ALBANY — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed off Wednesday on legislation designed to weaken presidential pardon powers.

The new law narrows the state's double jeopardy provisions to increase the ability of state and local prosecutors to take up cases that have already been resolved at the federal level. Democratic lawmakers and Cuomo were motivated to address so-called loopholes in the state's law after close allies of President Donald J. Trump became the subject of criminal investigations for activities in New York.

The amended statute only addresses the president's powers, and would apply to a pardoned individual who is related to the president, has worked in the White House, served on the president's campaign, committed crimes to benefit the president, or helped the president avoid a criminal prosecution.

"The closure of this egregious loophole gives prosecutors the ability to stand up against any abuse of power, and helps ensure that no politically motivated, self-serving action is sanctioned under law," Cuomo said in a statement.

The state's double jeopardy laws came under scrutiny last year with the convictions of Trump's 2016 campaign manager Paul Manafort and longtime Trump attorney and fixer Michael Cohen. Critics of the president raised concerns he may pardon one or both men. Trump has said that Cohen — who turned on his former patron after his arrest last year — had asked White House attorneys to consider giving him a pardon, and that Cohen later lied to Congress about that effort.

There was a sharp partisan divide over the issue in the state Legislature, where Republicans — and even a handful of Democrats — assailed the measure as political gamesmanship and a waste of time.

Assemblyman Andy Goodell, a Republican from Chautauqua County, said previously that the legislation would undo a century of legal precedent in New York affording double jeopardy protections. He also noted that last year Cuomo issued dozens of pardons, many to immigrants who could still be charged with federal crimes.

"Isn't this opening a Pandora's box where you poke the president and now the president could respond ... by re-arresting 20 of the 29 people that were pardoned by Gov. Cuomo?" Goodell asked, adding that pardons issued by governors and presidents should be respected, not thwarted.

The legislation was championed by state Attorney General Letitia James, whose candidacy last year and subsequent months in office have largely revolved around efforts to challenge the president on multiple fronts.

The new law was backed by the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, which contends it "protect the rule of law."

"In closing the 'double jeopardy loophole,' New York would join other states that already allow for exactly this type of state prosecution as a matter of states’ rights," the association wrote in a legislative memorandum.

The new law takes effect immediately and can apply to past offenses, as long as they're not already the subject of a court proceeding, according to the governor's office.

The legislation was sponsored by state Sen. Todd Kaminsky, a Long Island Democrat and former federal prosecutor, and Assemblyman Joe Lentol, a Brooklyn Democrat.

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