A former senior adviser to Gov. Andrew Cuomo is calling Attorney General Letitia James the “biggest hypocrite in Albany” after her office released internal personnel records and emails belonging to a prosecutor who claims he was ordered to pursue an insider trading case against President Donald Trump despite a lack of evidence.
Richard Azzopardi, who served as senior adviser and communications director to Cuomo, made the charge after James's office disclosed records concerning Daniel Wiesenfeld, a prosecutor in the Attorney General's Investor Protection Bureau. Azzopardi noted that James's team had accused him of retaliation five years ago for doing the same thing - releasing records on a staffer who had accused the governor of sexual harassment.
“The agency is specifically aware that you e-mailed privileged and/or confidential information related to the work of OAG to your personal e-mail account,” Jenna Moran, the attorney general's human resources director, wrote in a September 4 letter formally notifying Wiesenfeld of his termination. “Those e-mails and documents, as well as any records in your possession that may have been derived from such privileged and/or confidential information, must be destroyed or returned immediately.”
Records first obtained by the Times Union through a Freedom of Information Law request last week revealed that Wiesenfeld had been “counseled” for performance issues, including failing to participate in meetings or answer to supervisors. The disclosure also included internal office emails, which The Post subsequently obtained from the Attorney General's office under FOIL.
The underlying dispute dates to August, when Wiesenfeld sent an email to more than two thousand colleagues alleging that his manager told him to keep pursuing an insider trading case against President Trump despite a lack of evidence of a crime. Wiesenfeld has been at odds with his supervisor since that email circulated.
In the exchange of emails obtained by The Post, Wiesenfeld denied that the documents in question were “confidential and privileged information” as the Attorney General's office claimed. President Trump, who has had legal fights with James, shared The Post's exclusive interview with Wiesenfeld in which the prosecutor claimed he was ordered to target the president.
The story has spread rapidly across social media and conservative news outlets. The New York Post's account @nypost carried the headline “Letitia James blasted as 'biggest hypocrite in Albany' after whistleblower records dump,” amplifying the charge to its national audience.
The controversy comes as James faces mounting scrutiny on multiple fronts. A federal prosecutor who wants to fight crime instead of President Donald Trump has gained momentum in her quest to unseat the attorney general, with critics saying fiery GOP challenger Saritha Komatireddy “wins their showdown in a rout” during a recent debate.
Separately, an ethics complaint has been filed against James in the Cornell 7 case, calling for her to recuse herself or be removed from the matter. Court documents show a new push to boot her from the Cornell rape probe over alleged bias. A New York judge on Friday ordered Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General James to respond to a legal challenge seeking to disqualify James as special prosecutor in the Cornell sex scandal probe. Acting Supreme Court Justice James R. Farrell issued the order.
The combination of the whistleblower records dump, the debate performance, and the Cornell case has created a cascade of negative coverage for the attorney general. Critics argue that the release of Wiesenfeld's personnel records mirrors the very conduct James's office once condemned when Azzopardi released records on a Cuomo accuser.
Wiesenfeld's claims remain disputed by the Attorney General's office, which maintains that he was terminated for performance issues and mishandling of privileged information. The office has not commented publicly on Azzopardi's accusation of hypocrisy.
Next News Network could not independently verify the claims made by Wiesenfeld or the characterization of the records release by Azzopardi.
Our Take
The hypocrisy here is not subtle. When Richard Azzopardi released the personnel records of a Cuomo accuser five years ago, Letitia James's office called it retaliation and demanded accountability. Now, with the shoe on the other foot, her office is dumping the internal emails and termination records of a whistleblower who claims he was told to pursue a politically charged case against President Trump. The standard, it seems, depends entirely on whose ox is being gored.
What makes this worse is the timing. James is already under fire for her handling of the Cornell case, where a judge has ordered her to answer a legal challenge over alleged bias. She is facing a Republican challenger who, by all accounts, routed her in their debate. And now she is being forced to explain why her office is doing exactly what she once accused others of doing.
The whistleblower's claims deserve a full airing, but the real story here is the double standard. If James wants to be the state's top law enforcement officer, she should hold herself to the same standard she demands of everyone else. Instead, she is giving her critics all the ammunition they need - and they are using it.
