Not a Peep on CNN About Investigation Into New York Governor Cuomo
Over the past week, Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) has been embroiled in a political scandal following his decision to cancel his own Moreland Commission, created to expose political corruption in the state capitol. On July 23, the New York Times reported “that the governor’s office deeply compromised the panel’s work, objecting whenever the commission focused on groups with ties to Mr. Cuomo or on issues that might reflect poorly on him.”
Since the news broke on July 23, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan has threatened to investigate the Cuomo administration for “possible obstruction of justice or witness tampering.” Despite the potential damning investigation against the New York Democrat, CNN — where Governor Cuomo’s brother Chris Cuomo is employed as anchor of New Day — has yet to acknowledge its existence.
From the July 31 New York Times:
The letter from prosecutors, which was read to The New York Times, says, “We have reason to believe a number of commissioners recently have been contacted about the commission’s work, and some commissioners have been asked to issue public statements characterizing events and facts regarding the commission’s operation.”
“To the extent anyone attempts to influence or tamper with a witness’s recollection of events relevant to our investigation, including the recollection of a commissioner or one of the commission’s employees, we request that you advise our office immediately, as we must consider whether such actions constitute obstruction of justice or tampering with witnesses that violate federal law.”
While CNN has been absent in covering a scandal involving the brother of one of its anchors, other liberal news networks have actually deemed Governor Cuomo’s potential tampering with witnesses newsworthy. On July 28, MSNBC’s Morning Joe hit the New York governor hard for his questionable tactics. Co-host Joe Scarborough opined:
It is an interesting quote considering that it's the taxpayers of New York State that funded that commission and unless Andrew Cuomo funded that commission and took care of all the expenses for it, I think he is very confused. It is not his commission any more than it's his governor's mansion, any more than it's his state.
On Thursday, July 31, CBS This Morning was the first “big three” network to acknowledge the potential Cuomo investigation. Co-anchor Charlie Rose provided a news brief:
An anti-corruption scandal could lead to an investigation of New York’s governor. Andrew Cuomo is running for re-election. He is seen as a future Democratic presidential hopeful. The New York Times reports the Manhattan U.S. Attorney warned the governor and his staff not to interfere with the probe of a state commission. Cuomo set up the panel last year to root out political corruption. A Times investigation finds Cuomo’s office repeatedly blocked the commission’s investigators.
See relevant transcript below.
CBS This Morning
July 31, 2014
CHARLIE ROSE: An anti-corruption scandal could lead to an investigation of New York’s governor. Andrew Cuomo is running for re-election. He is seen as a future Democratic presidential hopeful. The New York Times reports the Manhattan U.S. Attorney warned the governor and his staff not to interfere with the probe of a state commission. Cuomo set up the panel last year to root out political corruption. A Times investigation finds Cuomo’s office repeatedly blocked the commission’s investigators.
— Jeffrey Meyer is a News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Jeffrey Meyer on Twitter.
