New York Attorney General Letitia James. Photo: David Handschuh/ALM

Attorney General Letitia James was in Albany on Monday to speak with Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state lawmakers about her legislative agenda, including bills to expand her office's jurisdiction over cases of public corruption and to close the so-called double jeopardy loophole.

An agreement on legislation to close that loophole, which prevents state prosecutors from bringing charges against someone pardoned by a sitting president based on the same set of facts, could be announced soon, James said.

“We're in the midst of discussions with the Assembly and we hope to be announcing something very soon,” James said. “That's another reason why we're here.”

The bill is sponsored by Sen. Todd Kaminsky, D-Nassau, who said last week that discussions have continued this legislative session on closing the loophole after a bill to do so was first proposed last year. The bill doesn't have a sponsor in the Assembly yet, but last year it was carried by Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, D-Brooklyn.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, D-Bronx, said on Monday that staff from the Assembly have met with their counterparts in the attorney general's office to discuss the bill, but that the issue has not been resolved among lawmakers.

“I know our staff has met with the attorney general's staff trying to come up with something that allows the attorney general the jurisdiction of what she wants to get at, but not to sometimes have unintended consequences,” Heastie said.

The bill is intended to allow a state prosecutor such as the attorney general to bring their own charges against someone a president has pardoned of federal charges before their trial. It would address the impact of a presidential grant of clemency before a campaign, transition or administration figure could be tried on criminal charges. The issue came into focus before the trial of President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who was later convicted on financial fraud charges in a Virginia federal court last year.

Lawmakers, as Heastie said, have expressed concern that the bill may be written too vaguely in its current form. They've argued that removing the loophole could backfire at some point down the line, regardless of its intention to hold Trump and future presidents accountable for their choices in clemency.

James was also in Albany to discuss a proposal she advocated for during last year's campaign that would allow her office to have independent jurisdiction when investigating and prosecuting cases of public corruption. The attorney general's office currently has to receive a criminal referral from an appropriate agency to launch an investigation into the actions of a public official.

James said Monday morning that she planned to discuss the issue with Cuomo, who has not been asked publicly about the proposal. James said after the meeting that her conversation with Cuomo was “great” and that she expected to score some legislative victories this year.

“We were discussing our legislative agenda with the governor,” James said. “It was a great conversation and I look forward to working with the governor and the state Legislature to get a lot of our bills passed.”

Among those bills may be stronger ethics laws for the state's public officials and lobbyists, which Cuomo highlighted in his executive budget proposal last month. He asked lawmakers to approve a slew of campaign finance and government regulation bills, including one that would increase penalties on lobbyists for violations of state law.

The work and financial disclosure of lobbyists in New York is overseen by the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, the state ethics watchdog group. The group has its critics, who say the panel hasn't done enough to combat the evergreen problem of public corruption in New York.

James called on the Legislature to reform JCOPE during last year's campaign. She acknowledged the criticisms on Monday, but said new ethics laws would also help reduce public corruption.

“It's unfortunate that a countless number of elected officials are handcuffed and convicted as a result of self-enrichment and self-dealing,” James said. “We need to put an end to that and I look forward to working with the governor and the state Legislature to correct that.”

While the Legislature continues to negotiate an upcoming package of criminal justice reforms, James also renewed her support for changing the state's laws on cash bail and the way defendants with a mental illness are prosecuted.

“We look forward to working with the Legislature to reduce the prison population and focus primarily on individuals who are suffering from poverty and individuals who are mentally ill because poverty should not be a crime and individuals who are suffering from mental illness should be diverted from the criminal justice system,” James said.

She also said she supports efforts this year to reform the state's laws on criminal discovery, which control when prosecutors and the defense exchange information intended to be used at trial. State law currently allows prosecutors to be flexible about when they exchange that information with defendants, which some have argued puts the accused at a disadvantage.

“I support discovery reform and I support obviously whatever we can do to make sure individuals do not go to trial by surprise and that justice is served,” James said.

When asked about his conversation with James later Monday, Cuomo did not comment on the specifics of what they discussed, but said it had to do with her office and the state budget, which is typically used as a catchall for larger policy issues during the first three months of the year.

“We had a general conversation, we talked about the office and some budget items,” Cuomo said.

As for her first month as the New York attorney general, James said it's gone well.

“So far, no mistakes,” James said.

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