New York Post

Deserves an ‘unlike’

FB squirms over Cuo-aid worker

- By THEO WAYT

Facebook is staying mum about one of its employees who advised former Gov. Andrew Cuomo on how to handle sexual-misconduct claims, even as legal experts tell The Post the company could be on the wrong side of state lobbying laws.

Facebook communicat­ions manager Dani Lever was part of Cuomo’s “inner circle” of confidante­s who helped plan the then-governor’s response to allegation­s of sexual misconduct, according to the attorney general’s investigat­ion released last month. She joined Facebook in August 2020 after having worked in the governor’s press office since 2014.

Legal experts tell The Post that Lever’s role advising Cuomo likely put Facebook in violation of New York state’s lobbying law.

The law bans registered lobbyists from giving gifts worth more than $15 to public officials — and Facebook has been a registered lobbyist in New York state since at least 2019, public records show.

Because Lever is a Facebook employee and a communicat­ions profession­al, her work helping Cuomo navigate the public-relations crisis constitute­d an illegal gift on behalf of the company, says David Grandeau, the former top ethics watchdog in New York state.

“Using your profession­al services and providing them to a public official for free of charge is a gift,” Grandeau told The Post. “It’s a misdemeano­r for her, and it’s a misdemeano­r for Facebook. It is a clear violation.”

Grandeau, an attorney who enforced lobbying laws as head of New York’s Temporary State Commission on Lobbying from 1995 to 2007, added that he would expect any prosecutio­n of Lever or Facebook to be a “slam dunk” — and he is not the only state ethics expert who says Lever’s interactio­ns with her former boss could run afoul of the law.

A violation of New York’s ban on gifts is a Class A misdemeano­r, according to state law. People convicted of Class A misdemeano­rs may face up to one year in prison and three years’ probation, as well as a fine of up to $1,000.

Steven Leventhal, co-chair of the ethics and profession­alism committee of the municipal law section of the New York State Bar Associatio­n, confirmed that services like publicrela­tions advice can violate the state’s lobbying law. He said he saw a “potential applicatio­n” of the state’s lobbying law in the case of Facebook, Lever and Cuomo.

While working as an employee of Facebook, Lever reportedly helped Cuomo’s aides distribute a confidenti­al personnel file belonging to Cuomo accuser Lindsey Boylan — who was the first of several women to accuse the governor of sexual misconduct — in what investigat­ors called an attempt to “discredit and disparage” her.

Other Cuomo confidants accused of helping the governor strategize on how to 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 public-relations firm Kivvit — have all since quit their jobs or been fired.

But while other outfits have gradually taken action, Facebook has not responded to four requests from The Post over the span of more than a month to comment on Lever’s role in Cuomo’s defense. It also hasn’t responded to calls from elected officials on both sides of the aisle, including from Republican US Rep. Elise Stefanik and Democratic Assemblyma­n Ron Kim, for her to be fired.

Lever didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment. While Lever hasn’t posted on Twitter since The Post wrote about her role in Cuomo’s defense, her bio still says she works at Facebook and she has recently provided comments to news outlets on Facebook’s behalf.

 ??  ?? SPIN SIN: Dani Lever, pictured while in thenGov. Andrew Cuomo’s press office, joined Facebook in 2020 and later gave free advice to her embattled ex-boss, a possible legal violation.
SPIN SIN: Dani Lever, pictured while in thenGov. Andrew Cuomo’s press office, joined Facebook in 2020 and later gave free advice to her embattled ex-boss, a possible legal violation.

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