New York State Police bungled investigation into trooper who had romantic relationship with Cuomo daughter: IG report

ALBANY — New York State Police failed to follow proper procedures when investigating and disciplining a trooper who had a romantic relationship with one of former governor Andrew Cuomo’s daughters, according to a new report released Friday.

Inspector General Lucy Lang’s office found state police officials dropped the ball after being informed in May 2020 that Trooper Dane Pfeiffer was dating Cara Kennedy-Cuomo while assigned to the ex-gov’s protective detail.

FILE - New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo refers to his daughter, Cara Kennedy-Cuomo, left, as he comments after voting at the Presbyterian Church of Mount Kisco, in Mt. Kisco, N.Y., on Nov. 6, 2018. A New York state trooper romantically involved with one of then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo's daughters while he served on the governor's security detail should have been disciplined, according to an inspector general's report, released Friday, Aug. 19, 2022. The report is critical of how state police handled the matter. (Richard Drew/)

The report targets State Police Superintendent Kevin Bruen’s decision to forgo formal punishment for Pfeiffer, instead allowing him to be reassigned, and punishing a supervisor who knew of the dalliance but failed to inform the IG’s office about the incident.

“These failings prevented a full and fair review of the investigation, which, while problematic in any circumstance, is of even graver concern here, where the facts call into serious question the decision not to formally discipline Pfeiffer for his conduct, particularly when a simultaneous decision was made to discipline his supervisor for failing to take action upon learning of that same conduct,” the report reads.

New York State Police Acting Superintendent Kevin Bruen, second from left, walks with State Police patrolling the grounds of the state Capitol after a President Trump protest rally before the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at the state Capitol Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, in Albany, N.Y. (Hans Pennink/)

No personnel complaint number was assigned to the matter and audio files of the two compelled statements made by Pfeiffer and his supervisor were not properly maintained, according to the 32-page report.

Documents related to the investigative steps taken in response to the complaint were not completed and records were not maintained, Lang’s office determined.

According to the report, a day after Kennedy-Cuomo told her father about the relationship, which began in March 2020, Cuomo’s top aide Melissa DeRosa called the commander of the Protective Services Unit.

Pfeiffer was then called in for an interview with his commanding officer and an investigator from the State Police’s Professional Standards Bureau in which he admitted to the consensual relationship.

A New York State Police patch is seen on a State Trooper's arm inside the Jacob Javits Convention Center on Jan. 13, 2021. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/)

During a second interview the same day, Pfeiffer claimed that he never physically interacted with the governor’s daughter while he was on duty and said he believed it was “professional” of him to engage in a relationship with Kennedy-Cuomo.

Bruen and others involved in the investigation determined that Pfeiffer needed to be transferred and no “additional investigative steps to either corroborate or discredit Pfeiffer’s or his supervisor’s accounts of the matter” were conducted, per the report.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act on Tuesday, July 17, 2019 in Manhattan, New York, as his ex-wife Kerry Kennedy (L) and daughters Cara Kennedy Cuomo (2nd L) and Mariah Kennedy Cuomo (R). (Danielle Hyams/)

Bruen simply looked at the nature of the relationship between Kennedy-Cuomo and Pfeiffer and “cut him a break,” concluding that “there was nothing unseemly about his behavior.”

Pfeiffer told Lang’s office that his transfer to a troop near the Canadian border was not voluntary but rather “voluntold.”

“On paper I volunteered, but no, I don’t want to go up there, never want to go there again,” he told the inspector general’s office.

The supervisor who knew of the relationship retired in good standing without any personnel complaint pending, although Bruen told Lang’s office that a complaint would have been initiated had he stayed on the job.

In this image taken from video, Kevin Bruen, Superintendent of the New York State Police, holds a firearm as New York Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks during a news conference, Wednesday, May 18, 2022, in New York.

According to the State Police, a complete overhaul of the Protective Services Unit’s organizational structure and policies was initiated last year.

Additionally, the agency is “working with the Inspector General to ensure the recommendations in the report are implemented.”

“We believe the additional changes recommended by the IG will build on the reorganization of the unit and enhance the consistency and fairness of our internal investigations,” the agency said in a statement.

While the report does not indicate that Cuomo had anything to do with Pfeiffer’s reassignment, Bruen testified that DeRosa told him not to speak about this matter with then superintendent Keith Corlett, to whom Bruen directly reported at that time.

Lang’s office determined that Bruen and other members of the State Police took “an overly narrow view of Pfeiffer’s conduct and State Police rules.”

Thomas Mungeer, president of the New York State Troopers Police Benevolent Association, said he was appalled by Lang’s report.

“I am speechless at the inspector general’s report,” Mungeer said in a statement. “Our trooper is being used as a political pawn for a power grab by the inspector general to assert her undue influence on the New York State Police.”

Mungeer added that he stands by the decisions made by Bruen and has full faith in his leadership.