney was criticized for not pursing a series of public corruption cases that exposed shocking conflicts of interest.
In recent months, he has been recusing himself from cases involving local political operatives. A source close to the US Attorney tells me that he “fully expects” his wife to become the next Governor of New York, likely by the end of the year.
Cuomo is currently under investigation by the FBI and the State Attorney General’s office. Political operatives expect Cuomo to be pushed out of office under federal indictment later this year, and are wondering if Mrs. Hochul will have the staying power, tact, and political skills to build a governing coalition that secures her reelection.
Western New Yorkers from both parties have an extraordinary interest in ensuring that — when or if Hochul indeed becomes Governor — that her tenure is long and her political standing is formidable.
What? A corrupt governor in NYS? Has there been anything like a non-corrupt governor in decades, at least since the 1930’s?
She may soon reap the spoils caused by the relentless & history making prowess of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharera but will be painted as just another hack of Cuomo when Preet primaries & buries her on his way to the Governor’s office in 2018.
If Cuomo is forced out and Hochul becomes Governor and wins reelection, I’m not so sure she wouldn’t just become Cuomo II.