ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) 鈥� Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment, discussed running to reclaim the office in 2022 but decided against it because he didn't want to subject his daughters to another campaign, one of his top aides says in a book being released Tuesday.
鈥淲e had a vendor lined up to print petitions and had assembled a volunteer army and a paid canvass operation that was set to go,鈥� the Democrat's former chief aide, Melissa DeRosa, writes in her political memoir, 鈥淲hat鈥檚 Left Unsaid: My Life at the Center of Power, Politics and Crisis.鈥�
Such a run would have pitted Cuomo against his successor and former lieutenant governor, fellow Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul.
DeRosa said Cuomo 鈥渃ould not stomach鈥� how state government was being run after his resignation. But despite support from relatives and aides willing to come out with 鈥済uns blazing,鈥� she wrote, Cuomo considered how a run would impact his three daughters, who had clearly 鈥渉ad enough of the press and the ugly politics.鈥�
鈥淭he prospect of reliving that trauma that soon was too much to bear," DeRosa said.
Hochul wound up winning the election, defeating Republican Lee Zeldin.
DeRosa was known for appearing at the governor鈥檚 side during his daily, televised COVID-19 pandemic briefings and became one of Cuomo's most vocal defenders during the sexual harassment scandal that forced him out of office in August 2021.
She defends him and the administration in the book, too, questioning the credibility of some of the accusations, saying that 鈥渆veryday interactions were being weaponized鈥� and claiming some of the attacks on him were politically motivated.
DeRosa is particularly critical of state Attorney General Letitia James, the Democrat who released a report, crafted by outside lawyers, which concluded Cuomo had sexually harassed 11 women. Cuomo . In one passage, DeRosa claimed James initially tried to reassure her about the investigation, saying people had described a key accuser as 鈥渘ot credible.鈥�
A spokesperson for James, Gary Ginsburg, said in an email Monday that DeRosa 鈥渉as a well-earned reputation for dishonesty.鈥�
鈥淟et鈥檚 remember this is the very person who lied about the number of people who died in nursing homes during the pandemic,鈥� Ginsburg said, referring to the Cuomo administration's of deaths at nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
DeRosa's book provides insider takes on Cuomo鈥檚 relationships with other figures.
According to DeRosa:
鈥� Former CNN President Jeff Zucker and his longtime aide Allison Gollust pressured Cuomo to appear on his younger brother Chris鈥檚 primetime show. The brotherly banter, laced with friendly trash talk, was a popular feature during the grimmest days of the pandemic, despite criticism that it represented a journalistic conflict of interest.
鈥� Cuomo had a complicated, wary relationship with then-President Donald Trump. DeRosa said she would sometimes try to lobby the administration through Jared Kushner, Trump鈥檚 son-in-law. Sometimes those exchanges would get testy. Early in the pandemic when much of the economy was still shut down, DeRosa spoke to Kushner in hopes the president would soften his rhetoric about reopening. Kushner responded that Florida was open and that the death rate there was lower at the time 鈥渆ven without the shutdowns. Did you know that, too?鈥�
鈥� Hochul was told in January 2021 that she would be off the ticket the next year as Cuomo's lieutenant governor. She agreed to go, DeRosa said, provided they find her a job in the federal government, preferably as ambassador to Canada. They were finalizing a position in the Commerce Department when the sexual harassment allegations surfaced. DeRosa dismissed Hochul as someone unprepared for the job.
Asked to comment on what DeRosa wrote, Hochul spokesperson Anthony Hogrebe emailed that the "State of New York has moved on, and we hope she is able to find a way to move on as well.鈥�
Cuomo鈥檚 spokesperson, Rich Azzopardi, said of the book 鈥渨e鈥檙e not disputing any of this but have no additional comment.鈥�
Michael Hill, The Associated Press
