Sunday, May 09, 2021

9 May 2021: NY State AG Investigating Cuomo's Former Vaccine Czar; Update on Sexual Harassment Probe

Andrew Cuomo Investigation Expands as State Attorney General Looks at Aide’s Calls

Up to this point, Larry Schwartz has been a peripheral character in the timeline's coverage of Governor Cuomo's scandals, but that may change if this report from the Wall Street Journal is an indication of things to come.

The state attorney general's office has expanded its investigation of sexual-harassment allegations against Gov. Andrew Cuomo to look at whether one of his top advisers linked access to Covid-19 vaccines to support for the governor, according to people familiar with the matter.

Investigators have interviewed at least three Democratic county executives who said they were surprised to receive calls from Larry Schwartz, a volunteer adviser who oversaw vaccine distribution for the state, asking whether they would be calling for Mr. Cuomo's resignation, the people said.

Mr. Schwartz contacted more than a half-dozen executives in early March, executives said, as Mr. Cuomo faced mounting calls for his resignation from members of his own political party and was personally contacting state lawmakers to shore up support.

The executives said that at the time of Mr. Schwartz' calls they were typically speaking with him about the allocation of vaccine supplies, not politics....

One county exectuvie filed a complaint aboutthe call from Mr. Schwartz with the attorney general's office in March, according to the people familiar with the matter.

"Right at the time that every country was working, and desperately needed more vaccines, to receive a call from the person who was responsible for allocating those doses gauging political loyalty to the governor was an obvious conflict, and at best ethically gray," said one county executive who received a call from Mr. Schwartz.

Here's where Larry Schwartz' involvement in Governor Cuomo's scandals appears in the timeline:

In the third entry above, here's how we described Schwartz' role in the scandals:

We've mostly considered him to be a peripheral character, yet he has certainly left an ugly mark on what he's touched. It is quite possible he is more deeply involved in Team Cuomo's scandals.

We'll see what comes of New York Attorney General Tish James' office's investigation.

Meanwhile, the article provides updated information on how the state attorney general's investigations of Governor Cuomo's other scandals are progressing:

The investigators for Ms. James' office have interviewed at least six of Mr. Cuomo's sexual-harassment accusers, according to the women and their lawyers. They have also issued dozens of subpoenas to current and former officials in the Cuomo administration, according to people familiar with the matter.

In late April, the investigators interviewed Alphonso David, who worked as Mr. Cuomo's counsel until 2019, about the office culture, as well as about Lindsey Boylan, a person familiar with the matter said. Ms. Boyland said Mr. Cuomo sexually harassed her when she worked as a state economic-development sdviser from 2015 to 2018. The governor has said Ms. Boylan's statements aren't true.

Since the WSJ article appears behind a paywall, here are additional articles discussing the WSJ's report:

The WSJ's report and the articles linked above were all originally published on 8 May 2021.

-