NYAG Probing Cuomo’s Vax Czar for Linking Support for Governor to Vaccine Access

Edited by: TJVNews.com

It appears that New York State attorney general Letitia James and her staff are pretty busy these days. There is no shortage of investigations focusing around Governor Andrew Cuomo and the people in his orbit in Albany.

As previously reported, Ms. James is currently investigating the governor on accusations that he engaged in sexual harassment of women in his employ, as well as what the governor’s role was in allegedly causing thousands of nursing home deaths during the height of the Covid-19 virus last year and whether the governor used state finds to pay employees to work on his recently published book on his leadership role during the Covid crisis.

According to a New York Post report, the governor’s vaccine czar is being probed for exerting pressure on New York county leaders to support Cuomo and not offering these counties access to the vaccine if they do not comply.

The Post reported on Saturday that two Democratic county executives told them that back in March state investigators contacted them about their encounter with Cuomo’s longtime aide Larry Schwartz. The vaccine rollout in New York was handled by Schwartz. As a former secretary to Cuomo, Schwartz reportedly canvassed state county officials in March to gauge their loyalty to Cuomo, according to the Post report.

For his part Schwartz acknowledged the phone calls made to county executives, according to reports, but said he had done “nothing wrong” and that his conversations were “cordial, respectful and friendly,” as was reported by the Post.

One of the county executives said that the state investigators conducted a formal interview in an hour long Zoom call but that he was not under oath. He said the interview was with two investigators and an assistant from the attorney general’s office.  The Post reported that he was requested by the investigators to hand over phone records and text messages with Schwartz.

One woman who had accused Governor Cuomo of sexual misconduct piped up about Schwartz in a recent Tweet. The Post reported that on Saturday Lindsey Boylan wrote that “Larry Schwartz is not a public servant. He is an enforcer who represents the worst of @NYGovCuomo’s corrupt administration. Linking life-saving vaccine access to political support for the governor is a criminal abuse of power.”

A county executive told the New York Times in March that conversation that he had with Schwartz was in the immediate aftermath of a call from another state official about the vaccination efforts.  Schwartz is also a board member of the MTA. The Post reported that Schwartz told the executive to not jump the gun in his position on charges leveled against Cuomo bit to wait until the investigation by Ms, James’ office had reached a conclusion.

Speaking to the Post, Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said, “To be clear, Larry’s conversations did not bring up vaccine distribution. He would never link political support to public health decisions. Distorting Larry’s role or intentions for headlines maligns a decades’ long public servant who has done nothing but volunteer around the clock since March to help New York get through the COVID pandemic.”

An another note, over the weekend yet another Cuomo staff member tendered his resignation as the embattled governor fights for his political life.

Governor Cuomo’s communications director Peter Ajemian is the latest to resign from the administration, as was reported by the Post.

Ajemian became head of Cuomo’s communication department  in August 2020 having taken over from longtime aide Dani Lever, after she took a job with Facebook, according to the Post report.  “After nearly four years and with this year’s budget done and vaccine eligibility open to everyone, I decided now is the time to pursue opportunities in the private sector. I’m grateful to the Governor for giving me the chance to serve,” he told The Post.

He added: “It’s been the honor of a lifetime to be part of a team working for New Yorkers in a period of unprecedented crisis and seeing the government work for the people and people work for each other.”