Taxpayers footing the bill for Cuomo’s lawyer in nursing-home probe

ALBANY — New York state taxpayers will be picking up the tab for the high-powered defense lawyer representing Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his aides in the cover-up of nursing home deaths from COVID-19, the attorney acknowledged Tuesday.

Elkan Abramowitz, a former high-ranking federal prosecutor, declined to say how much he’s billing for his top-tier legal services. But in 2016, Abramowitz charged the state a “discounted rate” of $937.50 an hour to represent Cuomo in connection with his premature shuttering of the Moreland Commission on Public Corruption.