Friday, April 09, 2021

9 April 2021: Cuomo Staffers Not Volunteers in Governor's Book Project

Some Cuomo staff dispute work on book was 'voluntary'

Along with the New York Post, the Albany Times-Union has been among the leaders in the media covering Governor Cuomo's multiple scandals.

This Times-Union report detailing Governor Cuomo's misuse of state resources (employees) to work on his pandemic "leadership" book project that gave him a $4 million payday broke on Thursday, 8 April 2021. We're catching up to it today. Here's an excerpt:

When news broke that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo used government staff to help produce a for-profit book, his spokesman asserted that the arrangement was legal: The work was performed voluntarily, he said, and was not a misuse of taxpayer-funded resources.

But several current and former Cuomo staffers, or people speaking on their behalf, disputed that their work on “American Crisis” last year was truly voluntary. Instead, they told the Times Union the work was expected within the culture of Cuomo’s office, and that book-related assignments were made in the context of normal, daily duties.

One former staffer, who was among those asked to perform tasks related to Cuomo’s book, said there was a “clear expectation that we would do political work to help with his campaign and run the governor’s personal errands in the Executive Chamber.”

“It was not optional,” said the former staffer, who spoke on condition of not being identified. “It was considered a part of your job. Everyone knew that you did what was asked of you and opting-out was never really an option.”

State law prohibits a state employee, including Cuomo, from using governmental resources to forward private business interests. The assertion from Cuomo's office – that staff was volunteering to help on “American Crisis,” even as the COVID-19 pandemic raged – is central to any claim that the work was legal.

"As is permissible and consistent with ethical requirements, people who volunteered on this project did so on their own time," Cuomo senior advisor Richard Azzopardi said last week.

It's not in dispute that two of Cuomo's closest advisors – Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa and Director of Governor's Offices Stephanie Benton – did extensive work on the book. But both are well-paid, salaried employees. More junior staffers also did work on the book. In those instances, the work was assigned by supervisors.

A second person, who has direct knowledge of a more junior Cuomo staffer’s work, called it “patently ridiculous” that the staffer had volunteered on the book. The work on “American Crisis” was done during the regular course of daily government duties, the person said.

The descriptions in the article suggest Governor Cuomo has once again tripped over New York State Public Officers Law Part 74, which bans officials from using government resources, such as the labor of public employees, to enrich themselves or their associates.

Other Cuomo book deal scandal items from the timeline:

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9 April 2021: NY Nursing Home Coverup "Even Worse Than We Knew"

Team Cuomo’s nursing-home coverup was even worse than we knew

The New York Post is the newspaper that originally broke the story of COVID deaths taking place in New York's nursing homes as a consequence of the Cuomo administration's 25 March 2020 directive and has been hammering away at the Cuomo administration and state officials to get the full story. So the Post's editors already knew quite a lot about Team Cuomo's coverup.

Then they found out what Team Cuomo and state public health officials knew and when they knew it:

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s coverup of nursing-home COVID deaths was even worse than we’d thought: It turns out his Department of Health started collecting the key data a full year ago — even as it kept the info secret in defiance of lawmakers’ rights as well as the Freedom of Information Law.

A DOH memo obtained by The Post shows the department began ordering care homes to report both in-home and in-hospital deaths of residents last April. Yet for nine months Team Cuomo refused to share it, with Health Commissioner Howard Zucker insulting legislators with bogus claims the info wasn’t accurate enough to release and other staffers falsely claiming they couldn’t compile the info to comply with FOIL requests from the Empire Center.

In January, Attorney General Tish James finally called out the clear signs that total deaths were half again what Team Cuomo was pretending — and only then did DOH release the true tally.

The conspiracy was all about hiding the evidence of a deadly scandal: Zucker’s March 25, 2020, order forced homes to admit COVID-contagious patients without even testing them. That clearly led to needless deaths, as the Empire Center’s analysis revealed once it finally had the data.

Governor Cuomo's nursing home scandals did not happen in a vacuum, and were not solely the product of one man's evil choices. It took a lot of teamwork to implement and enforce the policies that contributed to the premature deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, of New York nursing home residents. It also took teamwork to cover up the full extent of those deaths for so long from state lawmakers, federal officials, and the public.

Many of those offenses are crimes. Will there ever be a serious reckoning for Team Cuomo?

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9 April 2021: Editorial - Governor Wolf's COVID Nursing Home Policies Deserve Probe

Handling of PA nursing homes merits probe

The editors of the Altoona Mirror support an investigation of Governor Tom Wolf's COVID nursing home policies, in which COVID patients were transferred from hospitals to nursing homes to free up bed space during 2020's coronavirus pandemic.

Looking back over the past year, roughly half of the COVID-19 deaths in Pennsylvania have been in nursing homes and long-term care facilities.

Of the 25,349 deaths in Pennsylvania, 12,945 were in nursing homes and long-term care facilities.

Now state Republicans are launching a House Government Oversight Committee investigation into Wolf’s handling of this issue.

We support this investigation and believe it is overdue — we even wonder why it took so long.

People lost their lives — many died alone — and if it was because of any mishandling of the situation, their loved ones deserve to know. Indeed, the public has a right to know.

“So many never got to say goodbye,” said state Rep. Clint Owlett, R-Tioga County. “We cannot bring these lives back. We cannot fix the wrong that was done. But we can learn from this and make sure it never happens again.”

With a legislative probe into Governor Wolf's policies now beginning, let's recap where Pennsylvania appears in the COVID nursing homes scandals timeline:

If you have time to follow the link for just one of these stories, the primer is the best overall introduction to Pennsylvania's version of New York Governor Cuomo's COVID nursing home scandals.

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Thursday, April 08, 2021

8 April 2021: NY Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli Passes the Buck

DiNapoli: AG James can probe Cuomo nursing home scandals without my approval

It's difficult to describe the extent to which elected politicians and state officials have set up a system to protect themselves. The first excerpt from this report explains why DiNapoli's participation was needed to make a referral to NY Attorney General Letitia James' office to initiate an investigation with the teeth needed to subpoena information:

Comptroller Tom DiNapoli said Thursday that State Attorney General Letitia James can launch a sweeping criminal probe of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s controversial COVID-19 nursing home policies and decisions without a referral from DiNapoli’s office.

DiNapoli responded to a letter sent to him last month by VoicesForSeniors, a group founded by relatives of nursing home residents who died from the coronavirus last year.

In the letter, the group urged DiNapoli to make a “referral” to Attorney General Letitia James under Section 63(3) of the state’s Executive Law to probe Cuomo’s nursing home policies and actions during the pandemic that rocked New York last year — including the financial terms for the publishing of the governor’s “Leadership” book amid the pandemic.

Such a referral would permit DiNapoli and James to “use both the audit power of the comptroller’s office and the investigatory and enforcement power of the attorney general,” the activists said.

But DiNapoli passed the buck on Cuomo’s COVID-19 nursing home scandal and put the ball in James’ court.

This second excerpt focuses on DiNapoli's official response to the letter requesting he refer a criminal investigation to Attorney General Letitia James' office:

“Based on my discussions with your office, it is my understanding that under the existing authority vested in the the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud and Control Unit, your office already possesses the requisite authority to conduct any criminal investigation related to nursing homes,” Sheingold said in a letter to Jose Maldonado, the deputy attorney general for the criminal division.

That's an odd choice that disregards that many of Governor Cuomo's scandals involved the use of government funds and the misuse of state resources to provide benefits to Governor Cuomo's politically connected associates and family members.

We'll see how NY AG James responds, which will determine the extent to which DiNapoli has either aided or hindered a criminal investigation of the Cuomo administration's COVID nursing home deaths scandals.

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8 April 2021: How Related Are Governor Cuomo's Scandals to His Actions in Office?

“One More Accuser and the Restaurants Would Be at 125%”: In Cuomo’s Loosening of COVID Lockdown, Some See a Ploy to Save His Own Skin

This gossipy opinion piece says what many in New York are thinking:

The only thing I remember from college statistics class is that correlation is not causation. The principle often applies in other realms too. So the fact that a barrage of sexual harassment allegations against New York governor Andrew Cuomo has been followed by an expansion of indoor dining capacity for restaurants; a tripling in the permitted number of wedding guests; the abolition of quarantine for domestic travel; and the welcoming of some fans to Yankees and Mets games…well, that’s all a coincidence, right?

“The dark joke around Albany,” a Democratic elected official says, “was that one more accuser and the restaurants would be at 125% capacity.” Okay, so maybe there are some politics involved: Cuomo is eager to generate some good publicity to counteract the pounding he’s been taking in the press, and to try to slow the decline of his public approval numbers in the polls. At least the governor is relaxing COVID restrictions at the same time case numbers are finally falling, right?

There's a growing body of evidence to indicate the scandals are changing not just how Governor Cuomo does his job, but what he can do.

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8 April 2021: "You See An Incredibly Shrinking Governor"

NY’s $212B budget shows how Gov. Cuomo’s scandals have drained his power

This is "Exhibit A" in our observations that "the scandals are changing not just how Governor Cuomo does his job, but what he does." Or, as this report makes clear, what he is able to do.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been so weakened by the multiple scandals spiraling around him that state legislators not only rammed through $4 billion in new tax taxes — they also killed about a dozen bills he proposed as part of the budget process, The Post has learned.

“You see an incredibly shrinking governor,” a legislative source said Thursday.

“He can’t get anyone to stand with him and he can’t get anything done on his own.”

And yet, he doesn't seem to have gotten the message. At some point, the people who have supported him will recognize a lost cause and pull the plug. That they haven't already suggests whatever it is they are gaining from encouraging him to stay in office must be really valuable. That's another way of saying the governor of New York is too powerful.

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8 April 2021: Undoing Cuomo's Gift of COVID Legal Immunity to Hospital and Nursing Home Lobby

Finally holding nursing homes accountable: New York rights a wrong

This op-ed by attorney Michael Brevda provides a good summary of the legal changes related to undoing the damage caused by Governor Cuomo's gifting of legal immunity for COVID deaths to New York hospital and nursing home operators. In the passage below, he gives credit where its due for the reforms forced upon Governor Cuomo:

This legislation is a silent recognition of prior missteps taken by New York’s lawmakers. In a knee-jerk reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Legislature granted a blanket immunity bill to a historically troubled nursing home industry. This immunity prevented families from seeking accountability and redress in the court system following a nursing home negligence-related injury or death.

This rollback of the nursing home industry’s immunity is a step in the right direction.

Special recognition for this legislative 180 must be given to Assemblyman Ron Kim (D-Queens), who has locked horns with Cuomo on this issue. Regardless of whether the reversal came from Cuomo earnestly recognizing his prior mistakes, or due to his ongoing scandals, the true winners are New York’s aging seniors.

New York is a strange place. Politicians are really excited to hold private sector nursing homes accountable for the disaster that unfolded during 2020's coronavirus pandemic, but they have so far been anything but serious about holding the politicians or government officials responsible so much harm and so many deaths accountable for them.

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8 April 2021: NY to Cap Nursing Home Profits at 5%, Require 40% for Staff, 70% for Patient Care

State will cap nursing home profits at 5%

This report describes some of what's in New York's new law regulating for-profit nursing homes.

As part of the recently announced state budget deal, nursing home profits will be capped at 5% starting in January of 2022, according to Governor Andrew Cuomo.

"We have nursing home reform legislation to make sure that facilities are prioritizing patient care over profits," said Cuomo Wednesday morning.

In addition to the profits cap, facilities will be required to spend at least 70% of all revenue on "direct resident care," including 40% on staffing.

We think it is quite possible the legislation will result in the unintended consequence of reducing the quantity of nursing home services available in New York. Not because of the profit cap, but through mandating the minimum expenditures for direct care and staffing, which will artificially inflate the basic cost of providing these services. Those mandated higher costs will come without corresponding increases in either the quantity or quality of care provided.

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8 April 2021: NY DOH's Systematic Collection of COVID Death Data for Nursing Home Residents Initiated on 18 April 2020

Cuomo admin tracked nursing home deaths months before incomplete DOH report

This report clarifies the timing of when the Cuomo administration began systematically collecting data on the COVID-related deaths of nursing home residents.

A copy of the directive obtained by The Post is dated April 18, 2020 — about eleven weeks before a health department report that excluded the number of nursing home residents who died of coronavirus outside of their facilities.

18 April 2020 marks when New York's Department of Health began its daily collection of data on the COVID deaths among New York's nursing home residents, but the department also took action to collect the same data going back to 1 March 2020.

State Department of Health spokesman Gary Holmes told The Post in a Wednesday statement that the agency “has received HERDS information daily from more than 1,000 long term care facilities and more than 200 hospitals since the start of this pandemic.”

“In April 2020 we asked for additional information to provide a more specific clinical picture, and as part of that correspondence we asked all facilities to provide that same level of information retrospectively to March 1,” the spokesman said.

We've added an entry to the timeline on 18 April 2020 to capture this new information.

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Wednesday, April 07, 2021

7 April 2021: Cuomo Excuses for COVID Nursing Home Death Data Stonewalling Confirmed False

Cuomo administration tracked nursing home deaths despite claims they couldn't be 'verified,' document shows

A new blockbuster report, confirming New York public health officials and the Cuomo administration were falsely claiming they could not provide detailed information on COVID nursing home resident deaths as they stonewalled for months.

EXCLUSIVE: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration was tracking the location of nursing home residents who died of COVID-19 since at least April 2020, despite officials’ claims that those numbers could not be "verified" for a report issued months later.

The revelation comes in a new Department of Health document obtained exclusively by Fox News. According to the document, nursing homes were required to submit the number of residents who died from COVID-19 at least once daily.

"A new field has been added under the CURRENT Resident Death Details section of the form," reads a portion of the form, beneath the words "UPDATE (04/19/20)". "The new field will collect the resident's Place of Death and is required for all resident deaths you are reporting in that section."

The document raises new questions about the Cuomo administration’s decision to exclude key details from a July 2020 report about COVID-19 in nursing homes. According to the New York Times, senior officials including the governor’s top aide intervened to exclude thousands of nursing home deaths before the report was released, including out-of-facility deaths.

The report was not updated to include those deaths until February 2021, following a damning report from Attorney General Letitia James and a lawsuit from the Empire Center, a nonprofit think tank.

But wait, there's more!

Beth Garvey, acting counsel to Cuomo, told the New York Times last month that "the out-of-facility data was omitted after D.O.H. could not confirm it had been adequately verified."

This mirrors language from the state’s health commissioner, Dr. Howard Zucker, who testified to lawmakers in August that there was "a lot of confusion" and "this was an evolving process."

But as the document obtained by Fox News reveals, state health officials had begun requesting the out-of-facility data for at least 78 days before they released the original report.

Bill Hammond, a senior fellow for health policy at the Empire Center, told Fox News that "this is further confirmation the Cuomo administration waged a months-long coverup of the full death toll in New York nursing homes."

This article from 19 May 2020 describes the scramble of New York Department of Health officials, including its director Howard Zucker, to get nursing home resident death data beginning on 16 April 2020. The questionnaires the NYDOH initially sent to nursing home operators were quite confusing, but the new report confirms they had straightened out the reporting of new deaths of nursing home residents within a few days.

Since they never reported the full extent of those deaths until compelled by court order to do so, it also confirms the Cuomo administration's cover-up and stonewalling effectively began no fewer than 129 days before the Trump-era U.S. Department of Justice first requested data related to the COVID-related deaths of nursing home residents in New York on 26 August 2020.

It also confirms that Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa's 11 February 2021 claim to New York Democratic Party lawmakers that she and the Cuomo administration hid the data because they feared prosecution by the Trump DOJ was outright false. In reality, the only thing they feared was the truth of the consequences of their acts being found out.

That's a lot of lying to federal and elected state officials. Do any of them care enough to do anything about it?

Gov. Cuomo Responds To Reports He Arranged Special Access To COVID Tests For Family, Friends

Here's video coverage of Governor Cuomo's comments:

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7 April 2021: Cuomo Sexual Harassment Allegations Now Include Groping Incident

Cuomo aide says he slammed door shut before groping her

The nature of the allegations of sexual harassment involving Governor Cuomo as a perpetrator have taken a more graphic turn than in the previous allegations. We're going to present this new information a little backwards, first providing a summary introduction to the new allegations from the AP's coverage of a story broken by the Albany Times-Union:

An aide who accused New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of groping her at his official residence told a newspaper in her first public interview it was a frightening physical encounter in which the Democrat slammed a door and said “I don’t care” when she warned someone might see what he was doing.

“It was almost like I felt like a piece of garbage to him. I felt degraded,” she said.

The interview published by the Times Union of Albany on Wednesday adds new details to the most serious accusation against Cuomo, a Democrat who is being investigated after a series of women accused him of sexual harassment and other inappropriate behavior.

The woman, who still works in the governor’s office, spoke to the newspaper on the condition of anonymity to protect her privacy, although her identity is known within the governor’s circle.

Now, here is the Albany Times-Union's article, which provides much more graphic detail:

In her own words: Woman describes Cuomo's alleged groping at mansion

Ick.

As long as we're on the topic, here's additional analysis from the Times-Union:

Power imbalances are at the root of sexual harassment - but statements like Andrew Cuomo's don't acknowledge that inconvenient fact

Governor Cuomo is very limited in what he can say about any of the scandals in which he is engulfed. He cannot afford to say anything that either demonstrates blatant hypocrisy or that exposes him to criminal legal liability. Which is also to say the last thing he can afford to be is honest.

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7 April 2021: Governor Cuomo Tests New Excuse to Justify Friends and Family COVID Testing Privileges

Cuomo mum on if family got priority COVID-19 testing during early days of pandemic

The headline for this report misses the main development in Governor Cuomo's latest effort at PR damage control:

WCBS 880’s Peter Haskell on Wednesday asked the governor if he thought it was “appropriate” for his family to be given priority testing and asked if he was even aware that it was happening.

The governor did not seem to deny that his family was given priority for COVID-19 testing but, did note that there is an ongoing investigation into the situation by state lawmakers.

“The Assembly is looking at testing issue and I don't want to get ahead of them but, I was not involved in in the testing program to that intimate level,” the governor said.

Cuomo added that people whom he came into close contact with were required to be tested regularly, and that included his family members.

“People who I would meet with and I would be in exposure with, I was aware they were being tested,” Cuomo said. “So, if you came to see me in my office, you would be tested. And that applied with my family also but, the Assembly is doing a review on that and I would let them do it.”

Note the weird 'hands-off' language trying to separate himself from the special privileges bestowed upon his associates and family members on his behalf, as if he had no influence over who came to his office.

Bonus question: were similar privileges bestowed upon the associates and family members of Governor Cuomo's senior advisers?

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7 April 2021: No Answers From New Jersey DOH

Still No Answers In Case Of NJ 'Makeshift Morgue' Nursing Home

The story of what happened in New Jersey's nursing homes during the coronavirus pandemic continues to develop, as the impact of Governor Phil Murphy's choice to copy and paste Governor Cuomo's deadly 25 March 2020 directive has severe repercussions. This article covers the ongoing cover-up of one aspect related to Governor Murphy's decision to model himself into a Mini-Me version of Governor Cuomo.

It has been nearly a year since the Andover Subacute & Rehab Center II made headlines after stacking more than a dozen bodies in a temporary facility, referred to as a "makeshift morgue" by officials. But answers as to what happened over that long Easter weekend are still scarce as Open Public Records Act requests continue to go unfilled.

Like many members of the Garden State media, the County of Sussex continues to wait on OPRA requests. County Counsel Kevin D. Kelly first contacted New Jersey's Department of Health on May 1, 2020 and May 12, 2020, for 19 different types of records. Kelly's last correspondence with the state was in August, when Murphy Administration Department of Health officials requested another extension, officials said.

Among the documents Kelly asked for, were routine and complaint inspection reports for the Subacute facilities, the Department of Health's communications with Andover Subacute's legal counsel Christopher Porrino, communications between the state and County of Sussex and Andover Subacute's personal protective equipment or PPE inventory.

The stonewalling by New Jersey's Department of Health contradicts Murphy's claims of valuing both transparency and accountability and would appear to extend to other government agencies:

"The governor often says he's being 'crystal clear,'" said Commissioner Director Dawn Fantasia. "I'll tell you what's crystal clear. The New Jersey Department of Health and the Murphy Administration were clearly warned. Warned that patients would die. Warned that by demanding long-term care facilities - facilities that were in no way prepared with adequate staffing, adequatetraining, or adequate PPE - take COVID patients, that patients would die who wouldn't have otherwise, died had positive patients been screened."

It is true, Murphy has maintained all along at numerous COVID briefings that his administration was clear in their orders. That COVID patients returning to facilities would have to be kept separately either by floor or by wing and that separation had to include staff. The Department of Health guidelines Murphy referred to noted that facilities that could not make that happen should contact the Department of Health for assistance.

"Why can't we get a simple inspection document?" Commissioner Herbert Yardley said. "Is there something they [New Jersey's Department of Health] don't want us to see?"

Here is related coverage from the timeline:

To the best of our knowledge, President Biden stopped all the DOJ's active investigations into the governors who compelled nursing homes in their states to admit COVID patients being dumped from hospitals to free up bed space shortly after being sworn into office. By doing so, President Biden effectively gifted federal criminal immunity to the governors who adopted these policies. The DOJ was forced to restart its probe of New York's COVID nursing homes scandals after a senior Cuomo administration official acknowledged they covered up the full extent of COVID deaths among care home residents in the state.

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7 April 2021: Cuomo Signs Bill Repealing COVID Legal Immunity for Nursing Homes

Cuomo signs bill repealing nursing home COVID-19 liability protections

Governor Cuomo has signed a bill repealing the special liability protections he had originally provided to hospital and nursing home operators in early months of 2020's coronavirus pandemic.

The measure rolled back the “Emergency or Disaster Treatment Protection Act,” which granted health care facilities and workers liability immunity from negligence suits, and comes as Cuomo’s administration is under federal investigation for covering up some 9,000 COVID-19 related nursing home deaths last year.

The scandal — exclusively revealed by The Post — weakened Cuomo politically and led to calls for him to resign as sexual harassment accusations against him swirled in the wake of the report.

“As we near the passage of this year’s momentous budget, I am relieved to see corporate immunity, which was slipped into last year’s budget, fully repealed,” Bronx State Senator Alessandra Biaggi, one of the bill’s sponsor said in a statement Tuesday night.

“This blanket immunity prevented thousands of families who lost loved ones to COVID-19 from seeking legal recourse, and potentially incentivized nursing home executives to cut corners — endangering staff and residents.”

The law's passage marks a clear reversal for Governor Cuomo's fortunes, in addition to the reversal of the gift of legal immunity from COVID deaths he provided to the the Greater New York Hospital Group (GNYHG), a powerful lobby group, on 2 April 2020.

That date falls within the 12 days that will live in infamy related to Governor Cuomo's severe misjudgments and policy errors that proved fatal for hundreds, if not thousands, of New Yorkers whose COVID-19 deaths could have been avoided if not for the panicked reaction of Governor Cuomo and members of his administration.

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Tuesday, April 06, 2021

6 April 2020: Fashion Publication Covers Governor Cuomo's Nursing Home Scandals!

New York’s Nursing Homes Were on the Brink. Then Covid Hit

Want to know how unserious a certain cheerleader news outlet like CNN has become? Click through to this article, which appears in a fashion-oriented publication, for better coverage of Governor Cuomo's biggest scandal! Here's a short excerpt focusing on the governor's COVID nursing home scandals:

One year after the COVID pandemic first hit New York, a clearer picture has emerged of just how badly the Cuomo administration mishandled the crisis in the state’s nursing homes, which became epicenters within the global epicenter. In just the first few weeks, 2,000 residents died. Cuomo’s directive to send COVID-positive patients into facilities packed with vulnerable, high-risk people — the elderly and immunocompromised — has been heavily criticized, but it is just one aspect of his decision-making currently under scrutiny: After issuing that order, he slipped a provision into the state’s budget that shielded corporate officials who run New York hospitals, nursing homes, and other health-care facilities from COVID-related liability. (It was drafted by industry lobbyists.) And after that, his administration covered up the nursing-home death toll of residents and employees, underreporting to the public the actual number — more than 15,000 — by half.

Did we mention this report appeared in a fashion-oriented publication? The article goes on to consider other problems affecting nursing homes in New York from a pro-union perspective, but still, they're not that far away from reaching the quality of coverage of the New York Times!

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6 April 2020: Another Day, More Evasion from Governor Cuomo

Besieged governor holds another closed-to-the-press event in Manhattan as budget remains late

This report confirms Governor Cuomo's strategy of avoiding any contact with non-sympathetic press outlets is continuing. The headline though came earlier in the day, before a budget deal that was due several days ago was announced.

NY Will Build Essential Workers Memorial, Cuomo Says

This report covers Governor Cuomo's "public" event from another angle. Be sure to click through to see the photo, where the Governor is standing before a "NO EXCUSES" banner, which is as about as tone-deaf PR as you can get. Recent reports indicate Governor Cuomo is looking for better PR people and legal help.

Related:

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6 April 2021: Calls for an Impartial Investigation of Pennsylvania Governor's Cuomoesque COVID Nursing Home Directive

Nursing home residents and their loved ones deserve a nonpartisan review of state's pandemic decisions [editorial]

The editors of Lancanster Online want an impartial investigation of Pennsylvania Governor Thomas Wolf's COVID nursing homes policies, which are almost identical to New York Governor Cuomo's deadly 25 March 2020 directive in one key respect. The extended excerpt below explains:

Too often, these investigations are just aimed at striking at a political opponent’s weak side with the goal of causing embarrassment. The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on Pennsylvania’s seniors are far too serious for that kind of partisan nonsense. The genuine — not merely stated — aim should be to ensure that any missteps made aren’t repeated in the future.

We’ve watched with a skeptical eye as some Republican lawmakers have tried to link Gov. Tom Wolf with beleaguered New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whose administration officials manipulated and concealed data on nursing home deaths in that state.

Our view on this is similar to that expressed by state Rep. Clint Owlett, R-Tioga County, who said at a press conference last month that he believed Wolf was “trying to do what was best.” That was our view, especially early in the pandemic, when state officials did not know what the crisis would bring.

Owlett also said this: “We want answers for the people who lost loved ones in our nursing homes.”

We do, too. The people who lost loved ones don’t just want answers — they need them and deserve them.

And the Wolf administration repeatedly has failed to meet the standard for accountability that Wolf himself set when he became governor.

As we’ve noted again and again, transparency engenders trust, which is imperative in a crisis. If people are suspicious about how state health officials handled nursing home admissions, those officials only have themselves — not Republicans — to blame.

All of this — the need for an investigation and the politicking around it — could have been avoided had state Department of Health officials been clear and transparent from the beginning.

As Bumsted explained, “The flashpoint in a legislative investigation of deaths related to COVID-19 in Pennsylvania nursing homes centers on just one word: ‘must.’

“Republican lawmakers claim Gov. Tom Wolf put lives at risk last year when his Health Department issued guidance saying nursing homes ‘must’ admit stable COVID 19 patients.”

As Bumsted reported, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which sets the standards for U.S. nursing home care, issued guidance March 13, 2020, saying nursing homes “can accept” stable COVID-19 patients but did not have to do so.

“As the hands-on inspector of nursing homes in Pennsylvania, the (state) Department of Health followed up on the CMS guidance in a March 18 message to home administrators,” Bumsted wrote. “That guidance changed the CMS language from ‘can accept’ patients who had COVID-19 to ‘must.’

“Wolf administration officials say it’s not appropriate to focus solely on the March 18 guidance, noting that several additional memos sent to nursing homes echoed the voluntary language issued by CMS.”

Barry Ciccocioppo, spokesman for the state Department of Health, told Bumsted that additional state guidance reiterated that the state was not making it mandatory that nursing homes admit COVID-19 patients.

“One section of the DOH guidance has been extracted and represented without context,” Ciccocioppo said.

We understand the fog of war that often accompanies the early days of a crisis, especially something like a once-in-a-century pandemic.

But there’s no denying that the state’s guidance added to that fog, instead of cutting through it.

Ciccocioppo said the March 13, 2020, memorandum issued by CMS was mandatory. Pennsylvania’s subsequent guidance just was intended to clarify it, he said.

But we understand why nursing home administrators might have felt compelled to follow the state guidance.

“Put yourself in the shoes of an administrator or front-line caregiver,” Zach Shamberg, president and CEO of Pennsylvania Health Care Association, told Bumsted. “Ask any nursing home what happens when a guidance is reviewed and not followed.”

Through Monday, 5 April 2021, the deaths of 12,942 Pennsylvania nursing home residents have been attributed to COVID-19. That's over half of all COVID deaths recorded to date in Pennsylvania. The role of Governor Wolf's version of Governor Cuomo's deadly deadly 25 March 2020 directive in contributing to those deaths needs to be investigated. Accountability for all state officials who participated in its drafting and its implementation needs to be established.

For more background, we have a primer on Pennyslvania Governor Tom Wolf's COVID nursing home deaths scandal, which like New York Governor Cuomo's scandal, also involves hiding public data.

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6 April 2021: Governor Cuomo's Diminishing Power and Strategy to Keep What's Left of It

Cuomo’s Albany dominance takes backseat to political survival

This article reveals that Cuomo's budget deal reflects his diminished political power resulting from all his scandals. Here's an excerpt:

In years past, Cuomo has been able to wield considerable power in the Legislature by reaching out to rank-and-file members and their political power brokers. But that’s harder than ever with huge portions of Democrats in both chambers calling for his resignation last month.

“Typically what you’d be doing is in order to get to the lawmakers you’d be working their constituency groups and their advocacy groups and that would influence the lawmakers,” the former official said. “But the progressive groups, every single one of them, wants to see them gone.”

Governor Cuomo was forced to yield in many policy areas that he has previously resisted, confirming his weakened political position.

The article also quotes a former Team Cuomo member who describes the Governor's apparent strategy to stay in office:

“I think the goal here is to run out the clock to the extent possible and hope that the Tish James report comes out in the middle of the summer when everyone is vaccinated and there’s all this stimulus money coming in," said another former Cuomo aide, also speaking on condition of anonymity.

“He has in his back pocket [the] I’m-not-going-to-run-for-a-fourth-term card, and the closer we get to June [2022] primary, the more effective that is,” the official said. “But I would not underestimate his desire and intention for running for a fourth term.”

Will New York Attorney General Letitia "Tish" James accommodate Governor Cuomo's preferred schedule?

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Monday, April 05, 2021

5 April 2021: After Hiding for 10 Days, Cuomo Faces Softball Questions from Reporters

Cuomo finally takes questions as overdue NYs budget comes together slowly

Cuomo spoke about the budget deal he and the majority Democrats struck at an event that featured the press, but here's the real story, which appears as the second-to-last paragraph in this article:

Cuomo didn’t face questions about the latest sexual harassment allegation from last week from Sherry Vill, or recent accusations he used his office to personally befit himself and his family during the pandemic either.

Not exactly a profile in courage, is it? And it didn't go unnoticed....

EDITORIAL: Cuomo must stop avoiding tough questions from reporters

The editors of Schenectady's New York Daily Gazette all but call Governor Cuomo a chicken in describing his 5 April 2021 press conference:

He took just four reporters’ questions, all from regional or internet reporters and nothing of real substance or controversy.

He avoided taking questions from The New York Times, Newsday, the Times Union, New York Post and the entire state capitol press corps.

It is not being transparent when you’re only fielding softballs from a handful of friendly reporters.

Gov. Cuomo is the state’s chief executive and its chief spokesman. The public needs to hear from him, and not just when things are going well.

Hiding behind selectively enforced covid protocols and rigged press availabilities isn’t responsible governing.

The governor needs to come out from behind the curtain and start being accountable again — by holding real press conferences and responding to real, tough questioning.

It's become clear since his administration's deadly 25 March 2020 directive that accountability is something Governor Cuomo doesn't believe applies to himself or his loyalist dead enders.

Several episodes that Team Cuomo has staged during this period are documented in the timeline:

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5 April 2021: 55 Dem NY Lawmakers Claim They Want Cuomo To Resign

Lawmakers continue calls for Cuomo to resign following harassment allegations

There's not much news in this article, which provides a brief recap of the sexual harassment allegations against Governor Cuomo but barely mentions any of the Governor's other scandals, including the administration's deadly 25 March 2020 directive or its acknowledged cover-up of the full extent of the estimated 1,000 COVID deaths of nursing home residents that resulted from the directve, to name the most serious.

Most politicians have oddly called for Governor Cuomo's resignation over the sexual harassment allegations rather than the scandals involving criminal conduct.

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5 April 2021: $4M Book Deal Looks Like Another Crime

Cuomo’s $4M book deal is looking like yet another crime

We've been featuring the book deal scandal much more than the allegations of sexual harassment against Governor Cuomo since it directly relates to the administration's nursing home deaths scandals. Here, the editors of the New York Post makes that connection as they weigh in on Governor Cuomo's $4 million book deal:

The book deal reportedly netted the gov a cool $4 million, even though his 2014 memoir, “All Things Possible,” sold fewer than 4,000 hardcover copies.

Cuomo flak catcher Rich Azzopardi claims that staffers acted voluntarily in helping the gov. Yet no one thinks that anyone in Cuomo World dares to tell the boss “no.”

Plus, DeRosa was helping to edit early drafts and attending video meetings with publishers even as she and other top aides were working to censor the then-pending Health Department report about the virus’ toll on nursing homes by deleting the full death toll. In other words, they were using their official power to protect not just the gov’s image, but his $4 million payment for a project they were intimately involved in....

A full investigation is clearly in order, though at this point the Assembly’s Judiciary Committee already has multiple impeachment-worthy Cuomo activities on its plate. It shouldn’t need to investigate all of them before it reports on any of them.

Clear proof of a single crime should be enough to move rapidly to get Cuomo out of office, before he can again betray the people of New York for his own selfish ends.

There is no question the Assembly can follow multiple, parallel paths forward in its probe toward impeaching Governor Cuomo, allowing the charges with the most complete evidence to proceed faster than others. The question is will they? Holding up any impeachment votes until all scandals have been investigated would define New York's current legislative body as one of the most corrupt and weak in the state's history.

For what its worth, the Cuomo administration's deception of lawmakers and federal government is the most well documented and established of its scandals. So much so that if NY lawmakers were truly serious about pursuing consequences for the Cuomo administration's fatal negligence, impeachment charges related to it could be approved and taken up by New York's senate within a matter of days. But only if they're serious.

The book deal however offers another path to achieve Governor Cuomo's ouster by impeachment. The question for New York's lawmakers is how bad do they think the consequences will be to their own careers if they don't act to impeach the governor after so many have called for his resignation.

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Sunday, April 04, 2021

4 April 2021: Ethical Lapses, Silence, and Willful Blindness

Do the ends justify the means?

You know Governor Cuomo's situation is bad when his example is used as a benchmark for evaluating the poor performance of other public officials, as in this first opinion piece:

All it took during the Trump era to become a hero was do something snarky in opposition to Trump. You could be a complete failure at life, your profession or whatever – but hero status was within reach even for the biggest losers.

Take New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was botching his COVID response badly when he wasn’t, allegedly, sexually harassing female employees. He was deified by the anti-Trump media because his news conferences were the opposite of Trump’s.

Cuomo sent thousands to die in nursing homes and covered it up, but hey, screw Trump, am I right?

That's the full reference to Governor Cuomo's COVID nursing homes deaths scandal in an opinion piece that questions the performance of U.S. public health officials.

New York stays quiet with COVID-19 data for juvenile detention centers

This second report looks at Team Cuomo's "silence" in not reporting the extent of COVID infections among youths housed in state juvenile detention facilities.

According to data obtained by The Imprint, from March through September 2020 there were 26 coronavirus tests taken in juvenile lockups. At each of the two largest facilities, just one youth offender was tested during the six-month period when New York led the nation in infections and dozens of adult prisoners were dying.

The data released by the state reveals another surprising statistic: Although 67 staff came down with COVID-19, there was one lone confirmed case among the hundreds of detained youth — a girl held in the Harriet Tubman Residential Center in Sennett.

Unlike 27 other states, including California, Florida, Texas and New Jersey, New York has not publicly reported coronavirus data for its youth prisons. The now-dated March to September figures were sent to a reporter four months after a Freedom of Information Law request to the state’s Office of Children and Family Services.

It's a little early to tell if this might become another Cuomo administration scandal, but it bears the hallmarks of Team Cuomo's cover-up of the full extent of COVID nursing home resident deaths and a very similar scandal involving the administration's COVID policies for disabled group homes in New York.

Why Did Black Politicians Shamelessly Rally to Cuomo?

This last analysis piece by Margaret Kimberley of the Black Agenda Report explores the apparent willful blindness to Governor Cuomo's COVID nursing homes scandal on the part of "Black Politicians", who are accused of looking to cash in on the support they are providing to Governor Cuomo. Here's an excerpt that focuses on Cuomo's COVID nursing home deaths scandals:

“Cuomo contributed to the deaths of thousands of people.”

Not only did his feud get in the way of sound policy decisions but it was later revealed that Cuomo allowed COVID-19 infected patients to be sent to nursing homes , where they infected other patients and staff. Other states made the same decision but Cuomo also worked with the nursing home lobby to absolve them of legal liability. Cuomo also directed his staff to lie and claim there were 10,000 COVID related nursing home deaths when there were actually 15,000.

While editorials and other politicians call for Cuomo to resign there is one group that has been quite vocal in supporting him. Black politicians, clergy and so-called civil rights leaders have rallied to his side and disparaged any efforts to dislodge him or to face impeachment by the state legislature. They have deliberately emphasized the sexual harassment allegations and downplayed the issue of death and double dealing with nursing home and hospital lobbies. They know that many people are wary about judging issues of personal behavior so they downplay the serious issue of death and conflicts of interest which would be of greater concern if they were given attention.

Kimberley's analysis goes on to name names and to call out their hypocrisy in one of the most hard hitting pieces we've seen covering the political response to Governor Cuomo's scandals. Do read the whole thing!

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4 April 2021: Editorial - Andrew Cuomo's Ethical Abuses

Mr. Cuomo's ethical abuses

At this point of Governor Cuomo's scandals, it's a long list. Here, the editorial board of the Albany Times-Union add his latest scandal of directing state government resources to do work from which he personally gained to that long list. Here's the introduction:

Gov. Andrew Cuomo surely knows better than to use public employees for his private gain. That’s not mind-reading. That’s right from an agreement he made with Joint Commission on Public Ethics.

Now, though, Mr. Cuomo wants to split hairs. The employees were on their own time. His use of them was incidental. The rules don’t mean what they explicitly say.

When public officials start parsing ethics rules, it’s a pretty safe bet that a whole lot of rule-breaking is going on. And so it seems to be in the governor’s case.

If not for the seriousness of Governor Cuomo's COVID nursing home deaths scandals, it is highly likely that Andrew Cuomo would have been appointed to be President Biden's Attorney General. Think about that: Andrew Cuomo was a top contender to be the chief law enforcement officer in the United States.

That didn't happen because of the work of those who kept attention on the deadly impact of his administration's deadly 25 March 2020 directive and its attempt to cover-up the damage and the toll in human lives it caused.

Here's the conclusion to the editorial, which provides their recommendation for resolving Mr. Cuomo's ethical abuses:

Resign.

In truth, that doesn't go far enough. None of Mr. Cuomo's most serious abuses could have been done without a lot of teamwork. That recommendation needs to be multiplied by the number of Cuomo's loyal servants in New York's government.

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4 April 2021: NY Attorney General Making Progress Investigating Cuomo Sexual Harassment Allegations

AG says Cuomo investigation moving along, but gives few details

This report indicates New York's Attorney General Letitia James is making some progress in her office's investigation of sexual harassment incidents involving Governor Andrew Cuomo as an allegecd perpetrator.

Attorney General Letitia James took a few questions about her office’s investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as new accusers coming forward each week and new allegations of abuse of power emerge.

“All I can say is that the investigation is ongoing,” James said while taking questions at a food bank event in Harlem. “I cannot give you a completion date.”

Gov. Cuomo has disappeared from the public eye during the last week while negotiating the budget, which as of Thursday morning is officially late. He has not taken questions since another woman, Sherry Vill, alleged a forced kiss in May of 2017. Nor has Cuomo taken questions about new reports he is taking advantage of his office for personal gain.

Under New York state law, AG Letitia James cannot begin a proper criminal investigation of Governor Cuomo's COVID nursing home deaths scandals without an official referral by New York State Comptroller Jim DiNapoli. The referral is needed to allow investigators the subpoena power needed to obtain evidence. DiNapoli has been accused of "slow walking" the referral, with the result the state attorney general's office has to limit its investigative focus to the multiple allegations of sexual harassment levied against Governor Cuomo.

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Saturday, April 03, 2021

3 April 2021: New Timeline Entries for Governor Cuomo's Book and Nursing Home Deaths Coverup Scandals

Part of the challenge of keeping up with Governor Cuomo's evolving scandals is sorting out what happened when. When that kind of new information becomes available, we insert it into the timeline. We've added the following three articles to document events related to Governor Cuomo's pandemic book project and its relationship to events directly related to the Cuomo administration's COVID nursing home deaths scandals. In this case, that refers to the administration's cover-up of the full death toll among nursing home residents during the period its deadly 25 March 2020 directive was being enforced.

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3 April 2021: "Andrew Cuomo Breaks the News"

Churchill: Andrew Cuomo breaks the news

We're grouping several stories related to recent news coverage of Governor Cuomo's multiple scandals under the title of Albany Times-Union Chris Churchill's 3 April 2021 column, which is really a tongue-in-cheek analysis of the discussions he imagines would have taken place as Team Cuomo produced his pandemic leadership book as they were also covering up the full extent of COVID nursing home deaths during the period his administration's deadly 25 March 2020 directive was in effect.

While that article is the lead, there are real signs the Governor Cuomo did, in fact, break at least one news outlet's journalistic credibility:

We think the story of how CNN's reporters, editors, managers, and executives chose to shred the news organization's credibility for the sake of advancing a "Cuomo the Hero" narrative to influence U.S. politics is a case study in media corruption. You can catch up on its dubious milestones by searching CNN on this blog.

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3 April 2021: Governor Cuomo's $4 Million Book Deal

The author and the offer: Cuomo shouldn’t have taken any advance on his book

The editors of the New York Daily News aren't happy with Governor Cuomo's book deal. Here's their short editorial in full:

It may be hard to recall at the moment, but one praiseworthy facet of Gov. Cuomo’s daily briefings on COVID in March, April and May 2020 was his rare performance of humility. Unlike the now-former occupant of the White House, Cuomo routinely admitted back then that the virus was a huge, scary problem — one he couldn’t immediately or personally solve.

Which is one reason why it seemed such a strange act of hubris when he announced in summer 2020, after the first COVID wave had crested in New York, that he’d be writing a book about lessons he learned from managing the pandemic. “Where’d he find the time?” we wondered then. We should have added, “Isn’t writing a book a bit premature, since scientists like Drs. Fauci and Birx are saying we’re not near the end of the pandemic’s devastation?”

Last summer, we didn’t yet know how large an advance the governor was getting to pen the book, but we objected to the fact that he was taking any lump sum at all upfront. Elected officials ought not pocket outside income from private interests, and while the writing of books is a frequent exception for people in perches of power, large payments from big companies complicate matters. Far better for someone on the public payroll to skip the advance and be paid a share of book sales.

Besides, book advances are supposed to give authors money to live on while they write; Cuomo earns $225,000 a year and lives in a state-subsidized mansion.

Our objections in principle are magnified now that we’ve learned more about his deal: Cuomo reportedly got offered more than $4 million for his tome, and was negotiating the sum even as his staff was stonewalling the release of the full facts about COVID nursing home deaths.

And though his spokesman calls the book an “outside project,” Cuomo got help from staffers on said project — all volunteer labor, he says, donated on their free time. Right.

The editors are people who work in publishing. They have a good understanding of how the industry works and how much effort is required to publish a book-length publication. Governor Cuomo's book deal is abnormal on many levels.

Separately, we had previously estimated Governor Cuomo's earnings from his pandemic leadership book at nearly $3.0 million. That figure was based on actual sales and a really generous cut of $65 per book sold for Governor Cuomo. If the publisher paid Cuomo an advance of $4 million, they're still $1 million in the hole for a book they've been forced to stop promoting by Governor Cuomo's scandals.

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Friday, April 02, 2021

2 April 2021: Nursing Home Scandal 'The Most Serious' of Cuomo's Misconduct in Office

Nursing home scandal 'the most serious' of Cuomo's misconduct: VoicesForSeniors co-founder

This brief video interview aired earlier today, featuring Vivian Zayas, a co-founder of the VoicesForSeniors Facebook group, whose mother Ana Martinez died of COVID-19 in a Long Island nursing home in March 2020.

Based on the available information, Zayas' mother may have been one of the earliest patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus to die in the period the Cuomo administration's deadly 25 March 2020 directive could have been a contributing factor to her initial exposure.

Her nursing home is one in which the Cuomo administration deceptively undercounted the full extent of COVID-19 deaths among residents during the period the controversial directive was in effect. After the 28 January 2021 state attorney general's report exposed the deception, the facility's COVID death toll was adjusted upward from 40 to 69 deaths, a 72.5% increase over the previous "official" figure.

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2 April 2021: Report - Governor Cuomo Begged Aide Who Confirmed COVID Nursing Home Deaths Coverup to Not Resign

Lawmaker claims Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa wanted to resign, but gov ‘begged her to stay’

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s top aide Melissa DeRosa was ready to call it quits on the day it was revealed she admitted the state deliberately withheld the complete coronavirus death toll in nursing homes — but the governor “begged her stay,” a state lawmaker reportedly claims.

“It’s my understanding Melissa wanted to resign February 12 — the day after the scandal broke of her admitting there was an obstruction of justice in her administration,” Assemblyman Ron Kim (D-Queens), citing Capitol sources, told WRGB.

Kim, a vocal Cuomo critic, was referring to damning details reported exclusively by The Post on Feb. 11, wherein DeRosa privately apologized to Democratic lawmakers for covering up the number of COVID-19 deaths among the state’s nursing home residents.

If Melissa DeRosa had more integrity, she would have resigned in disgrace. If Governor Cuomo had more integrity, all his scandals would never have happened.

For its part, Governor Cuomo's administration denies the story and attacks Assemblyman Kim:

“Ron Kim doesn’t know what he is talking about and this is not the first time he’s lied about Melissa,” Azzopardi told The Post in a statement.

“He should be ashamed and stop spreading baseless rumors,” Azzopardi said.

We think that's a new, tone-deaf example of why Governor Cuomo is looking for better PR people and legal help.

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2 April 2021: New York Considering Legislation to Regulate Spending by Nursing Homes

Cuomo, Lawmakers Weigh Forcing Nursing Homes to Spend on Patients

This report describes legislation currently being considered in New York's legislature that would require nursing homes to spend 70% of their revenue on patient care:

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state lawmakers are close to agreement on a law that would require nursing homes to spend a set portion of their revenue on patient care, officials said, at a time when the governor’s office is under fire over how it handled Covid-19 in long-term-care facilities.

The law is being discussed as part of talks around the roughly $200 billion state budget coming together this week at the state Capitol. Democrats who dominate the state Assembly and Senate have approved bills with the nursing-home spending mandate, and aides to the governor and Legislature said Wednesday they were close to a final agreement.

The discussions are a stark shift from last year, when lawmakers waived regulations and granted broad civil and criminal immunity to healthcare providers as the state faced a deadly surge in coronavirus cases. More than 50,000 New Yorkers have died from the Covid-19 pandemic, and roughly a third were residents of long-term-care facilities.

The new law would also be another response to criticism over how the state handled Covid-19 in nursing homes.

As a reminder, the state handled Covid-19 in nursing homes by forcing them to admit Covid-positive patients being dumped from hospitals to free up bed space. The state also blocked any testing to determine if the patients the nursing homes were forced to admit were still contagious.

The state also rationed the amount of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other medical supplies over which it had control over to limit nursing homes to no more than 20% of the available supplies. This last action imposed severe shortages of this equipment, contributing to the spread of deadly coronavirus infections within nursing homes, many of which the state knew had severe, chronic problems in preventing the spread of infections.

Has the state cleaned out its own house already?

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2 April 2021: Commentaries on Governor Cuomo's Scandals

We're featuring two opinion pieces covering different aspects of Governor Cuomo's scandals. The first is by a student at the State University of New York in the New Paltz Oracle, the second by a professional journalist at the Washington Examiner:

It's interesting to see the wide range of people across the political spectrum and the country calling for Governor Cuomo's resignation or impeachment, yet seeing so little effective action to achieve either of those results among those who hold power in New York.

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2 April 2021: NY State Ethics Watchdog Sitting Pretty for Governor Cuomo

New York ethics agency’s role in Cuomo allegations unclear

This article reveals that no one yet knows what role the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE), the state of New York's official ethics watchdog, will have in evaluating Governor Cuomo and his administraton's multiple scandals. Worse, many think the agency has been captured by Cuomo loyalists through his appointments to it.

Top Democratic lawmakers have said the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, the state agency dedicated to ensuring the governor, lawmakers and candidates for office follow state ethics rules, does not have the political independence it needs to investigate allegations against the governor.

“No one believes JCOPE is an independent actor,” said Blair Horner, executive director of the New York Public Interest Research Group. “Its credibility has been so thoroughly damaged over the years that it doesn’t have the credibility that I think the public deserves.”...

The agency was created by legislation in 2011. From the get-go, critics have contended the commission is too secretive and that its politically appointed membership lacks independence.

The governor appoints six of its 14 members. And by law, undertaking an investigation into any governor would require a yes vote from two of his or her appointees.

Andrew Cuomo was sworn in as New York's Governor on 1 January 2011 after previously serving as the state's attorney general from 1 January 2007 through 31 December 2010. In addition to his direct appointments, Cuomo has had influence over others appointed to the purportedly independent commission by state legislative leaders.

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Thursday, April 01, 2021

1 April 2021: Governor Cuomo's Pandemic Book Deal Scandal Blows Up

For whatever reason, the news media went all out to focus its efforts on reporting the ethical issues associated Governor Cuomo's pandemic book deal on this April Fool's Day, after the initial story broke last night. The following headlines give a flavor of the major details:

But at least one media outlet has asked an obvious question:

Unfortunately, the author of this piece doesn't make the connection that book deals are a popular way for politicians to launder money from campaign donors into their own pockets.

Meanwhile, the Cuomo book deal scandal is being added to the list of things for the New York Assembly's "sham" impeachment probe to drag its heels in investigating:

And in the true "April Fool" joke of the day, the New York Assembly has opened its "hotline" to collect tips to investigate in its impeachment probe of Governor Cuomo:

It's as if they're not really serious about any of the scandals. Especially the one that cost the lives of hundreds, if not thousands of elderly, sick New York nursing home residents....

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1 April 2021: State Comptroller "Slow Walking" Referral to Start Criminal Investigation of NY COVID Nursing Home Deaths

DiNapoli ripped for not probing Cuomo COVID-19 nursing home scandal

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has become an obstacle to launching a state investigation of the Cuomo administration's COVID nursing home deaths scandals. This report describes his "slow walking" a request to initiate a criminal investigation by New York's Attorney General's office:

Nursing home advocates and Assemblyman Ron Kim ripped into state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli for “slow walking” a request to initiate a probe into Gov. Cuomo’s handling of nursing homes during the coronavirus pandemic.

The group Voices for Seniors sent a March 19 letter to DiNapoli urging him to make a referral to state Attorney General Letitia James to conduct a joint probe into Cuomo’s undercounting of COVID-19 nursing home deaths — as well as the state Health Department’s order forcing nursing homes to accept recovering COVID-19 patients, and the law shielding medical facilities from malpractice suits during the pandemic.

“Where is Tom DiNapoli? Silence is consent,” said Voices for Seniors co-founder Vivian Zayas, whose mom, Ana Martinez, died from COVID-19 that she contracted while in a Long Island nursing home last year.

Zayas said DiNapoli and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx), who directed that body’s judiciary committee to launch an impeachment investigation of Cuomo, are “slow-walking everything.”

The article also explains why that action is necessary:

The advocates urged DiNapoli to make a “referral” to Attorney General Letitia James under Section 63(3) of the state’s Executive Law.

The move would permit DiNapoli and James to “use both the audit power of the comptroller’s office and the investigatory and enforcement power of the attorney general” to probe nursing homes.

Comptroller DiNapoli's silence is becoming very loud and noticeable.

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