Friday, December 10, 2021

10 December 2021: Cuomo Administration Planned to Smear Janice Dean

Andrew Cuomo’s top aide and Chris Cuomo planned to discredit Fox News’ Janice Dean over Covid criticism, sources say

We're not quite sure what to make of this report. It's from CNBC and is based on anonymous sourcing involving "private conversations" that took place among Cuomo administration officials, rather than the under-oath testimony featured in the transcripts from the New York state atorney general's probe. We're featuring it because the article presents Janice Dean's response to the reporting.

Close allies of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, including his top aide and his former CNN anchor brother, plotted to find ways to discredit Fox News meteorologist and host Janice Dean after she became one of the most vocal critics of the governor’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to people familiar with the matter.

Melissa DeRosa, who had served as secretary to the governor, was among the Cuomo aides who ripped Dean behind the scenes and sought to craft a public messaging strategy that would paint the Fox News personality as merely a right-wing commentator, people familiar with the effort told CNBC. Dean’s criticism of Cuomo stemmed mainly from the 2020 deaths of her husband’s parents, whom she said died of Covid in their elder-care facilities....

Chris Cuomo, who was a CNN anchor until he was fired last week, was encouraged to find information that would focus on Dean’s political leanings, according to a person familiar with the matter. It’s unclear whether Chris Cuomo ever went ahead with digging up information on Dean, or who encouraged him to seek the information. Dean started criticizing Andrew Cuomo on air and in columns during 2020, before the sexual harassment scandal exploded.

The report indicates it is "unclear if DeRosa or Cuomo’s team ever went ahead with initiating such a plan" to smear Janice Dean.

For a time, Dean was the most visible public figure to challenge the administration of Andrew M. Cuomo over its performance during the coronavirus pandemic, who kept the story of the administration's deadly 25 March 2020 directive and the excess deaths to which it contributed among New York nursing home residents. The timeline featured a profile of Janice Dean role in sustaining public focus on the Cuomo administration's COVID nursing home deaths scandals back on 24 March 2021.

Here's the text of the statement she provided to CNBC's reporters:

“As I have said from day one, this was never about politics. I watched first-hand how the governor’s office treated grieving families trying to get answers about the March 25th 2020 executive order to admit over 9,000 Covid positive patients into nursing homes. Instead of addressing our concerns or expressing their condolences, Cuomo’s spokesperson Rich Azzopardi called us a ‘death cult’ and told my sister in law to ‘get a life’ not long after both her parents died. Over the last year and a half I have seen victims of Andrew Cuomo and those demanding accountability demeaned and smeared in the press and on social media. In January of this year, Azzopardi was particularly misogynistic by responding to my inquiries and reporting as ‘not a credible source on anything except maybe the weather.’ So while I am not surprised to hear that the Cuomo’s administration alongside his brother Chris Cuomo were doing the same with me, I am glad these details are coming to light.”

The references to Richard Azzopardi are related to elements of the report. Do click through to the article for more information.

Meanwhile, the details related to Andrew M. Cuomo's COVID nursing home deaths scandals need much more scrutiny.

Update 11 December 2021: Here's related coverage from other sources:

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