The Supreme Court seemed receptive on Nov. 28 to arguments that federal prosecutors had gone too far in public corruption cases involving Joe Percoco, formerly a longtime aide to former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and a man in a related Cuomo-era fraud case.
The case is important because the high court could decide to curb prosecutorial powers in cases brought under the federal honest-services fraud statute, which some lawyers and civil libertarians say is vague and overbroad.
Percoco argues he should not have been convicted for taking payments to influence government policy because, at the relevant time, he maintains he was only a lobbyist who held informal influence over government decision-making….