A state trooper assigned to guard New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo reportedly began dating the governor’s daughter, prompting his transfer to another location.
The New York Post reported on Thursday that the trooper, Dane Pfeiffer, 35, began a relationship with 25-year-old Cara Kennedy-Cuomo about seven months ago. The duo reportedly met after Kennedy-Cuomo moved into the executive mansion during the pandemic and while Pfeiffer was assigned to her father’s security detail in Albany.
A police spokesman said that in late May, Pfeiffer requested a “voluntary transfer” to a location near the Canadian border. A law enforcement source said that “the protocol of dignitary protection” mandated that the trooper be moved out of Cuomo’s security detail because of his relationship with the governor’s daughter.
“He was transferred to keep him away from the daughter because the governor didn’t like whatever they were doing,” a source familiar with the situation told the New York Post.
Sources said that Pfeiffer’s transfer didn’t go on his record and that he was found to have committed no wrongdoing. A state police spokesman said that Pfeiffer was transferred “to gain more field experience to further his career advancement track to the rank of sergeant.”
“Such requests are routine, and it was granted,” said state police spokesman William “Beau” Duffy.
Rich Azzopardi, Cuomo’s spokesman, said that the governor “had nothing to do with” Pfeiffer’s transfer.
Pfeiffer’s move has him stationed in Plattsburgh, New York, a city of about 20,000 people located about 160 miles away from Albany and the executive mansion. Despite the distance, it was reported that the trooper still picks Cuomo’s daughter up from the mansion to go out on dates.
