https://sputnikglobe.com/20210810/cuomo-donors-reportedly-pushed-his-deputy-to-take-over-even-before-release-of-damning-ag-report-1083574867.html
Cuomo Donors Reportedly Pushed His Deputy to Take Over Even Before Release of Damning AG Report
Cuomo Donors Reportedly Pushed His Deputy to Take Over Even Before Release of Damning AG Report
Sputnik International
The New York governor, once the darling of the Democratic establishment over his pandemic response and attacks on Donald Trump, resigned on Tuesday amid... 10.08.2021, Sputnik International
2021-08-10T17:03+0000
2021-08-10T17:03+0000
2021-08-10T17:23+0000
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Influential business donors began a quiet push to encourage New York Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul to run for the governorship next year in the wake of the scandals associated with Andrew Cuomo, CNBC has reported, citing people said to be familiar with the situation.Hochul, who became acting governor on Tuesday after Cuomo’s resignation, is said to have begun discussing her potential political future with financiers in recent weeks, even before the 3 August release of a damning report by the attorney general’s office accusing Cuomo of sexually harassing at least 11 colleagues.John Yurtchuk, chair of Calspan Corp, a Buffalo-based technology company, told CNBC that he made a phone call to Hochul to encourage her to run in the 2022 election before the release of the attorney general’s report. “I just said, ‘You’d be a great governor. I’m just letting you know,' so she knows where her supporters might lie. I’d step up for her,” Yurtchuk said. He said he contributed $5,000 to Hochul’s election campaign last month.A senior unnamed media executive and Democrat mega donor was reportedly "signalled to" by Hochul’s aides to be prepared to start raising money in the event she took over.Jeffrey Gural, a New York real estate mogul who threw money Cuomo’s way in past elections, said he spoke to Hochul about the situation in July, and that she “laughed” after he told her about his plans to publicly attack the governor over his behaviour. Gural too donated $5,000 to Hochul’s campaign in July.One anonymous "longtime Cuomo donor" who refused to be named for fear of retribution indicated that Cuomo’s removal ahead of the 2022 election would allow Hochul to “establish dominion over the party” before the vote. New York State is a Democratic-leaning state in both presidential and state elections, with George Pataki being the last Republican to hold the job before his resignation in 2002.Despite the sexual harassment allegations against him, a looming impeachment inquiry, investigations by law enforcement in four separate New York jurisdictions and pressure from New York leaders and congressional leaders and President Joe Biden to resign, Cuomo spent a week defying demands that he quit and insisting that he did nothing wrong. His lawyers have alleged that the harassment charges against him were part of a plot to remove him using a “premeditated narrative.”The now ex-governor’s third term would have expired in 2022, and Cuomo had previously not out running again. He still reportedly has $18 million+ in campaign cash, with Hochul’s war chest containing about $1.7 million.Attorney General Letitia James’s press conference on her office’s investigation last week followed a months’ long probe which began in the spring of 2021 after multiple women came forward in late 2020 to accuse Cuomo of molesting them and, in at least one case, attempting to pressure them into staying silent. The accusations against Cuomo range from lewd and inappropriate comments to inappropriate touching of the women’s private areas.A formal impeachment inquiry by New York State’s legislature was formed to investigate the harassment allegations, plus Cuomo’s alleged illegal misuse of government resources to help write a book on his state’s coronavirus response, and claims that his policies caused the deaths of as many as 15,000 seniors in nursing homes at the start of the pandemic by locking them up with coronavirus-positive individuals. The latter claims have fallen by the wayside amid the sexual harassment probe, and the Department of Justice announced last month that it would not be pursuing criminals charges against Cuomo or other governors over their pandemic response measures.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20210810/ny-gov-andrew-cuomo-resigns-following-sexual-harassment-investigation-1083574606.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20210806/cuomo-lawyers-say-harassment-charges-plot-to-remove-him-ask-for-case-transcripts-1083546940.html
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Cuomo Donors Reportedly Pushed His Deputy to Take Over Even Before Release of Damning AG Report
17:03 GMT 10.08.2021 (Updated: 17:23 GMT 10.08.2021) The New York governor, once the darling of the Democratic establishment over his pandemic response and attacks on Donald Trump, resigned on Tuesday amid several separate investigations against him centered around his alleged groping of and lewd comments to at least 11 current and former female staffers working for his administration.
Influential business donors began a quiet push to encourage New York Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul to run for the governorship next year in the wake of the scandals associated with Andrew Cuomo, CNBC has reported, citing people said to be familiar with the situation.
Hochul, who became acting governor on Tuesday after
Cuomo’s resignation, is said to have begun discussing her potential political future with financiers in recent weeks, even before the 3 August release of a damning report by the attorney general’s office accusing Cuomo of sexually harassing at least 11 colleagues.
“Everybody has been reaching out to her,” CNBC’s source said. “They are offering advice, and she’s listening." The source noted that in addition to business donors who once firmly backed Cuomo, Hochul was "taking advice" from state lawmakers and other officials.
John Yurtchuk, chair of Calspan Corp, a Buffalo-based technology company, told CNBC that he made a phone call to Hochul to encourage her to run in the 2022 election before the release of the attorney general’s report. “I just said, ‘You’d be a great governor. I’m just letting you know,' so she knows where her supporters might lie. I’d step up for her,” Yurtchuk said. He said he contributed $5,000 to Hochul’s election campaign last month.
The businessman added that Hochul told him that “she’s been hearing” similar things from other donors. Yurtchuk did not specify what about the lieutenant governor’s performance would make her “great” in the governor’s seat.
10 August 2021, 16:06 GMT
A senior unnamed media executive and Democrat mega donor was reportedly "signalled to" by Hochul’s aides to be prepared to start raising money in the event she took over.
Jeffrey Gural, a New York real estate mogul who threw money Cuomo’s way in past elections, said he spoke to Hochul about the situation in July, and that she “laughed” after he told her about his plans to publicly attack the governor over his behaviour. Gural too donated $5,000 to Hochul’s campaign in July.
One anonymous "longtime Cuomo donor" who refused to be named for fear of retribution indicated that Cuomo’s removal ahead of the 2022 election would allow Hochul to “establish dominion over the party” before the vote. New York State is a Democratic-leaning state in both presidential and state elections, with George Pataki being the last Republican to hold the job before his resignation in 2002.
Despite the sexual harassment allegations against him, a looming impeachment inquiry, investigations by law enforcement in four separate New York jurisdictions and pressure from New York leaders and congressional leaders and President Joe Biden to resign, Cuomo spent a week defying demands that he quit and insisting that he did nothing wrong. His lawyers have alleged that the harassment charges against him were part of a plot to remove him using a
“premeditated narrative.”The now ex-governor’s third term would have expired in 2022, and Cuomo had previously not out running again. He still reportedly has $18 million+ in campaign cash, with Hochul’s war chest containing about $1.7 million.
Attorney General Letitia James’s press conference on her office’s investigation last week followed a months’ long probe which began in the spring of 2021 after multiple women came forward in late 2020 to accuse Cuomo of molesting them and, in at least one case, attempting to pressure them into staying silent. The accusations against Cuomo range from lewd and inappropriate comments to inappropriate touching of the women’s private areas.
A formal impeachment inquiry by New York State’s legislature was formed to investigate the harassment allegations, plus Cuomo’s alleged illegal misuse of government resources to help
write a book on his state’s coronavirus response, and claims that his policies caused the deaths of as many as 15,000 seniors in nursing homes at the start of the pandemic by locking them up with coronavirus-positive individuals. The latter claims have fallen by the wayside amid the sexual harassment probe, and the Department of Justice
announced last month that it would not be pursuing criminals charges against Cuomo or other governors over their pandemic response measures.
