New York Governor Andrew Cuomo leaves in his helicopter after announcing his resignation in New York City.
According to people, close allies of Andrew Cuomo, including his top aide and his former CNN anchor brother, plotted to hurt the reputation of a Fox News host who was critical of the governor.
The Cuomo aides who ripped Dean behind the scenes and sought to craft a public messaging strategy that would paint the Fox News personality as a right-wing commentator were led by the secretary to the governor, according to CNBC. Dean blamed Cuomo for the deaths of her husband's parents, who she said died of Covid in their elder-care facilities.
It is not clear if DeRosa or Cuomo's team ever started such a plan.
One of the people said that Andrew Cuomo was present during some of the strategy sessions. The sessions focused on the governor's response to Covid.
A person familiar with the matter said that Chris Cuomo was encouraged to find information that would focus on Dean's political leanings. It is not clear if Chris Cuomo ever went ahead with digging up information on Dean or if he was encouraged to do so. Dean criticized Andrew Cuomo on air and in columns before the sexual harassment scandal exploded.
The people cited in the article did not want to be named in order to speak freely about their private conversations.
Chris Cuomo was fired by CNN after documents released by New York Attorney General Letitia James showed that he had a much deeper role in advising the former governor's team than was previously known.
The former governor denied any wrongdoing. He resigned in August after the attorney general released a report detailing more than 10 instances of alleged misconduct by Cuomo. Chris Cuomo has been accused of sexual harassment by his former colleagues, but he has denied it.
Rich Azzopardi told CNBC that he didn't know if Chris Cuomo was being asked to look into Dean. The strategy sessions were not focused on her. He said the governor's office's response to Dean's criticisms was handled by the press office.
The press office had to respond to something she said, but it was handled by the press office and did not rise to the level of something the governor would be engaged with.
Chris Cuomo and DeRosa did not respond to requests for comment.
Dean ripped the former governor's allies and took aim at Cuomo's handling of nursing home patients.
This was never about politics. The governor's office treated grieving families badly when they tried to get answers about the March 25th 2020 executive order to admit over 9000 Covid positive patients into nursing homes. Dean told CNBC on Friday that Cuomo's spokesman called us a "death cult" and told my sister in law to get a life after her parents died.
When Andrew Cuomo was criticized for his handling of nursing homes, Dean emerged as one of the most prominent critics. Dean wrote in a USA Today op-ed in July 2020 that her father- and mother-in-law both died of Covid in their elder-care facilities.
She wrote that the governor's refusal to accept responsibility makes our grief and anger worse. I speak for many when I say we need a nonpartisan investigation on both the state and federal level so that this never happens again.
The Cuomo administration said that nursing homes could not turn away patients with Covid infections. Dean blamed the former governor and directive for the death of her in-laws.
Dean continued to criticize Cuomo after he resigned.
In a statement to the UK newspaper the Daily Mail, the Andrew Cuomo spokesman said that Dean was not a credible source on anything except the weather.
The then-governor in 2020 became a sensation for his regular Covid crisis press conferences and his regular media appearances during which he criticized former President Donald Trump's handling of the virus. He appeared with his brother on the air.
It was bad enough that he was being asked about his love life instead of his lethal policy. The day my anger and grief turned to rage was when I saw the governor and his anchorman brother laughing and joking around on CNN about who their mother's favorite son was.
The controversy surrounding nursing homes went far beyond Dean and others. Cuomo's administration had undercounted the number of deaths of state nursing home residents caused by coronaviruses, according to a report released by the state Attorney General.
Cuomo admitted that their lack of public transparency was a mistake. He said that his office was concerned about a politically biased investigation by the Department of Justice.
The New York Times reported in March that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was looking into whether Cuomo's aides gave false information to the Department of Justice. The case was not pursued by the Justice Department.
Full statement from Dean.
This was never about politics. The governor's office treated grieving families badly when they tried to get answers about the March 25th 2020 executive order to admit over 9000 Covid positive patients into nursing homes. Rich Azzopardi called us a death cult and told my sister in law to get a life after both of her parents died. I am not surprised that the Cuomo administration and his brother Chris Cuomo were doing the same thing with me.
