Once the Nation’s ‘Luv Guv’, Now He’s Radioactive

What is society to do with someone who has been investigated and found to have broken both federal and state laws by sexually harassing at least eleven different women?

Well, in the case of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, the subject of a five-month long investigation by the state’s Attorney General, apparently the answer is: nothing.

A.G. Letitia James directed the inquiry, dramatically revealed the findings, spoke of the disturbing “toxic culture” in the governor’s office, but failed to seek a grand jury indictment or to file charges against the governor. James kicked the prosecutorial can down the road to local District Attorney’s offices where the alleged offenses occurred.

NY AG Letitia James Issued Brutal Report

Andrew Cuomo is a fierce and feared three-term governor, widely known for his political acumen and vindictive response to critics. He has refused calls from several major newspapers and his own party’s top members, including President Biden, to resign. No one is publicly urging him to fight on.

In March, the New York state Assembly launched an impeachment inquiry against Cuomo on wide-ranging allegations, including that he had sexually harassed one female staffer, and to protect his image he directed his staff to lie about the number of elderly citizens who died in nursing homes after he ordered those facilities to take COVID-19 patients. That was a death sentence for such a vulnerable population. Nearly 16,000 seniors died in state care facilities. The Assembly’s impeachment proceeding is now on a much faster track.

Interestingly, the Department of Justice recently announced it dropped its anticipated civil rights investigation into New York’s nursing home scandal.

DOJ Declines to Investigate Cuomo – Again

Andrew Cuomo has proven to be a master at political survival. By sheer force of will he finds ways to make problems go away. In 2014, when the Moreland Commission’s probe of political corruption in the state got too close for comfort Cuomo simply used his power to disband the panel. The feds showed interest in investigating but didn’t.

Now that the sex harassment allegations against Cuomo have exploded, and the tawdry and downright creepy details have been made public, the New York Governor is again a target. He denies the women’s very specific accusations of groping, hugging, kissing, butt grabbing, and breast fondling and says his affectionate behavior was misunderstood. “That is just not who I am, and that is not who I have ever been,” Cuomo said in a pre-recorded video which, weirdly, included photos of him hugging and kissing other people. And, predictably, because A.G. James is reported to be a possible gubernatorial candidate, Cuomo blames the investigation on politics and foes determined to thwart his run for a fourth term.

Ah, he who lives by the political sword can also die by that same sword.

Photos from the opening of the new Delta Air Lines terminal in LaGuardia Airport in Queens, NY, on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019. (Chris Rank for Rank Studios)
He Threw His BFF Percoco Under the Bus

A few years later, one of the governor’s most trusted aides and best friend, Joseph Percoco, was convicted of accepting more than $300,000 in bribes from fat cats doing business with the state. Cuomo righteously and very publicly distanced himself saying Percoco, “is paying the price for violating the public trust.” Privately, the New York Times reported, the Cuomo family spent years raising money for Percoco’s appeal.

Cuomo once tweeted there should be a “zero tolerance policy when it comes to sexual harassment & (we) must send a clear message that this behavior is not tolerated.” Hypocritically, the governor now implores us to ignore his accusers.

During congressional hearings on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanuagh Cuomo again took the high and mighty road to oppose the nomination writing, “We owe it to the American people to #BelieveSurvivors.”
The Cuomo posts came at a time when other prominent men like Charlie Rose, Matt Lauer, Bill O’Reilly, Senator Al Franken, comedian Louis C.K., and actors Kevin Spacey and Dustin Hoffman had faced their own sex abuse allegations and were promptly erased from polite society. With due process apparently a thing of the past, shouldn’t Cuomo get the same treatment?

Something tells me Cuomo will not win that coveted fourth term. He may never face charges because serial sex harassers rarely do and he will surely survive. He’ll call on cronies for business opportunities and, as usual, they will respond. His mighty arrogance will convince him that enemies were his downfall because it couldn’t possibly have been something he did.

Move on, Mr. Megalomaniac. You’ve lost the public’s trust.

Note: On August 10th, 2021, about one week after the Attorney General issued her report on the governor, Andrew Cuomo resigned from office. As a result, the state of New York gets its first female head-of-state, Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul will become the 57th governor of the Empire State.

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15 Comments

  1. Diane Dimond on August 9, 2021 at 1:32 pm

    Tom Farkas writes:

    If he were able look over the heads of the sycophants surrounding him, and read the writing on the wall, he could have taken some of advance money on his book, and hired a reputable crisis management team to help him wriggle out of this mess. And like most of this country’s shamed celebrities and politicians, in no time, he’d be ready for his second act.

  2. Diane Dimond on August 9, 2021 at 1:32 pm

    Andy Pal writes:

    What Gov. Cuomo is accused of doing is shameful and contemptible. He has indeed lost public trust. Yet his loudest critics were more like silent crickets when similar accusations were coming in from numerous credible victims of Trump’s and Kavanaugh’s alleged transgressions. Would’ve been nice if these righteous critics would have been as outraged then as they claim to be now.

    • Diane Dimond on August 9, 2021 at 1:35 pm

      DD replies to Andy:

      I take your point and agree that outrage on this topic should be uniform. However, I don’t recall eleven different women coming forward to accuse Kavanaugh … maybe not Trump either, although I must admit I lost count on the former president’s transgressions.

  3. Diane Dimond on August 9, 2021 at 1:38 pm

    Lyn Novosel writes:

    He needs to go

  4. Diane Dimond on August 9, 2021 at 1:40 pm

    Guy Turk writes:

    That’s why term limits are so important. There are great articles on toxic narcissistic leaders and how they trick people. Cuomo is a prime example of how power only increases with these types as they rack up terms.

  5. Diane Dimond on August 9, 2021 at 1:41 pm

    Greg Roncone writes:

    It was time months ago

  6. Diane Dimond on August 9, 2021 at 1:41 pm

    Fred Mizzi writes:

    Remember Trump and what he was accused of and is praised by biblebelt, yes that’s hypocritical America

  7. Diane Dimond on August 9, 2021 at 1:41 pm

    Julie Morin writes:

    He should definitely step down & I love that Democrats are calling for his resignation too because it shows that you can say “He was my guy but he fu*cked” up and has to go and that behavior will not be tolerated”…unlike what happened with Trump.

  8. Diane Dimond on August 9, 2021 at 1:41 pm

    Patti Bella writes:

    Hypocritical thug needs to step down, but I won’t hold my breath.

  9. Diane Dimond on August 9, 2021 at 1:42 pm

    onealapts writes:

    I don’t think Governor Coumo is the type to resign though

  10. Diane Dimond on August 9, 2021 at 1:45 pm

    araceliQSC@santa_araceli writes:

    He should have his day in court! I disagree with YOU Di!!!!

    • Diane Dimond on August 9, 2021 at 1:48 pm

      DD replies to araceliQSC:

      Then all the others should have their day in court too, right? Like Lauer, Rose, Hoffman, Louis CK. And when the court (or a congressional committee) rules then we all need to accept the finding, right? Like in the case of Kavanaugh?
      Look, I firmly support due process, always have…but it seems like a thing of the past when it comes to these automatic “cancelable offenses” like sex assault or harassment. Its a shame.

  11. Donna R. Gore on August 10, 2021 at 1:06 pm

    Thank you for this honest piece as always! You tell it like it is …and how it should be! A dirty politician barely one notch above the “Bill Cosby School of sexual harassment”, I say! Will conviction be illusive with him popping up somewhere else as the public’s memory is so short and onto the next scandal?

    From my perspective, as a family member advocating for other COVID families after my Mom was doing all the right things to stay safe, went to an ER, and contracted pneumonia, dying on Thanksgiving Day 2020 with no goodbyes, no visits to CT in nearly 2 years, a cancelled Memorial is just part of the aftermath. Someone who saw me through 62 surgeries and the homicide of my father needs to be in a position to say goodbye to her eldest child.

    The fact that the DOJ dropped an investigation about falsifying COVID patient numbers is totally uncaring and irresponsible! Our grief is made worse by such events – no resolution!
    Good riddance to bad rubbish Governor Cuomo!

  12. Diane Dimond on August 10, 2021 at 2:09 pm

    Linda Kelly writes:

    How many deaths is he responsible for at the beginning of COVID? Because he wouldn’t consider using the federal options because he hated Pres. Trump.

  13. Diane Dimond on August 10, 2021 at 2:10 pm

    Abb Mangram writes:

    Thanks Diane, he is scum period!

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