16 September 2021: Editorial - Hochul Is Either "Stupefyingly Naïve or Part of the Problem" on Corruption

‘Ethics’ panel clearing Cuomo exposes Hochul as part of Albany corruption problem

New York's official ethics watchdog for public officials, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE), has a track record of failure. That's by design by the politicians who created and appoint commissioners to it. This editorial describes JCOPE's latest preposterous actions in placing the interests of politicians ahead of the public:

It’s simply obscene that New York’s premier ethics panel just failed to demand that ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo fork over the $5 million he collected for his “leadership” book, produced with the illegal help of his staffers even as they were helping boost his payday by covering up the truth about how his orders raised the death toll in state care homes.

The same day, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics also killed a proper investigation into an illegal leak to Cuomo about JCOPE’s own proceedings in regard to an investigation of his corrupt former right-hand man.

And this is after Gov. Kathy Hochul filled two vacant JCOPE posts: Her new picks proceeded to side with Cuomo. So much for her pledge that ethics and transparency would be a “hallmark” of her administration.

The New York Post's editors conclude with a very harsh statement:

When it comes to Albany’s culture of corruption, Hochul is either stupefyingly naïve or part of the problem.

Hochul has been around New York politics for a very long time, so the possibility of her being "stupefyingly naïve" can be ruled out. We think any displayed naïveity on her part is almost certainly a put on. If however she was truly naïve, she has an easy solution before her - she can start the wholesale dismantling of Andrew M. Cuomo's embedded support network of loyalist dead-enders within Albany.

Hochul is quickly running out of time to prove she's not part of the problem.