ALBANY — Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo who resigned following multiple allegations of sexual misconduct by women, considered running to reclaim his office in 2022. However, he decided against it as he didn’t wish to subject his daughters to yet another campaign.
In her memoir “What’s left unsaid: My life at the center of power, politics and crisis,” Melissa DeRosa writes, “We had a printer lined up for petitions, and we had assembled a voluntary army and a canvassing operation that was ready to go.”
Cuomo’s opponent would have been his successor and former Lieutenant Governor, fellow Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul.
DeRosa claimed that Cuomo was “unable to stomach” the way state government had been run since his resignation. Cuomo weighed the pros and cons of running for office, even though he had support from family and friends who were ready to go out “guns-blazing.”
DeRosa told reporters that “the prospect of reliving this trauma in the near future was too much for me to bear.”
Hochul won the election by defeating Republican Lee Zeldin.
DeRosa appeared at the governor’s right during his daily COVID-19 briefings, which were televised. She was also one of Cuomo’s staunchest defenders when the sexual harassment scandal forced him to leave office in August 2021.
She defends both him and the administration, claiming that some of his attacks were political in nature and questioning some of the allegations.
DeRosa criticizes Letitia Jimenez, the Democrat state attorney general who, after a report was drafted by lawyers from outside, concluded that Cuomo sexually harassed eleven women. Cuomo denied these allegations. DeRosa said that James had initially reassured her about the probe, saying that people had described an important accuser as being “not credible.”
In an email sent on Monday, a spokesperson for James, Gary Ginsburg said that DeRosa has “a well-earned rep for dishonesty”.
Ginsburg noted that Cuomo’s administration had not accurately counted the deaths in nursing home and assisted living facilities during the pandemic.
DeRosa’s new book gives an insider’s view of Cuomo’s relationship with other people.
• Former CNN President Jeff Zucker and his longtime aide Allison Gollust pressured Cuomo to appear on his younger brother Chris’s primetime show. During the darkest days of pandemic, the brotherly banter was filled with trash talk.
• Cuomo had a complicated, wary relationship with then-President Donald Trump. DeRosa claimed that she would try to lobby administrations through Jared Kushner – Trump’s son in law. Sometimes these exchanges were heated. DeRosa talked to Kushner early on in the pandemic in hopes that the president would temper his rhetoric regarding reopening. Kushner said that Florida had been open for business and the death rate was lower “even before the shutdowns” in Florida. Did you also know this?
• Hochul was told in January 2021 that she would be off the ticket the next year as Cuomo’s lieutenant governor. DeRosa stated that she agreed to go if they could find her a federal job, preferably an ambassadorship to Canada. When the allegations of sexual harassment surfaced, they were finalizing a job in the Commerce Department. DeRosa dismissed Hochul for being unprepared to do the job.
Hochul spokesperson Anthony Hogrebe replied via email when asked to comment on the DeRosa letter. “The State of New York is moving on and we hope that she can find a solution to move on.”
Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi stated that “we are not disputing anything in this book but do have no other comment.”