Government

Andrew Cuomo's Had A Wild Year

From poster boy for COVID response to getting arrested, it's been a trip.

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(Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)

A little over a year ago, there were actually people in this world who thought Andrew Cuomo should jump into the presidential race at the last second. The New York governor leapt into the COVID crisis and bombarded the country with daily press conferences offering reassurance and sound medical advice at a time when the nation’s existing leadership, well, didn’t.

But the house of cards built upon doing the bare minimum could never stand. While Cuomo used the crisis to put out a book patting himself on the back for his leadership, everyone learned that he’d forced out the state’s actual medical experts, created the hospital bed shortage himself through reckless budgeting, proposed deeper public health cuts in the middle of the pandemic, and put nursing home residents in dangerous conditions… and then tried to cover it up.

Then came the allegations of repeated sexual misconduct. Most of the stories revolved around creating a hostile work environment replete with inappropriate jokes and questions designed to marginalize women working in the office. Which was more than enough to warrant the end of his political career. But there was also a story about groping a woman in the governor’s mansion.

Yesterday, the Albany Sheriff’s Office issued a criminal complaint charging Cuomo with Forcible Touching. There are reports circulating that he will be arrested and processed next week.

And looking over the complaint, the sources of evidence cited jump out. One expects testimony from the alleged victim in a case like this. Other records, like media accounts of his press conference on the date in question or police aviation records are just there to establish that the former governor was in the building at the time of the incident.

But “The attached Text message from Andrew M. Cuomo’s cell phone” seems… ominous.

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What a difference a year makes, huh? Especially if you were always a disgrace of a government official living off unearned goodwill and low expectations.

HeadshotJoe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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