Cuomo and Sony Looked Into

When the master is away, the mice will play in Albany. While Gov. Cuomo visits Cuba, an investigation has begun into his campaign funding from Sony Pictures. The governor has expanded film-tax credits and piracy laws, and with the recent leak of Sony Pictures’ emails, some show how far executives wanted to help Cuomo’s campaign. The website Wikileaks showed one email in which Sony’s CEO Michael Lynton encouraged his employees to donate to the re-election campaign, citing Cuomo’s support and action for the New York film industry. Critics of Cuomo’s film-tax credit look at these actions as underhanded and question if the money spent on these incentives does not help all of the state. Blair Horner, the New York Public Interest Research Group’s legislative director stated that these actions may not be illegal, but it does show “policymaking and the campaign fundraising activities almost in the same breath.”