The bill was authored by then-Attorney General Eric Schneiderman last year after the FBI raided the house of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen. | Alex Wong/Getty Images New York can now bring charges against presidential pardon recipients

ALBANY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation Wednesday morning that will let New York prosecutors bring charges against individuals who have received presidential pardons for related crimes.

The bill was explicitly written to address fears that President Donald Trump might use his pardon power to interfere with criminal investigations.


“We never thought we would have to worry about a state needing to review the president’s pardon power,” Assembly sponsor Joe Lentol (D-Brooklyn) said in a statement. “However, actions today remind us that presidential powers can be used with bad intentions.”

The federal Supreme Court has found that the constitutional prohibition on double jeopardy does not apply to the states. It does not bar state prosecutors from bringing charges against individuals who have already been tried on similar federal crimes. However, New York’s existing law included additional safeguards that prohibited these second trials.

“States have a right to pursue crimes that are state crimes that took place within their jurisdiction,” Senate sponsor Todd Kaminsky (D-Nassau) said earlier this year. “New York has written that out because of this loophole.”

The bill was authored by then-Attorney General Eric Schneiderman last year after the FBI raided the house of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, one of many presidential associates who have done business in New York. Current Attorney General Tish James made it a campaign priority and helped push it through the Legislature earlier this year. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is a focus of federal investigators for potential lobbying violations. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan is reportedly probing his dealings in Ukraine as Trump's personal lawyer that have also become central to the Democrat-led impeachment investigation.

The changes will only apply to cases that have yet to hit various points in the judicial process such as the first trial juror being sworn in, so they will not subject people like Cohen to new charges.

"This critical new law closes a gaping loophole that could have allowed any president to abuse the presidential pardon power by unfairly granting a pardon to a family member or close associate and possibly allow that individual to evade justice altogether,” James said in a release Wednesday. “No one is above the law, and this commonsense measure will provide a reasonable and necessary check on presidential power today and for all presidents to come."