Let’s talk about the new Attorney General for New York and the Trump-Russia scandal
New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman resigned last night, just hours after four women publicly accused him of a pattern of physical violence. This is newsworthy for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that Schneiderman is the most highly visible State Attorney General in the nation. That’s because he’s played a major role in the Trump-Russia investigation. Now that he’s gone, let’s talk about the new Attorney General for New York.
Schneiderman would have been up for reelection in November. So when the New York State Legislature appoints someone to take his place, that person will only serve for a few months before having to decide whether to run for reelection against whoever else ends up deciding to run. Yet this brief appointment comes at a crucial time, and the appointee may end up playing a memorable role in U.S. history.
The New York Attorney General’s Office is running state-level investigations into the Trump-Russia scandal that are designed to neuter Donald Trump’s ability to silence his co-conpsirators by pardoning them. These are not one-man investigations, and they will continue without Schneiderman. The question is what happens once someone is appointed to take his place – and that all comes down to who is appointed.
Quite a few people have been floating Preet Bharara’s name. He’s an extraordinarily skilled prosecutor. He’s a New York guy. He’d be perfect for the job. But because Donald Trump illegally fired him last year in what amounted to an act of obstruction of justice, it’s possible Bharara would have to recuse himself from any Trump-related investigations. Other people have been floating Hillary Clinton’s name for the position. She’s been a New Yorker for a long time, and she has a strong legal background. But that would instantly politicize New York’s investigations into Trump, in a way that might unwittingly work in Trump’s favor.
The New York State Legislature has one of the weirdest majority situations of all time, in which the Democrats have a one-vote majority in the Senate, but the Republicans have control of the Senate because one of the Democrats caucuses with the Republicans. In the Assembly, the Democrats have a large majority. As such it’s difficult for either party to do something that the other party objects to. Moreover, the legislature knows that the entire nation is watching, and is therefore likely to pick a “safe” appointee in order to avoid becoming part of the scandal.
That would seem to rule out the appointment of a Donald Trump ally who would illegally try to kill off the ongoing state level investigations into Trump’s scandals. If there do end up being any attempted hijinks when it comes to this appointment, the nation will need to spring into action to put a stop to it. But the odds are that someone will be chosen who will allow the existing investigations to continue, and that’ll be that.
