Apologize for Cyns, gov, or I’ll Nix support
The cost of unity? An apology. A top aide to Cynthia Nixon suggested Wednesday that Gov. Cuomo needs to own up to the controversial mailer that linked Cynthia Nixon to anti-Semitism if he wants an endorsement in the general election from his progressive foe.
“Before the Democrats can be truly unified, Gov. Cuomo must take responsibility for this untrue, vile mailer and apologize to Cynthia,” said top Nixon campaign aide Rebecca Katz.
“It’s not just that it’s bad,” Katz added about the dirty trick, “it’s that they keep lying about it.”
Nixon won more than 500,000 votes in her failed Democratic primary challenge.
The mailer was paid for by the state Democratic Party, which is largely funded and controlled by Cuomo.
Meanwhile, Cuomo took fire from Republican challenger Marc Molinaro, who has called on the governor to sack his longtime aide Larry Schwartz from the MTA Board for approving the mailer.
“New Yorkers deserve answers regarding that piece of mail, they deserve answers about who was responsible and why the lines were blurred between the administration and his campaign,” Molinaro said.
The storm of outrage erupted after The Post revealed the top levels of Cuomo’s campaign and executive office were aware of the mailer — following a week of denials and changing stories.
At first, the Cuomo campaign insisted the state Democratic Party — which it controls — was at fault. Then, it blamed an unnamed staffer as questions grew.
Those explanations collapsed when The Post exposed that a campaign staffer pitched a story nearly identical to the mailer and that Cuomo confidant Schwartz signed off on the mailer.
The governor and his aides pivoted and attempted to claim Schwartz only saw the mailer’s positive parts. But The Post learned that Schwartz approved the mailer with some trepidation.
The Post reported on Wednesday that some other top Cuomo campaign aides and even an official in the governor’s office were copied on e-mails about the mailer. They included campaign chairwoman Maggie Moran and Jill Des-Rosiers, a top deputy to Cuomo chief of staff Melissa DeRosa.
The Cuomo campaign Wednesday night issued a statement attacking The Post while admitting again the mailer smearing Nixon was “a mistake.”
“Here are the facts: Neither Maggie Moran nor Jill Des Rosiers were aware of the content of the mailer and they were not copied on emails containing the flyer. The mailer, which was drafted by David Lobl, was a mistake and inappropriate,” said spokeswoman Abbey Collins.
She insisted again that campaign “volunteer” Schwartz saw only the positive part of the ad and not the part that smears Nixon, and wouldn’t have approved it if he had.
‘ New Yorkers deserve ‘ answers about who was responsible. — Marc Molinaro (right), on anti-Nixon mailer linked to Cuomo camp
Was there anyone involved with Gov. Cuomo’s reelection campaign or his office who didn’t know about that infamous mailer tarring Cynthia Nixon as anti-Semitic?
The Post keeps uncovering ever more evidence showing the gov’s team played a major role in crafting and OK’ing the hit piece, which Cuomo himself calls “slimy.” His excuses and denials just don’t hold up.
The Post’s Nolan Hicks and Carl Campanile cite documents and interviews showing that Adam Steinberger, a top aide to Cuomo’s campaign manager, was heavily involved in the mailer’s creation. Campaign manager Maggie Moran and a top executive aide to the governor, Jill DesRosiers, were also copied on e-mails discussing it. Former Cuomo aide David Lobl ginned up talking points used to create the mailer.
The gov’s camp initially claimed the state Democratic Party bore complete responsibility. But sources tell The Post that party executive director Geoff Berman never got any e-mails about the mailer.
The Post also exposed the fact that Larry Schwarz, one of the topmost Cuomoites, signed off on the hit. The gov insisted that Schwartz “looked at the positive parts” of the document. And “if he saw the negative part of it, he would have never approved it.”
Except that it would take “a special kind of stupid,” as one wag put it, to miss the mailer’s large-type line linking Nixon to anti-Semitism. (For the record, she is raising two Jewish children and belongs to a Manhattan synagogue.)
Cuomo’s shifting excuses may be a sign of progress. But he should just ’fess up and apologize. Continuing to deny his team’s clear complicity is as offensive as the mailer itself.