There remains a blackout on the sexual harassment allegations against Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo by most major media outlets. Putting aside the striking lack of interest in comparison to the allegations raised against Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the controversy from that confirmation fight could raise difficult questions for Cuomo who not only insisted that Dr. Christine Blasey Ford must be believed but demanded that Kavanaugh take a polygraph examination. It is not clear if Cuomo will now follow his own standard and take a polygraph examination arranged by others.
During the Kavanaugh hearing, various Democratic leaders publicly insisted that “women must be believed” when raising sexual harassment allegations and declared Kavanaugh guilty before either he or Ford actually testified. Senator Maxie Hirono publicly stated that Kavanaugh was not even entitled to any presumption of innocence. Indeed, Hirono insisted that men needed to “just shut up” and accept the allegations.
The view that “women must be believed” changed the minute that Joe Biden was accused of sexual assault and then refused to allow the review of his papers held under seal at the University of Delaware. Suddenly, figures like Nancy Pelosi and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer insisted that they believed Biden without any review such papers or even speaking with the alleged victim (a former Biden staffer). Ethics experts like Richard Painter attacked those who suggested that the accuser might be telling the truth as endangering the election. Others like Rep. Iihan Omar, Linda Hirschman, and Lisa Bloom found an even more startling resolution: they stated that Biden was clearly a rapist, but they would still vote for him.
The allegations raised by former Biden aide Lindsey Boylan are notably easier to confirm. She stated “Yes, [Cuomo] sexually harassed me for years. Many saw it, and watched. I could never anticipate what to expect: would I be grilled on my work (which was very good) or harassed about my looks. Or would it be both in the same conversation? This was the way for years.”
These are not allegations that are decades old with few, if any, witnesses. Boylan worked for the governor’s administration from 2015 to 2018 and says that there were many witnesses. Notably, the Kavanaugh hearing was in 2018.
In fairness to Cuomo., I was surprised by Boylan making these serious allegations against Cuomo and then saying that she would not speak with reporters on the details. She stated on Twitter “To be clear: I have no interest in talking to journalists. I am about validating the experience of countless women and making sure abuse stops. My worst fear is that this continues.” That is hardly fair to Cuomo to declare him a harasser and then refuse to support the allegations.
As with Kavanaugh, I believe both sides need to be heard and that we should not assume Cuomo is guilty based on an allegation. Some groups however are not waiting. UltraViolet co-founder Shaunna Thomas has called for Cuomo to apologize (though notably not to resign) for his harassment of women. Other groups with the Me Too Movement, Time’s Up and EMILY’s List who led the calls with Kavanaugh were conspicuously silent when the Democratic governor was accused.
The strongest case against Cuomo may be Cuomo. In the Kavanaugh hearing, Cuomo declared Kavanaugh clearly guilty. He publicly declared
“The confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court is a sad day for this country, and it will haunt us for as long as he is on the court.
Today 50 senators put partisan politics over the sanctity of the highest court in the nation. In November, the American people get to respond and make their voices heard.
In New York, we will not waver and will not back down. To Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and all survivors of sexual assault, we believe you and we will fight for you. The sham FBI investigation and the bigger sham, this confirmation process, have energized us to fight even harder for our shared vision for a better future for all.
We will not wait for our rights to be taken away. Here in New York, I vow to codify Roe v. Wade within the first 30 days of my next administration, strengthen our common-sense gun safety laws and continue our progress expanding access to quality affordable health care. While extreme conservatives in Washington try to take this nation backward, New York will lead the way forward.”
Cuomo was one of the most vocal figures to demand that women must be believed. Boylan was working for Cuomo during the year of the Kavanaugh hearings. Cuomo declared “A woman’s testimony is worth as much as a man’s. That shouldn’t be a controversial proposition.” Cuomo then added the Republicans who supported Ford in the hearing “should require Judge Kavanaugh to take a polygraph test as Dr. Ford has done.”
I have never agreed with such calls for polygraphs in public controversies, but Cuomo clearly does. The question is whether he will allow others to arrange a polygraph in this controversy when the accused is named not Kavanaugh but Cuomo.
New England Journal of Medicine attorney opines re: SCOTUS ruling on Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn vs Cuomo, and boy is she pissed. Typical garbage, as if she knew anything about science.
JD….lol. She should have enlisted the help of “Dr” Jill Biden
😜
Perspective: Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo — The Supreme Court and Pandemic Controls
Wendy E. Parmet, J.D.
From the Center for Health Policy and Law, Northeastern University School of Law, Boston.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2034280
PASSAGE FROM ESTOVIR’S ARTICLE:
Furthermore, the Court’s finding that New York’s restrictions were not narrowly tailored because there was no evidence of viral transmission in the petitioners’ houses of worship and because other states had looser regulations suggests that states will not be able to act before super-spreader events occur or as long as other states take a more lax approach.
This development presents states with a dilemma. In the absence of a national pandemic policy or sufficient stimulus support, many governors have responded to the new surge in Covid-19 cases by imposing fine-tuned restrictions in an attempt to protect health without decimating the economy. Some of these measures have affected religious liberty in troubling ways; others are epidemiologically questionable.5 For example, Rhode Island has banned all social gatherings in homes while allowing catered events.5.
………………………………………………
Estovir, how do you imagine being more knowledgeable than the writer of this piece? Are we to believe The New England Journal of Medicine allowed this writer to just ‘free-associate’ on their pages??
Estovir if you were a real professional you wouldn’t have 12 hours per day to troll these comment threads.
NEWS FLASH: This is Turley’s blog! The subject matters are chosen by him. If you want to have the freedom to put forth the subjects that you think are important START YOUR OWN BLOG!!! Until then please stick to the subject at hand or SHUT UP!!!
Paul, we’ve never seen your name before. Who are ‘you’ to be dictating rules on this blog???
WeHo on the prowl.
+10
https://nypost.com/2020/12/15/cuomo-signs-bill-banning-sale-of-confederate-flags/?utm_medium=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPTwitter&utm_campaign=SocialFlow
Another little prize from Sonny. He thinks the General Lee is a ‘hate symbol’. This is the Democratic Party.
Tabby, why don’t you tell us why the Confederate flag is a cherished symbol to contemporary Republicans. Said flag was the defacto symbol of the KKK for several generations. Do Republicans not know that, or are they tone deaf?
You’re adding ‘anonymous’ to your portfolio of sock-puppets, Peter?
Said flag was the defacto symbol of the KKK for several generations.
https://vermonthistory.org/kkk-in-vermont-1924
I take it I have to use flannel sheets, eschew American flags, and get rid of my crucifix.
The first incarnation of the KKK existed for about 8 years, Peter. The 2d existed for 29 years. It had a large membership for about 1/3 of that time (which didn’t include Robert Byrd’s years as a W. Va. organizer) It was refounded in 1946, then broke up into klanlets in 1949. The total membership of the klanlets was never large and usually fluctuates around 2,000. Not sure to which klanlet you’re referring, and neither do you.
Tabby, ‘who’ are you trying to kid?? Even during the Civil Rights era of the 50’s and 60’s the Klan was still very active and took part in many crimes against Civil Rights protesters. So your dismissive effort to minimize the Klan is totally disengenous (as are all your comments).
Man, you guys get so mean and angry. I guess it must feel good or why would you do it.
AnotherNightAtHome:
“Tabby, why don’t you tell us why the Confederate flag is a cherished symbol to contemporary Republicans. Said flag was the defacto symbol of the KKK for several generations. Do Republicans not know that, or are they tone deaf?”
***************************
Actually, the American flag was the cherished symbol of the KKK. Are you ahistorical?
https://i.imgur.com/f1AJ9Gb.jpeg
The Confederate flag is a symbol of traitors who seceded because they wanted to continue slavery.
Why would any patriotic American embrace that symbol?
The Confederate flag is a symbol of DEMOCRATS who seceded because they wanted to continue slavery.
FTFY
Why would any American support Democrats?
Ask the Republicans waiving Confederate flags.
A lot of young men that went to war on behalf of the US and lost their lives at one time or another involved themselves with the Confederate flag. Are you saying dead American soldiers are traitors?
On the other hand a lot of Democrat young men never went to war but wore Che and Mao T-shirts. Are you saying those Democrat young men are the patriotic Americans?
This Gray Anonymous is totally unhinged!
AnotherNighAtHome:
“The Confederate flag is a symbol of traitors who seceded because they wanted to continue slavery.
Why would any patriotic American embrace that symbol?”
***********************
Symbols mean different things to different people. You’re not the decider of what that might be. Some things like honor, pride and defiance of authority are beyond you. Slavery was the precipitating cause of the Civil War. It wasn’t the only one except to the undereducated.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT50xE1TMIo
Im a good old rebel
great song
Mespo, I notice that you, Art Deco and that crazed Gray Anonymous are all defensive of the Confederate flag while failing to tell us ‘why this flag is deserving of respect. The whole effort seems to be dismissing any link between said flag and its racist admirers. ..Why is that..??
I’m old enough to remember that this current reverence for the Confederate goes about as far back as Donald Trump’s candidacy. Even in the Bush era we didn’t see Republicans defending the Confederate flag or trying to minimize its meaning.
This movement is merely another of the bizarre trends we have seen under Trump in which Republicans keep going as far right as possible. It’s enough to make us miss good old Dick Cheney!
” ‘why this flag is deserving of respect. ”
The Confederate flag to the vast majority doesn’t have anything to do with slavery.
Why do Democrats wear Che and Mao T-shirts?
Gray Anonymous, what ‘vast majority’ are you talking about???
You’re just some unhinged dead-ender sputtering total nonsense.
Why do Democrats wear Che and Mao T-shirts?
I note your inability to get facts straight and answer questions.
You live in la la land. The Confederate flag in the south has been displayed since the Civil War, but today it has nothing to do with slavery.
On the other hand in the south there were those KKK members that dressed in white and also had Confederate flags. They were Democrats.
Saying that “today it has nothing to do with slavery” is like saying that a swastika has nothing to do with Nazis.
What is a Democrat symbolizing when he wears a Mao T-Shirt the death of tens of millions of Chinese from Mao??
This Anonymous could be Crazy George.
Let’s try to end the virus!
Let’s quit going after Trump and Cuomo.
There remains a blackout on the sexual harassment allegations against Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo by most major media outlets.
Who does this lowly serf – Lindsey Boylan think she is questioning the divine right of King Andy – tyrant of NYS?
Even if King Andy did sexually harass this serf (or any other) – jus primae noctis is nothing short of a mandate from heaven to be exercised by his Highness’s prerogative alone.
When King Andy speaks the heavens tremble.
Silly Turley…we all know the left’s rules don’t apply to them.
“THIS IS THE HILL TO DIE ON!”
– MARK STEYN
Biden on ethics: It will be different this time
The Washington Post has an amusing story about the ethics rules the Biden administration may implement. According to the Post, “Biden is preparing to step back into the Oval Office with radically different expectations about how he will handle the relationship between his official power and his family’s private interests.”
Different than what? Than this, for example:
The last time Joe Biden worked in the White House, his son-in-law, Howard Krein, mentioned that executives from his health-care start-up firm would be visiting Washington. The vice president promptly arranged a meeting between the group, which included Krein’s brother, Steven, and President Barack Obama in the Oval Office.
“He knew about StartUp Health and was a big fan of it,” Howard Krein, the husband of Biden’s daughter Ashley, told the Philadelphia Business Journal in 2015. “He asked for Steve’s number and said, ‘I have to get them up here to talk with Barack.’”
And different, supposedly, than anything Hunter Biden was involved with.
This time, says Biden, “My son, my family will not be involved in any business, any enterprise that is in conflict with or appears to be in conflict.” (Emphasis added)
That’s easy for Biden to say now. He and his family have already enriched themselves beyond their wildest dream by trading off of Joe’s influence and position as vice president.
But you never know. A guy like Hunter Biden will always want to eat. So many strip club VIP lounges, so little time.
If Hunter violated federal law — and he is under investigation for doing just that — I doubt he would be deterred by the letter of his father’s ethics rules.
The Post’s article takes a self-referential turn near the end when it quotes slippery Richard Painter:
During the administration of George W. Bush, White House lawyers used to refer to the “Washington Post test,” which asked, “Did the behavior in question risk a front-page story in the newspaper?”
But Richard Painter, a former ethics lawyer for Bush, said the question has shifted as media consumption habits have become more partisan. The question now, he said, has a lower bar: Does the Biden administration want to risk a 10-minute segment on a conservative outlet like Fox News, which may have a different standard for running a story?
Painter is right about this much: The Washington Post test won’t suffice in a Biden administration. There is almost no behavior unethical enough for the Post to report if it involves a favored Democrat.
The article concludes on a comical note:
Norm Eisen, who served as the special assistant to Obama for ethics and government reform, said Biden should be given the time and space to work out how he structures the new family barriers.
“Having personally worked with him, I also know him to be individually of the utmost personal integrity,” Eisen said. “So I take him at his word when he says he will make sure there is an appropriate distance between family members and the government.”
It is nice to be a Democrat isn’t it? Biden is corrupt as hell and dishonest as hell and should not ever be able to get away with his family self dealing corruption and influence peddling simply because it is not “illegal” per se. It is unethical, it is corrupt, it is grotesque Swampy behavior and they cannot get away with it as they have for nearly 50 years! Trump has done NOTHING close to what the Biden family has done. It sickens most voters who know what the facts are and how Democrats skate because they have the media in their corner. It is disgusting and unethical and corrupt. The arrogance of Joe Biden is enough to say enough of this. He must pay a price. A very big price. And he will. This time? He will pay a very big price for his greed, graft and corruption.
It is also called “accepting bribes”…..illegal? unethical? you bet.
Actually, we had a pretty good idea from the get-go that the allegations against Kavanaugh were rubbish. The timing of the allegation alone suggested gamesmanship. The properties of the allegation were such that it was facially suspicious.
News flash. Democrats use these accusations as part of their political warfare. It’s another example of their lack of integrity in any venue and on any issue.
news flash, we are in unrestricted warfare with the global billionaires who have bought off the Democrat party leadership as their mercenaries
we just dont get it. don’t even realize its’ war let alone an unrestricted one. does not bode well for us.
Saloth Sar
Uh, Turley, Cuomo isn’t seeking a lifetime appointment to the SCOTUS, where decisions on things like abortion and LGBTQ rights come before the bench. He also wasn’t appointed by a crook who cheated to get into the White House, either. It’s up to the citizens of New York to decide the truth of the allegations and whether they are disqualifying. But, consistent with the daily proof that you are nothing more than a misogynistic right-wing pundit, never let an opportunity pass by to criticize a Democrat.
I notice you have nothing to say about Joseph Epstein calling Dr. Jill Biden “kiddo” and criticizing her for using her earned doctorate title.
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO TARA READE (accuser of Joe Biden)?
In the column above Professor Turley reminds us that Joe Biden had been the subject of a sexual harassment complaint by onetime staffer Tara Reade. Ms. Reade lodged her complaint to the media last May. Reade had been a low-level staffer at Biden’s Senate office in the early 1990’s.
After naming Biden as a harasser, Reade enjoyed about 2 solid weeks of uncritical media coverage last spring. During that time she became a darling to rightwing media (including this blog). Yet some of us warned that oddly little was known about Reade’s life in the 30 years since the alleged incident with Biden.
Finally mainstream media took a good hard look at Reade’s life. After the alleged incident with Biden, Reade married and moved to the Midwest. But her marriage failed; resulting in a bitter divorce in which Reade accused her husband of abuse. Reade then moved to California with ambitions of a law career. That career never quite developed. Instead Reade became an administrator of low-level non-profits while moonlighting as an ‘expert witness’ on behalf of women divorcing abusive husbands.
Reade’s career eventually fizzled and she became increasingly poor to the point of becoming a chronic debtor. In this latter capacity Reade defaulted on landlords who had taken pity on her. Reade also featured herself as an Actor / Writer whose only ‘credit’ seemed to be an essay praising Vladimir Putin.
As the details of Reade’s chaotic life became widely known, no lawyer of any repute wanted to represent her case against Biden. At this point Reade fell out of the news so thoroughly that her name was all but forgotten by the time Joe Biden received his party’s nomination. Yet here, in the column above, Professor Turley mentions Reade without telling us ‘why’ she disappeared from the media landscape.
Cuomo The Commie? Lives by the Truth of The Moment meaning no truth at all.
Believe women? No, believe leftist women when they are making accusations in an attempt to destroy leftists political opponents.
What hypocrisy and phoniness. No wonder many do not believe the MSM media anymore.
antonio
Never mind the most corrupt AG ever quit, and lied about just about everything in his “resignation” letter. Never mind that the same republicans what wanted “tort reform” now are abusing the system with BS lawsuits that can’t produce even one item that their suit says. Never mind that DJT is still being sued for, well just about everything that has anything to do with women in multiple lawsuits. Oh but Turley loves to write about free speech, but says nothing when “Proud boys” took down BLM signs and flags and banners from a black church in DC. Turley proves everyday that he acts as a political operative and has learned to use the useful idiots that Trump will leave behind in a bubble of non-facts and misinformation.
What does any of that have to do with this topic? Address this, wait until one of your topics shows up or write your own blog about what concerns you.
The point is Turley will never address what I wrote about, he deflects like a political operative.
What is it about Andrew Cuomo breaking women and making women cry?
https://pagesix.com/2020/12/16/sandra-lee-cried-on-plane-after-move-from-new-york-home/
“Sandra Lee cried ‘all the way’ from New York to California“
Sandra Lee is focused on what’s ahead following an emotional few days.
One day after being photographed packing up the New York home she shared with her ex-boyfriend Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the TV chef, 54, revealed Tuesday she had touched down in California ahead of the holidays.
“I am in Malibu -watched ‘little women’ on the flight -decided I am Jo! Although Jo would have never cried all the way home..,” Lee captioned a selfie on Instagram.
“I think I have just been stuffing it for so long that I am done. It’s all been too much-the last 6 years have just been too much..please God let 2021 be good for us all..,” she continued.
Last September, Lee and Cuomo, 63, announced they had broken up after 14 years together. Page Six exclusively reported in May 2019 they had been living apart.
In October, Lee’s Westchester County home, Lily Pond, sold for $1.85 million, Page Six exclusively revealed. The celebrity chef also told The Post in February she was California-bound.
Lee said Monday her final moments at Lily Pond “were very BitterSweet.”
“I walked around the outside of my beautiful home —I wanted to drink in every angle and remember the beautiful moments that were spent in every place,” she posted to Instagram.
Lee said Tuesday she would be spending Christmas in Arizona with her family.
“I got off the flight and went directly to get a Covid test,” Lee explained.
“Now bath and bed with some Campbell’s chicken noodle soup and saltines. Ultimate comfort meal when tired and overwhelmed,” she continued. “Then the sun will come up tomorrow! Nite xo.”
I’d be more sympathetic to this woman if she hadn’t been a mob moll for 14 years. She married late in life, divorced, then shacks up with Sonny Cuomo. She’s had no children. (If her account of her youth is true in schematic outline, she may be very wary of investing in domestic life. That wariness has landed her where you don’t want to be when you’re 50-odd years old).
I have no sympathy for her at all. I just like seeing Cuomo gored by his own ox.
“For they sow the wind,
and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no heads;
it shall yield no flour;
if it were to yield,
strangers would devour it.”
~Hosea 8:7
that is a good one. mine is not as good but i’ll share it anyways
1 kings 22:38
And they washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood, and the prostitutes washed themselves in it, according to the word of the LORD that he had spoken.
–Saloth Sar
That ‘Other’ New York Story (That Turley Declines To Cover)
NEW YORK JUDGE ORDER TRUMPS TO HAND OVER DOCUMENTS
A New York judge Tuesday ordered the Trump Organization to hand over documents related to its sprawling Westchester County estate to the state attorney general’s office as it pursues a civil fraud investigation into the president and his company.
The Trump Organization had tried to shield the documents related to Seven Springs, a 213-acre property, from the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat. Her office is investigating whether Mr. Trump and his company improperly inflated the value of his assets on financial statements to obtain loans and get economic and tax benefits.
At Seven Springs, the attorney general is looking at the valuation of a conservation easement, an agreement to preserve land in exchange for tax benefits, lawyers for Ms. James’s office have said.
A Trump Organization spokeswoman has said the investigation is all about politics. Eric Trump, who leads the company and earlier this fall sat for a deposition with Ms. James’s lawyers, has previously said on Twitter that the probe’s “sole focus is an anti-Trump fishing expedition that she promised during her campaign.”
On Tuesday, New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron held a hearing about documents involving Ralph Mastromonaco, an engineer who assisted the company with plans for a development project at Seven Springs that never came to fruition. Trump Organization attorneys have argued that Mr. Mastromonaco’s communications involving the company and Charles Martabano, a Westchester land-use lawyer who worked on the potential development, are subject to attorney-client privilege. They argued Mr. Mastromonaco essentially acted as an interpreter, providing technical knowledge necessary to its lawyers.
Justice Engoron rejected that argument, saying he would have needed more specifics, such as affidavits, about Mr. Mastromonaco’s work.
“The burden rested on [the Trump Organization] to provide the court with sufficient evidence, from persons with actual personal knowledge, demonstrating that Mastromonaco’s communications were necessary, not merely helpful, to provide legal advice,” Justice Engoron said. The Trump Organization hadn’t met that standard, he added.
New York Attorney General Letitia James’s office is investigating whether the Trump Organization improperly inflated the value of assets on financial statements.
Ms. James said in a statement that her office would immediately move to ensure that the Trump Organization complies with the court’s order.
Edited from: “Trump Organization Ordered To Turn Over Documents To New York”
The Wall Street Journal, 12/15/20