Jimmy Vielkind reports in Politico New York that Gov. Andrew Cuomo has not appeared in public on this side of the Mississippi River since the federal corruption trial of his former top adviser, Joe Percoco, began Jan. 22. That is not too unusual -- the governor has not given a proper press conference in months, and generally picks only does interviews with what he considers friendly reporters. He did speak to some media this week on a conference call about taxes. There, he was asked about the testimony of Linda Lacewell, his chief of staff, but would not answer. “I was the attorney general in the state of New York. I have tremendous respect for the process and believe the process should be respected. We’re in the middle of a trial — I think it would be highly inappropriate for me to provide commentary at this time," he said. Cuomo's portrait has been shown in court during the trial, and he was mentioned in opening statements.