Showing posts sorted by relevance for query better PR people. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query better PR people. Sort by date Show all posts

Friday, May 07, 2021

7 May 2021: Cuomo's Search for Better PR People to Intensify

Another top aide leaves Cuomo, as governor’s office shuffles ranks

We have a running joke about Governor Cuomo's constant search for better PR people and more legal help. This report reveals how shallow Team Cuomo's available PR talent pool is becoming as staffers flee for greener pastures:

A top aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo — communications director Peter Ajemian — is the latest to resign from the administration as it faces multiple investigations into sexual harassment allegations and a probe of its handling of nursing home patient deaths from COVID-19.

Ajemian became head of Cuomo’s communication department barely a year ago in August 2020, taking over from longtime aide Dani Lever after she took a job with Facebook.

That's bad enough, but then the Cuomo administration's PR problems got even worse:

The governor’s office announced longtime aide Rich Azzopardi — Cuomo’s current senior adviser and spokesman — will be replacing Ajemian, amid an omnibus email with a slew of new hires Friday afternoon.

Things must be going pretty badly in Team Cuomo's bunker for Azzopardi to become the administration's new head PR flack. Here is one reaction to the extreme Cuomo loyalist's promotion:

Follow this link to find timeline entries to find out why Governor Cuomo's search for better PR people is about to intensify.

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Thursday, January 20, 2022

20 January 2022: Transcripts - Cuomo Was Desperate for Better PR People

We keep saying it, because it's true. Andrew M. Cuomo is desperately seeking better PR people and more legal help. The following excerpt from this report confirms that truth:

After then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s offer of $100,000 a month didn’t convince PR exec Maggie Moran to handle crisis communications when sexual harassment allegations emerged last year, the disgraced pol’s office tried “Italian guilt” as a lure.

It didn’t work either.

The revelation is included in a transcript of a July 2021 deposition during which Moran, a Cuomo ally who served as campaign manager for his 2018 re-election bid, answered questions from lawyers with the New York Attorney General’s Office, which was at the time investigating accusations of improper behavior by Cuomo. New York Attorney General Letitia James released the 232-page document on Thursday as part of the final tranche of official materials related to the probe.

The report also provides a window into the disturbing morality of PR people:

Moran, who was then a managing partner at high-powered PR agency Kivvit, testified during the deposition that “Cuomo world” had asked her and Kivvit to help prop up the governor’s rapidly declining image. While Cuomo was fending off the sexual harassment claims, he was simultaneously being investigated by state authorities for allegedly undercounting COVID-19 deaths in New York nursing homes by as much as 50 percent.

“The nursing home [issue], to me, was a different deal,” Moran said in her testimony. “You know, [Cuomo aide] Melissa [DeRosa] said one word out of context, they probably disclosed the numbers, nobody had a playbook during the pandemic, that felt, to me, like something that was worthwhile to work on.”

But the harassment allegations, Moran continued, “I just didn't really want any part of.” She said she decided not to help with the nursing home probe “once the allegations started.”

PR person Maggie Moran now works hard to improve the image of the cannabis industry.

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Wednesday, July 21, 2021

21 July 2021: Team Cuomo Engages in Smears of Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara

Gov. Cuomo’s team promotes fishy story about Preet Bharara as smokescreen

The remnants of Team Cuomo are becoming especially busy engaging in smear campaigns against prosecuting attorneys. In addition to their now months-long campaign to discredit the criminal investigations of New York State Attorney General Letitia "Tish" James, they are now using similar tactics to attack former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s people have been putting out a very fishy story that Preet Bharara is putting out feelers about a run for governor in 2022 — as a way to undermine the investigation into Randy Andy.

Insiders in Cuomo’s camp are whispering loudly that Bharara, the former federal prosecutor who served as the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2009 to 2017, is making inquiries in New York Democratic circles about a possible run next year

But this April, Bharara, 52, just sold his company Cafe Studios, the podcast-first publisher, to Vox Media. Insiders say Bharara has made a commitment to Vox to stay with the company and develop fresh projects as well as continue to build his flagship show, “Stay Tuned with Preet.” Which means he can’t run for office.

The report then digs into the reasons for Team Cuomo's recent smear attempts:

So why are Cuomo’s people loudly suggesting Bharara is going to run? Because Bharara’s former deputy and successor, former acting US Attorney Joon Kim, was appointed by Attorney General Letitia James to lead the inquiry into the sexual harassment and misconduct allegations that have shadowed Cuomo for many months.

Kim is working with employment discrimination attorney Anne Clark and their findings will go in a public report expected to be released next month. They are believed to have interviewed Cuomo and some of his staffers this past weekend.

A Democratic source said, “This is a tactic by Camp Cuomo to undermine the federal investigation. If Preet could be seen as an opponent to Cuomo, they think they could [further] question Kim’s impartiality.” Another source says the rumors are not being put out by a Cuomo staffer, rather someone else in his orbit.

As with their attempted smears of Tish James' motives, Team Cuomo appears to not have any evidence to support its smears on Bharara.

But they are indeed very interested in tarnishing James' investigator, former Deputy U.S. Attorney Joon Kim:

A spokesperson for Cuomo didn’t hold back when asked about Kim: “Mr. Kim’s bias and acrimonious history with Governor Cuomo is a well-known fact after years of public battles separate and apart from Bharara. Just Google Joon Kim and Governor Cuomo and that fact is abundantly clear.”

If we had to guess from the tone-deafness of the comments and the absence of any specific evidence to support them, the spokesperson was almost certainly Cuomo loyalist and chief PR flack Richard Azzopardi. Governor Cuomo has been seeking better PR people and more legal help for many months. It's an open question of whether Cuomo's desperate need for better PR people is driving his need for more legal help.

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Friday, February 18, 2022

18 February 2022: Andrew M. Cuomo's PR Staff Could Dearly Cost Cuomo in Civil Lawsuit

After tweets, Cuomo's spokesman named as defendant by 'Trooper 1'

It's become something of a running gag here at the timeline, but whenever we say Andrew M. Cuomo desperately needs better PR people and more legal help, it is because it is true.

Although Cuomo himself doesn't seem to understand how badly served his PR team is serving him, legal developments in the first civil lawsuit Cuomo is facing from his myriad of alleged sexual harassment victims have quickly emphasized how badly Cuomo continues to be served by his PR team. Which we should note has dwindled to just the person of Richard Azzopardi, whose latest PR efforts have resulted in the first civil lawsuit filed against Andrew M. Cuomo being amended to include Azzopardi as a co-defendant. Here's an excerpt from the Albany Times-Union's coverage:

Attorneys for a State Police investigator who filed a federal lawsuit against Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo amended their federal complaint on Friday morning to include the former governor's spokesman, Richard Azzopardi, as a defendant in the case after he tweeted remarks a day earlier attacking her legal team.

Azzopardi, in response to lawsuit filed on behalf of the State Police investigator on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, accused her attorneys of seeking to "extort" a settlement in the case.

In response to his remarks, an amended federal complaint was filed by attorneys Valdi Licul and John S. Crain, who are with the Wigdor law firm in Manhattan, naming Azzopardi as a defendant in the case along with Cuomo, former Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa and the State Police.

Azzopardi said his remarks are "protected free speech" and that his reference to extorting money referred to a letter that Licul sent to DeRosa's attorney last September alleging that DeRosa had enabled the governor's alleged misconduct and urging her to consider some type of settlement agreement.

Douglas Wigdor, a founding partner of the law firm representing the trooper, also sent Azzopardi a message on LinkedIn, an employment-related online service, demanding that "the former governor immediately disavow the statement and that you immediately retract the statement," according to a copy of the message posted on Twitter by Azzopardi. "Otherwise, we will immediately file an action for defamation against you and the former governor and our client will add retaliation claims."

Azzopardi stood by his remarks on Friday.

"I'm not afraid of these ambulance-chasing hucksters," he said. "This is clearly protected free speech that is supported by actual facts; and while I'm no lawyer there is no way this thing against me is not going to get laughed out of court."

The 31-year-old State Police investigator, whose identity is being withheld by the Times Union, alleges Cuomo sexually harassed and inappropriately touched her after a top former aide told State Police to change the rules so that she would qualify to be placed on the former governor's protective detail.

The report continues to provide more background into the allegations raised by the state trooper who claims she was systematically targeted by Cuomo for sexual harassment. Do click through to read the whole thing!

In our previous entry, we noted that Azzopardi's response to the civil lawsuit would "mean Cuomo will be writing larger settlement checks requiring extra commas and zeroes." And that was well before we had any knowledge of the trooper's attorneys amending their lawsuit filing to include Azzopardi as a defendant, making our observation come true.

Some days, predicting the future is like shooting fish in a barrel.

Then again, that's easy when some things never change. Like Andrew M. Cuomo's desperate need for better PR people and more legal help.

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Thursday, April 22, 2021

22 April 2021: PR Flack Launches Weak Attack from Team Cuomo Bunker

Gov. Cuomo aide doubles down on attacking NY AG Letitia James: 'Maybe I just call it how I see it'

Have we mentioned Governor Cuomo has been looking for better PR people for some time now? This report helps demonstrate the bunker mentality that explains why:

Embattled New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s spokesman doubled down on attacking state Attorney General Letitia James, who is currently investigating the governor.

Richard Azzopardi, a senior adviser to the scandal-clad Cuomo, told The New York Times on Monday that the state government had "officially jumped the shark" with James’ new investigation into the governor’s alleged use of state resources to pen his memoir, "American Crisis."...

Cuomo’s aide doubled down on his comments in a tweet responding to the piece published by Albany Times-Union columnist Chris Churchill criticizing the governor’s team’s response to the investigation.

Here's the tweet:

Curiously, Azzopardi's tweet reaffirmed the points raised by Chris Churchill in a recent column, which we covered here in the timeline in the following entry:

Here's a sampling of some of the timeline's other coverage of the tone-deaf PR statements coming out from Team Cuomo's bunkered position:

Governor Cuomo has known for some time about his administration's deficient PR output. It's a big reason why he has been actively looking for better PR people and more legal help.

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Wednesday, March 31, 2021

31 March 2021: Governor Cuomo Looking for Better PR People and Legal Help

NY Gov. Cuomo is hunting for crisis PR help as he battles negative press

This report may be a sign that Governor Cuomo is coming to the realization that he is not well served by Senior Advisor Richard Azzopardi. It is definitely a sign the Cuomo administration knows it needs legal help:

Embattled New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's team has been calling some of the nation's most seasoned crisis PR specialists for media help, three sources told Insider.

Cuomo currently has criminal defense lawyer Rita Glavin, who exited law firm Seward & Kissel this month to set up her own firm, Glavin LLC and has been issuing press statements on his behalf....

Three PR sources confirmed that Cuomo's team has been calling around for the past few weeks, most recently late last week. It is unclear if Cuomo's team has hired anybody, though at least one high-profile crisis PR firm said they are looking at how they can get on board.

Another person familiar with New York's political elite said that Cuomo is friendly with crisis PR executive Ken Sunshine of Sunshine Sachs. The firm has also done work for Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. Sunshine declined to comment on whether he is advising the Governor.

These are people you don't have to hire unless your current team isn't up to the task. They are also people you don't have to hire if you haven't hurt lots of people, but that's a different scandal.

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Monday, April 19, 2021

19 April 2021: Who Is Paying for Governor Cuomo's Legal Help?

Who's paying Cuomo's lawyers? Some details are scarce

Have we mentioned that Governor Cuomo is looking for better PR people and more legal help?

That running gag aside, Governor Cuomo has indeed been hiring a lot of law firms to defend him from the multiple scandals. This report reveals just how many:

As Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo faces investigations on several fronts, four law firms have confirmed they’re doing legal work for Cuomo or his office.

The attorneys were retained in the wake of an investigation by the state attorney general's office, which is probing multiple sexual harassment and misconduct allegations against Cuomo, and a separate investigation by the FBI and U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn. The federal investigation is examining whether Cuomo's administration deliberately manipulated data on nursing home deaths during the coronavirus pandemic.

But as the work by the private attorneys has proceeded for nearly two months, details about the legal arrangements remain murky.

None of the contracts for legal services have been submitted for approval to Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office, potentially running afoul of state finance law.

Cuomo’s office also isn’t saying whether the governor will front the money for any attorneys representing him personally. In addition, it's unclear whether taxpayers will be on the hook for other state officials’ legal costs, including members of the governor's coronavirus task force.

New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is best known to Cuomo scandal watchers as the man who dragged his heels before ultimately choosing to pass the buck in making an official referral for New York's State Attorney General to launch a full criminal investigation of Governor Cuomo and his administration's officials.

As for evidence that Governor Cuomo is still looking for better PR people, the report contains this gem:

In a statement, Cuomo senior advisor Richard Azzopardi said none of the four law firms have been paid money.

“We are in the process of finalizing these contracts and related documents for review and approval by the comptroller’s office,” Azzopardi said. “We are abiding by all applicable rules and standards and in matters like this it is not uncommon for legal representation to begin while the contracts are simultaneously being drafted for submission. Doing it the other way could potentially leave the Chamber and its employees without representation.”

The article lists several of the attorneys willing to work for free while their contracts are being "negotiated", including Paul Fishman (Arnold & Porter), Mitra Hormozi (Walden Macht & Haran), and Rita Glavin (former U.S. attorney). It's a fair bet that none of the services by those listed above are inexpensive.

Exit question: If Governor Cuomo is successfully impeached and removed from office as a consequence of any misdeeds, are New York's taxpayers on the hook for his legal bills, or is he?

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Thursday, April 22, 2021

22 April 2021: NY Senate Majority Leader Under Fire for "Normalizing" Cuomo

Stewart-Cousins rebuked for standing with Gov. Cuomo after calling for resignation

Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Westchester), the majority leader in New York's Senate, is now facing a backlash from her choice to appear at a publicity event with Governor Andrew Cuomo, despite having called for his resignation over sexual harassment allegations.

Stewart-Cousins called for Cuomo’s resignation over a month ago, on March 7, naming allegations of sexual misconduct, a toxic work environment plaguing the executive chamber and the scandal surrounding the state’s handling of COVID-19 in nursing homes as reasons for significant “distraction” for the governor.

Erica Vladimir, co-founder of the Sexual Harassment Working Group — comprised of former state legislative staff — said Stewart-Cousins sent mixed signals by sharing the event with Cuomo.

“It crosses messages and now instead of being able to focus on getting things done for this legislative session, she needs to address this and she’s going to have to do this publicly,” she told The Post.

That wasn't the only criticism:

“I hope that it’s not a signal for others to think it’s okay to stand with him. When we don’t have accountability for his actions,” said state Assemblyman Ron Kim (D-Queens), a frequent critic of the governor.

“I think we as Democrats completely lose credibility in calling for any kind of justice in any issue. We shouldn’t normalize these behaviors by standing with him on any issue.”

He added that while he understands Stewart-Cousins may be in a tough position as the event occurred in her district, if Cuomo asked him to attend an event in his district, he would decline.

“I wouldn’t show up because what are we telling our society? He sexually assaulted a staffer. He groped a woman in his workplace? In what other industry, in what other world is this okay?”

And then there's this:

Ana Liss, one of Cuomo’s former staffers who has accused him of misconduct, pointed to a tweet by state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi (D-Bronx) Thursday morning that encouraged the prevention of sexual violence.

“April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, so how can you prevent sexual violence?” Biaggi tweeted.

“Don’t participate in the *normalization* of abusive people & behaviors, make excuses for known abusers, or pretend it’s not real. That’s abusive.”

“I agree with Alessandra Biaggi’s point, and I don’t think it was a wise decision. Given the circumstances, no one should be going about their lives as though things are ‘business as usual,’ especially elected officials in the governor’s orbit. Especially during Sexual Assault Awareness month,” Liss told The Post.

Rather than address the criticisms herself, Stewart-Cousins responded through a member of her political party's public relations team:

A spokesman for Stewart-Cousins defended her decision, arguing she stands by her calls for Cuomo to step down.

“Our position on the governor has not changed. He should resign. This event was in her district and it is critically important that people get vaccinated and that all efforts are made to make sure that happens,” said Mike Murphy, spokesman for the state Senate Democrats.

In other words, the spokesman is saying Andrea Stewart-Cousins believes the people of her district will not get vaccinated for COVID-19 unless she attends events with Governor Cuomo in her district because he can persuade them more effectively than she can even though she wants him to resign.

If that's the best rationale the party's PR flack can come up with for her participation in the event, perhaps Governor Cuomo won't be the only one looking for better PR people. Or perhaps she's not really all that serious about seeking his resignation, which would be the Occam's razor interpretation.

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Friday, March 18, 2022

18 March 2022: Opinion - Creepy Andrew Cuomo Won’t Stop Gaslighting New Yorkers

Creepy Andrew Cuomo Just Can’t Stop Gaslighting New Yorkers

This opinion piece by the Daily Beast's Harry Siegel has the subhead "The man whose policies as governor created nursing home deaths he took pains to hide is up in arms about "social death penalty". The following excerpt contrasts Cuomo's idea of being subjected to a "social death penalty" with the actual death penalty Cuomo inflicted upon nursing home residents through his deadly 25 March 2020 directive and subsequent cover-up:

Having stepped down with $18 million in campaign funds still at his disposal, he’s running TV ads promoting himself and his decade as governor. He’s also giving speeches, with one Thursday as the guest of an infamously virulent homophobe. Before an audience including a former lawmaker expelled from the New York City Council for sexual harassment and ethics violations, the former governor decried a “cancel culture” he called “a social death penalty” and “modern day stoning.”

In addition to the $18 million in campaign funds, Cuomo left office with the $5.1 million he was paid for his since-pulped quickie book on the “Leadership Lessons” he supposedly provided while “leading” New York through a pandemic that killed nearly 70,000 New Yorkers. The death toll included thousands of nursing home deaths that resulted from his policies while he did his damndest to keep that information from coming out.

That was a death penalty, and not a “social” one.

But wait, there's more....

“When people die, it’s the No. 1 issue,” Cuomo said, about crime. It takes chutzpah for the governor for the last 10 years to say things are terrible because of the politicians.

It takes nerve for him to say that about “when people die” given the deaths on his watch from a virus that he kept trying to wish away, long after the threat was clear (again, sound familiar?). He just droned on about how “Worse than the virus right now is the fear pandemic“ and then, after finally acknowledging the danger, needlessly created deadly delays to bigfoot New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

As he goes about his gaslighting campaign, which we think is really aimed at influencing the potential pool of jurors who will decide the outcome of the civil lawsuits he expects to face, Andrew M. Cuomo is following both a PR and a legal strategy. Andrew M. Cuomo desperately needs better PR people and more legal help.

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18 March 2022: Cuomo Staffers Try Escape Being Defendants in Trooper's Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

Top Cuomo aides seek to get out of lawsuit filed by female trooper

This report covers an attempt by two of Andrew M. Cuomo's top staffers, former Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa and chief PR flack Richard Azzopardi, to escape being held responsible in a civil lawsuit for their actions related to Andrew M. Cuomo's alleged sexual harassment of a female state trooper.

Here's an excerpt (do click through to the article to read the whole thing):

Two of Andrew M. Cuomo's top former aides are seeking to be removed as defendants in a lawsuit filed by a State Police investigator who accused the former governor of sexually harassing, kissing and inappropriately touching her while she was assigned to his protective detail.

An attorney for former Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa and Richard Azzopardi, who remains a spokesman for Cuomo, wrote a letter to U.S. District Court this week indicating he will file a motion to have the federal complaint against them dismissed. DeRosa is accused in the lawsuit of aiding and abetting Cuomo's alleged misconduct, and both are accused of retaliating against the female trooper.

The accusations by the trooper — identified in the attorney general's report as "Trooper 1" — were among the most damaging leveled against Cuomo, who had urged a senior investigator on his protective detail to offer the now-31-year-old female investigator a job on the special unit that protects the governor. Two years ago, when pressed about the governor's role in getting the trooper on his detail after meeting her at an event in New York City, Cuomo had denied having any role in her transfer.

The attorney general's report also confirmed information that Times Union had asked Cuomo's office in 2020: the State Police's minimum qualification rules had been changed in order to get the female trooper on the governor's protective detail. She alleged Cuomo later routinely engaged in inappropriate conduct, including touching her, kissing her on the cheek and asking her questions about clothing, personal life and marriage.

Paul Shechtman, an attorney for DeRosa and Azzopardi, contends that neither DeRosa nor Azzopardi retaliated against the trooper, whose identity is being withheld by the Times Union. He said they were "private citizens" at the time they made comments accusing the trooper or her attorneys of trying to "extort" money from the governor.

Acting Nassau County District Attorney Joyce Smith described the female trooper's allegations as "credible, deeply troubling, but not criminal under New York law" when she announced she would not pursue criminal charges on 23 December 2021. Cuomo's own personal attorney, Rita Glavin, has publicly acknowledged Cuomo "may have very well touched the state trooper’s back", in which "she may have understood it one way and he understood it another way", which is slimy lawyerese for admitting there is real substance behind the trooper's allegations.

Since then, the state of New York has passed several laws to address the legal deficiencies in the state's laws for sexual harassment that provided the loopholes that effectively allowed Cuomo to escape criminal prosecution.

Of the two staffers, Azzopardi had not been included as part of the original lawsuit filing. That changed thanks to his incredibly tone-deaf statements made on behalf of Andrew M. Cuomo several weeks ago, which earned his place as a defendant in the lawsuit.

Here's relevant background from the timeline:

This story has all the elements confirming why Andrew M. Cuomo desperately needs better PR people and more legal help.

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Sunday, March 13, 2022

13 March 2022: Editorial - "Cuomo Is Going Nowhere"

Cuomo Is Going Nowhere

This editorial from the Albany Times-Union reveals they realize Andrew M. Cuomo's recent media strategy isn't one that's capable of putting him back into elective office in New York.

So what is the mysterious dark prince up to? Speculation of course, but Cuomo’s not all that complicated when you realize he’s a hard-core addict. He is and always has been addicted to politics and being the man in charge and while he has “many options” as he mentioned a few days ago, the only one that really counts for him is to get back in the game at the same level he left it and with all the speculation about his future he enjoyed before his staggering fall. He wants to be governor again, with people talking about him as presidential material. How realistic is that? Not the point.

So his recent “mergence” into the public eye is not to rehabilitate his image. That just doesn’t make sense. If he were serious about rehabilitation he would have taken an entirely different path forward, following the well traveled mea culpa route, begging for forgiveness. All the stuff his fans wanted him to do, which he conspicuously and rather arrogantly avoided.

The problem with that plan is it takes time and lots of baby steps or it won’t work, and even then doesn’t necessarily get him what he wants. Time is an issue for Cuomo. He’s 64. Realistically, he has a decade and maybe a little more. From the cesspool he’s in now, any meaningful ascendancy has to happen reasonably quickly and that’s not going to happen by a passive strategy. Besides, baby steps and admitting error doesn’t suit his narcissistic ego. He would always be one vicious, cutting remark to a critic from being back in the cesspool. Rehabilitation only works when you can walk the walk.

So instead he’s spending his campaign funds on an ad, and more to come, that looks like it belongs to some nut-job right winger from Trumpland, with half-truths, conspiracies and distortions. Easily refuted stuff. Cuomo’s aim can’t possibly be to turn the minds of the majority of New York voters, since he has already lost big time in the court of public opinion over what he’s peddling in the ad. What his object might be is far more modest, to push his own narrative while discrediting Attorney General Letitia James. Get himself talked about, written about. Build up his base by hammering untruths over and over. Declare his own relevancy. It worked for Trump. Recent polling suggests he is making modest inroads.

Our working theory is Andrew M. Cuomo's recent PR media strategy isn't aimed at getting elected, but is rather an attempt to pre-bias the jury pools who will be deciding the civil litigation cases Cuomo will be facing from the multiple victims of his alleged sexual harassment. Cases that would cost Cuomo multiple millions of dollars in settlements from adverse judgments.

As the Times-Union editors note, the PR effort is chock full of "half-truths, conspiracies and distortions". Andrew M. Cuomo desperately needs better PR people and more legal help.

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Thursday, September 09, 2021

9 September 2021: Cuomo Accused of Violating NY Election Laws in Hiring of PR Flack

Cuomo under fire for re-hiring flack, good government groups demand probe

Andrew M. Cuomo put his loyalist dead-ender spokesman Richard Azzopardi on the payroll of his campaign organization. That action is drawing strong criticism from four separate good government groups, who state the move violates New York election laws in their letter to New York's Board of Elections.

The groups — which include Common Cause New York, Reinvent Albany, the state League of Women Voters and the NY Public Interest Research Group — made the demand to BOE Chief Enforcement Counsel Michael Johnson in a letter outlining “a potential violation of election law.”

“Former Governor Cuomo is in clear violation of New York’s election law. It is a misuse of campaign funds to keep a former spokesperson on payroll,” said Common Cause Executive Director Susan Lerner in a separate statement. “His donors gave him money to run for public office, not for private purposes. We urge the Board of Elections to open an investigation immediately.”

The joint letter specifically cites a prohibition against using campaign cash for “a personal use” that’s unrelated to a political campaign.

“Recently resigned former Governor Andrew Cuomo left office with a campaign war chest of over $18 million. Almost immediately, he hired a former press aide to be his ‘spokesman,’ apparently paying for those services from his campaign funds,” the letter states. “This raises questions about the appropriate use of his campaign funds.”

The letter goes on to point to news stories reporting Cuomo has “no current plans to run for office” to support the view that he’s potentially run afoul of campaign finance law.

Here's a link to a Twitter post featuring the letter the four groups sent to the Board of Elections.

Watchdog groups demand investigation into Cuomo’s spending

This report covers the same territory as the previous article, but has deeper coverage of the four government group's criticism of Richard Azzopardi's role as Cuomo's chief PR flack:

John Kaehny, of Reinvent Albany added: “A campaign contribution becomes more and more like bribery if a candidate can spend it on whatever personal whim they have and in Cuomo’s case that may be punishing and terrorizing people he doesn’t like.”

“Azzopardi was Cuomo’s attack dog in charge of defaming and denigrating the women who came forward with the sexual harassment allegations,” Kaehny said.

“There’s no reason to think he is going to suddenly change his ways. He exists to serve Cuomo’s most belligerent and aggressive mood.”

The report quotes Azzopardi's reponse to the groups' letter seeking the NYBOE to investigate Azzopardi's new employment:

In an email, Azzopardi said, “I’m on board to help answer press inquires related to the Governor’s time in office and ongoing legal reviews — which is permissible.”

He didn’t elaborate and Cuomo’s defense lawyer, Rita Glavin, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

It seems Andrew M. Cuomo's desperate need for better PR people and more legal help didn't stop with his retirement!

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Tuesday, November 30, 2021

30 November 2021: Cuomo's PR Flack Called Out for False Statements

An errant op-ed: Rich Azzopardi, Gov. Cuomo and Attorney General Tish James

On 20 August 2021, the New York Daily News ran a hit piece by Andrew M. Cuomo's chief PR flack Richard Azzopardi accusing the state attorney general of using the probe of allegations of sexual harassment by Cuomo to "railroad" Cuomo out of office. The editors who green-lighted the op-ed have identified problems with claims made by Azzopardi in it following the release of testimony transcripts from the state attorney general's probe.

On Aug. 20, a few weeks after the release of the independent report on sexual harassment claims against Andrew Cuomo ordered up by Attorney General Tish James, we ran a piece of commentary by Rich Azzopardi, then and still Cuomo’s spokesman. Much of what he wrote as he built the argument that Cuomo had been railroaded was and is true.

But two assertions were not, a reality made more galling because we asked Azzopardi to reassure us that his recollection was sound. The Monday release of transcripts by the attorney general proves that his op-ed got two significant points wrong.

Azzopardi said that in the hours he spent being interviewed in the probe, far too much time was spent on “inane and sometimes bizarre lines of questioning.” One of two colorful examples, in his own words: “Did Melissa DeRosa, secretary to the governor, wear high heels? Sometimes, but she wore Converse more.” We couldn’t check Azzopardi’s transcript then because the AG’s office had yet to make it public, so we relied upon his insistent reassurance. The following day, James’ office challenged his account. We asked to see the transcript; they declined.

Now that the full Q-and-A session is public, it’s clear: No one ever asked Azzopardi about what DeRosa wore. That was a pure fabrication. Azzopardi tells us he spent lots of time prepping, and he must have conflated practice sessions with reality. That’s rich.

He also got it wrong when he wrote that investigators “threatened Executive Chamber employees with possible jail time if we spoke about our testimony.” There was no such threat, just reference to the executive law under which the inquiry was being conducted, which says unauthorized disclosure is a misdemeanor. We’re sorry we printed two lies.

Andrew M. Cuomo desperately needs better PR people and more legal help.

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Tuesday, April 06, 2021

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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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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Friday, October 01, 2021

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.

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Thursday, April 22, 2021

22 April 2021: Team Cuomo Launches New Smear Campaign

Churchill: Team Cuomo is already attacking Tish James

Albany Times-Union columnist Chris Churchill's provides a new example of why Governor Cuomo is looking for better PR people and more legal help:

The embattled governor, most will know, is facing a complicated stew of investigations that includes probes into sexual harassment allegations and the hiding of COVID-19 nursing home deaths.

The list of investigations grew longer when state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli asked Attorney General Letitia James, whose office is already overseeing an investigation into the sexual harassment claims, to examine whether Cuomo criminally used state employees to produce and promote a COVID-19 memoir for which he was paid millions.

Though the governor’s office has maintained that staffers worked on "American Crisis" voluntarily — stop laughing — it is a valid topic to investigate. But here’s how Azzopardi responded:

"We have officially jumped the shark — the idea there was criminality involved here is patently absurd on its face and is just the furthering of a political pile-on," the Cuomo spokesman said in a statement first reported by The New York Times. "This is Albany politics at its worst — both the Comptroller and the Attorney General have spoken to people about running for governor, and it is unethical to wield criminal referral authority to further political self-interest‎."

Whoa. For the record, there’s little evidence that James or DiNapoli is considering a run for governor next year. Unlike the extensive preparation undertaken by Cuomo prior to his successful 2010 run, neither has laid the necessary groundwork.

But you can understand why the governor would suspect otherwise. Since he used his time as attorney general to further political self-interest, of course he would assume that other politicians, potential rivals especially, would be eager to do the same.

We tend to believe the rest of the world operates by the ethical standards we set for ourselves. A saint will be endlessly disappointed by moral failings of others. A frequent liar is likely to assume everybody else is constantly lying.

That kind of worldview permeates the bunker mentality of Team Cuomo. Especially among its PR flacks.

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Thursday, July 22, 2021

22 July 2021: Team Cuomo Member Singled Out for Smear Attacks

NYS lawmaker leading Cuomo impeachment probe troubled by Gov. aide’s comments about Attorney General James

New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo's chief PR flack Richard Azzopardi recent smear attacks on New York's state attorney general and lawyers conducting a criminal investigation of Cuomo's alleged misconduct in office are being rebuked by Assemblyman Charles Lavine, the chairman of the Assembly's judiciary committee overseeing its impeachment investigation of the governor.

The lawmaker leading the impeachment investigation into Gov. Cuomo is “extraordinarily concerned” about comments made by one of the governor’s top aides about Attorney General Letitia James.

Assemblyman Charles Lavine (D-Nassau) penned a letter to Cuomo Wednesday likening remarks made by senior adviser Rich Azzopardi to a “verbal attack” against James as the attorney general heads up an independent probe into allegations of sexual harassment against the governor.

“I am extraordinarily concerned with respect to the Governor’s communications director’s verbal attack against the Attorney General,” Lavine said. “Demeaning the Attorney General in turn demeans the Attorney General’s investigation and at the same time sends an obviously intimidating message to potential witnesses.”...

Lavine specifically pointed to a tweet from last week in which Azzopardi slammed James, saying “she has said she may run against the governor.”

The Long Island lawmaker, chairman of the Assembly Judiciary Committee, wrote that the statements are “difficult to comprehend” since he previously warned the governor that such actions could have a chilling effect on witnesses in his chamber’s impeachment investigation.

And yet, Andrew M. Cuomo has all but given a green light for loyalist Azzopardi to issue such statements, which suggests he places little weight on the Assembly's impeachment investigation led by Lavine.

Meanwhile, Azzopardi essentially "lawyered-up" in responding to media inquiries about Lavine's letter:

When asked for comment about Lavine’s letter, Azzopardi referred to a statement from Cuomo’s acting counsel Beth Garvey.

“There is a clear difference between actionable retaliation and protected speech and it is clear that the Chairman doesn’t understand the difference,” she said. “We will have a formal response forthcoming.”

No word on whether Garvey is responsible for Andrew M. Cuomo's unique interpretation of what constitutes sexual harassment under New York's state law.

In the meantime, we suspect Andrew M. Cuomo's search for better PR people and more legal help is likely to continue.

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Friday, May 21, 2021

21 May 2021: NY Attorney General's Probe of Cuomo Scandals Still Underway

NY AG: Cuomo probe will 'conclude when it concludes'

New York Attorney General Letitia James held a public briefing today, in which she provided few details but confirmed her office is continuing to investigate several of Governor Cuomo's scandals:

New York Attorney General Letitia James said Friday that an ongoing investigation surrounding Gov. Andrew Cuomo will “conclude when it concludes,” and said she has ignored criticism from his top aide that the probe is politically motivated.

James told reporters the ongoing investigation into whether the governor sexually harassed women, including female employees, is “very thorough and comprehensive.” Her office is also probing whether Cuomo illegally used state resources to write and promote his COVID-19 leadership book, for which the Democrat is set to earn over $5 million.

The top aide to whom James refers is Richard Azzopardi, who was just promoted to be Governor Cuomo's chief PR flack despite a history of tone-deaf verbal attacks on several female elected state officials and victims of Governor Cuomo's COVID nursing home deaths scandals. For background on that aspect of the scandals, follow this link for stories explaining why Governor Cuomo is seeking better PR people and more legal help.

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Tuesday, February 22, 2022

22 February 2022: Voters Reject Cuomo's Claim of Vindication in Sexual Harassment Cases

NYS voters say Cuomo is a sexual harasser, reject claims of vindication

In another sign that Andrew M. Cuomo desperately needs better PR people and more legal help, a new poll indicates New York state voters are rejecting Cuomo's claim to have been vindicated of sexually harassing multiple women while serving as New York's state governor. Here's a summary of the poll's results (emphasis ours):

A total of 58 percent of voters think Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women during his tenure in Albany, compared to just 21 percent of respondents who believed he was innocent. The remaining voters surveyed had no opinion, according to the Siena College survey.

The voters were given the following prompt:

“Cuomo presently faces no criminal charges for sexual harassment. He says that he ́s been vindicated and that the whole investigation was a political hit job. Local prosecutors who declined to bring criminal charges against Cuomo said that while they believed the credibility of the women, there was not enough evidence to prosecute.”

They were then asked: “Do you think Cuomo has or has not been vindicated?”

The verdict: 56 percent of voters said Cuomo has not been vindicated while 25 percent said he has — a better than two-to-one margin against Cuomo.

But wait, there's more:

Cuomo remains deeply unpopular with 60 percent of voters having an unfavorable view of him and 33 percent having a favorable view.

The bottom line: 80 percent of voters said Cuomo made the right decision to resign last August based on what they know today. Only 13 percent of respondents said he shouldn’t have resigned, with the rest undecided.

Polling numbers like these are why Andrew M. Cuomo won't seriously run again for public office in New York. If Cuomo actually ever does launch a new election campaign, we think it's real purpose will be to extract the $16+ million in previously donated funds sitting in his campaign organization's bank accounts, with as much as possible being directed to the wallets of Cuomo family members and close associates.

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