Albany County sheriff denies political hit job on Cuomo

Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple is fighting back, after those associated with former Gov. Andrew Cuomo accuse him of a political hit job.

This comes one day after news broke that a criminal complaint had been filed against Cuomo.

Sheriff Apple says it’s not about politics, but about a solid criminal case.

The sheriff held a press conference Friday, saying they filed evidence and the summons at the courthouse Thursday, but thought they had more time between when they submitted it and everyone started asking questions.

He said the court reviews cases once they are submitted to them. However, he said Friday he thought the review case here would take a little longer.

Some said though, they believed the lack of conversations was intentional.

The governor’s team said Friday the sheriff has been a political opponent of the former governor and is seeking headlines and not justice.

The sheriff said this isn’t about politics at all.

"You know what, people always try to distract or detract away from the real investigation, so I’m not really concerned about that," said Apple. "We have a solid case, our investigative staff did a marvelous job, I’m very proud of the work they did. Again, they took a very high-profile investigation, they methodically broke it down and I couldn’t be more proud of them," said Apple.

The sheriff said Friday he wished he had more time to have conversations with the district attorney and Cuomo’s team, but that the review time for the case caught him off guard.

Gov. Cuomo’s attorney, Rita Glavin, released the following statement:

"The Governor did not assault Ms. Commisso on November 16, November 25, some day in November when she was tasked with taking a photograph, December 7, or any other date.

"What Sheriff Apple did not say today is that the allegation is totally uncorroborated, and has been evolving since March. What Sheriff Apple did say about doing a "separate" investigation from the DA, with "our victim," speaks volumes about his professed objectivity.

"The timing of this charge, on the eve of Tish James announcing her run for Governor, is highly suspect and should give all of us pause that the heavy hand of politics is behind this decision.

"We expect clear-headed people will make better decisions going forward, but should this case move forward we are prepared to vigorously defend the Governor and challenge every aspect of the specious, inconsistent and uncorroborated allegations made against him."