AP(PLE)OLOGIST
Disgraced Cuo’s p.r. pro now at tech giant
Apple has quietly hired Andrew Cuomo’s former communications chief, who helped the disgraced ex-governor fight the allegations of sexual harassment that ultimately led to his downfall, The Post has learned.
Peter Ajemian — who has been working for Apple’s communications team since at least early August — previously served as Cuomo’s p.r. chief for nearly a year until stepping down in May.
According to state Attorney General Letitia James’ report on Cuomo’s alleged sexual misconduct, Ajemian was part of a “team of advisers” that “had ongoing and regular discussions about how to respond” to allegations of sexual harassment against the then-governor.
But while other Cuomo aides like Melissa DeRosa and Rich Azzopardi stuck around until the bitter end, Ajemian jumped ship about three months before the governor resigned to pursue unspecified “opportunities in the private sector” — then landed at Apple over the summer.
Ajemian and Apple didn’t reply to requests for comment. It’s unclear exactly how long he has been working for the tech giant or what title he holds.
The headline on Ajemian’s LinkedIn profile lists him as an employee of the Cuomo administration, but he first e-mailed The Post on Apple’s behalf on Aug. 2 — the day before James released her report on Cuomo. His name also appears on an Aug. 26 press release from Apple.
As part of his work as Cuomo’s p.r. director, Ajemian was allegedly connected to an effort to smear an ex-Cuomo staffer who had accused the governor of sexual harassment.
Ajemian was on a call in March alongside DeRosa and two staffers from the Albany Times Union. During the call, DeRosa tried to get the newspaper to accept information about an unidentified woman who had accused the governor of sexual harassment, but a Times Union editor rebuffed her, according to the AG’s investigation.
Cassie Moreno, who briefly worked under Ajemian as a Cuomo-administration press officer beginning in December 2020, told The Post the communications office was a “toxic” work environment and that she had decided to quit by February 2021.
When she called Ajemian to give him the news, he “started screaming” at her, Moreno said.
“He told me that I lacked integrity,” she said, adding that she found Ajemian’s
decision to continue defending the governor “disgusting.”
Moreno, 25, also offered some advice for Apple employees working with Ajemian: “Don’t trust him.”
“If I were a young woman at Apple, I wouldn’t want to report to him,” Moreno said, given Ajemian’s help in defending Cuomo from the harassment allegations. Moreno now works as an independent Democratic communications consultant.
Ajemian’s total pay in 2020 was $145,304, according to state records. His predecessor as Cuomo p.r. director — Dani Lever, who left in 2020 to work for Facebook — was also connected to an effort to smear Cuomo accuser Lindsey Boylan, having helped distribute her personnel file to journalists, according to the AG’s report.
But unlike Ajemian, Lever had already moved on to her tech-sector job by the time she advised Cuomo on how to handle sexual-harassment allegations. Because she advised the governor as a Facebook employee, she potentially put Facebook in violation of New York state lobbying laws, according to legal experts who spoke to The Post.
While Facebook has ignored all requests from The Post for comment on Lever’s actions, other Cuomo confidants accused of helping the governor handle the sexual-misconduct allegations — including Human Rights Campaign head Alphonso David, Time’s Up executives Tina Tchen and Roberta Kaplan, as well as a duo of managing directors at p.r. firm Kivvit — have since quit their jobs or been fired.