12 April 2021: More Evidence Emerges of Cuomo's Systematic Misuses of Public Resources

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's government staff did work on 'super PAC's' poll

Another day, another new scandal. This report covers new evidence of Governor Cuomo assigning his staff to do campaign-related work on a poll while on the state government's clock:

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s lucrative book deal is not the only instance where the governor’s office mixed private activities and government staff.

The Times Union obtained emails showing that in 2019, Cuomo’s top aide, Melissa DeRosa, did work related to campaign polling in the early morning and stretching into the afternoon of a Tuesday. She also instructed lower-level staff to perform a task related to the poll.

On August 13, 2019, DeRosa spent time suggesting edits to a poll being conducted by the firm Global Strategy Group. While Cuomo’s campaign is a client of that polling firm, the poll in this instance was being conducted on behalf of Jobs of New York, a so-called “super PAC” funded by billionaire New York City landlords.

Still, DeRosa – and Cuomo himself – were allowed to review and edit the poll being conducted by Jobs for New York.

State law prohibits the use of government resources for a politician’s personal benefit. A state Ethics Commission opinion from 1992 said that campaigns must be run on an employee's own time and that no state resources of any kind “including telephones, office supplies, postage, photocopying machines or support staff assistance” can be used in the furtherance of the campaign.

In this instance, however Cuomo’s staff work was related to an outside campaign spending group, which was using the Cuomo campaign’s own pollster.