CUOMO: The Fall of the Anointed One

Lt. Patrick J. Ciser (ret.)

Credit: Facebook

Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York since 2011, was well known by his constituents, but not yet a national figure. All of that changed in March of 2020 as he started daily televised briefings on COVID-19. New York and New Jersey were getting hammered more than the rest of the country, as Cuomo took the lead, with other Democratic governors following. Cuomo took well to the cameras and actually developed a following as he was covered nationally and even internationally by CNN. Andrew’s brother Chris Cuomo, a left-wing activist who masquerades as a journalist for CNN, fawned over his big brother while using studio props during interviews. But it wasn’t only Chris who elevated his brother to stardom. Countless Democrats seemingly were captivated by him nationally, also elevating him to sainthood as he became a divisive Trump antagonist for the left. Initially he, along with California’s Gavin Newsom, thanked President Trump for the help he gave them during this tragic health crisis. After all, Trump ordered two very large medical ships to NY/NJ and California to help with the overflow of COVID patients. Trump even had 1,000 beds made available at New York Cities Javits Center in a bipartisan gesture, but interestingly, they remained mostly empty. Unfortunately, party bosses from the DNC perhaps have told Cuomo not to give Trump any credit in an election year, because their relationship somehow went downhill shortly afterward. Nationally, anyone with TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome) cheered Gov. Cuomo with every partisan briefing. Many wondered why he wasn’t running for president in the Democrat primary while the daily press conferences continued for a man who apparently liked to hear himself talk.

Police officers throughout the state, but particularly NYPD officers, weren’t happy with him, or state legislators, that were responsible for bail reform. This, an idea that originally was supposed to involve low level crimes, or misdemeanors, but ultimately saw alleged felons also walking out the door within hours of their arrest. The revolving door was only putting cops’ lives and that of witnesses in danger with, ostensibly, no benefit to the general public. Fortunately, the governor saw what havoc it was creating and cut back on crimes covered. Any violent and some repeat offenders were required again to post bail. Problems persisted, however, as NYC saw a 96% increase in shootings by the end of 2020. NYPD, rightfully so, pointed to bail reform as a big part of the problem. Gov. Cuomo also endorsed releasing thousands of prisoners due to COVID concerns. I always thought, if you can’t quarantine prisoners, who can you quarantine? Hey, if they go back out on the street to further terrorize their victims, no problem, so long as they don’t get COVID while doing it. The NYPD told the New York Post that out of 3,793 perps arrested for crimes involving firearms, from Jan. 1 to Nov. 30, only 450 of those remain in jail. A whopping 3,345 criminals, according to NYPD data were let go. I’ll never understand the soft on crime policies of the left. According to news reports, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea confirmed that nearly 90% of suspects who were arrested on gun charges this year returned immediately to the streets. Looting over the summer was a big problem for NYC, as well as other major cities in the U.S. but not to worry, bail reform allowed them all to walk after receiving a summons, and again, be at it the very next night thanks to Gov. Cuomo and his Democrat cohorts.

So here we are in 2021 as Cuomo’s fortunes have taken a sudden nose dive. It would seem that the Emmy Award that he received was given a bit prematurely. According to New York State Attorney General Letitia James (D) the Cuomo administration underreported the death toll in NY nursing homes by a whopping 50%.

Credit: Diana Robinson

James and the U.S. Department of Justice are currently conducting a criminal probe into these deaths. Cuomo’s decision last March to allow hospitalized COVID patients to return to nursing homes apparently led to high numbers of infections and deaths that were underreported. It appears that Cuomo’s reckless decisions led to many deaths, and that Cuomo wanted to stay under the radar from the feds. With approximately 13,000 deaths, Cuomo and his staff only reported 8,677. These numbers didn’t quite add up as states like New Jersey and Pennsylvania were reporting much higher numbers. According to The Albany Times, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn have reportedly launched a preliminary investigation into how Cuomo and his COVID-19 task force handled the nursing home data during the pandemic.

Credit: Diana Robinson

New York State Assemblyman Ron Kim (D) recently became aware of the undercount during a private virtual call where a Cuomo aide, Melissa DeRosa, said that they withheld data on the deaths because the information could be used against us, by then-President, Donald Trump. “Cuomo called me directly on Thursday to threaten my career if I did not cover up for Melissa DeRosa and what she said,” Kim told CNN. NY State lawmakers have called for the legislature to revoke Cuomo’s expanded emergency powers that were granted to him in the early days of the pandemic. Impeachment of the governor is also being floated, as the criminal investigation continues.

And if all of this isn’t enough, the Democrats’ “paragon of virtue” was just accused of intimidation and sexual harassment by a former aide, Lindsey Boylan (D). Many of us remember how Cuomo beat up Judge Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing in 2018, with a 30-year-old questionable case. Even NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio weighed in, claiming that Cuomo “has always been a bully” and sided with Lee and his account of events. Stay tuned.