Back in 2007, before he was the governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo was the New York State attorney general. At the time, he brought on longtime confidant Howard Glaser as a consultant on mortgage industry investigations. It turned out to be a controversial decision. Glaser had another job at the same time, which was lobbying for the very industry Cuomo was investigating. Per ProPublica:
Glaser's dual role when Cuomo was attorney general "poses a serious conflict of interest," said Craig Holman of Public Citizen.
Before becoming a lobbyist for the mortgage industry, Glaser worked in the late 1990s under Cuomo at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, where he was known as Cuomo's "right-hand man" and "hammer."
Clayton has never been charged with any wrongdoing. But some reporting has shed light on the firm's relationship with the big banks.
