Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he can't be blamed for the charges that prompted state Sheldon Silver to resign as state Assembly speaker any more than President Barack Obama can be blamed for former Rep. Anthony Weiner's sexting scandal.
In a profile in The New Yorker published online Monday, the governor says the corruption charges against Silver relate to the acts of an individual legislator.
He defends his decision to disband a commission investigating government corruption, saying that in exchange lawmakers passed modest ethics reforms and prosecutors obtained the commission's files anyway.
Cuomo compared his lack of responsibility for Silver's alleged acts to Obama's responsibility for Weiner, who resigned his seat in Congress in 2011 after admitting to sending explicit photos to women.
Silver has said he will be exonerated.
