Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill into law designed to allow the state to press charges against people who have received a presidential pardon.
The bill, which was passed by the legislature in May, was drafted after reports surfaced that President Trump was considering a presidential pardon for Paul Manafort, his former campaign manager. Trump’s business headquarters and his campaign headquarters are also located in New York.
Manafort, 70, is serving a prison sentence for a number of federal charges that came from former special counsel Robert Mueller’s Trump-Russia investigation. In addition to the federal charges, he was indicted on state mortgage fraud charges.
The bill ends the so-called “double jeopardy loophole” that prevents state prosecution for crimes that the federal government has already tried them for.
“No one is above the law and New York will not turn a blind eye to criminality, no matter who seeks to protect them,” the governor said in a Wednesday statement. “The closure of this egregious loophole gives prosecutors the ability to stand up against any abuse of power, and helps ensure that no politically motivated, self-serving action is sanctioned under law.”
[Also read: ‘Pardon my language’: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo uses ‘N-word’ in live radio interview]
#BREAKING: I just signed legislation closing New York’s double jeopardy loophole, authorizing the state to prosecute individuals pardoned by a president.
No one is above the law and New York will not turn a blind eye to criminality, no matter who seeks to protect them.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) October 16, 2019
The change in law took effect as soon as Cuomo signed the legislation.
