19 September 2021: Hochul Sacks 20 Cuomo Appointees

Replacement NY Governor Kathy Hochul has fired "about 20" people appointed by the disgraced Andrew M. Cuomo according to this report.

The fallout continues for allies of former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.

A number of former Cuomo aides have lost their jobs in the private sector after an investigation revealed they advised him on how to respond to allegations of sexual harassment.

Inside state government, Gov. Kathy Hochul, who replaced Cuomo on Aug. 24, recently terminated about 20 Cuomo appointees from various posts, sources said.

The report gives some idea of the strategy Hochul is following:

"She’s letting go enough people so it makes an impact," Hank Sheinkopf, a longtime Democratic consultant who worked on campaigns for and against Cuomo, said, referring to Hochul.

"After that, the ones likely to go are the ones who stand out as Cuomo loyalists," Sheinkopf said.

Then there are the Republicans hired by the former governor. "She won’t need the GOP people," Sheinkopf said. "They are likely to go eventually."

We've long theorized that the advancement of the sexual harassment allegations against Andrew M. Cuomo were motivated in part because they would be less damaging to the New York Democratic Party's hold on power within New York's state government. Sheinkopf's analysis is in line with that thinking. Had the disastrous outcome of the Cuomo administration's deadly 25 March 2020 directive forced Cuomo from power, as it should have, the number of party members who would need to be ousted from their appointed positions because of their participation in that corrupt scheme would be much, much larger.

The sexual harassment scandal however allows a more "surgical" method for limiting the damage to the party's interests. Sheinkopf also picked up on the likely ouster of Cuomo's appointees from the state's Republican Party, because it provides a means for members of the Democratic Party to gain positions within the state government.

This report only names longtime Cuomo loyalist Joe Rabito as among the 20 state government appointees who have been dismissed.