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Cuomo accused of 'blurring the lines' on privacy

The governor's campaign reached out to SUNY students receiving free tuition about appearing in a campaign advertisement.

ALBANY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Republican opponent questioned whether the governor's campaign broke federal privacy laws when it reached out to SUNY students about appearing in a political advertisement.

The New York Post reported Tuesday that Cuomo campaign workers contacted college students receiving the Excelsior Scholarship, the state's free-tuition program, despite federal law preventing their personal information from being released.

At least one student receiving the tuition assistance was asked if he would appear in an advertisement promoting Cuomo's re-election campaign, according to The Post.

Cuomo's campaign says it acted lawfully, requesting a public list of people who attended the governor's State of the State address in January, knowing Excelsior Scholarship recipients were invited by their schools to attend.

But Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro questioned whether Cuomo's campaign "blurred the lines," and Molinaro held a news conference outside the state Capitol on Wednesday to call for a federal investigation.

"What the governor's campaign has done has, in our opinion, violated federal law," Molinaro said.

"Federal law precludes the sharing of what is specifically private information about students."

About 22,000 students received free SUNY tuition last fall if they were income eligible. The program this fall will provide free tuition, currently $6,870 a year, to students whose household income is less than $110,000 a year.

Abbey Collins, a spokeswoman for Cuomo's campaign, said the governor's political team "requested any publicly available list of State of the State invitees."

Nikita Losi, the Molinaro supporter and University at Albany student who appeared in the Post's story, was on that list, according to Collins.

Collins accused Molinaro of offering up a distraction and tried to tie Molinaro to President Donald Trump, whom Molinaro says he did not vote for in 2016.

A Quinnipiac University poll Wednesday showed Molinaro trailed Cuomo by 20 percentage points in the current six-way race for governor.

"It’s clear Trump mini-me Molinaro will do anything to distract from his flailing campaign," Collins said.

More: SUNY tuition: Add another $200 more a year, if you don't get it for free

More: Fracking: Marc Molinaro, Andrew Cuomo's opponent, supports pilot program in Southern Tier

More: Scandals aside, Cuomo keeps big lead among foes: Quinnipiac poll

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