New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has come under fire over allegations of chronic sexual misconduct and accusations that some of his top assistants deliberately put the state health department under pressure to kill Covid-19 nursing homes.
One of Cuomo’s defendants, former associate Lindsey Boylan, said the governor’s front-runner had ‘normalized’ his inappropriate behavior. Here’s a look at the senior management of the fighting governor:
Kathy Hochul, Lieutenant Governor
NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 18: Kathy Hochul, New York’s lieutenant governor, takes part in the January 18, 2020, women’s march in New York City. (Photo by John Lamparski / Getty Images)
A Cuomo departure would usher in New York’s first female governor, Kathy Hochul. And this would not be the first time she has won a political seat after men have behaved badly; she won a special election in 2011 for the seat of Rep. Chris Lee, RN.Y. The married congressman resigned after allegedly asking a woman on Craigslist.
She lost her race in 2012 after the redistribution and joined Cuomo for his second bid in 2014.
She was largely silent about the allegations against her boss and simply said, “Everyone deserves to have their voice heard and taken seriously. I support an independent review,” last Saturday after the second allegation came out.
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But she’s been a staunch advocate of #MeToo for the past few years, ending Cuomo’s landmark ‘enough is enough’ legislation ending sexual assaults on university campuses across the country.
“There is still a culture that is pervasive and that is why women in a workplace – whether they are technology in Silicon Valley or in Hollywood or in the corridors of our legislatures and Congress – are subjected to unwanted advances, sexual harassment and sometimes assault. , ”She said in November 2017.
Melissa DeRosa, Chief of Staff
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES – 2020/09/09: Secretary of State Melissa DeRosa attends Andrew Cuomo’s announcement that restaurants in the 3rd office could open for indoor dining on 30 September. (Photo by Lev Radin / Pacific Press / LightRocket via Getty Images)
De Rosa, the governor’s right-hand woman, is embroiled in both of the governor’s combined scandals – specifically cited by a Cuomo prosecutor as someone who “normalized” his behavior and is known as one of Cuomo’s leading advisers in the counting of nursing home deaths in New York.
Lindsey Boylan, former Cuomo adviser who accused him of unwanted kissing and touching, as well as a pattern of inappropriate comments. Boylan said his behavior was “so normalized – especially by Melissa DeRosa and other top women around him – that I only now realized 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 to have seen more women in my time as secretary [the] DeRosa continued. “I do not think it diminishes it, and I look forward to continuing our work to continue the women’s agenda and strengthen women’s rights for all New Yorkers.”
Like Cuomo, she urged everyone to wait for the outcome of Attorney General Letitia James’ investigation before delivering their verdict.
“I just want to ask everyone to speak out until the Attorney General is allowed to do her job,” she said. “Everyone is going to comply fully.”
DeRosa was also among a list of Cuomo advisers, members of his Covid-19 task force, who urged state health officials to remove residents of nursing homes who died in Covid-19 hospitals from a public report on deaths in nursing homes remove. The chief of staff regularly appears with the governor during his daily Covid-19 press conferences last spring and summer.
Kelly Cummings, Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of State Operations and Infrastructure
Cummings is one of the high-ranking former Republicans working for Cuomo. Prior to joining the administration in 2016, she served as Director of Communications for the Republican Senate. Prior to that, she was the Director of Policy Development at the IDP Conference.
Linda Lacewell, Counselor to the Governor
(Department of Financial Services – New York)
Lacewell, who serves as superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services, was also listed among the advisers who requested a change to the nursing home report. Prior to her DFS role, Lacewell served as chief of staff and adviser to the governor, where she focused on government ethics, according to the state government’s website. Lacewell also presented a class at NYU Law entitled “Ethics in Government: Investigation and Enforcement.”
Elizabeth Garvey, Special Adviser and Senior Advisor
(New York City and State)
Garvey undoubtedly worked overtime, as the Cuomo administration faces investigations facilitated by the state agency into Cuomo’s behavior toward women in light of harassment claims and his nursing home.
Garvey sent a referral to AG James this week to give her office the power to continue the independent investigation into harassment.
Garvey also defended the governor’s senior advisers after the Wall Street Journal and NY Times reported that they had influenced state health officials to remove deaths in the hospital from a July report on deaths in coronavirus nursing homes. In separate statements, both Thursday and Friday, Garvey said the “data outside the facility,” meaning the deaths in hospitals, was omitted from the July report after the health department “could not confirm that it was adequately verified. . “
Garvey is a former Republican Senate Assistant and Advocate.
Robert Mujica, Director of Budget
UNITED STATES – MAY 27: Robert Mujica, NY’s budget director, attends a news conference with New York Government’s Andrew Cuomo on the COVID-19 pandemic at the National Press Club in Washington DC, following a meeting with President Trump in 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 on the role of budget director in 2016. As of 2018, he has earned the most money from Cuomo’s leading aid, and even more than the governor himself.
Adam Zurofsky, Director of Government Policy and Agency Management
Zurofsky took on his current role in 2019. Prior to that, he was Deputy Secretary for Energy and Financial Services.
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Michael Kopy, director of emergency management
Michael Kopy attends a press conference in New York, USA, on March 30, 2020. US Army Corps of Engineers will complete a temporary field hospital at the Jacob K. Javits Conference Center, while the coronavirus will continue to spread in New York City on March 30, 2020. (Photo by John Lamparski / NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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Kopy, a longtime state supervisor and former volunteer fire chief, joined the administration in 2019.
Kumiki Gibson, adviser to the governor
Gibson was appointed adviser to the governor in 2019. Previously, he was chief executive of former Vice President Al Gore.
Timothy Hartz, Executive Director
Hartz previously served as special assistant to President Obama and deputy director of pre-operations for the White House before taking up his job in the Cuomo government.