Describing an alleged exchange with the governor that was not previously reported, Democratic Rep. Ron Kim told CNN he received a call on his cell phone from the governor last week while bathing his children at home.
“Governor Cuomo called me directly on Thursday to threaten my career if I didn’t cover up Melissa [DeRosa] and what she said. He tried to pressure me to issue a statement, and it was a very traumatic experience, “said Kim. Cuomo went on to say to the deputy that” we are in this business together and we do not cross certain boundaries and he said that I have not seen his anger and that he can destroy me, “according to Kim.
Cuomo’s aide denied that the governor had threatened to destroy Kim.
DeRosa is one of the governor’s top advisers who was criticized last week after telling state legislators at a virtual private meeting that the state delayed sharing with the legislature the entire scope of Covid-related death toll from nursing home residents. New York because of concerns about a possible federal investigation by the Department of Justice. (The governor’s office has already released a partial transcript of the call.)
Kim, a progressive who represents Queens who has been among the biggest critics of the way Cuomo deals with nursing homes during the pandemic and believes that his own uncle died of an alleged Covid case in a nursing home last year, participated in this call virtual. During the meeting, Kim said he asked the governor to apologize to family members of people who died in community centers. When the New York Post first reported on DeRosa’s controversial comments, he was one of the participants cited in the article that criticized those comments.
“No man has ever spoken to me like that in my life,” Kim said of his call to Cuomo. “At some point he tried to humiliate me by asking, ‘Are you a lawyer? I didn’t think so. You are not a lawyer. ‘ It almost seemed that, in retrospect, he was trying to deceive me, irritate me and say something inappropriate. I’m glad I didn’t do that. ”
Kim’s wife told CNN that she heard parts of Kim’s phone call with Cuomo last week and described the governor as “loud” and “angry”. She said she heard Cuomo say, “Who do you think you are?” as well as the words “my wrath”, and that immediately after the call, her husband said to her: “The governor threatened to destroy my life.”
Cuomo’s efforts to get in touch with Kim seemed to continue over the weekend. Kim said he received several calls from a “no caller ID” number, followed by messages from Cuomo’s aides saying the governor would like to speak to him again. Kim said he did not return calls. He has since hired a lawyer, telling CNN that he believed this was necessary after Cuomo’s first call, which made him feel that the governor had asked him to lie about what had happened on last week’s virtual call. He said he informed the governor’s office that any disclosure must be made through his lawyer.
When CNN contacted Cuomo’s office to comment on this story on Tuesday, communications director Peter Ajemian did not directly respond or deny Kim’s allegation of threats from the governor in a written statement. Late Tuesday, Ajemian said the office would send a clarification statement. Finally, the office sent a statement from senior adviser Rich Azzopardi on Wednesday morning that said: “Kim’s claim that the governor said he would ‘destroy him’ is false.”
“The governor has three witnesses to the conversation. The operable words were, ‘I’m also from Queens, and people still expect honor and integrity in politics,'” said Azzopardi.
At the same time that Azzopardi’s statement was sent to CNN, Cuomo began a previously scheduled press conference about the coronavirus and discussed his office’s “long and hostile relationship” with Kim.
Cuomo said Kim’s political animosity goes back to a 2015 bill to renovate the manicure salons that the governor proposed and that Kim initially supported, but later opposed. Cuomo cited a New York Times report that year that examined the financial contributions Kim received after he changed his position. In that article, a senior adviser to Cuomo criticized Kim.
Kim said on Wednesday that he “100%” maintained his claim that Cuomo had threatened to destroy him. He said he didn’t remember Cuomo making a specific reference to Queens, but that Cuomo had asked him last week on the phone, “Mr. Kim, are you an honorable man?” before proceeding, suggesting that the honorable thing for Kim would be a statement of support.
Kim also rejected Cuomo’s suggestion that he had hidden reasons to criticize Cuomo about Covid’s nursing home-related deaths, saying he was deeply disappointed with the governor’s handling of the matter during the pandemic.
“There is no way to undo it here. They have blood on their hands,” said Kim. “We are talking about your performance record for the past 10 months.”
Azzopardi’s statement also said that Cuomo called Kim last week to question Kim’s comments on the New York Post’s early story, suggesting that Kim issue a new statement and that the deputy agree to do so. When no statement came, Azzopardi said, Cuomo’s office followed up and received no response.
Kim told CNN that he did not agree to issue a new statement and that the early New York Post story did not misquote and misinterpret it.
Kim is not the only lawmaker to have received violent resistance and even threats from Cuomo and his top advisers since last week, according to three New York Democratic lawmakers. All spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity because they feared reprisals from the governor.
They said the government aggressively lobbied lawmakers to speak out in support of the way it handles deaths related to nursing homes, and that threats have been made against those who are considering voting to remove Cuomo from his emergency powers. .
All three lawmakers said they were aware of the governor’s disclosure in which he explicitly suggested or threatened political retaliation if they did not support him. One, a New York state senator who said he was not contacted by Cuomo, but heard directly from several colleagues whom Cuomo had contacted, said the governor threatened these colleagues with retaliation – including warning some that he could ruin their political careers if they supported the weakening of Cuomo’s executive powers.
In other cases, the government has been persistent in asking lawmakers to come to Cuomo’s defense, including issuing statements of support regarding last week’s virtual meeting.
A New York assembly member said he had heard from several colleagues who received messages from the government suggesting language that lawmakers could use after DeRosa’s controversial comments became public. Members were encouraged to say that the virtual call was productive and that lawmakers were reassured that their requests for information would be prioritized in the future, according to this assembly member, who described similar messages that several colleagues received from members of the administration.
Cuomo has received widespread bipartisan criticism of how to deal with deaths related to nursing homes during the pandemic. His office did not deny allegations that Cuomo threatened other New York lawmakers.
In a written statement to CNN, Ajemian, Cuomo’s director of communications, did not deny that Cuomo made threats to other lawmakers.
Cuomo is running for reelection next year.
CNN’s Lauren del Valle contributed to this report.