Monday, May 31, 2021

31 May 2021: Progress in Federal, State Cuomo Scandal Probes

Cuomo probes move toward critical points with his tenure, legacy at stake

This report presents some new information we haven't seen reported elsewhere on the progress of the various state and federal investigations of Governor Cuomo's COVID nursing home scandals:

While the investigation into sexual harassment allegations against Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo have taken center stage, the other probes he’s facing are quietly moving forward and widening....

Among the developments, two state legislators confirmed they have been interviewed by the U.S. Justice Department about a Feb. 10 meeting in which Cuomo's closest aide admitted withholding nursing home data from them.

"I was asked to interview with the federal authorities because I was a member of the committee" in the meeting, Assemb. John McDonald (D-Cohoes), referring to the six legislators who met with top Cuomo staff, including Melissa DeRosa, secretary to the governor.

At that meeting, DeRosa said the administration "froze" in 2020 when pressed by legislators about the number of nursing home deaths because it thought the data might be "used against us" by federal prosecutors in the Trump administration.

McDonald said federal officials wanted to know "did this really happen?" He said interviewers were "extremely thorough" while adding, "I told them I thought (holding the meeting) was a good-faith effort by the administration to work with the Legislature."

Sen. Gustavo Rivera (D-Bronx) also said he’s talked with the Justice Department.

"Earlier this month, I spoke with federal investigators who expressed interest in a variety of topics, from what were the requirements set by the DOH for nursing homes to the governor's interactions with the Legislature since the pandemic started," Rivera said in a statement, referring to the state Department of Health.

The report also describe progress in the NY state attorney general's investigations:

Attorney General Letitia James has been overseeing the investigation of sexual harassment. But her office additionally is looking at whether the governor used state personnel and resources to help produce his book about the pandemic — which landed him a $5.1 million deal from a publisher.

James’ office also has interviewed several county officials about Larry Schwartz, Cuomo’s former "vaccine czar," calling them to assess their support for the governor amid the investigations.

Related information from the timeline:

Don't forget to review the major milestones in Governor Andrew Cuomo's COVID nursing home deaths scandals!

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Sunday, May 30, 2021

30 May 2021: Major Milestones Updated

We've taken advantage of the slow news period of the 2021 Memorial Day Holiday weekend to update the timeline's Major Milestones post. We've added a new section to cover the aggressive expansion of Governor Cuomo's media disinformation campaign during May 2021.

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Saturday, May 29, 2021

29 May 2021: CNN Host Goes On Record with Chris Cuomo Criticism

CNN’s Jake Tapper Whacks Chris Cuomo: ‘He Put Us in a Bad Spot’

Most of the media coverage of CNN insiders' reaction to Chris Cuomo's conflicts of interest and compromised ethical integrity has come from anonymous sources within the news network. Jake Tapper is the first on-air personality at CNN to open criticize Chris Cuomo's role in advising his scandal-plagued brother, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, on how to manage the media:

“I cannot imagine a world in which anybody in journalism thinks that that was appropriate,” Tapper said in an interview with The New York Times published May 27. “So I agree with that. And he said, Chris, in his apology that he delivered on air, said that he put us in a bad spot. And I would also agree with that.”...

Tapper went on however to disavow having any significant role in CNN's editorial and management decisions that have contributed to the network's loss of credibility, especially those involving its coverage of Governor Cuomo's scandals and the decision to retain Chris Cuomo as a major on-air personality despite his ongoing conflicts of interest.

Tapper argued that while the issue might reflect on Cuomo’s colleagues, it didn’t influence their programming.

“It doesn’t affect my work,” he said. “Their work is not my work and my work is not their work. And yes, we all reflect on each other. But the only thing I have a role in, the only thing I have any control in, because I’m not management, right? I’m not the CNN bureau chief of D.C., I don’t have a say in anything other than what airs on my show.”

Tapper's comments were made on the New York Times' "Sway" podcast.

Speaking of the recent editorial decisions made by Tapper and other CNN editors and managers, here are related stories from the timeline:

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29 May 2021: "Good Government" Groups on Board with Taxpayer Funds to Pay Cuomo Defense Lawyers

Good government groups weigh in on Cuomo’s taxpayer-funded defense

The following excerpts from this report describe their rationales:

Some good government groups feel the governor’s use of taxpayer dollars for his own defense, is appropriate, although they acknowledge that, to taxpayers, it will be hard to digest.

“There will be times, and this is certainly one of them, when using public funds to pay for a governor's defense is tough to swallow, but taxpayers pay for public defenders for accused murders,” John Kaehny of ReInvent Albany told Capital Tonight. “Additionally, we strongly support public financing of political campaigns, and it would be inconsistent to ask a governor to raise money for a legal defense, when we don't want them to do so for a campaign.”

Public defenders are appointed for individuals officially charged with crimes in criminal courts who cannot afford the cost of hiring an attorney to defend themselves. Governor Cuomo has not yet been officially charged with any crime. Governor Cuomo is also a millionaire who lives in a mansion and owns a yacht.

Here's a second excerpt:

The New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) joined ReInvent Albany in supporting the governor’s use of taxpayer money.

“Like any public official, he's entitled to the coverage of legal costs relating to his role as governor. He is presumed innocent,” according to Blair Horner, executive director of NYPIRG. “If convicted, however, he will be on the hook for reimbursing the taxpayers. The decision to provide such coverage should be done openly and publicly.”

We think this is a much stronger argument that applies to the governor's COVID nursing home deaths scandals and cover-up, the unlawful use of government staff as unpaid workers in producing his pandemic "leadership" book from which he personally profits, the misappropriation of limited government COVID testing resources to benefit members of his family and connected political associates, to name just three of the Governor's scandals that are directly related to his role as governor.

It would not however justify Governor Cuomo's hiring of attorneys at public expense to defend himself against the allegations of sexual harassment raised by at least nine women because they do not involve any official acts on his part.

A third and final excerpt argues for the establishment of a legal defense fund that would avoid taxpayer expenses altogether:

Susan Lerner, executive director of New York Common Cause, would prefer the governor form a Legal Defense Fund (LDF).

“It’s a way to raise money from his donors for the stated purpose of providing him with the best lawyers money can buy, if that’s what he is looking for,” she said. “At the federal level, elected officials who run into problems, whether its campaigns or outside activities, are required to set up Legal Defense Funds.”

New York state law doesn't provide for this option for state government officials, so it would require changes in the law before it might be seriously considered. In practice, large donors who provide money for these funds will do so because they expect the politician to return the favor and benefit their interests using their government power. We view it as a form of influence peddling.

Funny how "good government" groups seem to be mostly about how to benefit and protect the interests of politicians.

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Friday, May 28, 2021

28 May 2021: New Cuomo Scandal Timeline

We don't anticipate much in the way of breaking news for Governor Cuomo's multiple scandals over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, which makes it a good time to catch up with its recent history.

In focus: A timeline of recent controversies embroiling the Cuomo administration

This article introduces a timeline of the Center Square's coverage of Governor Cuomo's scandals, whose content we've periodically featured in the timeline. The Center Square's timeline is presented in reverse chronological order, spanning from 29 September 2020 when NY state senator Jim Tedisco filed an amicus brief supporting the Empire Center for Public Policy's lawsuit against the New York Department of Health to pry loose its data on the COVID deaths of nursing home residents, through 17 May 2021, when the $5.12 million payout set in the publishing contract for Governor Cuomo's pandemic "leadership" book deal were finally revealed.

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28 May 2021: Investigation - Michigan COVID Nursing Home Deaths Possibly Double Official Stats

LeDuff: Clueless -- Michigan Doesn't Know True Nursing Home Death Toll From Covid

Michigan is one of three states that copied New York Governor Cuomo's deadly 25 March 2020 directive forcing nursing homes to admit COVID patients being discharged from hospitals to free up bed space without testing to determine whether they were still contagious and might present a risk to nursing home residents. The others are New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Although Michigan Govenor Gretchen Whitmer imposed this policy, Michigan's data for COVID deaths among its nursing home residents has been far below these other states. This article reports on the findings of a new investigation, which provides a compelling explanation for why Michigan's COVID nursing home deaths appears so low.

It appears that Michigan wildly under-counts Covid deaths in its long term care facilities.

A joint investigation by the "No BS News Hour" and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy reveals that the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) does not do a thorough job of scrubbing vital records to determine whether people who died of Covid were nursing home residents, as its own guidelines require....

The true number of pandemic deaths inside Michigan's elder care centers may never be known. But our analysis shows that the Covid death toll may be 100 percent higher than the state reports.

Our findings are based on communications with state health officials as well as material obtained in a Freedom of Information lawsuit settlement with the Attorney General's office.

The report gets into the numbers and identifies a systemic reporting issue that has resulted in a large undercount of COVID deaths among the Michigan's nursing home residents:

Just over 19,000 people in Michigan have died from Covid-19, according to daily data posted by DHHS.

We only know for sure that approximately 5,600 people died who were residents of long-term-care facilities. This data is self-reported by those “nursing homes.” This method operates on an honor system.

Another 6,945 deaths among those 19,000 Covid-19 fatalities are classified as “vital records reviews,” according to the attorney general. These are recorded only after health officials and epidemiologists pore through death certificates across the state and determine that the cause of death was indeed Covid-19.

Here is where the problems begin. State health officials do not attempt to determine whether the people in this “vital records” group lived in a nursing home or whether they contracted the disease there, as their own guidelines require.

“Long-term care facility Covid-19 data, which is reported on this web page comes from the facilities themselves, so it doesn’t include any data from Vital Records reviews,” said Bob Wheaton, a spokesman for DHHS.

There is clearly a hole in Michigan's official statistics for the COVID-related deaths of nursing home residents, which presents a very incomplete picture of the impact of COVID-19 in the state's nursing homes. The independent investigation confirmed that hole was known by state health officials:

Steve Delie, a lawyer with the Mackinac Center, and I have learned that the state of Michigan did in fact conduct a study with a limited sample last summer to find out if people on this vital records list were residents of long-term care facilities.

Exactly 1,468 vital records were selected from March through June 2020.

Of those, 648 deaths were traced back to nursing homes and other long-term facilities. That's 44 percent. Nearly half.

Apply 44 percent to the nearly 7,000 vital records and there may be another 3,000 deaths of the institutionalized elderly unaccounted for.

If that is the case, the number of “nursing home” deaths now climbs to 8,900.

That latter figure would be consistent with the level of COVID nursing home deaths observed in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, which each adopted similar policies that "injected" COVID into the most vulnerable portions of their populations.

From this point in the summer of 2020, decisions by government officials has contributed to preventing the public from confirming the full extent of COVID deaths.

Incredibly, the work of tracing those vital records was never institutionalized.

Why? Because it was too hard.

“The 648 deaths came from a vital records review we did for deaths between March and June,” confirmed Wheaton, the DHHS spokesman. “That is not a review that we are able to do regularly due to how time-consuming it is and the amount of resources we need to devote to doing this."

This factor makes Michigan's undercount different from the Cuomo administration's deliberate cover-up of the full extent of nursing home deaths in New York. Unlike the situation in New York, state officials in Michigan did not know the full extent of COVID nursing home deaths because it never compiled the necessary data as it was required to do by law in the first place.

But they did know they had a significant undercount problem. This next part of the article examines that difference:

So what about those 6,500 remaining Covid deaths in the state's list of 19,000?

Where did those people live?

Is anybody asking?

Remember, Andrew Cuomo's administration in New York tried to fob off 4,000 nursing home deaths as hospital deaths because that's where those people actually died. But that's not where the people lived, or where they contracted Covid, as reporting guidelines require.

And the Cuomo cronies knew it. They kept it quiet because it was an election year and the Trump Justice Department had opened an investigation. “We froze,” said Melissa DeRosa, a top Cuomo aide, to a group of Democratic lawmakers. There have since been calls for Cuomo's impeachment.

Nonetheless, New York officials did keep count – secretly.

Not so in Michigan.

“Even when we do the manual review that is needed to link hospital deaths to long-term-care facility residents, the results are still substantially incomplete,” admitted Wheaton in an email. “If the facility resident is transferred to a hospital and subsequently dies, it can be difficult to tie that death back to a specific facility, or to the fact that the individual was even a resident of a facility. Death certificates have a field for type of place of death (such as home, inpatient, outpatient/ER, hospice, nursing home, long-term care facility, other). We also capture the name of the facility if the death occurred in a facility. The challenge has been identifying long-term-care facility residents who are transferred to, and die in hospitals since the death certificate lists where they actually died.”

While it is true that a person's place of death is listed on his death certificate, a person's place of residence is also listed, usually beneath the place of death.

That's how it is for Clarence, an 86-year-old military veteran and ward of the state.

Clarence died in a Detroit hospital last year, according to his death certificate. His residence is listed on East Grand Boulevard. An eight-second Google search confirms it to be a nursing home.

New York is able to track this data.

Michigan? Not so much. Why?

And remember, the reporting is done on an honor system. Multiple nurses and executives in these facilities have told me they dumped their death on the hospitals' tab.

Now, one important similarity between Michigan and New York:

... Gretchen Whitmer crows that Michigan (29%) has done better than national average (32%) when it comes to Covid deaths in long-term-care facilities.

Cuomo was braying the same line until called out by his own attorney general for faking the data.

As for the controversial comingling of positive people with healthy people in these facilities, as was done in Michigan as well as New York? The Empire Center for Public Policy showed a 9 percent rise in deaths in those New York facilities where the elderly were comingled.

Nursing homes and other elder facilities were at the epicenter of the entire Covid crisis. So, it is stunning to learn that the data used to make decisions on all human activity in Michigan did not exist.

Attorney General Dana Nessel said in March there were no grounds to investigate the Whitmer administration's handling of the nursing homes.

There seems to be now.

We've excerpted this piece at length because it provides a good window into the kind of information and analysis it takes to uncover what appears to be considerable negligence on the part of Michigan public health officials and Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Whether it will follow into criminal investigations as is currently taking place at the federal and state level in New York remains to be seen.

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Thursday, May 27, 2021

27 May 2021: Cuomo Calls State Ethics Watchdog "Meaningless"

Cuomo dismisses state ethics commission as 'meaningless'

New York's official ethics watchdog is the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, which goes by its acronym JCOPE.

According to this report, JCOPE is a joke. One exploited by Governor Cuomo, who called the commission "meaningless". Here's a lengthy excerpt to provide context:

As state lawmakers consider overhauling the state’s ethics commission, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday joined in the criticism of the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, or J-COPE.

“It’s meaningless,” the governor said during a question and answer session with reporters at his midtown office.

J-COPE was created by Cuomo and passed by the legislature in 2011, after the governor promised to have the “most transparent administration in history.”

But since then, J-COPE has been chided by critics for its ineffectiveness and near obsession with secrecy. The watchdog agency was supposed to enforce ethical lapses and violations in both the legislative and executive branches.

“The fundamental flaw is a constitutional barrier,” Cuomo said.

“Because the fundamental flaw is it can't enforce anything, it's non-binding. It's essentially advisory. If the legislature takes the position that its findings are not binding because there is no outside agency that has any authority for any sanction,” Cuomo added.

J-COPE has actually sanctioned numerous state lawmakers for misconduct. But critics say because the governor appoints the majority of members on the commission, J-COPE has never concluded an investigation targeting any member of the Cuomo administration or the governor himself.

It all hit a boiling point recently when it was revealed the commission’s staff approved a $5.1 million book deal for Cuomo without publicly disclosing the sum. Normally, commissioners would make that decision but normal processes appear to have been bypassed by the governor.

It sounds like Governor Cuomo would know very well that JCOPE is a joke. He appears to have been in on it from the beginning.

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27 May 2021: NY Assembly Leaders Accused of Slow Walking Cuomo Impeachment Probe

Cuomo's Impeachment Inquiry Accused of Slo-Walking Its Probe

With evidence continuing to build the NY Assembly's Cuomo impeachment probe is a sham, state lawmakers and public interest groups are using the words "slow-walking" to describe its progress:

State lawmakers and government watchdogs expressed concern that the process is moving too slowly, allowing Cuomo to endure the Assembly inquiry into claims he sexually harassed aides, covered up Covid nursing-home deaths, provided family members with virus testing before it was widely available, mishandled construction of the Mario Cuomo Bridge and misused public resources while writing a $5 million leadership book. State Attorney General Letitia James and the FBI also are investigating some of the claims.

“We should have gone straight into impeachment when we had enough evidence to make that decision to remove him from a position of power,” said Assembly member Ron Kim, a Cuomo critic, in an interview. “What we’ve created is this space for Cuomo to use his position and public resources to re-brand himself.”

The report also confirms the increasing importance of the state attorney general's investigative findings for lawmakers with the Assembly's probe deliberately moving at a snail's pace:

Jay Jacobs, chair of the New York Democratic Party, said in an interview that fundraising for the party hasn’t stalled and that in terms of criticism about Cuomo, “things have been very quiet, relatively quiet, since the initial flurry of allegations.”

“Everybody is awaiting the results of the attorney general’s report and then we’ll see what happens in the Assembly,” Jacobs said....

Two people familiar with James’s investigation said they don’t expect the probe to wrap up before the end of this summer. They said the office has worked hard to keep a tight lid on developments and is taking the issue seriously and rigorously.

It's going to be a long summer.

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27 May 2021: NY Assembly Impeachment Probe Speaks to Five More People in Past Month

Cuomo Impeachment Investigation Has Now Spoken to Around 75 People

New York Assembly Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Lavine is responsible for overseeing the Assembly's impeachment probe into Governor Cuomo's misconduct in office. Despite building evidence the Assembly's probe is a sham, Lavine did little to dispel that notion in providing his first update on the probe's status in a month:

Lawyers helping the New York Assembly investigate whether Gov. Andrew Cuomo should be impeached have interviewed five more people over the past month, a lawmaker overseeing the probe said Wednesday.

Speaking at a legislative meeting, Assembly Judiciary Committee Chair Charles Lavine said lawyers have spoken with attorneys for about 75 people and entities for the investigation. Lavine, a Democrat, spoke for roughly five minutes on an audio stream of the meeting, before the committee went into closed-door executive session.

That's a small increase from April 21, when Lavine said investigators had spoke with attorneys for about 70 people and four government agencies.

Lavine indicated the lawyers hired by the Assembly to conduct the probe were reviewing documents. He also indicated the "hotline" for reporting tips to the Assembly about Governor Cuomo had recorded information from 290 people, up from about 200 a month earlier.

All in all, the information presented makes it appear the Assembly's Cuomo impeachment probe is going nowhere fast.

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27 May 2021: Cuomo, Heastie Teamed Up to Silence COVID Nursing Home Policy Critic

Cuomo used Speaker Heastie in bid to silence critic as Post exposed COVID coverup

Governor Cuomo is the most powerful politician in the state of New York. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie is the most powerful lawmaker in New York.

According to this report, the two teamed up to use their power to try to silence critics of the Cuomo administration's deadly 25 March 2020 directive after Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa revealed to lawmakers the administration had covered up the full extent of COVID nursing home deaths in a teleconference on 10 February 2021, the news of which became public the following day.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie tried to help silence one of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s most outspoken critics after The Post exclusively revealed the state’s cover-up of nursing home deaths from COVID-19, a smoking-gun text message shows.

Assemblyman Ron Kim (D-Queens) said he got the message from an aide to Heastie in response to comments he made about The Post’s reporting that top Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa had admitted in a meeting with Albany Democrats that administration officials withheld the total death toll from both lawmakers and the public.

The speaker’s aide told Kim that Heastie (D-The Bronx) was “relaying the message” — in which Cuomo provided a statement for Kim to walk back his remarks — on behalf of the governor, the assemblyman said....

Kim said he was “stunned” when he saw the message, adding, “I came to the conclusion that if I put out this statement, that I would be complicit in the cover-up.”

“Beyond that, the thousands of families I told I would protect — I would have thrown them under the bus,” he added.

Here's the full text of the statement that Governor Cuomo and Assembly Speaker Heastie attempted to get Assemblyman Kim to put out in his name to mislead the public about the nature of the information that was revealed at the 10 February 2021 teleconference:

“The Post article did not put into proper context my comments concerning the meeting, so I think it is important to provide more perspective. The purpose of the meeting was to get overdue responses to questions we had, and I believe it was productive. Administration officals at the meeting contended the Trump Administration had initiated a politically motivated effort to blame democratic states for COVID deats and that the State received a document request from the Department of Justice which had to be fulfilled on a priority basis and therefore state legislative responses were delayed. At the meeting, Melissa DeRosa assured us that the legislative responses will now be prioritized. I look forward to receiving this information.”

Shortly after this message was conveyed to Kim, he refused to retract his remarks, which resulted in a belligerent call from Governor Cuomo attempting to bully him into complying with his strategy.

If Governor Cuomo and Speaker Heastie's attempt to draft and convey a statement for a state lawmaker to give to the press sounds unusual, it is.

Cameron Macdonald of the nonprofit Government Justice Center and also an adjunct at the conservative Empire Center for Public Policy called Cuomo’s request to Heastie “problematic” and said “it was inappropriate for the Speaker to act on it.”

“They placed party politics and loyalty over accountability,” Macdonald said.

“Such coordination between the Governor and the Speaker casts doubt on the Speaker’s desire to lead the Legislature’s oversight role.”

State Sen. Gustavo Rivera (D-The Bronx) said, “We need to be concerned... because we are an independent branch of government and we should operate independently from the executive.”

Here are related entries from the timeline:

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Wednesday, May 26, 2021

26 May 2021: Cuomo Facebook Photo Suggests Possible NY Tax Evasion

Here's Governor Cuomo's Facebook post, which is drawing comments in the following report. (archived here).

Sinking Ship? Cuomo's Boat Post On Facebook Draws Tens Of Thousands Of (Many Snarky) Comments

Be ready to click to the Facebook post we linked at the top of this entry. Here's the "snarky" comment that caught our attention in the report:

“Anyone else notice that plate on the trailer?,” one posted. “Yeah he doesn't want to pay NY state $300 yearly trailer plate taxes either. So he's got out of state plates where you can get lifetime plates for a one time fee of $300. Way to go Cuomo, cheating NYS taxes...”

According to the report, several hundred other viewers have made a similar observation. The license plate on Governor Cuomo's boat trailer was issued by the state of Ohio. The particular plate design was first issued in 2010. In 2010, Governor Cuomo was serving as New York's Attorney General, which lasted until 1 January 2011, when he was sworn in as New York's 56th governor. The presence of this license plate on his boat trailer would mean that at whatever time he decided to skirt New York's annual state trailer taxes by licensing the boat trailer in Ohio, he was an elected New York state official and possibly even the governor of the state. He has likely believed the rules for little people don't apply to him for a very long time.

The Facebook post features the following comment from Governor Cuomo:

First coat of primer...the end is in sight. Still no sign of the daughter...

We don't know which of his daughters to whom he is referring, but considering he went out of his way to drop $1 million of his controversial pandemic "leadership" book deal money into a trust for them, not to mention geting special COVID testing for one of his daughters just last month, you would think they would be more prompt.

That last bit may be considered "snarky" by the Daily Voice's standards, but note that Governor Cuomo has a talent for shooting own goals that makes delivering this kind of "snark" to laugh at the Governor's tone-deafness all too easy.

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26 May 2021: How COVID Drove Changes in NY State Laws for Nursing Homes

Nursing Home COVID Deaths Lead to State Staffing Rules

This article explores some of the thinking behind the changes New York lawmakers made to nursing home staffing requirements:

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, New York state moved many critically ill patients from hospitals back to nursing homes, contributing to as many as 15,000 deaths.

There were bodies piled in refrigerated trucks. Family members, prohibited from being with loved ones in their last moments of life, cried outside nursing homes, hands pressed against the glass. Meanwhile, swamped and exhausted nursing home workers struggled to provide care.

In many nursing homes, there just weren’t enough workers—many of them were sick or terrified themselves—to care for so many critically ill and dying residents. Now that the pandemic is finally loosening its grip, New York and several other states are setting higher standards for nursing home staffing.

A bill passed by the New York Senate and Assembly, which Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo is likely to sign, would require nursing homes to provide a daily average of 3.5 hours of care per patient by a nurse or nursing assistant. A separate budget bill, also passed by both chambers, would require nursing homes to spend 70% of their revenue on patient care. Of that 70%, at least 40% would have to go toward paying nurses.

While there are some federal and state standards in place for staffing, experts say the rules are easily circumvented.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed how understaffing in our healthcare facilities, especially at our embattled nursing homes, can lead to a dangerous environment for residents and workers,” state Sen. Gustavo Rivera, the Democratic chair of the Health Committee and chief sponsor of the bill, said in an email to Stateline.

The article also explores why those measures are unlikely to be successful, which is based on economic thinking:

But Assemblymember Josh Jensen, a Republican, said setting staffing thresholds might make it more difficult for nursing homes to fulfill all their responsibilities to residents. Jensen spent a year as the director of communications in a nursing home in his upstate district before his election to the Assembly last November.

“I saw in my experience how challenging the situation was before COVID and the struggles they were facing [with getting enough staff],” Jensen said. “This bill is going to tie the hands of nursing homes and take away the resources they need for the entirety of nursing home care.”

Jensen also said the $64 million lawmakers annually put in the state budget to help nursing homes hire more staff is not enough. New York, he said, is “just putting in more mandates with not enough financial support.”

Not explored is how the legislation might affect the quality of care available at nursing homes. Without additional funding, nursing home operators may be forced to populate their staffs with lower-paid, less qualified, and less productive nurses to meet the state's arbitrary staffing level mandate. At a certain point, throwing more people at the problem cannot overcome a general degradation in quality of care for patients.

Also not mentioned is the apparent lack of enthusiasm of nursing home staff to be vaccinated for COVID-19 in New York. In New York City, the epicenter for COVID infections in the United States, that figure can be has high as 60% among nursing home staff members. With nursing home workers a primary vector for spreading coronavirus infections within nursing homes, having larger numbers of unvaccinated workers around does not bode well for maintaining staff levels or slowing the spread of infections for the next pandemic.

Which is not to say that what New York's lawmakers did isn't an improvement over the situation that existed in New York before, it's more to say they have much more room for improvement because they don't fully understand the issue.

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Tuesday, May 25, 2021

25 May 2021: CNN's Cuomo Conflict of Interest and Ethics Problems Extend to Top of Network

We're covering two reports in this timeline entry. If both reports are any indication, CNN insiders are not happy. If they were, they wouldn't be leaking like a sieve and the comments made at the internal meeting being reported upon would not be showing up at outside publications within a matter of hours.

Chris Cuomo Made a ‘Mistake,’ CNN Boss Jeff Zucker Tells Concerned Staffers

This report focuses specifically on CNN's chief producer's statements at a townhall meeting regarding Chris Cuomo's latest journalism conflict-of-interest scandal:

During a Tuesday afternoon town-hall meeting with staff, Zucker claimed he understood the “unease” over Cuomo’s conduct, saying “in no uncertain terms” that it was a “mistake” for the primetime star to participate in strategy calls advising his politically powerful brother.

“He did cross a line,” Zucker said.

But you wouldn't think it was very serious from Zucker's managerial response, which is the subject of the next article we're covering in this entry....

CNN Chief Jeff Zucker Says Chris Cuomo ‘Made a Mistake’ and Defends Treatment of Controversy

This report covers CNN's management decision to not discipline Chris Cuomo.

Jeff Zucker, chairman of news and sports at WarnerMedia, held a company town hall on Tuesday in which he addressed the recent Chris Cuomo-CNN controversy and answered questions regarding return-to-office plans....

He told employees that primetime anchor Chris Cuomo “made a mistake” by taking part in sessions with his brother, Governor Andrew Cuomo, and his advisers while the New York State leader was under scrutiny due to claims about sexual harassment as well as handling data about the pandemic’s effects on nursing homes. Zucker said he felt a disciplinary action was less effective than having the anchor address the situation on camera, in front of audiences. He reiterated that Cuomo has been separated from coverage of his sibling and will not be able to interview or report on the governor at any point in the future.

A more effective action would have involved having the anchor address the situation on camera, followed by their immediate suspension pending a determination of their future employment status.

Exit question: At what point does CNN's parent organization get tired of the systemic ethical and leadership failures at the news network and fully clean house?

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25 May 2021: CNN Insiders "Disgusted" by Cuomo Special Treatment

CNN Insiders Disgusted After Network Seemingly Rolls Over for Chris Cuomo

This report indicates CNN's own staff is disappointed the ethically-compromised Chris Cuomo is escaping any real discipline related to his "inappropriate" conduct involving advising his brother Governor Andrew Cuomo and his staff. Here's a series of excerpts from the report:

Multiple network insiders—including current on-air talent and staffers along with recently departed employees—expressed to The Daily Beast that last week’s bombshell news that Cuomo coached his older brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in strategy calls on how to respond to sexual-harassment allegations was journalistically and morally unethical and that he should face stronger punishment than the slap on the wrist he seemed to receive from CNN....

“I’m very disappointed in the network,” one current CNN female on-air talent told The Daily Beast. “I think some disciplinary action, at a minimum, was required in this situation.” The on-air talent conceded that the younger Cuomo “was always put in an untenable position,” given his job, but ultimately, she said, “I don't think there were enough guardrails” to prevent this sort of scandal.

“As a woman who works here, I feel a little let down, to be honest,” this on-air personality said....

“Chris Cuomo’s concern for his brother is admirable but working to discredit the multiple women who have accused Andrew Cuomo of sexual impropriety is both journalistically and morally immoral,” added another insider, a regular on-air guest....

“I’m not satisfied with his apology,” the CNN female on-air talent declared. “I thought that was really tone-deaf and useless. He didn't apologize for the worst part—you know, the coaching someone out of sexual harassment. That's the worst part. He didn't say, ‘I stand with women and I believe accusers’… He didn’t say that because he couldn’t.”...

Some network insiders echoed such concerns, with one wondering how CNN will handle the awkwardness of Cuomo inevitably covering another celebrity or politician accused of sexual misconduct.

“Is there just going to be an hour-long blackout every night because Chris Cuomo can't cover it?” asked one insider. “It just feels untenable to me and a very solvable problem that, apparently, the network is not willing to consider.”

Ultimately, insiders who spoke with The Daily Beast said Cuomo will “not be held accountable” by the network.

So, to summarize, CNN "insiders" are disgusted by Chris Cuomo's multiple conflicts of interest and believe he should be canned, but don't think the news network's management and editors have the ethical integrity to address the problem Cuomo presents.

That's how a news outlet's journalistic integrity gets shredded.

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Monday, May 24, 2021

24 May 2021: Governor Cuomo Claims Other Journalists Are Advising Him

Gov. Cuomo says he gets advice from ‘journalists’ other than brother Chris

Governor Cuomo made an extraordinary claim at a news briefing today:

During a news conference at Long Island’s Jones Beach, the governor confirmed a report that his younger brother, Chris, joined a series of conference calls to help the Democratic governor plan his response to the sexual harassment scandal that’s plaguing him.

“I had conversations with my brother. I always have conversations with my brother because he’s my brother and he’s my best friend,” Andrew Cuomo said in response to a question from The Post.

“Obviously, he was aware of what was going on and I talked to him about it, and he told me his thoughts. He always tells me his thoughts. Sometimes I follow them, sometimes I don’t. He was not covering the story. He had recused himself from the story.”

And in a surprise assertion, Cuomo added: “But I talk to journalists about situations all the time and they tell me their thoughts and their advice.”

The governor didn’t identify any of the journalists or elaborate on the “thoughts and advice” they shared with him or when those conversations purportedly took place.

Cuomo’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for additional information to back up his claim.

If true, a number of supposely objective journalists now need to come clean on their contacts with Governor Cuomo. Because if they don't and the truth comes out of that relationship, their journalism careers will immediately be over. Chances are their employers aren't as invested in them or their careers as CNN bizarrely appears to be in Chris Cuomo, so they won't benefit from the kind of protection on high that he has.

If not true, what on earth is Governor Cuomo thinking? He's added to his potential scandal pile for zero benefit.

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24 May 2021: NY Lawmakers Starting to Think NY Assembly's Cuomo Impeachment Probe is a Sham

Pace of Andrew Cuomo Impeachment Probe Frustrates Some Lawmakers

It's not a surprise that New York legislators who favor Governor Cuomo's removal from office are unhappy with the pace at which the New York Assembly's impeachment probe is moving. The probe was effectively designed to fail by Cuomo ally Assembly Speaker Carl "Scope Creep" Heastie, who in addition to setting up its bottomless pit investigative philosophy, also severely underfunded it.

What this report emphasizes is how important NY Attorney General "Tish" James' investigative findings will be in driving what elected officials do.

Some members of the New York state Assembly who support the impeachment of Gov. Andrew Cuomo are growing frustrated with the pace of the chamber’s inquiry into the Democratic governor and his administration, and said they would use an outside report as a basis for moving forward.

The members said they expect that a state attorney general investigation into accusations that Mr. Cuomo sexually harassed current and former aides will wrap up before the Assembly Judiciary Committee’s probe. The impeachment probe began in mid-March; State Attorney General Letitia James’s investigation started March 1.

The committee is looking at the harassment allegations, as well as administration policies on Covid-19 in nursing homes, concerns about the use of state resources to work on the governor’s memoir and priority access to Covid-19 tests that people close to Mr. Cuomo received in the early days of the pandemic.

The committee hasn’t met since April, but it is scheduled to convene again on Wednesday. Assemblyman Charles Lavine, the committee chairman, said in March that the inquiry would take months rather than weeks. He declined to comment Friday through a spokesman. Legislators in the Democrat-dominated chamber are scheduled to adjourn their annual session on June 10, but the investigation is expected to continue during the summer recess.

Assemblyman Ron Kim, a Queens Democrat who favors impeaching Mr. Cuomo, said the Judiciary Committee wasn’t moving quickly enough and he would push his colleagues to act if Ms. James’s report affirmed the harassment allegations.

That reality is why Governor Cuomo and his loyalist followers have been seeking to undermine the AG's probe.

Here is relevant coverage from the timeline on that last point:

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24 May 2021: Poll - Slim Majority of New Yorkers Want Cuomo to Resign

Number of NYers Who Say Cuomo Should Not Resign Dips in a Month, New Poll Shows

Polls are what news outlets cover when there isn't news to cover. In the following section, we find there is little difference from polling a month ago on the same questions asked of registered voters, although it suggests a slight majority of New Yorkers now want to see Governor Cuomo resign from office:

The number of New Yorkers who say Gov. Andrew Cuomo should not resign has dropped in a month as the state attorney general's probe into allegations of sexual misconduct and his administration's handling of nursing home deaths continue.

In a new poll released Monday by Siena College, registered voters said the Democrat should not resign by a 49-41 percent margin, compared to last month's margin of 51-37 percent. Voters' approval of Cuomo's handling of the pandemic has also decreased, from 60-32 to 58-35 percent, but his favorability rating increased a bit after plunging to all-time lows.

There's a huge difference in opinion of the governor between his party and Republicans, according to the poll. While Democrats are divided, Republicans and independents think Cuomo has committed sexual harassment, Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said.

“Democrats continue to say Cuomo should not resign by a two-to-one margin, as Republicans say he should resign by a now larger than two-to-one margin,” Greenberg said.

The polling responses are well within the margin of error for the polling, where it's tough to make an argument that there's been any real shift in public opinion in the last month.

The information about the partisan divide is interesting because political party affiliation in New York is heavily weighted toward Governor Cuomo's Democratic party, who outnumber Republicans by over a two to one ratio according to 2018 voter registration data.

Doing some back of the envelope math, with the reported ratios of voters who want to see Governor Cuomo resign indicated by the poll, it would take over 70% of New Yorkers who are neither registered Democratic or Republican party voters in New York to produce its 51% result in favor of Governor Cuomo's resignation.

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24 May 2021: Opinions - CNN's Compromised Integrity and Calls for Chris Cuomo's Firing

WaPo's Bacon Jr: 'Going to be hard' for CNN to criticize Chris Cuomo now after allowing interviews

Thanks to its cheerleader coverage of Governor Cuomo combined with its relative non-coverage of his scandals, CNN has become the most ethically compromised name in news. That outcome isn't lost on outside observers of the network's editorial policies and its odd decision to neither discipline nor fire Chris Cuomo for his role in shaping Governor Cuomo's scandal response:

Washington Post columnist Perry Bacon Jr. told "Reliable Sources" host Brian Stelter on Sunday that CNN is going to have "a hard time" criticizing or suspending host Chris Cuomo after allowing him to interview his brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, without grilling him on his nursing home scandal.

Recent reports have revealed that the CNN host also gave the embattled governor off-air advice on how to handle his string of sexual harassment allegations.

CNN admitted Friday that Chris Cuomo participated in strategy sessions for his brother on how to handle the allegations against him. In a statement, the network said, "It was inappropriate to engage in conversations that included members of the Governor's staff, which Chris acknowledges. He will not participate in such conversations going forward."

Pay close attention to the wording used by CNN's spokesperson, which we've highlighted with bolface font in the quotation. CNN's managers and editors have greenlit Chris Cuomo's continued communication with Governor Cuomo, including joint conversations with persons who are not members of the Governor's staff, which would presumably include his legal team and members of the governor's political organization. All of whom would be able to share information Chris Cuomo might communicate in these discussions with members of Governor Cuomo's staff.

What exactly are CNN's managers and editors gaining from allowing Chris Cuomo to continue his employment with the network in this arrangement?

The longer this arrangement continues, the greater the need will be for a full housecleaning at CNN.

Editorial: CNN needs to can Chris Cuomo

How would a serious news outlet handle Chris Cuomo's pervasive ethical conflicts of interest and misconduct? The editors of the Boston Herald have a recommendation:

CNN needs to do the right thing and can Cuomo. They’ve already waited too long.

Without being too preachy ourselves, reporting the news takes skill, effort, sources, brevity and ethics. All of us in the industry suffer when one member, especially a notable one, crosses the line. Chris Cuomo must have known the moment he was on the phone with his brother’s handlers that he had sinned.

How can he ever stand before a journalism class and pretend to be a journalist?

And how can CNN say Chris Cuomo isn’t an influence, to some degree, in the hallways and the network newsroom? Who’s stopping him from reviewing copy for another show?

The lines between celebrity and journalism have long been blurred. Now Chris Cuomo is wiping mud on the screen. There’s no question he’s forcing everyone else in the industry to work harder today to guard against any slip.

Trust, the lifeline of any media organization, has just taken a direct hit. The sad part is Chris Cuomo probably doesn’t even care. He’ll just push on and pretend like there’s nothing to see here. But, he’ll slip up again.

Here's a link that provides related background information from the timeline on the fall of CNN's journalistic integrity. And here are some lowlights from the sad story of its decline:

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Sunday, May 23, 2021

23 May 2021: Editorial - Leadership Lessons Governor Cuomo Should Have Followed

Don’t profit from tragedy, and other leadership lessons for Gov. Cuomo (Editorial Board Opinion)

Syracuse.com's editors identify the leadership lessons Governor Cuomo should have learned before writing his pandemic "leadership" book. We've summarized the editors' lessons into the following list:

... We’re done taking lessons in leadership from the governor. But we have a few for him:

  • Don’t declare “mission accomplished” until the war is won.
  • Admit error.
  • Listen to the experts.
  • Don’t give special treatment to people close to you.
  • Don’t ask people to make sacrifices you aren’t willing to make yourself.
  • Don’t profit from others’ misfortune.

Enough said.

For all but the last item, the editors give specific examples of the conduct in which Governor Cuomo has engaged that earns the lesson its place in the editorial. To see those examples, please click through the link at the top of this timeline entry to the original editorial.

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23 May 2021: Opinion - Cuomos Playing by Their Own Rules

Lessons from the Quid Pro Cuo Bros: Andrew and Chris play by their own rules

Harry Siegel's op-ed in the New York Daily News is weighing in on last week's Cuomo scandal news, which engulfs not just Governor Andrew Cuomo, but also his younger brother, CNN's Chris Cuomo:

With his public polling yet to collapse, it feels like Cuomo has stumbled into Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s approach of flooding the zone with excrement.

And Andrew has clearly taken the advice of Chris Cuomo — CNN’s top-rated host, who spent the summer doing goofy shows with his big brother the governor, no hard questions required — reportedly gave on crisis-management calls with administration staffers and lawyers as the harassment accusations kept coming to “take a defiant position,” with Chris invoking “cancel culture” as a reason for Andrew to hold on.

It takes some nerve to get on a call that violates every known code of journalistic ethics to rail against “cancel culture,” but that’s a Cuomo for you.

Thursday night, after CNN put out a shrug of a statement saying “it was inappropriate” for Chris to have been on those calls, he opened his show by reading a brief scripted intro where he told viewers how much he loves his family while assuring them “I know where the line is.”

The line is wherever it needs to be for the Quid Pro Cuo Bros to maintain power and position, and they’ll say or do whatever they need to to make sure that happens.

When you’re a star, they let you do it.

It has been said elsewhere that rules are for the little people. The Cuomo brothers' scandals certainly fit that worldview.

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23 May 2021: Editorial - The Lies and Rage of Governor Andrew Cuomo

As his scandals grow ever worse, Andrew Cuomo offers only lies and rage

The editors of the New York Post characterize the diminishing governorship of Andrew Cuomo:

“That’s stupid; next question,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo this week told a reporter who’d asked him to respond to criticism that his $5.1 million book deal came on the backs of dead elderly New Yorkers. Is he losing it?

After all, he answered another question: “Yes, people died, people died, from COVID.... Eighteen people died yesterday. Who is to blame? Who is to blame? How do you want to politicize 18 deaths of yesterday?”

The issue, of course, is that Team Cuomo last March ordered nursing homes to admit COVID-contagious patients that hospitals wanted to dump — and, when people started asking about it, began a months-long coverup of the true extent of nursing-home COVID deaths....

It’s not just those who lost loved ones in the homes who should be outraged: This is a vast betrayal of the public trust for personal profit. Yet all the gov can do is rage at anyone who suggests otherwise....

And he has yet to show a hint of shame: Cuomo is plainly bent on lying and raging all the way to the inevitably ignominious end of his political career.

There's a lot more discussion in the editorial - be sure to click through the link to see what's behind the ellipses that indicate where we trimmed the editors' comments!

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23 May 2021: Changing Patterns in Cuomo Scandal Coverage

We're noticing a changing pattern in the news coverage of Governor Cuomo's scandals. Over the last month, many news outlets publishing the latest breaking stories in Cuomoland more during the work week (Monday through Friday) than they do on weekends.

That's a shift from the preceding months of the Cuomo scandals. We think that represents two things:

  1. Several news outlets have begun taking their coverage of the Cuomo scandals more seriously. We're seeing this effect play out through their publishing new stories in the higher circulation/higher viewership period of the work week.
  2. Greater involvement of federal and state government entities investigating the scandals in driving developing news stories. These stories often originate with government employees who don't work on weekends, which results in these stories being concentrated during the work week.

The changing pattern in the timing of when Cuomo scandal news comes out in the press was really driving home in the preceding week, where we had a steady drumbeat on Monday through Thursday, capped off by a significant increase in stories on Friday, 21 May 2021, followed by virtually nothing new being reported on Saturday.

Now on Sunday, we're catching up with the latest editorials on the Cuomo scandals, following the new pattern for news coverage. Not that we're complaining; we enjoyed having a very rare day off yesterday! But for those of you who have become regular readers, we want you to know it's not your imagination - there really weren't any new stories breaking on Saturday, 22 May 2021!

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Friday, May 21, 2021

21 May 2021: NY Attorney General's Probe of Cuomo Scandals Still Underway

NY AG: Cuomo probe will 'conclude when it concludes'

New York Attorney General Letitia James held a public briefing today, in which she provided few details but confirmed her office is continuing to investigate several of Governor Cuomo's scandals:

New York Attorney General Letitia James said Friday that an ongoing investigation surrounding Gov. Andrew Cuomo will “conclude when it concludes,” and said she has ignored criticism from his top aide that the probe is politically motivated.

James told reporters the ongoing investigation into whether the governor sexually harassed women, including female employees, is “very thorough and comprehensive.” Her office is also probing whether Cuomo illegally used state resources to write and promote his COVID-19 leadership book, for which the Democrat is set to earn over $5 million.

The top aide to whom James refers is Richard Azzopardi, who was just promoted to be Governor Cuomo's chief PR flack despite a history of tone-deaf verbal attacks on several female elected state officials and victims of Governor Cuomo's COVID nursing home deaths scandals. For background on that aspect of the scandals, follow this link for stories explaining why Governor Cuomo is seeking better PR people and more legal help.

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21 May 2021: Cuomo VIP Priority Testing Continued Into April 2021

Preferential testing in N.Y. leads to a federal investigation into Cuomo, the latest in a slew of inquiries

It seems the "Looking Out for Numero Cuomo" VIP COVID testing scandal benefitting the Governor's family members, friends, and connected political associates continued far longer than previously known. This New York Times report indicates it continued into April 2021.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration granted special access to COVID-19 testing for his family and other “specials” as recently as April, according to a report by The New York Times.

Federal prosecutors that have been investigating Cuomo’s undercounting of nursing home deaths caused by COVID-19 since February are now looking into Cuomo’s priority testing program, the Times reported Wednesday.

Cuomo’s daughter, Mariah Kennedy Cuomo, and her boyfriend were tested for COVID-19 on April 3, the outlet reported. Their samples were labeled “specials,” and were processed within hours because they were going to spend Easter with the governor, two people familiar with the situation told The Times.

“They were going to come in contact with the governor,” Cuomo’s personal lawyer Elkan Abramowitz said. “It would be a proper exercise of discretion to give priority testing to anyone who came in contact with the governor.”

Multiple news outlets reported in March that Cuomo’s administration prioritized COVID-19 testing for his family and others connected to his administration during the early stages of the pandemic when there was a shortage of tests available to the general public.

Unlike the first months of the coronavirus pandemic, COVID testing is very easy to come by a year later. In that light, the VIP priority testing for Cuomo's family members in April 2021 is both unnecessary and looks very like an arrogant abuse-of-power. This new incident is an own goal.

Mariah Kennedy Cuomo (Age 26) is also a direct beneficiary of Governor Cuomo's pandemic book deal, with the Governor funneling money from the deal to his daughter via a trust.

The timeline has another entry focusing more on the expanding federal investigation of Governor Cuomo's "Looking Out for Número Cuomo" VIP COVID priority testing scandal.

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21 May 2021: Federal Investigation Expands into "Looking Out for Numero Cuomo" VIP Testing Scandal

Criminal Probe of Andrew Cuomo Administration Broadens to Covid-19 Testing Issues

This report features more information about the expansion of the U.S. attorney's probe into Governor Cuomo's priority COVID testing for VIPs scandal:

Federal investigators are examining whether New York state officials gave priority access to Covid-19 testing to some of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s close associates and his brother during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, according to people familiar with the matter.

The review of the testing marks an expansion of the probe that the investigators, based in the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York, opened in February to look at how the Cuomo administration handled Covid-19 in nursing homes.

Prosecutors have recently contacted and scheduled interviews with officials in the Democratic governor’s office who worked on the testing program, some of the people said.

The Wall Street Journal previously reported that people familiar with the testing program said Covid-19 specimens taken from state officials and other people close to the governor—including his brother, Chris Cuomo, a CNN anchor—were given priority processing at a state laboratory. The testing was done in March and April of 2020, when testing resources were scarce.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn declined to comment.

The timeline features another entry focusing on the new evidence in the "Looking Out for Número Cuomo" VIP COVID priority testing scandal.

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21 May 2021: What a Difference a Year Makes at CNN

The following video aired on CNN one year ago, on 21 May 2020:

The timeline's entry marking this event described the date as when "Cuomo Cheerleader CNN's Credibility Enters Rapid Phase of Collapse".

Almost exactly one year later, on 20 May 2021, the ethically challenged Chris Cuomo was forced to spend time on his prime time broadcast addressing his role in shaping Governor Cuomo's media strategy:

A CNN spokesperson described Cuomo's role as "inappropriate". They also indicated Cuomo will not be disciplined for his inappropriate conduct, which indicates they are really okay with it.

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21 May 2021: The Toxic, Shrinking World of Cuomo in His Bunker

Chris Cuomo Secretly Advised Brother to Fight Sexual-Misconduct Allegations

This is the first time we've ever featured the same report at the lead of two separate timeline entries. The report stands out because in addition to its main topic of coverage, the unethical journalistic misconduct of CNN's Chris Cuomo acting as an advisor to his scandal-plagued brother Governor Andrew Cuomo for how to present himself to the news media, it also describes the diminished world of Governor Cuomo:

As for the reasoning that the governor would expose his brother at the second-most-watched news network to such an obvious conflict of interest, one of Cuomo’s advisers told the Post that the “governor only trusts about five people … so that’s why Chris is on these calls.” (It appears that the governor’s development of a toxic workplace has closed the circle of people he can rely upon.)

We've noticed the word "toxic" keeps coming up in relation to the culture New York Governor Cuomo has established during his three terms in office. Here's a sampling of that recurrence from the timeline:

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21 May 2021: How CNN's Cuomo Shredded CNN's Credibility

Chris Cuomo Secretly Advised Brother to Fight Sexual-Misconduct Allegations

This article picks up on the loss-of-credibility problem created by CNN's managers and editors decisions to allow Chris Cuomo free rein to promote the interests of his brother, Governor Andrew Cuomo.

The report that Chris Cuomo was advising his older brother in private as he feigned neutrality in public is one of several concerning developments in the pair’s relationship in the pandemic year. At the beginning of the pandemic, the CNN host’s ratings soared as he fawningly interviewed his brother about developments in New York, then the epicenter of the outbreak. That good press helped polish the governor’s reputation as he mishandled key aspects of the shutdown, including a botched order that killed thousands in New York nursing homes, a scandal his administration then attempted to cover up.

Allegations that the governor’s office manipulated that data are now being investigated as part of a criminal inquiry by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, who are also looking into another reported conflict of interest between the brothers: When coronavirus tests were scarce at the beginning of the pandemic, the governor enrolled members of his family and staff in a VIP program granting them priority access to much-needed tests.

What did CNN's managers and editors know, and when did they know it? It's time they came clean!

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21 May 2021: Calls for CNN Cuomo to be Suspended

Suspend Chris Cuomo from CNN for his Advice to Brother, Urges Women's Group

CNN has already described its prime time news broadcast host Chris Cuomo's conduct in providing advice to Governor Cuomo on how to handle the media related to his alleged sexual harassment abuses as inappropriate, but has passed on imposing any disciplinary action. This report indicates at least one women's group wants to see the younger ethically-challenged Cuomo face consequences for his inappropriate conduct.

Women's group UltraViolet has called on CNN to suspend Chris Cuomo after it was revealed that the host had advised his brother, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York, on how to publicly handle allegations of sexual harassment.

UltraViolet, which describes itself as an "organization that creates consequences for sexism by holding politicians and thought leaders accountable to all women," issued a statement on Thursday. It has previously urged Governor Cuomo to resign.

Chris Cuomo has apologized for advising the governor and said he would not do so again, but his actions have renewed concerns about his role in the network's coverage of his brother.

UltraViolet communications director Bridget Todd issued a statement calling for Cuomo's suspension, some of which was shared on the group's Twitter account.

"Reports that Chris Cuomo not only joined strategy calls with his brother, Governor Andrew Cuomo, on how to respond to numerous sexual harassment allegations against him, but actively advised his brother to aggressively push back on the allegations, is deeply disturbing and completely unacceptable," the statement said.

With CNN's management and editors appearing to see themselves as star players on Team Cuomo, we think it is unlikely they will ever impose a disciplinary action on Chris Cuomo that could be used against the interests of his powerful brother, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Just imagine the claims of hypocrisy Governor Cuomo and New York Democratic Party officials would face if his brother faced more severe sanctions related to his minor role in the Governor's scandals than the Governor has.

On the other hand, their taking a pass on disciplining Chris Cuomo for the inappropriate conduct they acknowledge makes it look almost as if they're on the Governor's payroll. What are they getting in return for shredding the entire news network's credibility?

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21 May 2021: "CNN's Messy Situation" With Cuomo

Chris Cuomo’s advice to Gov. Andrew Cuomo crosses a journalistic line

This report, from the Poynter Institute, makes it clear both Chris Cuomo and CNN are involved in a major breach of journalism ethics:

CNN’s messy situation just got a whole lot messier. And now one of CNN’s biggest stars is deservedly under scrutiny for crossing a journalistic line.

It’s a conflict of interest that has been more than a year in the making. It finally blew up in CNN’s face Thursday after revelations in a big scoop by The Washington Post’s Josh Dawsey and Sarah Ellison: CNN primetime host Chris Cuomo advised his brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and the governor’s staff on how to respond to sexual harassment allegations made against the governor by several women.

The article briefly recaps the lead article in this timeline entry, before getting to the ethical violations:

Stop and think about what happened here.

The host of a primetime show on one of the country’s biggest and most influential cable news networks is advising one of the most powerful and influential politicians in this country on how to handle serious sexual misconduct allegations.

This is highly inappropriate for a journalist.

That's putting it mildly. But wait, it gets worse.

CNN isn’t denying any of it. In a statement, CNN said, “Chris has not been involved in CNN’s extensive coverage of the allegations against Governor Cuomo — on air or behind the scenes. In part because, as he has said on his show, he could never be objective. But also because he often serves as a sounding board for his brother. However, it was inappropriate to engage in conversations that included members of the Governor’s staff, which Chris acknowledges. He will not participate in such conversations going forward.”

CNN added Cuomo will not be disciplined.

The short translation of CNN's response is that the broadcast news outlet's managers and editors recognize Chris Cuomo's conduct is "inappropriate", but seem to be okay with it provided he doesn't keep doing it.

How would they know? What steps will they take, if any, to ensure that inappropriate conduct does not continue?

It’s one thing to recuse yourself from coverage. It’s another to try to go behind the scenes and try to help shape what happens. Chris Cuomo is advising Gov. Cuomo on strategy, which you would assume includes how to deal with the media and change the media narrative. In other words, while Chris Cuomo’s colleagues and other media outlets are doggedly working on this story, Chris is advising his brother and his brother’s staff on how to deal with the media and their reporting.

And, at the heart of all this, a journalist is helping a politician.

Sounds pretty unethical doesn't it? What exactly does CNN gain by allowing this misconduct to continue with the tacit approval of its management and editors? And what does the answer to that question say about them and their own credibilty?

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Thursday, May 20, 2021

20 May 2021: CNN's Cuomo Ethical Conflicts Worsen

Chris Cuomo took part in strategy calls advising his brother, the New York governor, on how to respond to sexual harassment allegations

CNN continues shredding the remnants of its journalistic credibility:

The cable news anchor encouraged his brother to take a defiant position and not to resign from the governor’s office, the people said. At one point, he used the phrase “cancel culture” as a reason to hold firm in the face of the allegations, two people present on one call said.

The behind-the-scenes strategy offered by Chris Cuomo, who anchors CNN’s 9 p.m. nightly newscast, cuts against the widely accepted norm in journalism that those reporting the news should not be involved in politics.

“If you are actively advising a politician in trouble while being an on-air host on a news network, that’s not okay,” said Nicholas Lemann, a professor at Columbia Journalism School and a New Yorker staff writer.

Just imagine if Chris Cuomo had any influence over choosing what news stories about Governor Cuomo that CNN would cover and what news stories it would not cover. Oh, wait - that might be some kind of major conflict of interest that could completely discredit an entire broadcast news outlet's product, wouldn't it?

More on this story to come!... Until then, follow this link for background on CNN's ethically troubled history in covering Govenor Cuomo and his scandals.

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20 May 2021: "That's Stupid. Next Question" - Governor Cuomo Responds to Reporter's Question About Pandemic Book Deal

Andrew Cuomo Scoffs at Question That His Book Profited Off COVID Deaths: ‘That’s Stupid’ (Video)

Fireworks at Governor Cuomo's 20 May 2021 news briefing:

On Thursday, Cuomo fielded questions from reporters for the first time since releasing his 2020 tax return, which revealed that his publisher is scheduled to pay him more than $5 million for writing the book, “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic.”

At the news conference, one reporter asked the governor whether this hefty salary for the book on pandemic leadership was paid “off the backs of dead New Yorkers.”

“That’s stupid,” Cuomo replied, “Next question.”

That wasn't the only interchange during the news briefing:

Later in the conference, the same journalist took the opportunity to follow-up and ask Cuomo to elaborate on why he dismisses the criticism as “stupid.”

“I thought your question was stupid and offensive,” Cuomo said.

“I wrote a book saying, ‘This is what we should learn from what has happened so far with COVID because we’re not done and it’s going to continue, and if we don’t learn the lessons, we’re going to continue to make the same mistakes.'” He continued, “That’s why I wrote the book, and by the way, that’s what happened.”

Related coverage from the timeline:

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