Disgraced Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York is planning a political comeback that will see him replace rival Letita James as the state’s attorney general, after he was forced from office last year due to her sex pest probe.
Cuomo’s potential political run comes more than nine months after a James’ office investigation revealed that he sexually harassed nearly a dozen women and that he and his aides sought to silence one of the accusers.
Insiders say the disgraced Democrat and his aides are now moving in on plans to run against James in the upcoming Midterms in November – a strategy already hinted at by the politician since being ousted in August.
The revelation regarding Cuomo’s return to the political arena were made by political operatives close to the ex-governor and his aides, who spoke to the Wall Street Journal.
They said Cuomo, 64, who served as the state’s attorney general from 2007 to 2010, is adamant about a return to that particular role – which would of course lead to an inevitable faceoff with the incumbent, his ouster, James, 63.
According to the insiders, who said they had recently spoke to Cuomo and his staff, conceded he never explicitly said he was going to run in November, but inferred his interest after he repeatedly brought up James in their talks and spoke of the state’s political climate.
The sources cited how it is the former governor typically asks questions about prospective options when coming to decisions concerning political maneuvers or policy.
Cuomo’s office denied the claims, calling them ‘sill rumors’ in a statement to the Journal.
‘There are a lot of silly rumors running around this town, and we can’t help it if some people are still fixated on us,’ Rich Azzopardi, Cuomo’s longtime spokesperson, said.
In March, Cuomo seemed to hint at a return to politics – days after James branded him a ‘sick, pathetic man’ over assertions that ‘cancel culture’ is what led to his political demise.
The remarks, made during Cuomo’s first – and only – public appearance since leaving office , did not sit well with state prosecutor James.
‘Serial sexual harasser Andrew Cuomo won’t even spare a house of worship from his lies,’ James wrote in a scathing statement issued by her office hours after Cuomo’s ‘cancel culture’ assertion.
‘Even though multiple independent investigations found his victims to be credible, Cuomo wasn’t railroaded; he quit so he wouldn’t be impeached,’ James went on.
‘New Yorkers are ready to move forward from this sick, pathetic man.’
Cuomo’s words served as one of the few times the politico has addressed the sexual harassment allegations found to be ‘credible’ by James’ office last year – and it him first hint at a potential comeback.
‘I’ve gone through a very difficult time these past few months,’ Cuomo said at the time. ‘I resigned as governor, the press roasted me, my colleagues were ridiculed. It was ugly… it was one of the roughest times of my life.’
The address saw Cuomo also take the offensive to attack the ‘political sharks’ in Albany who, he said, ‘smelled blood’ and exploited the situation for political gain – before eventually hinting at a political run in November.
‘My father used to say that government is an honorable profession but that politics can be a dirty business,’ he said. ‘That is especially true today when politics is so mean and extreme. When even the Democratic Party chooses to cancel people in the face of disagreement.’
Cuomo went on to add, ‘But the political sharks in Albany smelled blood and exploited the situation for their own political purpose.’
‘The actions against me were prosecutorial misconduct,’ Cuomo said. ‘They used cancel culture to effectively overturn an election.’
Now, cancel culture creates another major problem for the democratic party,’ Cuomo continued, before honing in on the subject of infighting among Democrats – which he said was spurred by cancel culture – and New York’s current crime and homeless epidemic.
‘We just heard from national elections, and the democrats lost,’ he said.
‘Now, the democrats are nervous about the midterm elections – and we should be.’
The ex-governor then offered an analogy for the impending doom that he says the city and party are set to face ahead of the midterm elections, as a result of the modern movement championed by Democrats and other progressives – whom he said he is now at odds with.
‘When you are driving down the road, and there is a flashing sign, and the flashing signs says, “Cliff Ahead,” pay attention. We should be worried about the midterms.
‘The democratic party is spending too much time arguing amongst themselves, cancelling each other, and pontificating about their ideal, rather than focus on what’s real.’
The politician went on to acknowledge that some of his alleged behavior uncovered in James’ investigation wasn’t appropriate, but quickly added that nothing he did violated the law. He argued that there is a ‘new sensitivity’ with younger people.
‘I didn’t appreciate how fast the perspectives changed,’ he added, before eventually hinting at a potential political comeback. ‘I’ve learned a powerful lesson and paid a very high price for learning that lesson.
He then hinted at a possible comeback.
‘God isn’t finished with me yet,’ he told the congregants. ‘I have many options in life and I’m open to all of them.’
Several district attorneys in New York said they found Cuomo’s accusers ‘credible’ after contributing to James’ extensive probe into the accusations against the then governor, which was based on 74,000 pieces of evidence.
However, the available evidence still wasn’t strong enough to press criminal charges against him, and he subsequently resigned from office.
Earlier this year, one of the accusers, a New York state trooper sued Cuomo claiming he caused her severe mental anguish and emotional distress by touching her inappropriately and making suggestive comments.
A Cuomo spokesperson called the suit a ‘cheap cash extortion.’
‘Any accusation can trigger condemnation without facts or due process,’ Cuomo said at the time. ‘We are a nation of laws, not a nation of tweets. Woe unto us if we allow that to become our new justice system.’
He apologized for his behavior multiple times, while still alluding to the fact that several Attorney Generals’ investigations led to no convictions.
‘Tens of millions of dollars were spent on investigations… your money!’ he said.
Returning several times to a Biblical metaphor of crossing a bridge to describe his journey, Cuomo hinted he won’t stay out of the spotlight.
‘The Bible teaches perseverance, it teaches us to get off the mat,’ he said. ‘They broke my heart but they didn’t break my spirit. I want to take the energy that could have made me bitter and make us better.’
In February, Cuomo released an attack ad against NY Attorney General Letitia James where he depicts himself as the victim of a ‘political attack’ – where he also appeared to signal his return to the political arena.
The video slammed an investigation led by James’ office that found he sexually harassed 11 women. He has not been criminally charged, and investigations by DAs found that there was not enough evidence to prosecute him.
The bombshell investigation led to Cuomo’s resignation last August and although he briefly retreated from the public eye, he recently reemerged with some speculating he could challenge James in the upcoming election.
The 30-second video contains various snippets from news organizations criticizing the investigation.
The ad also highlights reports that said the investigation involved ‘witness tampering and perjury’ and that it besmirched the reputation of an ‘innocent man.’
‘Political attacks won,’ the ad says in its closing caption. ‘And New Yorkers lost a proven leader.’
A spokesperson for James told a DailyMail.com that ‘the only thing Andrew Cuomo has proven himself to be is a serial sexual harasser and a threat to women in the workplace – no TV ad can change that.’
‘It’s shameful that after multiple investigations found Cuomo’s victims to be credible, he continues to attack their accounts rather than take responsibility for his own actions,’ the spokesperson said.
Earlier last month, Cuomo through his attorney Rita Galvin announced plans to submit a written complaint to the state’s Attorney Grievance Committee to highlight ethics concerns in the investigation.
‘He will not let this go,’ his lawyer, Rita Glavin, said during an online press conference.
‘It is insulting to tell someone, when they have been treated wrongly and unfairly, to just move on. He is not going to move on.’
Cuomo has repeatedly lashed out at James’ investigation, positioning himself as a victim of a political attack; he has previously joked that AG stands for ‘aspiring governor.’
He wasn’t bluffing about James, 63, having aspirations of higher office, however. She announced last October plans to run against Governor Kathy Hatchel in the upcoming election but backed out months later after failing to raise enough money.
There have been rumblings of Cuomo planning a return to public office for months.
In the video, news anchors are heard saying James ‘may have turned a blind eye to crucial details’ and that the investigation ‘created more questions about the politicization of the process.’
He’s hinted at running against James in the November election via comments he’s made about the fellow Democrat and New York’s current political climate, political insiders told the Wall Street Journal.
The state’s Democratic chairman Jay Jacobs said Cuomo is working to restore his reputation after the report found he sexually harassed 11 women.
‘He’s most interested in clearing his name,’ Jacobs told the Journal. ‘My advice would be, he needs time to pass before any moves to re-enter public life. But is that possible in the future? In America, anything’s possible.’
Cuomo’s political legacy began crumbling in December 2020, when former aide Lindsey Bolan became the first woman to go public with her sexual harassment claims against him.
Other accusers soon followed.
Cuomo denied the mounting allegations, and refused all calls to resign – until the release last August of James’ report, which included an allegation by former aide Brittany Commisso who claimed he groped her breast in the executive mansion in November 2020.
Commisso was the first accuser to take her sexual assault claims to police, but Albany County’s district attorney dropped the case last month, claiming there was not enough evidence to secure a conviction.
Prosecutors in two other New York districts have since said Cuomo will not face criminal charges in the cases of two women, including a New York State Trooper, alleged that he planted unwanted kisses on their cheeks.
