Democratic Assemblyman Ron Kim told CNN he described an alleged altercation with the governor that had not been reported before. He received a call on his cellphone from the governor last week when he was bathing his children at home.
‘Cuomo’s government called me directly on Thursday to threaten my career if I did not cover up for Melissa [DeRosa] and what she said. He tried to put me under pressure to issue a statement, and it was a very traumatic experience, “Kim said. Cuomo told the meeting that” we are working together in this business and that we are not certain “crossing borders, and he said I did not see his anger and that he could destroy me,” Kim said.
Cuomo’s adviser denied that the governor had threatened to destroy Kim.
DeRosa is a leading aid to the governor who came under fire last week after she told lawmakers at a private virtual meeting that the state had delayed the full extent of the Covid death toll from residents of the nursing home in New York to share with the legislature. concerns about a possible federal investigation by the Department of Justice. (The governor’s office has since released a partial transcript of the call.)
Kim, a progressive representative for Queens, who was one of the most critical of Cuomo’s handling of nursing homes during the pandemic and believes his own uncle died last year in a suspected Covid case in a nursing home, told the virtual call participated. During the meeting, Kim said he appealed to the governor to apologize to relatives of those who died in relief. When the New York Post first reported on DeRosa’s controversial comments, he was one of the contestants quoted in the piece criticizing the comments.
“No one in my life has ever spoken to me like that,” Kim said of his phone call to Cuomo. “At one point, he tried to humiliate me by asking, ‘Are you a lawyer? I did not think so. You are not a lawyer.’ “It almost felt like he was trying to scold me angrily and say something inappropriate. I’m glad I didn’t.”
Kim’s wife told CNN she heard parts of Kim’s call with Cuomo last week, describing 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 her husband immediately after the phone call told her, “The governor threatened to destroy my life.”
Cuomo’s efforts to reach Kim apparently continued through the weekend. Kim said he had received several calls from a ‘No Caller ID’ number, followed by messages from Cuomo’s assistants saying the governor wanted to talk to him again. Kim said he did not return the calls. He has since hired a lawyer and told CNN he felt it was necessary after Cuomo’s first call that made him feel like the governor had asked him to lie about what happened in last week’s virtual call. He said he had informed the governor’s office that any issue should be done through his advice.
When CNN first arrived at Cuomo’s office on Tuesday for comment on this story, communications director Peter Ajemian did not respond directly to or deny Kim’s allegation of threats from the governor in a written statement. Late Tuesday, Ajemian said the office would send a clarifying statement. Finally, late Wednesday morning, the office sent a statement from senior adviser Rich Azzopardi: “Kim’s claim that the governor said he would ‘destroy’ him is untrue.”
“The governor has three witnesses to the conversation. The working words were: ‘I also come from Queens, and people still expect honor and integrity in politics,'” Azzopardi said.
Around the same time that Azzopardi’s statement was sent to CNN, Cuomo began a press conference call about the previously scheduled coronavirus, discussing his office’s “long and hostile relationship” with Kim.
Cuomo said Kim’s political animus dates back to a 2015 bill to reform nail salons that the governor proposed and that Kim initially supported, but later opposed. Cuomo quoted a New York Times report from that year examining financial contributions Kim received after reversing his position. In that article, a top Cuomo assistant was critical of Kim.
Kim said on Wednesday that he stood “100%” in his allegation that Cuomo had threatened to destroy him. He said he did not recall Cuomo making a specific reference to Queens, but that Cuomo had asked him by telephone last week: “Mr Kim, are you an honorable man?” before proceeding with the suggestion that the honorable thing for Kim to do is to issue a statement of support.
Kim also rejected Cuomo’s proposal that he had ulterior motives in criticizing Cuomo over Covid deaths in nursing homes, saying he was deeply disappointed with the governor’s handling during the pandemic.
“Nothing can be undone here. They have blood on their hands,” Kim said. “We’re talking about his record of the last ten months.”
Azzopardi’s statement also states that Cuomo called Kim last week to comment on Kim’s comments in the initial New York Post story, and suggested that Kim issue a new statement and that the meeting agreed. When Azzopardi received no statement, 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 original New York Post story did not quote and misinterpret him.
According to three additional Democratic New York lawmakers, Kim is not the only lawmaker to push back fiercely last week and even receive threats from Cuomo and his leading aides. Everyone spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity because they were afraid of retaliation from the governor.
They said the government had aggressively urged lawmakers to speak out in support of its handling of deaths related to the nursing homes, and that threats were being made against those considering a vote to strip Cuomo of his emergency services.
All three lawmakers have said they are aware of the governor’s issue in which he clearly proposes political retaliation or explicitly threatens if they are not with him. One of them, a New York state senator who said they were not contacted by Cuomo but heard directly from several colleagues what Cuomo reached out to, said the governor threatened the colleagues with retaliation – including some warnings. that he destroys their political power. careers as they support the weakening of Cuomo’s executive forces.
In other cases, the government has persisted in asking lawmakers to come to Cuomo’s defense, including by issuing supporting statements about last week’s virtual meeting.
A member of the New York Assembly said they had heard from multiple colleagues who had received messages from the government suggesting that language could promulgate lawmakers after DeRosa’s controversial comments were made 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 going forward, according to this meeting member who described similar messages received by several colleagues from members of the administration.
Cuomo has received widespread criticism over his handling of deaths related to nursing homes during the pandemic. His office has not denied allegations that Cuomo threatened other New York lawmakers.
In a written statement to CNN, Ajemian, Cuomo’s communications director, did not deny that Cuomo posed threats to other lawmakers.
Cuomo could be re-elected next year.
CNN’s Lauren del Valle contributed to this report.