We're continuing to follow this story because a lot of the same players behind the Cuomo COVID nursing home deaths scandals are employing similar methods to advance Andrew M. Cuomo's interests ahead of the public's interest.
- Leaders of the ‘Time’s Up’ anti-harassment group worked closely with Cuomo aide after first accusation against him surfaced
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This report details how the Cuomo influence network successfully manipulated the Time's Up anti-sexual harassment advocacy group into silence with respect to Lindsey Boylan's allegations of misconduct:
The leaders of Time’s Up, the advocacy group founded by political insiders in Washington and Hollywood to fight workplace sexual misconduct, decided against issuing a statement in support of New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s first harassment accuser in December after consulting with the governor’s top aide, according to people familiar with the matter and text messages obtained by The Washington Post.
The text messages show that Time’s Up chief executive Tina Tchen told her colleagues to “stand down” from a plan to release a public statement supporting Cuomo’s first accuser, Lindsey Boylan, after two people connected to the group spoke with Melissa DeRosa, the governor’s longtime adviser.
A day earlier, DeRosa had briefed Roberta Kaplan, then the chairwoman of Time’s Up, about Cuomo’s plans for an initial response to Boylan, and Kaplan shared the statement with Tchen, according to people familiar with the conversations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose them.
A separate effort by Tchen to pressure DeRosa to oversee an internal investigation into the “workplace culture” in the governor’s office was also abandoned after DeRosa and Kaplan argued that such an effort would lack credibility given that DeRosa was a loyal aide to Cuomo, according to text messages and people familiar with the events.
Roberta Kaplan is a former aide to Andrew M. Cuomo who was embedded within the Time's Up organization, where her actions in this matter revealed her loyalties lay with servicing Andrew M. Cuomo's interests ahead of the organization's stated mission and goals. Once her role as a member of Cuomo's influence network became clear, she was forced to resign from the organization.
The Dec. 15 text message discussion between five senior Time’s Up advisers revealed a far more extensive behind-the-scenes effort to work with Cuomo’s office amid the sexual harassment charges than the group has previously acknowledged. An investigation earlier this month by New York Attorney General Letitia James found that Kaplan had spoken with DeRosa about a separate draft letter responding to Boylan’s allegations, which investigators described as part of an “unlawful retaliation” effort against Boylan. Kaplan had read the letter to Tchen at the time, the investigation found.
Kaplan resigned from the Time’s Up board on Aug. 9, after James’s report was released, amid an outcry from sexual abuse survivor advocates. Tchen has since apologized to survivors and said she does not recall the details of her conversation with Kaplan.
The report continues to detail the internal discussionsat Time's Up and their interactions with top Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa. We think its likely that Tchen will face professional consequences for her role in the matter, which is pending the findings of an internal probe by the organization.
Playing along with the Cuomo influence network is proving to not be a good career choice.
