On Tuesday, New York Impart Attorney Traditional Letitia James released a voluminous narrative that catalogued a immense replacement of cases of alleged sexual harassment by the mutter’s governor, Andrew Cuomo. In the within the period in-between in his third term, Cuomo is asserted to relish pressured eleven women; the narrative contains cases that had been broadly discussed within the media as successfully as previously unreported cases of harassment. The narrative concludes that “the Executive Chamber’s culture—one stuffed with trouble and intimidation, while on the identical time normalizing the Governor’s frequent flirtations and gender-primarily based comments—contributed to the stipulations that allowed the sexual harassment to happen and persist.” In response, Cuomo—who has been ignoring calls for his resignation for months—released his accept as true with narrative, which disputed James’s findings. Soundless, Democrats staunch by the country, alongside with President Biden, relish known as for Cuomo’s resignation.
I discussed the narrative with Casey Seiler, the editor of the Albany Times Union, who has been on the paper for over two decades. He makes an look within the narrative, owing to his newsroom’s investigation of Cuomo’s misconduct toward a mutter trooper. (The appendix of the narrative also options a transcript of a contentious alternate between Seiler and Melissa DeRosa, one among Cuomo’s top aides, about Lindsey Boylan, who accused the governor of sexual harassment.) For the interval of our dialog, which has been edited for length and clarity, we discussed how Cuomo has been in a mutter to wield vitality in Albany for see you later, how the Governor’s web site of job has responded to injurious press, and the legacy that Cuomo will leave within the help of.
The image of Governor Cuomo within the narrative looks to take a look at on many things now we relish heard in regards to the Governor. How grand of this behavior used to be already identified, by reach of every sexual misbehavior and his reach of interacting with other folks generally?
It used to be successfully identified that the Governor positioned an impolite top rate on loyalty, which is no longer hideous for highly efficient elected officers, and even other folks in leadership positions in industry, to guarantee. But, for the Governor, it used to be something that used to be in particular prized. You saw that within the reach the Governor comported himself all by the criminal travails of Joseph Percoco, his veteran govt deputy secretary. [Percoco was convicted of corruption charges in 2018.] And also you saw that within the reach he would recede after other folks that had been principal of these in his inner circle. And that, for sure, is a reciprocal association, in that these other folks would dwell devoted to the Governor, even after leaving the govt. chamber.
That used to be one among potentially the most supreme revelations within the narrative—the level to which other folks which had been out of the govt. chamber, who had escaped to completely chuffed company jobs in public relatives, had been completely gratified to be introduced help in to originate crisis public-relatives work for the govt. chamber, as a lot as and alongside with advising and taking half in a job within the dissemination of files that used to be clearly supposed to undercut the credibility of one among the women who had accused the governor of criminal misconduct.
Maintain you relish a sense of whether or no longer this loyalty used to be in step with trouble or on real affection, because we hear steadily in regards to the veteran? Became there extra to it than that?
I mediate for other folks that return to the administration of Mario Cuomo, quite a number of it is in step with affection. I mediate there are also other folks of further most recent traditional who accept as true with that the Governor is, or has been, an efficient leader of the mutter, and mediate that within the early months of the pandemic he equipped a national foil to the mixed messages and chaotic health advisories that had been emerging from the White House. I mediate there’s a immense replacement of mutter lawmakers and even native officers whose relationship with the Governor is in step with the transactional nature of politics. You will originate reinforcement and enhance for the flesh presser who retains the gravy issue working.
How has he managed to dwell in vitality over the previous couple of months? When a number of of these accusations had been first aired, there used to be a sense that he would possibly perhaps presumably be carried out.
In that it is price remembering that Donald Trump is any other Queens boy. And loads has been made evaluating Cuomo’s response to that of Governor Ralph Northam, of Virginia, however the allegations made in opposition to Northam had been originate of penny ante when as compared with other folks which relish now been made in opposition to the Governor. Cuomo is now facing a half-dozen investigations or so, with this one wrapped up, on the very least that all of us know of. There can even be a brand unusual one from the Huge apple District Attorney’s web site of job, but we don’t know but what it entails.
But, sure, it used to be very hideous to many folk when, all by the first weeks in March, the circulate of statements calling on the Governor to resign modified into a torrent. That used to be when our managing editor for investigations, Brendan Lyons, broke the news of the allegation that the Governor had groped a female aide on the Executive Mansion, which, I mediate it is aloof radiant to verbalize, is presumably the most excessive allegation in opposition to him. That week ended with Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand asserting Cuomo would possibly perhaps presumably also no longer elevate on to his web site of job. He tied himself to the argument that we would possibly perhaps presumably also aloof let the investigation play out, and that ended up winning the day. The Governor generally did his most productive to deflect questions about his conduct and enlighten the investigation would possibly perhaps presumably also aloof bustle its course, and that enabled him to eradicate time to reach to governance.
After a transient time, an increasing selection of alternative folks had been gratified to seem onstage with him in press conferences and bulletins. In most recent weeks, you even had other folks angrily denouncing reporters—a mutter assembly member, Diana Richardson, denounced the reporter who introduced up that she and a mutter senator, Zellnor Myrie, had as soon as claimed Cuomo would possibly perhaps presumably also no longer elevate on to his web site of job, and requested why they had been standing with him now. Richardson responded with venom—that it wasn’t a suitable question, and how dare you bring up political matters after we’re right here to discuss no topic the difficulty of the news convention used to be. And it labored.
So, used to be this about some originate of loyalty to Cuomo?
It nearly doesn’t topic within the occasion that they’ve loyalty to Cuomo or no longer. What matters most is their actions. In other phrases, had been they lying to the public when they mentioned in March that Cuomo would possibly perhaps presumably also aloof resign, or had been they lying to the public when they confirmed as a lot as praise him for funnelling mutter funding their reach, while angrily denouncing questions about their prior statements? Who used to be being political in that alternate? Became it the reporter, or used to be it them?
The speaker of the New York Impart Assembly, Carl Heastie, released a assertion asserting, “It is abundantly determined to me that the governor has misplaced the self belief of the Assembly Democratic majority and that he can no longer dwell in web site of job.” He used to be somebody who used to be unwilling to head this a long way for a really very long time. What’s his role in Albany, and his relationship to the Governor?
He has had a truly radiant relationship with the Governor. Carl Heastie has confronted questions in regards to the propriety of that relationship. My paper has reported at length just a few leak investigation from the mutter’s Joint Fee on Public Ethics. There used to be a vote about whether or no longer to proceed with an ancillary topic to the Percoco case. That vote narrowly decided in opposition to calling for a proper ethics investigation, however the speaker’s appointees it looks did no longer vote the reach the Governor would relish beloved for them to relish voted. By some means, the Governor purchased wind of how it went, known as Heastie, and browse him the riot act. Heastie and one among his top aides then reached out to 2 of their appointees to the cost and let them know that the Governor used to be upset with them. And, for sure, these members of the cost, realizing there had been a leak about what used to be presupposed to had been a closed assembly, reported it to the mutter inspector overall’s web site of job, which they had been presupposed to originate.
