New York Governor Andrew Cuomo came into the spotlight on charges of chronic sexual misconduct and accusations that some of his top advisers deliberately pressured the state health department to underestimate deaths in Covid-19 nursing homes.
One of Cuomo’s accusers, former employee Lindsey Boylan, said the governor’s top aides “normalized” his inappropriate behavior. Here’s a look at the governor’s senior administration in trouble:
Kathy Hochul, Lieutenant Governor
NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 18: New York Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul participates in the 2020 women’s march on January 18, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by John Lamparski / Getty Images)
Cuomo’s departure would start the first governor of New York – Kathy Hochul. And it wouldn’t be the first time that she got a political seat after the men misbehaved, she won a special election in 2011 to occupy the seat of Representative Chris Lee, RN.Y. The married congressman resigned after allegedly soliciting a woman on Craigslist.
She lost the race in 2012 after redistricting and joined Cuomo for her second offer in 2014.
She kept quiet about the charges against her boss, saying only, “Everyone deserves their voice to be heard and taken seriously. I support an independent review,” last Saturday after the second allegation was made public.
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But she has been a staunch supporter of #MeToo in recent years, selling Cuomo’s “enough” legislation that worked to end sexual assaults on college campuses across the state.
“There is still a culture that is widespread and that’s why women in the workplace – whether they’re tech in Silicon Valley or Hollywood or in the halls of our legislatures and Congress – they’re still subject to unwanted advances, harassment sexual and sometimes aggression, “she said in November 2017.
Melissa DeRosa, Chief of Staff
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES – 9/20 2020: Melissa DeRosa Secretary of the Governor attends Andrew Cuomo’s announcement that restaurants can be opened for internal dining on September 30 at the 3rd ave office. (Photo by Lev Radin / Pacific Press / LightRocket via Getty Images)
De Rosa, the governor’s right-hand man, was involved in both of the governor’s coincident scandals – named specifically by a Cuomo accuser as someone who “normalized” his behavior and known as one of Cuomo’s top advisers who facilitated the lower death count in nursing homes in New York.
Lindsey Boylan, a former Cuomo adviser who accused him of unwanted kisses and touches, as well as a pattern of inappropriate comments. Boylan said his behavior “has been so normalized – particularly by Melissa DeRosa and other important women around him – that it is only now that I realize how insidious his abuse was”.
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DeRosa said on Wednesday that she was “incredibly proud” of the government’s work on women’s issues.
“I am also proud that, in my time as a secretary, we have seen more women arrive at the [the] higher levels, in terms of commissioners and senior officials, “continued DeRosa.” I don’t think that will diminish any of that, and I hope to continue the work we are doing to continue the women’s agenda and strengthen women’s rights for all New Yorkers. “
Like Cuomo, she asked everyone to wait for the results of the investigation by the state’s attorney general, Letitia James, before judging.
“I would just ask everyone to abstain from judgment until the attorney general is authorized to do her job,” she said. “Everyone will fully comply with this.”
DeRosa was also among a list of Cuomo advisers, members of his Covid-19 task force, who pressured state health officials to remove asylum residents who died in Covid-19 hospitals from a public report on deaths in nursing homes. elderly. The chief of staff regularly appeared alongside the governor at his daily Covid-19 press conferences in the spring and last summer.
Kelly Cummings, Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of Operations and State Infrastructure
Cummings is one of the highest-ranking ex-Republicans who works for Cuomo. Before joining the government in 2016, she served as communications director for Republicans in the state Senate. Prior to that, she had been the director of policy development for the GOP conference.
Linda Lacewell, Governor’s Advisor
(Department of Financial Services – New York)
Lacewell, who serves as superintendent for the New York State Department of Financial Services, was also listed among the consultants who requested a change to the nursing home report. Prior to his role at DFS, Lacewell served as Chief of Staff and advisor to the governor, where he focused on government ethics, according to the state government website. Lacewell also gave a class at NYU Law entitled: “Ethics in Government: Investigation and Execution”.
Elizabeth Garvey, Special Advisor and Senior Advisor
(New York City and State)
Garvey has undoubtedly been working overtime while the Cuomo administration faces investigations facilitated by the state AG on Cuomo’s behavior towards women in light of allegations of harassment and underestimation in the nursing home.
Garvey sent a reference to AG James this week, granting his office the authority to proceed with the independent investigation into allegations of harassment.
Garvey also defended the governor’s senior advisers after reports from the Wall Street Journal and the NY Times revealed that they influenced state health officials to remove hospital deaths from a July report on coronavirus-related deaths in nursing homes. In separate statements on Thursday and Friday, Garvey said that “off-site data” – meaning deaths in hospitals – were omitted from the July report after the state Department of Health “could not confirm that they had been properly carried out. checked “.
Garvey is a former aide and adviser to Republicans in the state Senate.
Robert Mujica, Budget Director
UNITED STATES – MAY 27: Robert Mujica, NY budget director, attends a press conference with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on the COVID-19 pandemic at the National Press Club in Washington DC after a meeting with President Trump at the White House on Wednesday, May 27, 2020. (Photo by Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
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Mujica took over as budget director in 2016. As of 2018, he earned more money from Cuomo’s top advisers and even more than the governor himself.
Adam Zurofsky, Director of State Policy and Agency Management
Zurofsky assumed his current role in 2019. Prior to that, he served as assistant secretary for Energy and Financial Services.
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Michael Kopy, Director of Emergency Management
Michael Kopy attends a news conference in New York, United States, on March 30, 2020. The US Army Corps of Engineers concludes a temporary field hospital at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center while the coronavirus continues to spread on March 30, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by John Lamparski / NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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Kopy, a longtime state police supervisor and former volunteer fire chief, joined the government in 2019.
Kumiki Gibson, Advisor to the Governor
Gibson was appointed attorney for the governor in 2019. Previously, she served as chief adviser to former vice president Al Gore.
Timothy Hartz, Director of Executive Operations
Hartz previously served as President Obama’s special assistant and deputy director of advanced operations for the White House, before taking up his post in the Cuomo administration.