Andrew Cuomo Dodges Charges From Two Of His Most Notorious Scandals

Anders HagstromJanuary 4, 2022

Disgraced former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has dodged criminal charges for his role in both of the notorious scandals that led to his resignation, law enforcement announced.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s office said Monday that it will not file criminal charges against Cuomo for misleading the public about COVID-19 deaths in New York’s nursery homes. On Tuesday, the Albany District Attorney’s office announced that it does not have enough evidence to mount a criminal case against Cuomo for workplace abuse and sexual harassment. (RELATED: Cuomo Accuser Details Grope Attack Inside Executive Mansion In First Interview After Report)

“While we found the complainant in this case cooperative and credible, after review of all the available evidence we have concluded that we cannot meet our burden at trial,” Albany DA David Soares wrote Tuesday. “As such we have notified the Court that we are declining to prosecute this matter and requesting the charges filed by the Albany County Sheriff be dismissed.”

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 25: People who’ve lost loved ones due to Covid-19 while they were in New York nursing homes attend a protest and vigil on March 25, 2021 in New York City. As of this month, New York has recorded the deaths of more than 15,000 nursing home residents with Covid-19. Governor Andrew Cuomo and his administration are being investigated by the F.B.I. on whether they gave false data on nursing homes deaths. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Cuomo enjoyed widespread praise from the media for the opening months of the pandemic, but the tone began to sour when the Daily Caller News Foundation first reported in May 2020 that his office knowingly undercounted COVID-19 nursing home deaths. The revelation came months after he ordered the state’s nursing homes to accept COVID-19 patients. Cuomo’s top aide, Melissa DeRosa, later admitted to the New York General Assembly that Cuomo’s office feared a federal investigation.

Cuomo’s governorship survived the nursing home scandal, however, and it wasn’t until several former staffers accused him of sexual harassment and workplace abuse that he was forced to resign in August. In a final speech announcing his resignation, Cuomo argued that he had done nothing wrong, and was only the victim of changing social standards.

“I’ve never crossed the line with anyone. But, I didn’t realize the extent to which the line has been redrawn. There are generational and cultural shifts that I just didn’t fully appreciate,” Cuomo said at the time.

The scandals also forced Cuomo to give up the $5 million in profits he garnered from his book on the COVID-19 pandemic, which he wrote and published even as the disease ravaged New York and the entire country.