14 October 2021: Column - Hochul Claims Change, But Malatras Stays On

Churchill: Hochul claims change, but Malatras stays on

Although replacement NY Governor Kathy Hochul has apologized to the families of Andrew M. Cuomo's COVID nursing home deaths scandals victims, she has failed to address one very visible problem hanging on from the Cuomo administration: James Malatras. Albany Times-Union columnist Chris Churchill describes why that's a problem that demands the replacement governor's attention:

The State University of New York system chancellor is a longtime Cuomo insider closely linked to several of the former governor's scandals, including the cover-up of nursing home deaths. In fact, Malatras has acknowledged he helped edit a report that the Cuomo administration scrubbed of truthful nursing home fatality data.

The report, which blamed nursing home deaths on employees, used numbers that didn't include residents who were transferred to hospitals before they died. Obviously, a Cuomo confidante had no business editing a Health Department report, but Malatras says his role didn't involve changing data.

Even if that's true, he had to have known the report was dishonest, more about polishing the former governor's image than providing a truthful account of the tragedy that hit New York nursing homes.

To the point: Malatras claimed in a July 2020 interview with ProPublica that the report should silence the administration’s many critics on the nursing home issue, leading the news outlet to later conclude he "had not told the full story."

Malatras also spent dozens of hours working on Cuomo's book about the coronavirus pandemic, according to a government source with knowledge of the matter. That book, for which the governor was paid $5.1 million, also distorted data about nursing home deaths, again in an apparent attempt to burnish Cuomo's reputation.

(In a statement Wednesday, Malatras said he "volunteered over a couple of weekends in the summer of 2020, including taking documented time off on a couple of Fridays out of an abundance of caution, to review and edit portions of the Governor’s book.”)

So, in summary, we have a man who participated in a disinformation campaign now installed at the helm of a state university system that is supposed to be about truth, honesty and education.

Isn't that terrific?

Obviously, it isn't, which is why Assemblyman Ron Kim, a Queens Democrat who attended the Tuesday meeting with Hochul, and New York Republican Party Chairman Nick Langworthy are among the bipartisan group who have demanded that Malatras leave state government.

That's a pretty good description of why Malatras should be expelled from his position in the State University of New York. Unfortunately, Hochul doesn't have the direct authority to fire Malatras, who enjoys the protection of the State University board whose members are Cuomo loyalists, appointed to their positions by Andrew M. Cuomo. So what could Hochul do?

Churchill lays out an option:

Hochul isn't entirely powerless, though, if she again wants to demonstrate a break from the prior administration — and intolerance of its deceptions about nursing homes. If Hochul demanded the chancellor's resignation, and explained why she wanted him to go, it would not be easy for Malatras to stay on.

Hochul could also use the power of her office to demand administrative reforms at SUNY to compel the board to act to remove Malatras, including limiting funding to the organization until it complies. That would be a heavy-handed action, which we think Hochul wants to avoid.

That may change based on the findings of various criminal investigations that are underway involving Andrew M. Cuomo's cover-up of the full extent of COVID deaths at New York nursing homes and his pandemic "leadership" book deal. Based on her track record to date, we think Hochul may be waiting to have those in hand to justify her applying political leverage to remove the embedded Cuomo loyalist from SUNY.

We'll find out soon enough.

13 October 2021: Unlike Cuomo, Hochul "Gives a Damn" About COVID Nursing Home Families

In contrast to Cuomo, Hochul says she ‘gives a damn’ about nursing home families

Given the scale of deaths resulting from his administration's deadly 25 March 2020 directive, Andrew M. Cuomo could never afford the legal liability that would attach to him by apologizing to the families of COVID nursing home victims for his policies. Replacement NY Governor Kathy Hochul can, so she did:

Hochul met Tuesday with families that lost loved ones in nursing homes due to COVID-19, apologizing to them for the pain caused by the disastrous policies under Cuomo that led to the deaths of over 15,000 seniors in elder care facilities and promising to honor their memories.

“I apologized for the pain that those poor families had to endure as a result of their family members contracting COVID in nursing homes, and it was a very emotional meeting,” she told reporters during a Manhattan briefing Wednesday.

“I thanked them for what they’ve done…which is to fight for people in nursing homes,” she added.

“I work with elected officials, you know, they can disagree with me one day and other day they might agree with me, I just approached this whole thing differently, that people deserve to know that their government, listens and actually cares, and gives a damn about them.”

Hochul's actions in upcoming weeks to address Andrew M. Cuomo's true legacy of his governorship will say a lot about her character. We think she may be holding out over the pending release of several reports, most notably the NY Assembly Judiciary Committee's findings from its impeachment probe, so we'll see soon enough.

13 October 2021: JCOPE Commissioner to Try Again to Claw Back JCOPE Staff Approval for Cuomo Book Deal

Cuomo book approval faces new challenge

A member of New York's Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) will try again to rescind the approval Andrew M. Cuomo obtained from a lower level staff member of JCOPE for his $5.12 million pandemic "leadership" book deal. The following excerpt describes the new arguments that will be advanced before the commisson at its next meeting:

After failing by a vote do so at a September meeting, Commissioner Gary Lavine is planning a different tact: A motion arguing that JCOPE staff never had the authority to issue the approval.

In 2012, JCOPE commissioners passed a resolution allowing the executive director of the staff to take certain actions between monthly commissioner meetings. JCOPE staff argues this 2012 resolution granted it authority to approve Cuomo's book deal in July 2020.

But Lavine notes that JCOPE had no executive director in July 2020, when staff approved the Cuomo book deal.

In the absence of an executive director, JCOPE had passed another resolution in 2019, which granted power to exercise authority between meetings jointly to two people: General counsel Monica Stamm and deputy general counsel Martin Levine. Under the resolution, if the two top JCOPE staffers could not agree on a decision, then-JCOPE chairman Michael Rozen would be the tiebreaking vote.

But in the Cuomo book matter, Stamm had recused herself due to a possible conflict-of-interest. That meant that Levine, without Stamm's consent, issued the approval for Cuomo to write "American Crisis," which ended up netting a publishing deal of $5.1 million.

According to Lavine (the commissioner), Levine (the staffer) was not allowed to make the approval alone under the 2019 resolution, without the consent of Stamm.

We appreciate reporter Chris Bragg's extra work to distinguish the two men with very similar sounding names and to describe some of the obscure legalistic gymnastics that characterizes JCOPE as an entity.

Whether the new argument will carry weight with the other commissioners remains to be seen, but it will be interesting to learn which commissioners will try once again to sweep the Cuomo book deal approval under the rug and which will seek to initiate a proper review.

13 October 2021: Anti-Cuomo COVID Nursing Home Deaths Scandals Advocates Meet with Hochul

Fox News’ Janice Dean, Nursing Home Family Advocates Meet With NY Gov. to Push for ‘Full Accountability’ on Cuomo Policy

This report describes the 12 October 2021 meeting involving two of the leading advocates opposed to Andrew M. Cuomo's deadly 25 March 2020 directive and his administration's effort to cover-up the full extent of COVID deaths among New York nursing home residents and replacement Governor Kathy Hochul.

Fox News’ Janice Dean, New York Assembly Member Ron Kim, and more met with Governor Kathy Hochul Tuesday to call for “full accountability” on covid-19 nursing home deaths.

The report is short on details of their closed door discussion, but this report indicates Hochul offered an apology for the actions of the Cuomo administration.

While the report features several Twitter posts by both Janice Dean and Ron Kim from the past several months, the following tweet confirms this first meeting with Hochul:

For the first time since we began or quest for accountability on behalf of our families that died from Covid in nursing homes last spring, we met today with @GovKathyHochul. It was a small step but an important one to get answers. It would not have happened without @rontkim. pic.twitter.com/Su0Niwk8ow

— Janice Dean (@JaniceDean) October 12, 2021

Here are profiles from the timeline for both advocates:

• 24 March 2021: A Profile of Janice Dean
• 1 June 2021: A Profile of Assemblyman Ron Kim

Follow the links for Janice Dean and Ron Kim to see where and how often the two appear within events covered by the timeline, which represents only a fraction of their advocacy on behalf of the families of the Cuomo administration's COVID nursing home victims.

The meeting also included Alexa Rivera as a representative of the Voices for Seniors advocacy group. She is the co-founder of the group with her sister, Vivian Rivera-Zayas, whose name has come up more frequently as a spokesperson for the group. This timeline entry describes how they became advocates. Their organization's Twitter post about the meeting has more information about what was on the agenda for discussion:

After 19 months of making noise God opened an opportunity for us.

Our Co-Founder Alexa Rivera & Director @chichi31859 represented all of us today.We are told there were many tears. @GovKathyHochul got to see that this is still a raw and relevant issue to us.

Thank you @rontkim pic.twitter.com/k3ewgIJgGE

— VoicesForSeniors (@Voices4Seniors) October 12, 2021

A forensic audit to fully tally the number of nursing home residents who subsequently died from COVID-19 in nursing homes, or at hospitals or other facilities, or at home after being infected during the period the Cuomo administsration's deadly 25 March 2020 directive was in effect would be a welcome development after the Cuomo administration's legacy of cover-ups. The administration's cover-up of the full extent of COVID deaths among New York's nursing home residents dates back to early April 2020, so any action on moving forward with such an audit has been a very long time in coming.

12 October 2021: Analysis of Cuomo's COVID Nursing Home Deaths Scandal Defense

Cuomo letter reveals details on probes, subpoenas

This report digs into the arguments Andrew M. Cuomo's attorney made in the letter he sent to the U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn, whose office is conducting a criminal investigation of the cover-up aspects of Cuomo's actions. We're going to present a series of excerpts highlight the arguments Cuomo hopes will keep him from facing federal criminal charges.

First up, the letter provides new information about who is investigating Cuomo in the state of New York. The second paragraph provides Albany Times-Union journalist Chris Bragg's analysis of what that new information is:

"Evidencing New York’s ability to investigate the issues discussed here are the multiple State and local investigations that are currently ongoing. The Executive Chamber has received subpoenas from the New York Attorney General (regarding the Governor’s book and priority COVID testing), the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office (regarding nursing homes), the New York State Assembly (regarding an impeachment investigation), and the New York Joint Commission on Public Ethics (regarding priority testing and the Governor’s book)."

To my knowledge, it had not been previously confirmed by Cuomo's office that JCOPE was investigating priority COVID testing and Cuomo's book, that the Manhattan district attorney's office was investigating nursing homes, or that Attorney General Letitia James' office was investigating priority COVID testing.

Next, regarding Andrew M. Cuomo's $5.12 million pandemic "leadership" book deal:

In his letter, Abramowitz writes that the DOH report and the book deal were unrelated, but that in any case, it would not be illegal for a politician to inflate their image ahead of a book's publication:

He wrote: "Some news outlets have unfairly associated the publication of nursing home data and Governor Cuomo’s book. For example, the New York Times reported that in the lead up to the publication of the July 6 DOH report Governor Cuomo’s aides revised the nursing home death numbers in the July 6 report. The Times also stated that its review of “the development of Mr. Cuomo’s lucrative book deal revealed how it overlapped with the move by his most senior aides to reshape a report about nursing home deaths in a way that insulated the governor from criticism and burnished his image

As an initial matter, the implication of Times’s article is wrong—there was no connection between the Governor’s book and the publication of nursing home deaths. But in any event, it is irrelevant to the analysis at hand. Even if there were some scheme to downplay nursing home deaths in order to make the Governor look better to the public, and in turn that heightened public stature allowed him to obtain more money for his book, it would not be actionable under the property fraud statutes. Even in that preposterous scenario, there would be no federal criminal violation because the object of the scheme would be good publicity, not property...

Even more, in this hypothetical, the book advance and sales could not serve as the “property” objective of the purported fraud for a couple of reasons. First, the connection is far too tenuous...And second, such an interpretation would fail on vagueness grounds. The absurdity of such a theory is apparent once one considers its broader implications. Politicians across the country consistently publish books about their political endeavors—have they committed property fraud if, in the run up to publication they made false statements of self-serving puffery. Under that theory, if the book advance and sales could serve as the basis for a property fraud conviction, every politician in the country who has written a book could be subject to federal imprisonment. Such an interpretation would lead to “a sweeping expansion of federal criminal jurisdiction” because “U.S. Attorneys could prosecute as property fraud every lie a state or local official tells”—a result not allowed under the Constitution.

Others in the media have asserted that the July 6 DOH report was modified solely based on political (rather than scientific) motivations. This is wrong: the conclusions of the July 6 DOH report were equally supported irrespective of whether the report covered only in-facility, or both in- and out-of-facility nursing home COVID deaths. But even if it were true, it could not serve as the basis for criminal liability. As made clear in Kelly, a fraudulent act by a state official does not qualify as property fraud without the actor obtaining some tangible property. Put differently, the Kelly decision bars federal prosecutors from “criminalizing all acts of dishonesty by state and local officials."...There is no evidence of any false statement or fraudulent act, or that any property was obtained because of the publication of nursing home data. Thus, any prosecution under the property fraud statutes could not succeed."

Abramowitz avoids mentioning the primary motive for Cuomo's attempted cover-up of the full extent of COVID nursing home deaths: the avoidance of state and federal criminal charges associated with criminally negligent homicide and/or manslaughter. Since conviction on these charges would force Cuomo to forfeit the proceeds from the book deal, his actions could reasonably be argued to represent a conspiracy to avoid realizing a very tangible loss of property he had obtained in part by misrepresenting his "success" during the coronavirus pandemic.

12 October 2021: Hochul Terminates Cuomo Influence Network's Information Suppression Program in NY State Government

Hochul scraps Cuomo's 'defense' program critics say helped suppress negative information

Andrew M. Cuomo used his power as governor of New York to embed his supporters and loyalists in positions where they could serve his interests, including media organizations, political advocacy groups, and also within New York's state government. Cuomo's "influence network", as we've described it, has diminished with Cuomo's resignation to avoid impeachment proceedings, with this report covering the latest action to further shrink it.

Gov. Kathy Hochul is ending a program begun under her predecessor, former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, which had helped suppress negative information about Cuomo and his administration.

In 2015, longtime Cuomo aide Linda Lacewell – known within his administration as the governor’s “Minister of Defense” – started the state’s first-ever “ethics, risk and compliance” initiative. When announced, the program was framed as bringing a private-sector risk management model to state agencies and public authorities. But for Cuomo’s office, the job also meant managing negative information that might come to light — a practice that exploded into public view this year during the controversy over Cuomo’s alleged suppression of nursing home death data.

Lacewell embedded highly paid senior attorneys in two dozen state agencies, who served as the eyes and ears of the governor’s office, reporting back to the Executive Chamber. Most recently, the position of chief special counsel within the Executive Chamber was held by Victoria Lane, who'd begun the job in April.

According to a person with knowledge of the matter, Hochul’s office recently offered Lane the chance to be reassigned, after informing her that her position and the program were being eliminated. Lane, who could not be reached for comment on Monday, is said to have resigned instead.

The two dozen special counsels for “ethics, risk and compliance” within agencies and public authorities will also be offered the chance for reassignment.

The practice is similar to the inherently corrupt methods used in totalitarian dictatorships of embedding political officers into government, business, and military organizations to spy on their perceived enemies and to keep their subjects under control. In this case, the role of these embedded Cuomo loyalists was to protect the Cuomo regime by suppressing information that might reflect badly upon it. Replacement NY Governor Hochul's action is overdue.

12 October 2021: Records Backing Cuomo Sex Harassment Allegations Go to NY Assembly

NY Assembly Judiciary Committee receives new text messages, records tied to Cuomo-accuser: report

Phone and electronic records fleshing out the timing of Andrew M. Cuomo's alleged sexual harassment incident with accuser Brittany Commisso have been provided to the New York Assembly Judiciary Committee compiling a report on Cuomo's misconduct in office.

The Assembly Judiciary Committee has received new records that give more clarity on the timeline behind groping allegations made against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo by his executive assistant, Brittany Commisso, according to a report.

Records, including text messages, show Commisso visited ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo in Albany’s Executive Mansion in “early” December 2020, where she claims he groped her breasts, the Albany Times Union reported Monday.

Commisso’s claims against the governor were included in 168-page bombshell report released in August by Attorney General Letitia James. But the report left the timing of the alleged groping hazy, as it said in one section that it happened on Nov. 16, but also included a footnote saying that Commisso couldn’t remember the exact date.

But the new data obtained by the committee now gives clarity to the groping allegations, as it includes a December text message Commisso helped Cuomo send his former aide Stephanie Benton, a message allegedly sent about the time of the incident.

The NY Assembly's report on the findings of its impeachment probe of the resigned-in-disgrace governor is anticipated this month. At this writing there is yet no indication of whether the subpoenaed information might delay it.

12 October 2021: Cuomo's Defense Strategy for COVID Nursing Home Deaths Scandals

Shine a light: Cuomo’s nursing-home defense document goes public

The editorial board of the New York Daily News have broken a big story this morning, uncovering the legal strategy Andrew M. Cuomo's attorneys are using to defend him from criminal charges associated with his administration's COVID nursing home deaths scandals.

In her letter to the Assembly Judiciary Committee Friday, Andrew Cuomo’s lawyer Rita Glavin asked for a thorough, independent examination of all allegations against her client and not just a rehash of the attorney general’s report on sexual harassment complaints. Fair is fair, and we agree with her seeking access to evidence, including the AG’s transcripts, which the panel has but otherwise remains secret.

Glavin’s final point in her 10-page letter is that the Judiciary Committee “properly consider and make public the written submission by outside counsel to the Executive Chamber” on COVID nursing home death data. She’s referring there to the document produced by Elkan Abramowitz, a private attorney retained by the Cuomo administration at hefty taxpayer expense, which makes the case that Brooklyn federal prosecutors are barking up the wrong tree as they consider criminal charges.

Today, we do our part in the name of transparency — and publish the 62-page brief. (Readers of the print newspaper should find this editorial on our website.)

At this point, we need to point you to editorial (archived version here) because we cannot embed the document.

Here is the editors' analysis of the memo's contents:

Abramowitz doesn’t make the case that Cuomo’s withholding of data on nursing home deaths was wise or honorable — it quite obviously wasn’t — only that the administration broke no federal laws when it stalled requests for information from the Legislature and the Empire Center for Public Policy and otherwise fuzzed up the facts.

While we don’t know what the feds may have, in general, Abramowitz makes a credible argument, that, based on the letter of the law and precedents including Bridgegate, criminal charges would be a heavy lift. At the same time, he makes claims that don’t hold water, such that Albany has sufficient oversight itself.

On 5 May 2021, Andrew M. Cuomo defended his COVID nursing home policies as "smart" in responding to questions about the administration's cover-up of the full extent of COVID deaths that resulted from its deadly 25 March 2020 directive. His defense attorneys aren't making the case to back that claim either.

11 October 2021: Timing of Cuomo Sexual Harassment Incident in NY Executive Mansion Corroborated

Subpoenaed records support timeline of mansion visit by Cuomo's alleged groping victim

Andrew M. Cuomo's legal team has gone to great lengths to challenge the timing of the sexual harassment incident involving executive assistant Brittany Commisso. Phone and electronic records however have corroborated Commisso's description of the incident.

Electronic records reportedly support the timeline of an aide who accused former Gov. Andrew Cuomo of groping her last year.

Subpoenas issued by the state Assembly’s Judiciary Committee and by law enforcement confirmed that Brittany Commisso visited the Executive Mansion in early December, according to the Times Union. On that day, she said Cuomo groped her in a sexually aggressive way after assisting him with a problem involving his cellphone.

The records supported Commisso’s account of helping the governor send a note to a director of the governor’s offices, and then called them to confirm receipt, according to the report.

The report, though, said records showed Commisso’s visit happened in December, rather than on Nov. 16, which was incorrectly stated in the state attorney’s general’s report.

When meeting with a sheriff’s investigator in August, Commisso reportedly asked to subpoena the records needed to verify the date.

State Police security records and swipe card access records are also part of the records, which confirmed Commisso was back at her office shortly after visiting the mansion, sources said.

A footnote within the attorney general's report indicated Commisso did not remember the exact data of the incident, where the 16 November date given in the report is the investigators' approximation of its timing. The records obtained through the subpoenas confirm the timing of the contemporary events Commisso described in her testimony of the incident.

11 October 2021: Editorial - JCOPE's Sad Progress

Editorial: This is progress, sadly

In its ten years of existence, New York's Joint Committee on Public Ethics (JCOPE) cannot point to many examples of competence in pursuing ethics investigations against corrupt New York state government officials. That is the context behind the Albany Times-Union's editorial, excerpted below:

In this week’s episode of “News that sounds like a punchline,” the Joint Commission on Public Ethics has called for an investigation … of itself. It comes despite hesitancy from the panel’s executive director, who reportedly fretted that an inquiry could hurt morale at JCOPE.

The ineffectual state watchdog is bringing in outside counsel to look into its staff’s approval of Andrew Cuomo’s book deal last year. “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic” is the subject of a criminal investigation by the state attorney general’s office because the then-governor used state workers to help him with the book.

The $5.1 million book project got a quick approval from JCOPE staff in July 2020, a month in which the body had no scheduled meeting. It was justified under a resolution that lets staff take certain actions between meetings, though some contend commissioners should have vetted a deal that big.

It’s encouraging to see a measure of accountability coming to JCOPE at last. New Yorkers deserve to know just how dysfunctional its ethics watchdogs are. And as for morale? Sorry, no sympathy here. If anyone should feel down about the quality and value of their work, it’s the folks at JCOPE.

JCOPE seems to have been designed by Andrew M. Cuomo and his supporters in the legislature to reduce the burdens of having to comply with laws and ethical requirements on appointed state government officials.

11 October 2021: U.S. DOJ Interviews Staff at NJ Veterans Homes

Federal investigators interview staff at N.J. veterans homes where pandemic deaths soared

The Department of Justice is making slow progress in its civil rights probe of officials at New Jersey's nursing homes for veterans that saw excess COVID deaths.

The U.S. Department of Justice this week stepped up its yearlong probe into whether the pandemic response was mishandled at two state-run veterans homes when it sent investigators to interview staff and residents and observe the care that is provided.

Lee Moore, spokesman for the state Attorney General’s Office, confirmed Department of Justice officials were on site at the Paramus and Menlo Park veterans homes conducting interviews for its inquiry into whether residents were provided adequate medical care.

“The DOJ visited the Menlo Park and Paramus veterans homes in the past week. This visit is part of the normal course of events given their inquiry, and we are doing everything we can to ensure they have the information they need,” Moore wrote in an email....

Meanwhile, dozens of lawsuits are pending against the state for gross negligence, filed by the families of veterans and their spouses who died, as well as employees who died or were put in harm’s way. Employees were discouraged from and even penalized for wearing masks early in the pandemic so not to alarm residents. Residents say the facilities did not segregate COVID-19 residents from the non-infected, allowing the virus to spread.

The U.S. DOJ's New Jersey civil rights probe continues despite the Biden-Harris administration's actions to discontinue similar probes in New York, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Each of these states imposed policies like the Cuomo administration's deadly 25 March 2020 directive, which forced nursing homes to admit COVID patients being discharged from hospitals to free up hospital bed space. Coronavirus infections spread from the mixing of these patients with uninfected residents and staff members, which ultimately resulted in excess COVID deaths.

Background information from the timeline:

• 28 July 2021: New Jersey's Murphy Administration Under DOJ Probe for COVID Nursing Home Deaths
• 24 August 2021: Federal Probe of COVID Deaths at NJ Nursing Homes Progresses

9 October 2021: Parsing Cuomo's Personal Attorney's Legal Claims

Andrew Cuomo lawyer: No way ex-gov sexually harassed more than five women

We're headed into a slow news weekend, where we anticipate news out of New York on the Cuomo administration's COVID nursing home deaths scandals to be sparse. This report picks up on the letter Andrew M. Cuomo's personal attorney sent the New York Assembly Judiciary Committee on Friday, 8 October 2021, finding it makes an unexpected admission:

Sure, he may have been found to have sexually harassed three or four women — but not 11.

That’s the unusual argument put forward by disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo‘s lawyer in a brash Friday filing that attacked both his many accusers and state Attorney General Letitia James, whose office led an investigation that found Cuomo broke state and federal harassment laws.

In a 10-page missive to state Assembly Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Lavine (D-Glen Cove) and committee lawyers, Cuomo attorney Rita Glavin sought to prevent the panel from adopting James’ findings in their own soon-to-be-released impeachment probe report.

Stunningly, Glavin insisted that the Judiciary Committee report “must clarify that the Governor did not sexually harass 11 women in violation of the law, and the Report did not find this.

“Indeed,” Glavin continued, “even if you were to accept every complaint as fact (which we do not), more than half of the complainant’s allegations do not meet the standard of sexual harassment set forth in law.”

According to Rita Glavin, Andrew M. Cuomo's personal attorney, the rest of the complanant's allegations do meet her interpretation of the standard of sexual harassment set forth in law.

8 October 2021: Cuomo Tries to Influence NY Assembly Impeachment Probe Report

Cuomo attorney questions A.G.’s motives — again — ahead of Assembly impeachment report

The NY Assembly Judiciary Committee's report on its impeachment probe findings may be released as early as next week, which seems to be driving Andrew M. Cuomo latest move to try to influence it before it is published.

That transparent motive is clear just from the headline of this report, but as you'll see from the following excerpt, Cuomo's attorney seems to be grasping at straws:

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s lawyer is back on the attack, once again claiming the damning report that led to his downfall is biased and cryptically warning others they could face a similar fate.

Attorney Rita Glavin sent a letter to lawmakers Friday, rehashing many of Cuomo’s arguments and claims of innocence despite resigning amid sexual harassment allegations in August. Glavin is again castigating Attorney General James’ investigation into her client’s alleged behavior.

In the missive, Glavin cautions lawmakers that should the Assembly “go along with this false narrative, you will be creating a new standard for sexual harassment that every member of the legislature must be prepared to be judged by.”...

In the latest letter, Glavin insinuates that recent comments made by James indicate the state’s top prosecutor had a personal hand in the investigation, which was meant to be conducted independently.

There are “new questions about whether the AG violated the terms of the investigative referral made to her office,” Glavin writes, pointing to comments James made at a recent Ulster County Democratic Committee dinner.

“When they came into my office, and they told me about the fact that Albany was toxic . . . how they were harassed. . . I believed them, because they were specific,” James said in reference to Cuomo’s accusers.

Glavin argues that the comments show James “did not hand the reigns of this investigation to an “independent” law firm to do the investigation, as was required by the terms of the March 1 referral.”

While NY Governor, Cuomo's practice was to have his closest aides rewrite official reports that might reflect badly on him before they were released, so his personal attorney's letter to the Judiciary Committee seems to be the best he can do now that he is out of power.

8 October 2021: Hochul's Leadership Failure Opens Door to Valid Political Attacks

Republican chairman slams Hochul on nursing home deaths

In light of the leadership failure it reflects, this report describing the reaction of New York's Republican Party chair to Jim Malatras' remaining in office is not surprising. It confirms Malatras' ouster because of his confirmed but not fully explained role in the Cuomo administration's attempted cover-up of the Cuomo nursing home deaths scandal was anticipated. When his resignation or removal from office didn't materialize within the 45-day deadline Kathy Hochul indicated after becoming New York's replacement Governor, it left her open to valid political attacks:

When she took over state government six weeks ago, Gov. Kathy Hochul signaled she needed 45 days to clean house by replacing appointed officials involved in scandals tied to her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo.

But state Republican Chairman Nick Langworthy came to the statehouse Thursday to dispute that claim, arguing Hochul has left in place many Cuomo loyalists, including the head of the 64-campus State University system, James Malatras.

Langworthy argued New Yorkers have been expecting Hochul to address the controversies surrounding the Cuomo administration’s undercount of COVID-19 fatalities at nursing homes by replacing all officials who had a hand in producing a state Health Department report whose conclusions have been strongly disputed by state Attorney General Letitia James.

“Kathy Hochul has talked really tough about giving the boot to everyone named in the report on sexual harassment, but she has done nothing but sweep under the rug the entire nursing home scandal,” New York’s top Republican said. “Malatras still enjoys her full confidence. He is sitting over there at SUNY, making $450,000 a year, but he has blood on his hands from what we know about the nursing home coverup.”

Requesting Malatras' resignation from SUNY was the minimum action Hochul needed to take in this case. She has only herself to blame for failing to address it within her own self-imposed deadline.

While the Republican chair was the first to prominently spotlight Hochul's failure, we should note it all but invites a serious response from Democratic Party members who are being encouraged to run for NY Governor in 2022. Hochul's leadership failure in allowing Malatras to remain employed in New York's state government makes her path to election as New York's Governor more difficult.

8 October 2021: Which Cuomo Loyalists Were Ousted and Which Ones Remain?

Which Cuomo loyalists were booted from office – and which ones remain?

This report is far from complete, but it does attempt to answer both questions asked in the headline for higher profile Cuomo appointees embedded in New York's state government. It is limited to those officials who did not leave office when Andrew M. Cuomo resignation took effect on 24 August 2021.

Here's the short list of Cuomo officials who have been booted, many of which will be familiar to timeline readers (the names presented in boldface font):

• Howard Zucker
• Larry Schwartz
• Michael Hein
• Steve Cohen
• Letizia Tagliafierro
• Norman Birenbaum

Here's the short list of Cuomo appointees who are remaining in their positions, at least for now, where the names of two have come up in the timeline:

• Robert Mujica
• Jay Jacobs
• Jim Malatras
• Rick Cotton
• Basil Seggos
• Rossana Rosado

Of the "remainers", Jim Malatras stands out because of his role in Andrew M. Cuomo's COVID nursing home deaths scandals. Here's an excerpt from the report:

Hochul doesn’t have the final say in this matter, but she has given no indication that she intends to ask for SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras’ resignation. Prior to taking that role, Malatras had a long history of working for Cuomo and his ties to the former governor was one of his best selling points. But as SUNY chancellor, Malatras continued as a confidant for the governor and even had a hand in drafting a report from the administration on nursing home deaths that obscured the numbers. He also worked on Cuomo’s controversial pandemic memoir. But his name never appeared in the state attorney general’s report on sexual harassment, so despite his Cuomo ties, it seems Hochul is fine with keeping him around.

This report confirms that Hochul is selectively picking and choosing which state attorney general she is using to make personnel retention decisions. That's disappointing, because the COVID nursing home deaths scandals are much more serious than the Cuomo sexual harassment scandals, involving hundreds, if not thousands of more victims who paid for the Cuomo administration's policy choices with their lives. Failing to seek Malatras' resignation represents a real leadership failure on Hochul's part.

7 October 2021: Hochul Marks Progress in Ousting Officials Cited in Cuomo Sexual Harassment Report

Gov. Hochul says pledge to purge administration of Cuomo enablers on track

This report summarizes the higher profile personnel changes that have taken place in the 45 days since replacement NY Governor Kathy Hochul was sworn in after Andrew M. Cuomo's resignation in disgrace became effective.

Gov. Hochul said Thursday she’s made good on her 45-day pledge to clean house.

The governor touted administration appointments, internal overhauls and team-building over the past seven weeks as she replaced top aides to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo implicated in a state attorney general’s probe of her predecessor’s alleged sexual harassment....

Hochul assumed office in late August and changes to top posts in state government have gone well beyond those named in James’ report.

Howard Zucker, the highly criticized state health commissioner under Cuomo, resigned from his position late last month. Opponents have condemned Zucker’s handling of the COVID crisis and how officials responded to nursing home deaths during the pandemic....

Other members of Cuomo’s inner circle and cabinet have stepped down since Hochul took over, including Department of Financial Services superintendent Linda Lacewell and Inspector General Letizia Tagliafierro.

However, other close Cuomo confidantes remain, including budget czar Robert Mujica and Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton.

We're seeking a single report listing all the Cuomo administration officials who have either resigned or have been fired since Andrew M. Cuomo's resignation. We don't know if we'll find one, but we would like to simply document this aspect of the Cuomo scandals' aftermath in the timeline.

7 October 2021: Cuomo's COVID Vaccine Czar to Resign as Hochul Cleans House

Cuomo loyalist Schwartz to step down from MTA board as Hochul cleans house

45 days into replacement Governor Kathy Hochul is following through on removing Cuomo appointees whose names were associated with misconduct in the attorney general's report on Andrew M. Cuomo's alleged incidents of sexual harassment.

This report focuses on Larry Schwartz, the onetime COVID vaccine czar for the Cuomo administration, who used his position to "sound out" support for Cuomo among county level Democratic Party executives after news of the sexual harassment allegations broke. We put the words "sound out" in quotes because many interpreted his solicitation as a veiled threat to limit access to COVID vaccines if their support was not forthcoming at a time when the vaccines were in very short supply:

Metropolitan Transportation Authority board member Larry Schwartz, a staunch ally of disgraced ex-Governor Andrew Cuomo, will resign from his position at the MTA, Governor Kathy Hochul’s office announced Thursday, Oct. 7.

Schwartz will step down from the board when the State Senate confirms a replacement for him, likely when legislators return to Albany in January.

“Larry Schwartz will be resigning, effective when the Senate confirms his replacement, and the Governor is grateful for his public service,” Hochul spokesperson Hazel Crampton-Hays said in a statement....

At an unrelated press conference Thursday, Hochul claimed Schwartz offered to resign himself, rather than her asking him to leave.

“He offered to resign, he offered from the very beginning that if I wanted to bring in a new team, and we’ve been focused on cabinet positions and other positions, I’m shifting my attention to board positions now,” the governor said. “I thank him for his service he continues to be a voice of someone who knows the positions of New York State.”

In other words, he knew from the outset that he was going to be shown the door and co-operated enough with Hochul so that he was allowed to resign rather than be fired.

7 October 2021: State Senate Majority Leader Wants Cuomo to Quietly Think About What He's Done

Top Albany Dem cuts down Cuomo over email to die-hard supporters

This report is of interest mainly because it involves Andrew Stewart Cousins, who chose to participate in political events with Cuomo while he was still NY Governor, even after calling for his resignation over multiple sexual harassment allegations. As such, the report is also an indication of how elected officials in Cuomo's political party are viewing his efforts to discredit his perceived enemies.

The top Democrat in the New York state Senate said Wednesday that disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo should spend his sudden free time “in introspection” after he tried to play the victim in an email to supporters earlier this week....

State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins (D-Yonkers) took a dim view of Cuomo’s claims Wednesday night.

“I’m sorry that he’s doing this,” she told Spectrum News’ “Capital Tonight”. “I understand that he has a lot of time on his hands, but I was hoping that that time would be spent in introspection, frankly.”...

“I do believe that New York is in a good place, that we are focused on governing and that for him, I think it would be beneficial if he were going to keep his comments in a more positive light,” she said. “And again, I think it’s important that he spend some time looking at what happened, looking at the fact that once again, we have an attorney general that substantiated the claims of 11 — that wasn’t all of the people who came forward, but there were 11 people whose claims were substantiated.”

In other words, she wants Cuomo to go quietly stand in a corner and think about what he did.

7 October 2021: New U.S. Attorneys to Oversee Cuomo COVID Nursing Home Scandals Criminal Probes

Brooklyn and Manhattan get new Senate-confirmed federal prosecutors

On 6 October 2021, the U.S. Senate confirmed two new U.S. Attorneys for the Brooklyn and Manhattan divisions, which may impact the two offices' federal criminal investigations of Andrew M. Cuomo's COVID nursing home deaths scandal and cover-up.

Damian Williams, 41, was confirmed to be the US attorney for Manhattan’s Southern District, while Breon Peace was confirmed for the Eastern District — based in Brooklyn and including Long Island. Both must still be sworn in before they take up their new positions.

Williams — currently the chief of the securities and commodities unit at the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office — will be the first black person to serve in the role.

He will be replacing Audrey Strauss — mother-in-law of Melissa DeRosa, the top aide to disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo. DeRosa admitted to covering up the state’s nursing home death toll from COVID-19 so that the real numbers couldn’t “be used against us” by federal prosecutors during the Trump administration.

Melissa DeRosa is intricately involved in each of the Cuomo administration's major scandals. Exit question: Would Andrew M. Cuomo and the members of his administration implicated in the COVID nursing home deaths scandals have attempted to get away with what they pulled if DeRosa's mother-in-law was not serving in the U.S. Attorney's office?

6 October 2021: Cuomo Aides Told Hochul She Would be Dumped

Andrew Cuomo aides told Kathy Hochul she was off 2022 ticket before scandals

Unless something comes up involving the hapless, ethics-compromised host of CNN's Primetime broadcast, Chris Cuomo, we're calling this the bottom story of the day. That doesn't mean this report, which came out on 5 October 2021, is not interesting, but it does confirm the one-way hate relationship Andrew M. Cuomo had toward the woman who would succeed him as governor after he chose to resign in disgrace to avoid impeachment over allegations he sexually harassed multiple women.

In the following excerpt, we've focused on the comments made by members of "Team Cuomo":

Top aides to disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo told then-Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul in a phone call that she would be off the ticket come 2022 as Cuomo made plans to vie for a fourth term — before his political career was undone by an epic sex harassment scandal....

“It was like their mindset in 2018, they were thinking “we have progressive issues, we need someone downstate who has a relationship with the minority community, but who cares,” said a person familiar with the exchange.

“There was no relationship,” the person added, between Cuomo and Hochul....

“There was a concerted effort to sideline her as much as possible,” added a former Cuomo insider, who said the governor’s aides went to great pains to sideline Hochul and minimize her profile as much as possible. “It was true before and during the pandemic.”

A third source, familiar with Cuomo’s thinking, said that “there was a concern about diversity on the ticket.”...

Hochul received the phone call in late January, three sources confirmed to The Post.

Shortly after their message had been sent, Attorney General Letitia James released her office's blockbuster report confirming Team Cuomo was covering up the full extent of COVID-related deaths among New York nursing home residents. Many of these highly vulnerable residents became infected during the period the administration's deadly 25 March 2020 directive was in effect, as Cuomo administration officials forced nursing homes to blindly admit COVID patients being dumped out of hospitals to free up bed space.

That event started the cascade of actions that ultimately led to Andrew M. Cuomo's voluntary resignation.

6 October 2021: Lindsey Boylan Calls for Cuomo-Appointed State Democratic Party Chair to Resign

Cuomo sexual harassment accuser calls on Hochul to boot Dem boss Jay Jacobs

We're following this story as a footnote to this 5 October 2021 entry on the timeline, where we had picked up on the bizarrely genuflective behavior of Jay Jacobs, the chair of New York's state Democratic Party, toward the resigned-in-disgrace Andrew M. Cuomo. Apparently, we weren't the only ones who thought his actions were strange.

Andrew Cuomo’s sexual harassment accusers ripped the head of the state Democratic Party Tuesday for his “gross” decision to call the disgraced former governor before endorsing his successor — with one of the women demanding Gov. Kathy Hochul boot him from his post.

Lindsey Boylan, the first of 11 women to accuse Cuomo of sexual misconduct, declared Tuesday that Gov. Kathy Hochul should move to “get rid” of state Democratic Party boss Jay Jacobs.

“The governor should absolutely get rid of Jacobs, and whether she does or not will be a litmus test of whether she is more interested in doing the right thing, or consolidating her own power,” Boylan, who has said Cuomo harassed her repeatedly when she worked as a state economic development staffer, told The Post.

Jacobs on Monday revealed that he had placed a “courtesy call” to Cuomo out of “respect” before publicly declaring that he’s backing the disgraced governor’s replacement in her potential 2022 primary — a move critics decried as “unacceptable” and “preposterous.”

Considering that Hochul was going to be dumped by party officials from running on the Cuomo ticket in 2022, it would be in her interest to replace Jacobs with someone who places her interests ahead of those of Andrew M. Cuomo. Especially as she builds real support for her run for NY Governor.

We'll feature more of Hochul's "dumped by Cuomo" story as the bottom story of the day, unless breaking news involving Chris Cuomo develops....

5 October 2021: JCOPE's Commissioners to Investigate JCOPE Staff Over Cuomo Book Deal

JCOPE approves internal inquiry into Cuomo's book approval

New York's long dysfunctional Joint Commission on Public Ethics took a step toward sorting out how its staff came to approve Andrew M. Cuomo's pandemic "leadership" book deal. Andrew M. Cuomo personally profited to the tune of $5.12 million from the deal, diverting state government employees and resources to produce the book in the process. Here's the main takeaway from the report:

New York’s ethics commission is hiring outside counsel to conduct an inquiry into its own staff’s approval of former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s $5.1 million book deal last year.

The new chairman of the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, Jose Nieves, announced after a closed-door session on Tuesday that outside counsel would be be retained to examine "the legal and procedural operations of the commission." But the meeting was conducted to discuss whether to conduct an inquiry into JCOPE's approval of the book deal, a person with knowledge of the matter told the Times Union last week.

The report also describes some of the circumstances behind how JCOPE's staff came to greenlight Cuomo's book deal on 17 July 2021, without the participation of any of JCOPE's commissioners:

In 2012, JCOPE's commissioners had passed a resolution allowing JCOPE staff to unilaterally take certain actions between JCOPE's meetings.

In the summer of 2020, JCOPE regular meetings scheduled in June and August. But JCOPE did not have a meeting that July, the month when the book was quickly approved by JCOPE staff. In justifying approving the book, JCOPE's staff has cited the 2012 resolution, although that resolution did not state that formal outside income approvals were among the powers delegated to staff between meetings.

Unless specifically empowered to do so, the JCOPE staff's action appears to be awfully weaselly. As for Cuomo's use of state government resources, that's a matter that is also under investigation by the New York Assembly's judiciary committee as part of its impeachment probe and by the state attorney general, whose investigation began with a referral from the state comptroller.

The book deal is intricately linked with Cuomo's COVID nursing home deaths scandals. The NYDOH's report that senior Cuomo administration officials doctored to conceal the full extent of COVID-related deaths among nursing home residents in the state during the period the administration's deadly 25 March 2020 directive was in effect was being edited at the same time the book was being produced. The book deal gave Andrew M. Cuomo a personal profit motive to make his pandemic leaderhip performance appear to be a success, thereby contributing to the administration's attempted cover-up.

5 October 2021: Cuomo Threatens NY Dem Pols

Cuomo's 'dangerous moment' statement roils the Democratic waters

By resigning rather than being impeached, Andrew M. Cuomo not only retains the ability to run again for NY Governor, but to use the $18 million his political campaign organization has amassed after 10 years in power to go after his enemies in the state Democratic Party. This report indicates that on 4 October 2021, Cuomo sent a message that was immediately interpreted as a veiled threat by longtime NY political observers.

Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo further roiled the Democratic waters Monday with a statement to his past campaign supporters that "the state is in a dangerous moment" because of "government incompetence," setting off a barrage of speculation about whether he is thinking about running for the seat from which he resigned in August.

Cuomo didn’t say whether he would run for the office he held for three terms before he was accused of sexual harassment and his spokesman, Rich Azzopardi, wouldn’t elaborate on Cuomo’s statement.

"That was the best threat you ever saw," said Hank Sheinkopf, a veteran Democratic strategist in New York and Washington. "I think what he has in mind is to launch something … this is an attempt to gauge interest."...

Pollster Lee Miringoff said Cuomo's statement is aimed at trying to settle a score against James, whose political stature has risen after her investigation of the sexual harassment allegations.

"He’s trying to put his spin on history … how he was done in by a political witch hunt and that he is interested in counterpunching the person who done him in," Miringoff said.

Perhaps most telling was the reaction of Jay Jacobs, the head of New York's state Democratic Party:

"Well, it’s a less-than-friendly statement," said Jacobs. "I don’t know if I’d like to interpret those statements."

Also telling is that Jacobs, who was appointed to his position in the state Democratic party by Cuomo, is still genuflecting to Cuomo, even as he endorsed a 2022 run for governor by replacement Governor Kathy Hochul:

Further muddying the waters is the fact that Jacobs said he called Cuomo, an ally who appointed him to lead the state party, to give him a “heads-up” about the endorsement. “It was just a courtesy call. I called all the leaders. I’ve spoken to each of the major people who would consider being a major candidate – almost all of them,” Jacobs said. Questioned whether he thought Cuomo still holds significant political sway, Jacobs described Cuomo as a private citizen “not trying to advance any policy or views.” But he also said that he had not called any other former governor to alert him of the endorsement as a “courtesy,” adding that he plans to call former Gov. David Paterson.

The call to Cuomo raised eyebrows among political observers. “That kind of confirms the tea leaves that Cuomo is actively trying to influence what’s going on in Democratic Party politics, and is perceived as doing so,” said John Kaehny, executive director of Reinvent Albany, in an interview. Cuomo has not remained completely silent since leaving office as he and his surrogates have continued to cast doubt on the attorney general’s report. Shortly before Jacobs’ endorsement, his campaign sent an email to supporters in which he said he fears “the state is in a dangerous moment” with “extremists and political expediency” ruling.

We find it funny that Cuomo cited "government incompetence" in his statement, since most of that problem can be directly traced to his leadership. Particularly so, since replacement Governor Kathy Hochul has made little progress toward removing Cuomo's political appointees from the positions into which he placed them in the state government. If she's smart, she'll agree and take more steps to deal with the incompetence problem Cuomo left behind in Albany.

4 October 2021: Hochul Tries Again to Break Cuomo Influence at JCOPE

Seeking break from Cuomo, Hochul announces new ethics chair

As we speculated earlier today, Hochul has indeed identified new people to appoint to JCOPE. The following excerpt from this report identifies who they are and who they're replacing:

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the appointment of two new state ethics commissioners on Monday, including a new chairman to lead the embattled panel that she's pledged to reform.

The new chair of the Joint Commission on Public Ethics is Jose Nieves, a criminal defense attorney from Queens, who formerly worked in the state attorney general's office as deputy chief in the special investigations and prosecutions unit. Nieves also has worked for the U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration.

Hochul also appointed Sharon Stern Gerstman, an attorney with a Buffalo law firm, Magavern Magavern Grimm. Her areas of practice have focused on mediation and arbitration, litigation and appellate practice. Gerstman was president of the New York State Bar Association in 2017.

The two appointees are filling the seats formerly held by commissioners Robert Cohen and James Dering, who are resigning. Both had been appointed by former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, and had largely defended the governor's interests before the panel. Hochul has sought to distance herself from the former governor, especially after there was pushback following her first round of JCOPE appointments in September.

We'll soon see if these picks pan out any better for her than the last ones did. JCOPE will meet on Tuesday, 5 October 2021 to consider whether the JCOPE commissioners should investigate the JCOPE commission's staff for their role in approving Andrew M. Cuomo's $5.12 million pandemic "leadership" book deal.

4 October 2021: Cuomo Loyalist Resigning from JCOPE

After blowback for Hochul, JCOPE chair officially resigns

After causing considerable embarassment to replacement NY Governor Kathy Hochul, James Dering will resign, as planned, from chairing New York's Joint Commission on Public Ethics after holding one meeting. The following excerpt describes how the Cuomo loyalist contributed to thwarting an effort to rescind the approval JCOPE's staff granted to Andrew M. Cuomo to produce his pandemic "leadership" book.

After leading New York's ethics commission for one meeting, the body's chair James Dering has officially resigned, commissioners were told on Monday.

Gov. Kathy Hochul is expected to appoint a new commissioner to the panel for a special meeting that the Joint Commission on Public Ethics is holding on Tuesday, commissioners were informed by JCOPE staff.

At the Tuesday meeting, commissioners are expected to discuss whether to launch an internal inquiry into JCOPE staff's approval of former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's book deal last year. But it was not immediately clear who would chair the meeting.

Hochul's office did not immediately comment.

On Sept. 14, Hochul announced that Dering would be the new acting chair of JCOPE, which generated blowback from both the political right and left, since Dering had originally been appointed to the commission by Cuomo. Dering had worked as general counsel in the state Department of Health under Cuomo's administration, and before that, in the attorney general's office when Cuomo was there. That prompted critics to question whether Hochul was truly making a break from a former governor perceived as exerting influence over the commission, and who is currently the subject of its scrutiny.

During the meeting that ensued on Sept. 14, both Dering and a new Hochul appointee to JCOPE, Randall Hinrichs, voted against revoking JCOPE's approval of Cuomo's book deal; as a result, the commission fell one vote short of doing so.

In other words, Dering voted to support Andrew M. Cuomo's personal interest in collecting the $5.12 million proceeds from his pandemic "leadership" book deal, despite his using state employees and state resources to produce it.

As we noted above, Dering's resignation was planned weeks ago, so the timing indicates Hochul has likely identified a successor that should let her put more of her own stamp on the body. Hopefully, she learned from her last fiasco.

4 October 2021: NY Assy Cuomo Report in "a Couple of Weeks, Maybe a Month or Two"

'There's Absolutely More Need': Catalina Cruz on Aid for Immigrant New Yorkers, the Assembly Cuomo Investigation & More

NY Assembly Judiciary Committee member Catalina Cruz doesn't have any idea when the committee will release its impeachment probe report on Andrew M. Cuomo's conduct in office. Here are her comments on the topic from this report. We've emphasized her comments on the timing since that's where most of the new information is:

Cruz also discussed the Assembly Judiciary Committee’s impeachment investigation of now-former Governor Andrew Cuomo. While his resignation led Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie to call off the impeachment proceedings but for referrals and a report, some were disappointed with his decision and many are eager to see the findings, however incomplete.

“I don’t have a date yet but I suspect we are not looking to extend this beyond a couple of weeks, maybe a month or two,” said Cruz, who is an attorney and sits on the judiciary committee. “Because I think people want to know, people want to hear what’s in that evidence, what was in that report.”

Asked about the report, Cruz confirmed that it would include significant information beyond issues related to the former governor’s pattern of sexual harassment that was outlined in the report issued by Attorney General Letitia James, which led to additional calls for resignation, impeachment, and prosecution, and to Cuomo’s decision to resign. Those issues include the governor’s use of government resources on his covid book memoir, Cuomo’s nursing home covid scandal, and more.

Cruz also took a moment to address how Cuomo and his allies have been pushing back against the attorney general and Assembly.

“The governor’s implying that this has all been some kind of political attack on him and his character,” Cruz said. “That this is some kind of war against him and his character. It’s not. This is a war against corruption in Albany. This is a war against corruption in government. This is a war against sexual harassment of staff.”

It doesn't sound like she's too terribly concerned about the committee producing its report on the timely schedule its chairman indicated just two weeks ago.

3 October 2021: After 10+ Years, SNL Attempts to Lampoon Cuomo

Gone but not forgotten, Cuomo mocked on 'SNL'

This report is what passes for news when legal developments and political events have become the pacing events for the unfolding Cuomo nursing home deaths scandals. If you read the following excerpts closely, you'll find why the last decade of Saturday Night Live has lacked any real weight in its attempts at satire:

Pete Davidson, who first appeared as the embattled governor earlier this year, returned in Saturday's season premiere as part of an opening sketch featuring new and veteran cast members as prominent Democrats.

That included James Austin Johnson making his debut as President Joseph Biden. "How was everybody's summer? Mine was bad," he said from behind the presidential podium. "Not Cuomo bad, but definitely not Afghanistan good."

"It's going to be more than OK — take it from me, Governorish Andrew Cuomo," he says. "House Democrats have had each other's backs no matter what. We're like one big Italian family. And you know what Italians love to do? Hug, and kiss, and run their fingers up each other's backs."

Referring to the Build Back Better bill that's at the center of the current Democratic schism, Cuomo says the legislation deserves "a second chance, then a third chance — then at least up to 11 chances." A report from the state attorney general's office examined allegations of sexual misconduct leveled against Cuomo by that number of women, ranging from inappropriate touching to workplace sexual harassment.

Cuomo then touts his new memoir, titled "Whoops."

Cuomo managed to escape being satirized on "SNL" for most of his tenure — unlike his predecessor, David Paterson, who criticized the show for Fred Armisen's portrayal of him during his time in office.

Note the absence of any mention or reference to Andrew M. Cuomo's COVID nursing home deaths scandals. We don't fault the performers whose talent manages to be underutilized, but rather SNL's writers and producers, who were too cowardly to take Cuomo on while he was in office and only delivered the weak sauce described above after he resigned in disgrace to avoid impeachment. What does it say about them that they are still too cowardly to take on Cuomo's more serious scandals when he's out of power?

They might as well make it official and move the show to CNN.

2 October 2021: Opinion - Cuomo's Outrageous War on His Accusers

Cuomo’s outrageous war on his accusers

This opinion piece was authored by left-wing activists Heidi Sieck and Camille Rivera. In it, they focus on Andrew M. Cuomo's alleged serial sexual harassment and his recent media campaign without referencing any of his other scandals.

New Yorkers need to focus on recovering from the pandemic and keeping our families safe and healthy. We need to focus on fixing what’s broken here in our state, not continue giving a soapbox to the person who caused so much damage in the first place.

Before former Gov. Cuomo resigned, he worked to discredit his survivors, and when that didn’t work, he tried to undermine the press. Less than a month after resigning in disgrace, Cuomo, has come out of hiding to rear his ugly political heart and attack the most powerful woman of color in New York State politics, Attorney General Letitia James.

In a series of emails to his “Team Cuomo” political list, Cuomo blamed James and “cancel culture” for ending his political career. As Attorney General Tish James said at this week’s Association for a Better New York event: “Mr. Cuomo has a lot to say on these matters, but he has never taken responsibility for his own conduct.” By taking no responsibility and attempting to gaslight us, Cuomo has succeeded in reinforcing exactly why we all wanted him removed from power....

James’ report did not end Cuomo’s career. Cuomo’s behavior ended his career. He harassed and groped multiple women who worked for him. This is predatory and disturbing, and it is illegal. There need to be consequences for harassment and groping, and if the former governor had any integrity at all, he would take responsibility for that behavior. The attorney general did her job. The esteemed lawyers she deputized thoroughly investigated the allegations, bringing toxic, predatory illegal behavior to light. They uncovered a system of abuse by Cuomo and the coverup by his inner circle that made Albany a toxic place to work for everyone, especially for women.

This is not complicated. Cuomo broke the law, over and over. He is a serial harasser who got caught. The blame for his downfall is his alone. This is the behavior of a man who never expected consequences, who never thought that mistreating women would impact his political ambitions, and who never wanted to be out of the limelight. The bullying, the gaslighting and the unprofessional attacks are a sad attempt to maintain a future in public office — and he continues to victimize women as part of that process.

Sieck and Rivera also describe Team Cuomo's latest media campaign as "propaganda of the highest order".

1 October 2021: NY's Impotent Ethics Commission May Probe Itself Over Cuomo Book Deal

JCOPE mulls internal Cuomo book inquiry

How messed up is the Joint Committee on Public Ethics? This report indicates the body may soon investigate its own staff for their role in greenlighting Andrew M. Cuomo's pandemic "leadership" book deal. That would be the same book that leaks from the upcoming NY Assembly's impeachment probe report indicates will show Cuomo personally profited from unlawfully diverting state resources to produce it.

New York's ethics commission will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, and according to a person with knowledge of the matter, is set to discuss whether to launch an internal inquiry into last year's approval of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's $5.1 million book deal.

While a meeting notice issued on Friday did not list the meeting's topic, a source said that a motion is likely to be put forward by David McNamara, a Senate Republican appointee on the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, seeking the internal inquiry.

During a conference call on Thursday with JCOPE commissioners, the body's executive director, Sanford Berland, was said to have resisted launching the inquiry looking at the actions of their staff, as well as those of certain former commissioners, since it could hurt morale.

At the JCOPE meeting scheduled for Tuesday, if the motion receives eight commissioner votes in favor and moves ahead, the review would likely focus on how JCOPE's deputy general counsel, Martin Levine, came to approve Cuomo's book deal on July, 17, 2020. The book, "American Crisis," focused on Cuomo's early response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The move comes shortly after a leak indicating the NY Assembly's impeachment probe will confirm Andrew M. Cuomo unlawfully diverted state resources to produce the book from which he personally profited to the tune of $5.12 million.

As for why we described JCOPE as impotent in the headline for this entry, that's because of Sanford Berland's odd choice to put the "morale" of the commission's staff ahead of the public's interest. That's the kind of signal that gives aid and comfort to those who aspire to get all they can get from looking the other way at ethical misconduct.

1 October 2021: Hochul Seeks Ouster of Cuomo Appointee Michael Green

Hochul seeks DCJS commissioner's resignation

Another high-ranking Cuomo appointee has been asked to resign by NY replacement Governor Kathy Hochul. This report is tangental to the Cuomo administration's COVID nursing home deaths scandals, in that it describes another cover-up of alleged misconduct by state government officials:

Michael C. Green, who has been executive deputy commissioner of the state Division of Criminal Justice Services since 2012, has been asked by Gov. Kathy Hochul to step aside as her administration continues to replace appointees of former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, according to two people with knowledge of the matter....

Green won accolades for his work at the helm of the 400-member agency, which handles an array of criminal justice initiatives ranging from law enforcement training and accreditation to administering the state’s Sex Offender Registry and DNA Databank. The agency also oversees forensic crime laboratories statewide and has developed programs to help curb gun violence.

But Green's tenure at DCJS was tarnished by his handling of a sexual harassment case in which a former director of the agency's Office of Forensic Science, Brian J. Gestring, was found by the state inspector general's to have threatened female employees with physical violence and engaged in years of sexual harassment. Gestring, a former New York Police Department scientist, was later fired in 2018 for an unrelated incident — after the Times Union published a story chronicling his case. He had been director of the state forensic unit since 2012.

The investigation of Gestring revealed a history of offensive and inappropriate behavior that began shortly after he started working for DCJS. Records indicate that about four months after Gestring was hired, he received two counseling memos for misbehavior. Gestring signed the memos certifying that had read them, but added handwritten notes claiming he disagreed with the findings, had been forced to sign them, and that staff at DCJS had "agendas," according to details of the inspector general's investigation shared with the Times Union three years ago.

"Significantly, no action was taken (by DCJS) to address this defiant response and mitigate further misconduct in the future," the inspector general's office concluded in a confidential summary of its investigation.

Where this story overlaps with Andrew M. Cuomo's various scandals is the tolerance displayed by Cuomo administration officials for a toxic work environment. The environment Andrew M. Cuomo and his loyalists fostered would later enable them to engage in actions that directly led to their COVID nursing home deaths scandals, and for that matter, the sexual harassment allegations that compelled Cuomo to resign from power rather than face impeachment.

1 October 2021: Report - NY Assembly Impeachment Report Will Corroborate Cuomo Sexual Harassment Allegations

A 2nd Cuomo Investigation Is Expected to Confirm Harassment Claims

This report came out on on 30 September 2021. In it, the New York Times' confirms the NY Assembly's impeachment probe will corroborate many of the allegations of sexual harassment committed by Andrew M. Cuomo against multiple women.

For Mr. Cuomo, the outcome of the inquiry could cement the stain of the sexual harassment allegations on his legacy, and lead to additional fallout: The investigation is also scrutinizing whether Mr. Cuomo deliberately obscured the number of nursing home deaths during the pandemic or unlawfully used state resources to write his pandemic memoir, which earned him $5.1 million.

Assemblyman David Weprin, a Democrat from Queens, said the investigation “is going to reach a conclusion similar to some of the findings of the attorney general.”

The Assembly’s lawyers subpoenaed a broad array of documents from Mr. Cuomo and his office in late July, requesting communications related to sexual harassment by Mr. Cuomo, with a particular focus on 13 women, according to a person familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the subpoena publicly.

Meanwhile, the report also indicates that the remnants of Team Cuomo's dead-ender partisan loyalists are turning into full whack-job conspiracy theorists:

Mr. Cuomo on Wednesday suggested that Ms. James be compelled to answer a series of 10 questions that his spokesman, Rich Azzopardi, posted on Twitter; Mr. Cuomo retweeted the list.

“It should raise serious red flags that the attorney general and her staff duck every time specific questions about omissions and inaccuracies in the attorney general’s report are raised,” Mr. Azzopardi said on Wednesday. “The public deserves specific answers from the attorney general as to the credibility of her report — especially while she mulls a run for governor.”

On Thursday, Mr. Azzopardi described the attorney general report as “fraudulent,” adding, “The Assembly is now in a box: They must either reveal the fraud or be complicit in the fraud.”

Andrew M. Cuomo desperately needs better PR people and more legal help. Speaking of which, one lawmaker from Cuomo's political party weighed in on the kooky claims:

Some lawmakers said that they had found some discrepancies between the attorney general’s report and the underlying evidence from the investigation — such as the date that an alleged incident of sexual harassment took place — but that the errors did not undermine the overarching conclusions of the investigation.

“I haven’t found any of the governor’s arguments very convincing,” said Assemblyman Phil Steck, a Democrat who represents parts of Schenectady. “The question is, is the discrepancy really material or not material? And so far, what they appear to have raised is not material.”

More significantly, Steck also indicated that Andrew M. Cuomo exploited state government employees and resources to produce his pandemic "leadership" book for his own personal gain.

“It certainly appears from the evidence I’m familiar with that people were working on the book during regular business hours when it was not plausible for them to argue that they were not on government time, so to speak,” Mr. Steck said.

The report also gives an indication of the kind of evidence the Assembly's impeachment probe investigators have collected regarding Team Cuomo's cover-up of the full extent of COVID deaths among nursing home residents during the period their deadly 25 March 2020 directive was in effect:

Investigators have also requested a broad array of documents related to nursing home deaths, including drafts of a Department of Health report that Cuomo officials rewrote last year to include a smaller number of nursing home deaths.

Michael Montesano, the highest-ranking Republican on the Assembly’s judiciary committee, said the Assembly had “hundreds of emails and text messages that address this issue, that go between all the top people from his office.”

With the exception of the apparent corroboration of the sexual harassment claims contained in the state attorney general's 3 August 2021 report and the response of Cuomo loyalists to them, which has been the primary topic of coverage for the New York Times, the report contained little new information.

30 September 2021: NY Assembly Judiciary Committee Still Planning to Release Cuomo Impeachment Probe Report

Judiciary Committee continuing with plan to release impeachment inquiry report on Cuomo

This report is not really news, because the NY Assembly Judiciary Committee hasn't yet released the findings from its impeachment probe of Andrew M. Cuomo's alleged misconduct in office or indicated exactly when it will. So let's call it what it is: a status update:

The New York Assembly Judiciary Committee is still moving forward with its plan to release a report following an impeachment inquiry into former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

It’s still unclear when the report will be completed or made public.

Members of the Judiciary Committee were able to look at evidence related to the investigation about a month ago, but committee member Phil Steck said members have not met since reviewing the evidence.

Sounds pretty typical for the Judiciary Committee. We look forward to their next status update.