22 April 2021: Team Cuomo Launches New Smear Campaign

Churchill: Team Cuomo is already attacking Tish James

Albany Times-Union columnist Chris Churchill's provides a new example of why Governor Cuomo is looking for better PR people and more legal help:

The embattled governor, most will know, is facing a complicated stew of investigations that includes probes into sexual harassment allegations and the hiding of COVID-19 nursing home deaths.

The list of investigations grew longer when state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli asked Attorney General Letitia James, whose office is already overseeing an investigation into the sexual harassment claims, to examine whether Cuomo criminally used state employees to produce and promote a COVID-19 memoir for which he was paid millions.

Though the governor’s office has maintained that staffers worked on "American Crisis" voluntarily — stop laughing — it is a valid topic to investigate. But here’s how Azzopardi responded:

"We have officially jumped the shark — the idea there was criminality involved here is patently absurd on its face and is just the furthering of a political pile-on," the Cuomo spokesman said in a statement first reported by The New York Times. "This is Albany politics at its worst — both the Comptroller and the Attorney General have spoken to people about running for governor, and it is unethical to wield criminal referral authority to further political self-interest‎."

Whoa. For the record, there’s little evidence that James or DiNapoli is considering a run for governor next year. Unlike the extensive preparation undertaken by Cuomo prior to his successful 2010 run, neither has laid the necessary groundwork.

But you can understand why the governor would suspect otherwise. Since he used his time as attorney general to further political self-interest, of course he would assume that other politicians, potential rivals especially, would be eager to do the same.

We tend to believe the rest of the world operates by the ethical standards we set for ourselves. A saint will be endlessly disappointed by moral failings of others. A frequent liar is likely to assume everybody else is constantly lying.

That kind of worldview permeates the bunker mentality of Team Cuomo. Especially among its PR flacks.