27 February 2021: Former Cuomo Officials Turning on Governor Cuomo

Miscalculations, Cuomo's style led to nursing home controversy, insiders say

Articles delving into the impact that Governor Cuomo's scandals are having on his political career are starting to read like political obituaries. It's interesting that the material for these stories is often coming from former Cuomo administration officials. Here's an example:

The controversy over Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's handling of COVID-19 in nursing homes has been public and often ugly, with legislators -- including fellow Democrats -- accusing the governor of delaying information on the number of nursing home deaths and bullying them when they questioned his approach.

But six former aides who have worked for Cuomo say the governor's plight is the result of missteps, the bullish, must-win drive that served him well but made many enemies, and the historic difficulties elected officials face in their third terms.

"It was arrogance," said one former close aide. "And, 'What we say goes' that kind of led to a lot of self-inflicted injuries and this issue in particular."

This article is interesting because it is the first that provides a rationale for why the "third term" angle being mentioned as a contributing factor to the scandals may be something more than a hand-waving distraction.

In 2011, Cuomo, like most newly elected officials, started with his A-team. They were confidants who had his trust over decades. They could tell him, "No," said former top aides who worked with Cuomo early in his career.

By the third term, those early advisers have moved on and Cuomo now has what the former aides describe as a talented, loyal and hard-working but less seasoned staff.

"It helps to have someone you can bounce things off," one former aide said. "There was none of this stuff … he's been at the highest level (of politics) for 40 years, so he trusts his own instincts a lot. Sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes not."

Another former staffer: "There is no one to keep him out of the tailspin."

Governor Cuomo's multiple nursing home scandals would seem to reinforce the assessment of his former staffers that he has become an autocrat surrounded by incompetent toadies.