Chris Cuomo and Melissa DeRosa conspired to discredit Fox News’ Janice Dean: sources

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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo arrives to depart in his helicopter after announcing his resignation in New York on August 10, 2021.

Caitlin Ochs | Reuters

Close allies of former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, including his main collaborator and former CNN anchor brother, plotted to find ways to discredit Fox News meteorologist and host Janice Dean after she has become one of the most vocal criticisms of the governor’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to people familiar with the matter.

Melissa DeRosa, who had been the governor’s secretary, was among Cuomo’s aides who tore Dean behind the scenes and sought to craft a public messaging strategy that portrayed the Fox News personality as a straightforward right-wing commentator, people familiar with the effort told CNBC. Dean’s criticisms of Cuomo stemmed mainly from the deaths in 2020 of her husband’s parents, who she said died from Covid in their elderly care facilities.

It is not yet known whether DeRosa or the Cuomo team have already launched such a plan.

Andrew Cuomo himself was present at some of the strategy sessions where Dean was mentioned, one of the people said. These sessions mainly focused on the governor’s response to the Covid.

Chris Cuomo, who was a CNN presenter until he was fired last week, was encouraged to find information that would focus on Dean’s political leanings, according to a person familiar with the matter. It is not known if Chris Cuomo ever sought information on Dean, or who encouraged him to seek the information. Dean started criticizing Andrew Cuomo on air and in the columns in 2020, before the sexual harassment scandal erupted.

The people cited in this article declined to be named in order to speak freely in private conversations.

CNN fired Chris Cuomo after documents released by New York Attorney General Letitia James showed he had a much bigger role advising the former governor’s team than previously thought then that his brother was accused of sexual harassment.

The former governor has denied wrongdoing. He resigned in August after the attorney general released a report detailing more than 10 cases of Cuomo’s alleged misconduct. Chris Cuomo has also been accused of sexual harassment by former colleagues, and he has also denied that it ever happened.

Andrew Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi told CNBC he was unsure if Chris Cuomo was being asked to investigate Dean. He denied that the strategy sessions focused on her. He also said the governor’s office response to Dean’s criticisms was dealt with by the press office.

“We had no ‘strategy session’ on Janice Dean and as far as the press office had to respond to something she said, this was handled by the press office and did not reach the level of something the governor would be engaged with, “Azzopardi initially told CNBC in an email Friday.

Azzopardi later clarified to CNBC in a follow-up text after this story was posted on Chris Cuomo.

“I have no knowledge that this has ever happened and you have to ask why did the Attorney General not include anything about it in his report or question any of the people concerned about it?” »He declared Friday evening.

Representatives for Chris Cuomo and DeRosa did not respond to requests for comment.

In a statement to CNBC, Dean once again took aim at Cuomo’s handling of nursing home patients and tore the former governor’s allies apart.

“As I said from day one, it was never about politics. I saw with my own eyes how the governor’s office treated grieving families in trying to get answers on the decree. March 25, 2020 to admit more than 9,000 Covid-positive patients to nursing homes. Instead of addressing our concerns or expressing condolences, Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi called us “cult of death” and told my sister-in-law to “live” soon after the death of both of her parents, “Dean told CNBC on Friday.

Dean has emerged as one of the most prominent critics of Andrew Cuomo’s response to Covid, particularly the way he handled nursing homes, when most of the media and the nation viewed him favorably. His father and stepmother both died of Covid in their senior care facilities, Dean wrote in a USA Today op-ed published in July 2020.

“The fact that this governor refuses to accept responsibility for his actions makes our grief and anger much worse,” she wrote. “I know I speak for many when I say we need a non-partisan state-level and federal-level investigation to make sure this never happens again.”

A directive from the Cuomo administration said nursing homes could not refuse patients infected with Covid. Dean blamed this directive and the former governor’s overall handling of the pandemic for the deaths of his in-laws.

Dean continued his criticism of Cuomo in 2021 and through his resignation.

Earlier this year, Azzopardi, Andrew Cuomo’s spokesperson, dismissed Dean’s attacks on the then governor in a statement to the British Daily Mail: “The last time I checked she was not a credible source on anything except maybe the weather. “

The then governor in 2020 had become a sensation for his regular press conferences on the Covid crisis and regular media appearances in which he touted his response to the pandemic and criticized the country’s own handling of the virus. former President Donald Trump. He has appeared with his brother Chris Cuomo on several occasions at public Covid events and on the air.

“It was bad enough to see him on all national news channels being asked about his love life instead of his murderous policies. But the day my anger and grief turned to rage, I saw the governor and his host brother Chris Cuomo laugh and joke around CNN in prime time about giant cotton swabs and arguing over who their mother’s favorite son was, “Dean said at the time.

The controversy surrounding nursing homes has gone beyond the outcry from Dean and others. The state attorney general released a report earlier this year that the Cuomo administration underestimated thousands of coronavirus-related deaths among residents of state nursing homes.

Cuomo admitted their lack of public transparency about nursing home deaths was a mistake. He also said his office feared Trump’s Justice Department was launching a politically biased investigation.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation was investigating whether Cuomo’s aides gave false information about nursing home deaths to the Department of Justice, according to a March report from the New York Times. The Justice Department decided in July not to pursue the case.

Full Declaration of the Dean:

“As I said from day one, it was never about politics. I saw with my own eyes how the governor’s office treated grieving families in trying to get answers on the decree. March 25, 2020 to admit over 9,000 Covid-positive patients to nursing homes. Instead of addressing our concerns or expressing condolences, Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi called us “cult of death” and told my sister-in-law to “receive a life” shortly after the death of both parents. Victims of Andrew Cuomo and those who demand accountability have been humiliated and vilified in in the press and on social media. In January of this year, Azzopardi was particularly misogynistic in responding to my inquiries and stating as “an unreliable source on anything other than maybe the weather.” So even though I am not surprised to learn that Cuomo’s administration alongside his brother Chris Cuomo was doing the same with me, I’m happy these details are revealed. “

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