ALBANY – Taxpayers spent nearly $650,000 last year to defend Gov. Cuomo and his staff during an investigation by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, according to records released Thursday.

State comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said the state approved a contract for $950,000 with the firm of Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason and Anello and ended up spending $642,507.21.

Last year, a former close advisor to Cuomo, Joe Percoco, the former SUNY Polytechnic President Alain Kaloyeros, and several upstate developers were arrested and charged in a kickback and bid-rigging case involving economic development projects.

The state also paid out $7.9 million to pay a company whose leaders were charged by the feds with bid-rigging and corruption in the tainted Buffalo Billion, one of the projects.

The money went to L.P. Ciminelli, a developer which saw three of its executives charged in a pay-to-play scheme.

Federal investigators said they have more than 2 million pages of documents, as well as phones, phone recordings and computers as evidence in the case.