NY DEMS PLAY DUMB ON GOV
No talk of ‘pay to play’ probe
State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins repeatedly refused to weigh in Thursday on the $637 million “pay-toplay” scandal engulfing Gov. Hochul — saying she was satisfied with her fellow Democrat’s vague denial of wrongdoing.
Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) — who along with Hochul and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) control the state’s legislative agenda — wouldn’t answer a question from The Post about Republican demands for the Legislature to launch probes into the COVID-19 test contracts awarded to one of Hochul’s top campaign donors.
“I don’t have a comment on that,” Stewart-Cousins said at an unrelated press conference.
“I certainly know the GOP has called for it, and they said — obviously, I think the governor has answered. At this point I’m not responding.”
The state’s No. 3 elected official also wouldn’t respond when reminded by the same reporter of her partisan attacks over the 2015 corruption conviction of Republican predecessor Dean Skelos, or address a recent accusation by Assembly Minority Leader William Barclay (R-Fulton) that Democratic legislators were “covering up for one of their own.”
“I don’t really have anything that I can enlighten you with right now,” Stewart-Cousins (inset above) responded.
Heastie didn’t return a request for comment.
Hochul, who faces Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-LI) in the Nov. 8 election, has been on the defensive since it was revealed in July that New Jersey-based Digital Gadgets was paid $637 million to supply the state with 52 million COVID-19 test kits.
$300K contribution
The consumer-technology company is owned by Manhattan resident Charlie Tebele, who, with his family, has contributed about $330,000 to Hochul’s campaign.
Tebele’s no-bid contracts charged New York an average of $12.25 per kit, over 80% more than the $6.75 that California paid for the exact same at-home rapid tests, according to the Albany Times Union, which first exposed the deal.
This week, the paper also revealed Hochul suspended competitive-bidding rules for the purchase of pandemic-related supplies just four days after Tebele hosted a Nov. 22 fundraiser for her.
The payments to his company began a month later.
Hochul insisted to reporters on July 20, “I was not aware that this was a company that had been supportive of me.”
State Republican Chairman Nick Langworthy, an upstate congressional candidate, called Democratic refusals to investigate Hochul “a prime example of the cozy, corrupt cabal that we are trying to break up by returning balance and accountability to Albany.”
“Democrats have all turned a blind eye to each other’s corruption and Hochul knows she doesn’t have to answer to the Legislature or [Democratic Attorney General Letitia James], but we are urging voters who are sick of the corruption to take their power back and throw her out of office this November,” he said.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-SI/ B’klyn), a former Assembly member, said Stewart-Cousins “should care that her constituents are being fleeced by our governor and forced to pay twice as much for COVID tests sold to the state by one of her biggest campaign donors.”
“This is corruption and New Yorkers deserve answers and accountability,” she added.
US Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-Glens Falls) predicted that “Stewart-Cousins’ dismissal of corrupt Kathy Hochul’s pay-forplay scheme is why Republicans will surge to victory across New York State this November.”
When asked for comment, Hochul’s press secretary referred to a Tuesday statement denying that Tebele’s donations had an effect on his contracts and said the governor “did not oversee the procurement process and was not involved in the day-to-day procurement decisions.”
A James spokesperson declined to comment.