ALBANY — A summons charging former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo with misdemeanor forcible touching was prematurely issued on Thursday after a sheriff’s investigator filed paperwork with the court docket summarizing their investigation and looking for to start the process of acquiring a legal grievance. In the wake of the earliest allegations — before the groping account was first reported by the Times Union in March — Cuomo had approved the lawyer general’s office to commence a “review” of the complaints. But that directive did not authorize the attorney general to conduct a criminal investigation or to subpoena witnesses before a grand jury. That authority would have needed to be given to James beneath a separate provision in Executive Law. The sheriff’s department has been investigating groping allegations towards Cuomo since August. The legal investigation adopted an legal professional basic’s report that led to Cuomo’s resignation following a 4-month investigation that … Read More
