Jury selection to start in trial of NY governor’s ex aide

A longtime aide to New York’s governor is going on trial on charges he used his relationship with him to collect bribes from two companies doing business with the state. (Photo by Jörg Schubert/Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

NEW YORK — A longtime aide to New York’s governor is going on trial on charges he used his relationship with him to collect bribes from two companies doing business with the state.

Jury selection starts Monday in federal court in Manhattan in the trial of Joseph Percoco, a former aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Percoco and several co-defendants have pleaded not guilty to charges of bid-rigging and bribery related to state economic development projects.

Cuomo, a Democrat, has not been accused of wrongdoing and is not expected to testify.

The charges against Percoco were brought by former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara (bahr-AHR’-ah), who was fired by President Donald Trump last year along with other federal prosecutors.

The trial will be the first major prosecution supervised by Bharara’s interim replacement, Geoffrey Berman.