NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – The New York attorney general's investigation into Gov. Andrew Cuomo is reportedly expanding after county executives said they got calls from the state’s then–vaccine czar asking if they’d call for the governor’s resignation.
The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday that the state attorney general's office, which is investigating sexual harassment claims against the governor, has interviewed at least three Democratic county executives.
The executives said they’d received calls from Cuomo’s volunteer adviser, Larry Schwartz, who asked them if they’d call for the governor to resign, according to the report.
Schwartz is said to have made the calls in early March, around the time that lawmakers were calling the governor’s resignation amid the harassment claims.
Schwartz was in charge of overseeing the state’s vaccine distribution at the time. He resigned from his role last week after lobbying rules for unpaid state advisers were changed.
The executives who received calls from Schwartz said they’d normally talk with him about vaccine distribution, not politics.
The attorney general's investigation into sexual harassment allegations against Cuomo is now expanding to see if the vaccine distribution efforts were linked to support for the governor, according to the report.
Schwartz’s lawyer declined comment to the Wall Street Journal, as did a spokesman for Cuomo and a spokeswoman for state Attorney General Letitia James.
The Washington Post reported on the calls back in March. At the time Schwartz told the Post, “I did nothing wrong.”
“I did have conversations with a number of County Executives from across the State to ascertain if they were maintaining their public position that there is an ongoing investigation by the State Attorney General and that we should wait for the findings of that investigation before drawing any conclusions,” Schwartz said in a statement to the Post.
In March, acting counsel to the governor Beth Garvey released a statement on the matter: "Vaccine distribution in New York is based on objective criteria to ensure it matches eligible populations, ensure equity, and ability to rapidly administer shots in arms. To be clear, Larry's conversations did not bring up vaccine distribution -- he would never link political support to public health decisions. Distorting Larry's role or intentions for headlines maligns a decades long public servant who has done nothing but volunteer around the clock since March (2020) to help New York get through the COVID pandemic. Any suggestion that Larry acted in any way unethically or in any way other than in the best interest of the New Yorkers that he selflessly served is patently false."
Cuomo had repeatedly denied he touched anyone inappropriately. The governor has apologized for making some people uncomfortable with comments or gestures he claimed were playful.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.