{"id":190746,"date":"2021-02-28T05:18:36","date_gmt":"2021-02-28T02:18:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/an-ag-probe-is-now-a-must-for-andrew-cuomo-goodwin\/"},"modified":"2021-02-28T05:18:36","modified_gmt":"2021-02-28T02:18:36","slug":"an-ag-probe-is-now-a-must-for-andrew-cuomo-goodwin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/an-ag-probe-is-now-a-must-for-andrew-cuomo-goodwin\/","title":{"rendered":"#An AG probe is now a must for Andrew Cuomo: Goodwin"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#An AG probe is now a must for Andrew Cuomo: Goodwin<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n

It was a freewheeling conversation in a Manhattan restaurant about how to change Albany. Andrew Cuomo, then New York\u2019s attorney general<\/a>, was a lock to be elected governor in 2010 and was gaming the hurdles and opportunities.<\/p>\n

His conclusion would prove prophetic in ways he couldn\u2019t imagine. \u201cThe answer is to do it in two terms,\u201d he told a companion. \u201cThird terms are always a mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n

The irony is beyond rich, now that \u00adCuomo is hitting major turbulence midway through his third term. Months after he was hailed as a model governor and touted as presidential timber, the sudden question is whether he will survive a federal investigation into the nursing-home disaster and accusations by two former aides that Cuomo sexually harassed them.<\/p>\n

Power corrupts, third terms corrupt absolutely.<\/p>\n

Calls for impeachment are growing louder over the horrific 15,000 nursing-home deaths and Cuomo\u2019s effort to hide them from the public and the FBI. Even louder are the calls from both Democrats and Republicans for him either to resign or face an independent probe into the harassment claims.<\/p>\n

The calls took on a new urgency after the second woman\u2019s claim became public Saturday night.<\/p>\n

The crises share common roots: \u00adCuomo centralized power like no governor in modern times and came to see himself as untouchable. When the Legislature granted him emergency power early in the pandemic, he used it to fight critics as well as the virus.<\/p>\n

The clamor against him has been slow to build largely because New York is run exclusively by Dems, most of whom would have instantly called for Cuomo\u2019s head if he were a Republican. Their hesitancy is also owing to the governor\u2019s reputation for taking retribution on even the mildest critics.<\/p>\n

So the mere fact that the accusers and critics are coming forward marks a turning point that puts him in jeopardy. Fewer and fewer people are afraid of him.<\/p>\n

Strictly speaking, Cuomo doesn\u2019t have a political problem. His chief flaw is akin to the Achilles heel of his former friend Donald Trump. It\u2019s his personality, stupid.<\/p>\n

I have known and covered Cuomo for more than three decades, and sadly witnessed the dark side of his nature grow along with his power. Even in off-the-record conversations, he would often lie.<\/p>\n

\u201cA hundred accomplishments but not a single friend,\u201d is how one Albany insider puts it.<\/p>\n

He was riding high at the start of his third term and then came the pandemic. He initially downplayed the possible effects, but soon pivoted into an arbitrary command-and-control app<\/a>roach.<\/p>\n

On March 25, his office quietly issued the disastrous order that forced nursing homes to accept infected COVID-19 patients being discharged from hospitals. The order, which contradicted federal guidelines calling for isolation and testing, gave nursing homes no grounds for refusing patients and barred them from asking if the patients were COVID-positive.<\/p>\n

\"Andrew
Gov. Andrew Cuomo leaves Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn.<\/figcaption>
Matthew McDermott<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite his absurd defense, Cuomo\u2019s actions showed he knew the order was a deadly mistake. He withdrew it in May and, as the bodies piled up, secretly changed the way his office reported \u00adfatalities.<\/p>\n

Previously, deaths across the nation were counted against nursing homes if patients contracted the disease there, even if they died in hospitals. But New York began limiting the count to those who actually died in nursing homes.<\/p>\n

It also stopped releasing the full data, which helped Cuomo get a book deal from a publisher and win an Emmy for his TV briefings. Both should be \u00adrescinded as fraudulent.<\/p>\n

The con unraveled in January. In quick order, a report by New York Attorney General Letitia James concluded that the state undercounted nursing-home deaths by about 50 percent. And a judge ruled that Cuomo had to turn over all the data requested in a lawsuit by the Empire Center for Public Policy.<\/p>\n

The magnitude of the coverup turned out to be breathtaking. In days, the total deaths in nursing homes and similar \u00adfacilities surged from 8,700 to more than 15,000.<\/p>\n

Cuomo\u2019s patina of competence and credibility was shattered. It became a federal case when The Post revealed that a top aide defended hiding the death totals by saying the Governor\u2019s Office didn\u2019t want the Justice Department to know the truth.<\/p>\n

\"NY
A report by NY AG Letitia James found the state undercounted nursing-home deaths by about 50 percent<\/figcaption>
Daniel William McKnight<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cornered, Cuomo flew into a rage and made new enemies. He allegedly threatened to \u201cdestroy\u201d Ron Kim, an Assembly Dem from Queens, because Kim called Cuomo\u2019s actions a coverup and potentially a crime. Kim now leads the charge for impeachment.<\/p>\n

Then, in a flash, the bombshell allegations of sexual harassment became public. Both women claim the governor abused his power to try to seduce them.<\/p>\n

Lindsey Boylan, who is married with a child, wrote on Medium that co-workers told her Cuomo had a \u201ccrush\u201d on her and kept tabs on her whereabouts.<\/p>\n

She described how he invited her to his office and showed her a cigar box he said was a gift from Bill Clinton, which she took as a reference to the Monica Lewinsky scandal. She wrote that the governor \u201csuggested I look up images of Lisa Shields \u2014 his rumored former girlfriend \u2014 because we could be sisters and I was the better-looking sister.\u201d She documented her claim with a relevant e-mail from a Cuomo aide.<\/p>\n

Boylan adds: \u201cThe governor began calling me \u2018Lisa\u2019 in front of colleagues. It was degrading.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also said he repeatedly touched her and once kissed her on the lips without permission.<\/p>\n

Cuomo has not appeared in public since Boylan\u2019s post, nor issued any personal denials. Aides have issued denials under their names, but they are meaningless without the governor publicly \u00adanswering specific questions.<\/p>\n

The second woman, Charlotte Bennett, 25, told The New York Times that when she was alone with the 63-year-old \u00adgovernor in his office, he asked about her sex life and if she ever had sex with older men. He also said he was lonely.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me, and felt horribly uncomfortable and scared,\u201d the Times quoted her as saying.<\/p>\n

She complained to Cuomo\u2019s chief-of-staff, who moved her to another position, far from the governor. Bennett also gave a statement to one of Cuomo\u2019s lawyers and subsequently resigned.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In a statement, Cuomo did not deny her specific accusations but said, \u201cI never made advances toward Ms. Bennett, nor did I ever intend to act in any way that was inappropriate.\u201d He said he asked for an outside review and that former federal Judge Barbara Jones would conduct it.<\/p>\n

That turkey is not going to fly. Cuomo has forfeited the right to decide who \u00adinvestigates his conduct.<\/p>\n

The number and gravity of the charges require a completely independent probe, one with subpoenas and sworn testimony. In fact, Attorney General James already was \u201cmulling\u201d a request that she appoint an independent special prosecutor because of Boylan\u2019s charges.<\/p>\n

The Bennett accusations leave no doubt that\u2019s the only acceptable path forward. James should make the appointment without delay.\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#An AG probe is now a must for Andrew Cuomo: Goodwin” It was a freewheeling conversation in a Manhattan restaurant about how to change Albany. Andrew Cuomo, then New York\u2019s attorney general, was a lock to be elected governor in 2010 and was gaming the hurdles and opportunities. His conclusion would prove prophetic in ways…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":190747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/andrew-cuomo-227-2.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[95559,71386,70430,10701,72172,79352,3885,32681,71007,71374],"class_list":["post-190746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-2-27-21","tag-albany","tag-andrew-cuomo","tag-democrats","tag-letitia-james","tag-mario-cuomo","tag-new-york","tag-politics","tag-scandals","tag-sexual-harassment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}