Supreme Court hears arguments in New York corruption case

The Supreme Court questioned on Monday whether an ex-aide to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo was lawfully convicted on a bribery charge.

The case centers on whether Joseph Percoco’s conduct in taking a $35,000 payment. That payment was from a real estate developer when Percoco was managing Cuomo’s re-election campaign in 2014.

The question is, was that payment covered by a federal law that requires that honest services be provided to the public?

Percoco says that because he was not working for the government at the time, he had no duty to provide honest services.

Percoco was convicted in 2018 on one count of honest services fraud for the real estate payment.