30 August 2022: Editorial - Don't Buy Cuomo’s Lame Claim He Was Booted Because of #MeToo ‘Excess’

Don’t buy Cuomo’s lame claim that he was booted because of #MeToo ‘excess’

The New York Post's editors aren't impressed by Andrew M. Cuomo's latest attempt to claim he's a victim. After reviewing Cuomo's sexual harassment history, the following excerpt discusses why Cuomo was really forced to resign as New York's governor:

More important, as we’ve long argued, his other transgressions were far worse — and by themselves provided overwhelming grounds for impeachment. At the top of the list: his order for nursing homes to accept COVID-positive patients, knowing the virus would spread like “fire through dry grass,” as he put it.

And then Cuomo’s administration hid the actual number of nursing-home deaths for months. When the figures finally came out, analyses showed his order led to hundreds, if not thousands, of needless fatalities.

Meanwhile, with the truth under wraps, Cuomo snagged a $5 million book deal about his “leadership” during the pandemic, meaning he personally profited from the coverup. Plus, he used staff to write and sell the book, violating both the law and explicit promises he made to get an ethics clearance for the project.

Lawmakers may have been reluctant to impeach him on those grounds (even now Gov. Kathy Hochul has been slow to keep her vow to probe those scandals). But his govern-by-fear bullying had left him with few friends, and his fellow Democrats had no problem throwing the “believe all women” rule in Cuomo’s face: It was much like nabbing Al Capone on tax evasion.

Impeachment is a political process, not a judicial one. Whatever a court might make of the harassment charges, Andrew Cuomo has no one to blame for his downfall but himself.

The sexual harassment charges offered New York's elected leaders the means to "surgically" remove Cuomo from office while allowing them to maintain their own hold on power. In the end, Cuomo chose to quit rather than risk being held accountable for his other, more serious misdeeds.

27 August 2022: NJ's Handling of COVID at Veterans Homes Under Fresh Scrutiny

NJ's handling of COVID at veterans homes under fresh scrutiny — 41 new lawsuits filed

This report from 25 August 2022 summarizes the civil lawsuits filed by families of veterans who died of COVID in New Jersey's state government-operated nursing homes. The excerpts below are taken from a radio interview of NewJersey.com reporter Scott Fallon with WNYC host Sean Carlson:

Sean Carlson: Tell us a bit about who is suing the administration and what sorts of problems they're citing.

Scott Fallon: So we've already had about 190 families of veterans home residents who passed away that have sued the Murphy administration. Those lawsuits have been settled to a tune of $69 million. This month, 41 employees at the Menlo Park veterans home filed lawsuits against the Murphy administration, claiming that they got ill because of a lack of infection control measures, ill preparedness and a number of other claims.

[...]

Sean Carlson: What are the prospects of accountability here? These 41 lawsuits are not the first to deal with how New Jersey handled the pandemic at long-term care facilities. Are these going to change anything?

Scott Fallon: Generally, the lawsuits are all being settled out of court. So there will not be a day in court in which everything will be disclosed. Murphy has said for two years, many times, that he wants a "post mortem" on how his administration handled the pandemic, but he has yet to move on that at all. We even asked him [Tuesday] about it. And he said, again, it's a wait-and-see prospect, but he vows that it will happen.

There are three investigations going on, one by the (state) attorney general, one by the Department of Justice and one by the State Commissioner of Investigation. Where those stand, we don't know just yet. But nothing official has happened with them.

It has been months since any of the official criminal investigations have shown any visible signs of progress.

24 August 2022: One Year Gone: Andrew Cuomo Hiding 'In Shame', But 'Plotting' Return to Politics

This article was published on 20 August 2022, but it seemed more appropriate to feature on the one year anniversary of Cuomo's official exit from the New York state government's Executive Chamber.

Andrew Cuomo hiding ‘in shame’—but ‘plotting’ return to politics: sources

This report describes how Andrew M. Cuomo has become something of a hermit.

In just one year, Andrew Cuomo has gone from being the most powerful governor in the country — and at one time the ubiquitous hero of the 2020 pandemic — to the most elusive fallen star in the Hamptons.

In just one year, Andrew Cuomo has gone from being the most powerful governor in the country — and at one time the ubiquitous hero of the 2020 pandemic — to the most elusive fallen star in the Hamptons.

Other sources said that any “shame” he may have stems more from the anger he feels about losing his job — unfairly he believes — and regret about not fighting for it harder. They also speculated it’s fueling Cuomo’s disappearance from the public eye.

“He won’t show his face anywhere,” a longtime Hamptons insider who knows the Cuomo family said last week. “Chris [Cuomo’s disgraced younger brother] is out and about all the time. Matt Lauer did grosser things and you see him around all the time. But not Andrew. The feeling is that he has a lot of shame over what happened and he’s hiding.”

Cuomo's disappearance might have a lot more to do with his ongoing legal strategies to avoid being held accountable for his multiple alleged incidents of sexual harassment, not to mention his COVID nursing home deaths scandals. Avoiding the public to the extent he has provides a benefit in that it keeps from providing New York residents with more reasons to demand public officials act against him.

The report contains this analysis from two of Cuomo's more notable critics:

“We understood that it was a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic,” said Janice Dean, a senior meteorologist at the Fox News Channel who lost both her elderly in-laws to Covid as a result of what she termed Cuomo’s “killer nursing home order.” His March 2020 policy sent Covid-positive patients into nursing homes for 45 days. Thousands of seniors later died.

“He thought the hospitals were going to be overrun. He didn’t have a place to put [elderly patients]. We get that. Had he just met with family members, and talked to us, we would have forgiven him. Instead he capitalized on his popularity and wrote a book and won an Emmy. But to this day he’s never apologized,” Dean told The Post. “I really think it is a psychological trait of is that he doesn’t apologize. [He seems to think] nothing he does is a mistake. And everyone else is to blame. He’s the ‘victim’ here — both of the nursing home deaths and the sexual harassment allegations.”

Dem. Assemblyman Ron Kim — whose uncle died of coronavirus in a nursing home — was famously on the receiving end of the Cuomo temper in Feb. 2021 after, he said, the then-governor called him at home and threatened to “destroy” him if he didn’t help contain the damage over the administration’s cover-up of nursing home deaths.

“If he’d recognized mistakes were made and come clean, the public would have forgiven him,” Kim told The Post last week. “Instead he lied and covered it up. He wanted to control the narrative and his image.”

The report ends featuring a source who knew Cuomo's deceased father, Mario M. Cuomo, who served three full terms as New York's governor without resigning in disgrace. They describe strange behavior on the part of Andrew M. Cuomo:

The source said that Andrew always had big shoes to fill when it came to his father. Now, in exile from public life, he is literally wearing his pop’s shoes.

“He walks in his father’s shoes, I’ve seen it,” he said. “They’re black wingtip shoes. They give him strength.”

Since Andrew M. Cuomo apparently didn't inherit strong moral character from anyone in his family, it's a very weak substitute.

3 August 2022: Lawsuits Offer Look at Chaos in NJ Veterans Homes as COVID Soared, US DOJ Criminal Probe Is AWOL

Lies about deaths, orders not to wear masks: Lawsuits offer look at chaos in NJ veterans homes as COVID soared

With no sign of progress on the part of the Biden DOJ in its criminal probe of COVID deaths at New Jersey's state government-run nursing homes for veterans, civil lawsuits are now being filed. This portion of the report, which provides an overview of the legal claims behind the new lawsuites, follows a series of anecdotes of how medical care broke down at these facilities thanks to top-down mandates from the state government:

Employees of the troubled veterans home at Menlo Park have filed lawsuits alleging the state, the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, the governor’s office, and administrators of the state-operated nursing home needlessly put them in harm’s way as COVID struck.

Accusing the state of being “grossly negligent, knowingly careless, and reckless,” while deviating from accepted standards of long-term care when the first threats of COVID began to appear, the complaints, filed earlier this month in Superior Court in Middlesex County, cited disciplinary threats and termination for wearing masks. The lawsuits also allege that state and nursing home administrators deliberately released misinformation on the number of cases as residents kept getting sick and died in droves.

They also charged that Menlo Park’s nursing staff was directed to cease testing residents for COVID after several residents tested positive, and forced presumably COVID-positive employees to work at the Menlo Park Home.

In some cases, according to the complaints, public statements were released that were at odds with information the department had in hand, according to internal emails.

Attorney Paul M. da Costa of Roseland, who filed the complaints, said the lawsuits seek “a full accounting” and full measure of justice.

“My clients were the epitome of health care heroes during the early days of COVID. They were in the eye of the storm and the state refused to give them a life jacket to try and survive the storm,” he said.

Two of the state’s veterans homes — the one in Menlo Park and a second in Paramus — reported some of the highest COVID-related death tolls in the nation. A third state-operated facility is in Vineland. Overall, COVID claimed the lives of more than 200 residents and staff in the veterans homes, according to the state.

The bizarre and counterproductive role of New Jersey's state government officials in either operating or directing medical care policies at these nursing homes is driven home by the following comment from attorney Paul da Costa:

Remarking that he has been asked many times “why in the world would the state direct employees from wearing masks”, da Costa said there were people making those decisions “who were simply unqualified and or unfit.”

The documented incidents of recklessness on the part of state government officials at these nursing homes for veterans are why the Biden DOJ has been unable to sweep NJ Governor Phil Murphy's COVID nursing home deaths scandals away. Its criminal probe however has stalled, with the DOJ failing to provide any indication of progress in its investigation since late 2021.

18 August 2022: Editorial - Time for NY's New Ethics Commission to Go After Cuomo's $5.2M Book Deal Profit

Our view: New NY ethics commission should pursue Cuomo book funds

The editorial board of Auburn, NY's Citizen read through the legal decision that terminated the now defunct Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) lawsuit seeking to force Andrew M. Cuomo to give up the $5.2 million in proceeds he personally pocketed from his pandemic "leadership" book deal. They find the judge who ruled in favor of Cuomo opened the door for New York's replacement ethics commission to go after the resigned-in-disgrace governor's profits.

Although former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his small legal/public relations team attempted to spin a judge's ruling this week as a complete vindication, the truth is it was actually just a final blow to legitimacy of the commission he long controlled.

More importantly, state Judge Denise A. Hartman made clear that there's still a path for New York state to go after the disgraced ex-governor's shamefully obtained book proceeds.

After Cuomo resigned in 2021 and was left with virtually no support within state government, the long-troubled Joint Commission on Public Ethics members made an attempt to save some of their dignity by ordering him to forfeit the $5 million he received for his book about COVID-19 leadership, authored in the middle of the pandemic. That same commission had previously cleared the governor to do the book project, which wasn't a surprise given the influence he wielded over it throughout his administration.

Cuomo sued to challenge the order, and in a decision that makes complete sense, he won because JCOPE failed to follow its due process procedures in arriving at the decision to go after his book money.

What the judge didn't rule on, however, is whether Cuomo's book project itself was legal. She went out her way to write that a newly created state government ethics commission that replaced JCOPE could take action.

“If, upon a review of JCOPE's actions, the new commission decides to pursue action against Cuomo, proceeds with the adjudicatory hearing, and determines that a violation has occurred, the new Commission may then impose a civil penalty against him,” Hartman wrote.

We hope that's exactly what they do.

This aspect of the judge's ruling has not gotten much attention in other media outlets. We'll see soon enough whether New York's new ethics commission was paying attention.

16 August 2022: Judge Rules Against JCOPE in Cuomo's Book Deal Case

Judge rules against state ethics panel in Cuomo's book deal case

Resigned-in-disgrace former NY governor Andrew M. Cuomo will be allowed to keep the proceeds of his $5.2 million pandemic "leadership" book deal following the decision of a state judge. Here's ann excerpt of this report, which describes the legal reasoning:

A state Supreme Court justice on Tuesday ruled against the former state ethics commission in its court battle seeking to force ex-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to repay $5.1 million he received for writing a book about his administration's early response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Acting state Supreme Court Justice Denise A. Hartman's 17-page ruling upholding Cuomo's petition to scuttle the actions of the former Joint Commission on Public Ethics — which was disbanded last month — also found the commission had violated due process when it sought to undo an earlier approval of the book deal by a staff attorney.

"Here JCOPE issued the approval for the outside activity, then unilaterally determined wrongdoing, then withdrew the approval, and finally imposed the disgorgement penalty — all without the opportunity for a due process hearing explicitly provided for under the procedures set forth in Executive Law," the judge wrote. "To allow JCOPE to bypass the administrative procedures set forth in the statute would implicate due process protections."

The legal battle between the former ethics commission and Cuomo, who resigned a year ago after the state attorney general's office issued a report concluding he had engaged in workplace misconduct and sexual harassment involving multiple women, has centered on whether his alleged use of state employees to assist him in writing the book had violated state ethics rules.

The decision does not address any aspect of whether Cuomo's use of state government employees and resources to produce the book from which he personally profited violated state law. As such, Cuomo could still face criminal charges should the state attorney general's probe proceed.

The matter does however close the book, so to speak, on the failed institution of the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE), which Cuomo created and which, under his control, greenlighted the book deal in the first place. The commission's attempts to recover the book deal funds took place after Cuomo's corrupting influence had been lifted after his resignation.

13 August 2022: Andrew M. Cuomo's Strange Anniversary of His Resignation in Disgrace

Churchill: On a special day, a gift from Andrew Cuomo

Albany Times-Union columnist Chris Churchill wrote this amusing column to mark the one-year anniversary of Andrew M. Cuomo's resignation. Here are the first three paragraphs:

Did you remember to celebrate the anniversary of Andrew Cuomo's resignation?

There was no need for a big bash. Something small would have done the trick — an extra scoop of ice cream after dinner, perhaps, or a few quiet minutes enjoying the serenity that comes with knowing that a certain someone is no longer governor. Don't we all deserve a reward after his 11-year reign?

Cuomo, as it turns out, marked the day by filing a lawsuit demanding that taxpayers fund his defense against sexual harassment allegations. That, apparently, is his idea of an anniversary gift. Surprise!

Here are the last four paragraphs:

It seems odd that Cuomo would choose the precise anniversary of those words to file the suit against James — who, as it happened, spent the day deposing Donald Trump. Cuomo learned about her rejection of his request months ago, after all, but waited until the special day to make his case. Why?

Could he think the timing would somehow amplify the claim that he was wronged? Could he really have believed that New Yorkers, with a year now gone, would look fondly upon a wealthy man's demand for their money?

Or is he just painfully bad at anniversaries, like the misguided husband who presents his poor spouse with a romantic vacuum cleaner? Happy twentieth, sweetheart! Gee, thanks.

A word of advice, Mr. Former Governor: Next year, send flowers.

Just the parts we've excerpted from Churchill's column can stand alone as its own entire short piece. But writers write, and in between the excerpts we featured are 13 more paragraphs and many more good points. None of which touch on Andrew M. Cuomo's COVID nursing home deaths scandals, but which shines a bright light on his character all the same.

For us, that helps answer the question of what kind of person would choose to develop and implement what they knew would be a deadly directivethat would contribute to the excess deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, of nursing home residents during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic.

Our best insight into Cuomo's character comes from a more general observation: when you discover a genuinely creative person, you'll usually find they're creative in more than one way. As an example, think of all the artists out there who express themselves through more than one, and often very different, kinds of mediums. You may know them best for one particular field of their work, but the full body of their creative work extends into other, more diverse endeavors.

The same is often true of the worst people. You'll usually find they're genuinely bad or corrupt in more than one way. It's why we've continued covering Cuomo's ongoing legal issues associated with his alleged sexual harassment of multiple women. It would be strange to find someone who chose to adopt such a perverse policy was only off kilter in that one way.

11 August 2022: Cuomo Sues to Compel New Yorkers to Pay His Legal Bills in Trooper's Sexual Harassment Suit Against Him

Cuomo sues N.Y. AG Tish James, wants state to cover legal bills in trooper harass suit

The resigned-in-disgrace Andrew M. Cuomo has chosen a very strange way to mark the one year anniversary of his resignation announcement. Here's an excerpt from this report:

Former governor Andrew Cuomo thinks New York taxpayers should be on the hook for his legal bills.

A year to the day after announcing his resignation amid sexual harassment allegations, the disgraced Democrat filed a lawsuit against Attorney General Letitia James for failing to provide him with legal representation after one of his accusers took him to court.

Cuomo’s attorney argues in the suit, filed Wednesday in Manhattan Supreme Court, that James’ office wrongfully denied the ex-gov’s request for counsel after a state trooper who accused him of misconduct sued him.

Lawyer Rita Glavin alleges that the denial was “arbitrary, capricious, contrary to the plain text of the statute, biased, personally and politically conflicted” as well as a dereliction of duty on James’ part.

The unnamed trooper, who alleges Cuomo repeatedly touched her inappropriately and made suggestive comments after she was appointed to his protective detail, filed a civil suit in Manhattan federal court against the former governor and two of his top aides in February.

In March, Cuomo requested the state provide him with representation or pay for private counsel in connection with the suit, according to court documents.

James’ office determined, however, that the state was not responsible for covering any of the ex-pol’s related legal costs.

The last we checked, allegedly engaging in the sexual harassment of a female state trooper while serving as New York's state governor is not an official responsibility of the position. That also appears to be the position of New York's Attorney General's office:

A representative for the attorney general’s office argued that Cuomo is “trying to force New Yorkers to pay his legal bills because he believes sexual harassment was within his ‘scope of employment’ as governor.”

“Sexually harassing young women who work for you is not part of anyone’s job description,’ James spokeswoman Delaney Kemper said. “Taxpayers should not have to pony up for legal bills that could reach millions of dollars so Mr. Cuomo’s lawyer can attack survivors of his abuse.”

In other news, the pace of stories on Andrew M. Cuomo's COVID nursing home deaths scandals has stalled over the last several weeks. That's also true of the U.S. Department of Justice's probe of New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy's COVID veterans homes deaths scandal, which hasn't shown any sign of progress in months.

2 August 2022: Cuomo Knew of Danger in Introducing COVID into Nursing Homes 10 Days Before Deadly Directive

Cuomo feared COVID 'fire' in nursing homes before notorious order: Kushner

If there was any question Andrew M. Cuomo knew enacting his deadly 25 March 2020 directive would have dire consequences, there's less doubt today following this report on part of Trump administration advisor Jared Kushner's forthcoming memoir. Here's an excerpt:

Then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the coronavirus could burn through nursing homes “like fire through dry grass” 10 days before he issued an infamous March 2020 executive order that required nursing homes to take COVID-19-positive patients, former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner reveals in an upcoming memoir.

Relatives of nursing home residents who died following Cuomo’s order told The Post the disclosure heightens their outrage and underscores the need for accountability.

Kushner wrote that Cuomo specifically mentioned possible nursing home horrors in a 30-minute phone call as Kushner helped lead the early White House pandemic response as infections mounted in New York.

In the March 15 call, Cuomo allegedly told Kushner, “For nursing homes, this could be like fire through dry grass.”

Cuomo’s subsequent March 25 order said nursing homes weren’t allowed to turn away patients “solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19,” which the families of victims said was a death sentence for vulnerable elderly residents....

Cuomo’s controversial nursing home policy remained in effect until May 10 and was intended to ease hospital crowding. Kushner does not go into detail on the nursing home scandal in his nearly 500-page tome, “Breaking History,” which is due out Aug. 23.

In other words, Cuomo knew the policy would constitute reckless endangerment for New York's nursing home residents, if not outright criminal negligence in contributing to excess COVID deaths in this highly vulnerable population.