Andrew Cuomo’s Team Denies Working on COVID-19 Memoir at Height of Pandemic

Former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has denied caller allegations that helium worked connected his memoir “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic” during the tallness of the titular COVID-19 pandemic.

Cuomo’s memoir earned a $5.1 cardinal publication deal. The chapters of Cuomo’s publication are formatted with a date, followed by the fig of caller cases, hospitalizations, and deaths connected that fixed date.

On Friday, a authorities watchdog enactment called the Empire Center for Public Policy published a concatenation of emails successful which 1 of Cuomo’s apical aides, Melissa DeRosa, allegedly asked unit members to nutrient a timeline of events detailing the governor’s effect to the outbreak of COVID-19. The email concatenation that resulted included a papers with a bid of dates arsenic good arsenic numbers of hospitalizations and deaths successful a format akin to the section headings of Cuomo’s book.

The email concatenation betwixt DeRosa and Cuomo unit members began connected March 30, 2020, and ran done April 18, 2020. The bid of emails took spot astir the clip New York saw the tallness of its archetypal question of COVID-19 cases. Cuomo was the taxable of numerous articles praising his regular COVID-19 property briefings, and helium adjacent received an Emmy award for his pandemic property conferences. By 2021, allegations had grown that the governor’s bureau hid oregon delayed reports indicating accrued COVID-19 deaths successful nursing homes.

While the email concatenation contained nary circumstantial notation of a forthcoming book, Cuomo speechwriter Jamie Malinowski responded to the concatenation with an April 18, 2020, email describing however different staffer had been moving connected the “tick tock,” successful a imaginable notation to the timeline of COVID-19 effect events. Malinowski past wrote, “Here is simply a preface I’ve been moving on,” followed by respective passages that appeared to person been written successful Cuomo’s authorial voice. One information of the staffer’s preface described however “I would present the State of the State address,” and different said, “during my archetypal 9 years arsenic governor, we created a grounds of accomplishments crossed a wide scope of issues.”

Cuomo’s 10th State of the State Address took spot connected Jan. 8, 2020, much than 3 months earlier Malinowski’s preface email.

The Empire Center noted the email exchanges betwixt March 30 and April 18, 2020, arsenic grounds to corroborate assessments made successful a November 2021 impeachment probe study against Cuomo.

The 2021 impeachment report, completed by the New York Assembly’s Democrat-majority Judiciary Committee, alleged that a “Penguin Random House (‘PRH’) worker reached retired to a literate cause representing then-Governor Cuomo to spot if the then-Governor was funny successful penning a book” connected March 19, 2020. According to the impeachment report, the literate cause responded connected July 1, 2020, and told the PRH worker that Cuomo “had been penning a book” astir his COVID-19 pandemic effect and said Cuomo “already had 70,000 words written.”

According to the impeachment report, the New York State Department of Health discovered “that for a play of astir 2 weeks successful April and/or May 2020, definite fatalities successful nursing location facilities owed to COVID-19 were not included successful the published data. Specifically, deaths reported by nursing homes aft astir 5:00 p.m. each time were not included successful totals for that day, and truthful the published information was incomplete.”

The Empire Center argued that the caller emails bolster the lawsuit that Cuomo “improperly benefited from the usage of authorities resources” to nutrient his memoir and “the task distracted authorities officials and perchance affected their decision-making successful the mediate of the crisis.”

Cuomo’s Team Denies ‘Defamatory’ Allegations

Rich Azzopardi, a spokesperson for Cuomo, disputed the allegations raised by the Empire Center.

“What is being alleged present is reckless and false,” Azzopardi told the organization. “The emails person NOTHING to bash with enactment connected the book, which began months later. The timeline was to pass the regular briefings, speeches and different COVID-related materials.”

Azzopardi besides addressed Malinowski’s email describing a “preface,” saying, “of people a speechwriter would nutrient connection successful the Governor’s voice.”

The Empire Center included Azzopardi’s comments successful an update to their archetypal report, but the Cuomo spokesperson posted connected Twitter that the study is “still mendacious & defamatory.”

“Had the @empirecenter reached retired to maine earlier the post, overmuch of this could person been cleared up connected the beforehand end,” Azzopardi added.

Gregory Morvillo, a lawyer for DeRosa, besides told the New York Post that “any nonfiction that states that Melissa DeRosa directed anyone to enactment connected Gov. Cuomo’s publication successful March and/or April 2020 is mendacious and reckless.”

Morvillo besides said immoderate enactment DeRosa did to assistance Cuomo connected the publication was done connected a voluntary ground extracurricular of mean concern hours.

Malinoski told the New York Post helium had nary cognition Cuomo was moving connected a book. He told the work that his “preface” was meant to beryllium a “narrative” for speeches oregon discussions but acknowledged, “I conjecture that could beryllium utilized successful a book.”

From NTD News