2 May 2021: Cuomo Still Playing Games with the Press

Jerry Moore: Cuomo is getting pressed

Watertown Daily Times editor Jerry Moore notes Governor Cuomo's has been forced to resume engaging with the press in the last week, ending months of his hiding behind various excuses to avoid facing questions about his multiple scandals. But as this excerpt reveals, Team Cuomo is still playing games to limit the Governor's exposure to tough questioning:

Cuomo reinstated in-person press briefings last week. But that doesn’t mean things are operating smoothly.

The knock on Cuomo now is that his staffers will send notices of upcoming news conferences right before they’re held. Some reporters said they’ve received emails of his daily schedule just an hour before an event — there’s no way for them to arrive on time to cover it.

Moore then gets to why playing those games presents a problem:

Given the year that Cuomo has had, I get why he’s not eager to open himself up to reporters. But he’s responsible for the scandals that his administration is wallowing in, so he has no one else to blame.

Constituents deserve answers to their concerns about his conduct. Therefore, it would be appropriate for Cuomo to subject himself to diligent scrutiny from journalists.

However, his strategy is to hold off serious inquiries into these controversies for as long as possible and hope people get tired of it all. He’s taking his queues directly from the playbook of former President Bill Clinton.

Sadly, Cuomo believes this constitutes good governance. But it’s really nothing but political self-preservation. Either he doesn’t know the difference between the two or he doesn’t care.

Our money is on "doesn't care". Or rather, we think he instead cares very much about avoiding exposing himself to the risk of criminal liability for his actions in office and the potential to lose the political power that is the only thing protecting him from the consequences.