Disgraced NY Governor Cuomo Reportedly Faces Probe Over Misuse of State Resources to Write His Book
10:24 GMT 10.08.2021 (Updated: 11:35 GMT 10.08.2021)
© AFP 2023 / MICHAEL M. SANTIAGO
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As many as 13 women have now come forward to accuse New York Governor Andrew Cuomo of sexually harassing them through inappropriate advances and lewd comments. Senior Democratic politicians including President Joe Biden have called on Cuomo to resign, but the hardnosed governor has so far refused to do so.
The judiciary committee of New York’s State Assembly has held “detailed discussions” with outside legal counsel related to governor Cuomo’s $5.1 million Covid book deal, The New York Post reports, citing sources said to be close to the probe.
The investigation reportedly focuses on whether Cuomo inappropriately used state resources by enlisting staffers from the governor’s office to help write his book. The probe is as part of the broader impeachment inquiry against the long-serving governor.
“There’s no question that the lawyers have evidence about using taxpayer resources to prepare the manuscript,” one source said. Melissa DeRosa, the former senior aide to Cuomo who resigned on Sunday, is accused in the probe of sending emails to staff on ‘helping out’ with the manuscript.
“It definitely came up…There was talking about staff working around the clock and on weekends…Our lawyers [on the judiciary committee] are pursuing it,” a second source indicated.
In the early months of the coronavirus pandemic and for most of 2020, Cuomo was heavily praised by US mainstream media and Democratic leaders for his state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, including his weekly television appearances to give New Yorkers health advice and assure them amid lockdowns and the economic downturn that came with them. New York was hailed as a model state when it came to pandemic response, with governors from other states and even government officials from other countries encouraged to emulate the Cuomo’s policies.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo will receive the International Emmy Founders Award for his "use of television to inform and calm people around the world" during his daily coronavirus briefings earlier this year.https://t.co/09PSasyuvi
— NPR (@NPR) November 22, 2020
In October 2020, Cuomo published ‘American Crisis: Leadership Lessons From the COVID-19 Pandemic’. The book instantly became a New York Times bestseller and was favourably reviewed by his political and media allies. In May 2021, financial disclosures revealed that Cuomo earned a cool $5.12 million in pre-tax profits from the book, with $500,000 of that donated to the United Way and the rest put into a private trust for the governor’s three daughters.
Several months after the book was published, Cuomo was wrapped up in two scandals, including accusations that he had made lewd comments towards and/or inappropriately grabbed multiple women, including current and former members of his staff, and, arguably far more seriously – put in place coronavirus-related guidelines for nursing homes which caused the deaths of thousands of elderly residents across his state.
The nursing home coronavirus deaths have been strangely overlooked in recent media coverage, with the US Department of Justice announcing last month that it would not be investigating Cuomo and other governors over the guidelines. Formally, however, they remain part of the impeachment inquiry against the governor.
However, the sexual harassment allegations returned against Cuomo in full force last week after the New York attorney general’s office announced that the governor had made inappropriate comments to, groped or otherwise behaved lewdly toward at least 11 current and former employees, in violation of multiple state and federal laws. The AG office probe prompted district attorneys in four New York districts to launch criminal inquiries of their own into the alleged misconduct.
A defiant Cuomo has refused to resign, despite calls to do so by President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (who is reportedly gunning for Cuomo’s job) and other senior Democratic officials. In a televised address, the embattled governor insisted that “the facts are much different than what has been portrayed,” and has called the claims against him a political witch hunt.
Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa resigned Sunday amid allegations that she assisted the governor in trying to discredit some of his accusers.
The impeachment inquiry against Cuomo is expected to be completed in the next few weeks, although no firm date has been set.
On Monday, two additional women reportedly stepped forward with new harassment claims.
Earlier, local media reported that Cuomo had quietly sought to strike a deal with state officials to avoid impeachment before the expiration of his term in 2022.
7 August 2021, 19:52 GMT
The Cuomo family is one of New York’s most powerful political dynasties, with Andrew Cuomo’s grandfather, Mario Cuomo, serving as governor of the state between 1983 and 1994. Andrew’s brother, Chris Cuomo, is a CNN anchor.
If impeachment moves forward and Cuomo is successfully removed, he will be the first governor to leave the governorship in disgrace since William Sulzer, who was successfully impeached on charges of campaign misconduct and perjury in 1913.
