New York Attorney General Letitia James expanded her sexual harassment investigation into embattled Gov. Andrew Cuomo to look into claims that a top adviser tied counties’ COVID-19 vaccine access to support for the governor, according to a report.
Larry Schwartz, a volunteer adviser who oversaw vaccine distribution for the state, called at least half a dozen Democratic county executives to ask whether they would call for Cuomo’s resignation as the governor battled multiple scandals and sinking support among lawmakers, prompting one county executive to file a complaint with the attorney general’s office, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal.
That complaint is now included in James’s expanded sexual harassment investigation, the report added.
“Right at the time that every county was working, and desperately needed more vaccines, to receive a call from the person who was responsible for allocating those doses gauging political loyalty to the governor was an obvious conflict, and at best ethically gray,” a county executive who received a call from Schwartz told the outlet.
DE BLASIO: ‘EVERYONE’S JUST ADMITTING THEY COVERED UP’ IN CUOMO ADMINISTRATION
Schwartz denied linking vaccine access to political support for Cuomo, and Beth Garvey, Cuomo’s counsel, said in March in regard to the calls that “distorting Larry’s role or intentions for headlines maligns a decades-long public servant,” according to the report.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, who spoke with investigators on March 30, added he didn’t feel Schwartz was pressuring him. He has not called for Cuomo’s resignation.
Cuomo, 63, has been battling several scandals threatening his governorship.
James’s original mandate was to investigate claims of sexual misconduct against the governor by 10 women. Cuomo has denied that he ever engaged in inappropriate touching but did apologize if he ever made anyone feel uncomfortable. Still, the mounting accusations also prompted the New York state Assembly to investigate the claims at the state level in what Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie has termed an “impeachment investigation.”
In a separate matter, James received an April 19 referral from the comptroller to conduct a criminal investigation into Cuomo’s use of state resources for his book, American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic, following a March 31 ethics complaint from liberal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which sought an inquiry into whether the Democratic governor violated a law prohibiting “the use of campaign funds for personal use.” CREW argued Cuomo’s reelection campaign “promoted sales of the book extensively on social media,” including at least four times on Facebook.
Cuomo said that members of his staff volunteered to help with the book, but his office acknowledged that there might be some “incidental” use of state resources, according to the New York Times.
The New York governor is under federal investigation for his handling of nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic after Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa acknowledged that Cuomo’s office hid the state’s nursing home death toll out of concerns of political retribution from former President Donald Trump. Despite Garvey claiming in March of this year that nursing home death tolls couldn’t be “verified,” a document released last month showed that the Cuomo administration was tracking COVID-19 nursing home deaths since at least April of last year.
Cuomo has also been accused of directing state health officials to give special COVID-19 testing access to members of his inner circle in claims denied by Richard Azzopardi, a senior adviser to the governor, as “insincere efforts to rewrite the past” in an email to the Washington Examiner.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Facing mounting pressure from within his party to resign, Cuomo, who is eligible to seek a fourth term in office in 2022, has vowed not to step down, saying that the allegations of impropriety against him are false.
Representatives for James and Cuomo did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner’s requests for comment.
