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New York Democrat Says At Nursing Home Memorial That Andrew Cuomo’s ‘Reign Of Abuse Of Power Will End Soon’

   DailyWire.com
New York Assemblyman Ron Kim rand dozens of potesters gather at Washington Square Park to demand the resignation of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on March 20, 2021 in New York City.
David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

A New York lawmaker who has been critical of Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the past said during a memorial for those who died in New York nursing homes during the coronavirus pandemic that the governor’s “reign of abuse of power will end soon.”

New York assemblyman Ron Kim, a Democrat, blasted Cuomo at the “We Care Memorial Wall” event on Sunday, which commemorated the thousands who died in New York’s nursing homes as a result of the pandemic and Cuomo’s disastrous policy that placed COVID-positive patients into the most vulnerable populations.

“I know that this governor will be held accountable, that I know that his reign of abuse of power will end soon because there are way too many decent people in the city of New York to let this guy go unchecked,” Kim said at the event, as reported by The Federalist.

As The Daily Wire’s Ryan Saavedra previously reported, Kim in February accused Cuomo of threatening to “destroy” him for criticizing the governor’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic in nursing homes.

“He tried to pressure me to issue a statement, and it was a very traumatizing experience,” Kim told CNN of Cuomo’s threat, adding that the governor also allegedly told him that “we’re in this business together and we don’t cross certain lines and he said I hadn’t seen his wrath and that he can destroy me.”

A spokesperson for Cuomo denied Kim’s allegations at the time.

Cuomo himself blasted Kim over the allegations at a press conference in mid-February, accusing the assemblymen of possibly engaging in an “illegal” “racket,” The Daily Wire reported.

“My office more than me, has had a long and hostile relationship with Assemblyman Ron Kim,” Cuomo said at the time. “It goes back to the issue on nail salons. We passed a bill that we worked very hard to protect nail salon workers who were often victimized by businesses … wage theft was prevalent. We passed a bill, Assemblyman Kim supported the bill, he then flipped 180 degrees because the nail salon business owners found the bill onerous. There was a big New York Times story on it at the time that said basically, and I don’t want to paraphrase a Times story, but it basically said he supported the bill, he signed the bill, he was at the bill signing, then the business people in his community got upset, and then he changed his position, actually used his lobbying firm to lobby on behalf of the business owners, continued to use that lobbying firm and that political operative as his own, and then raised money from those business owners and continues to, and I believe it was unethical if not illegal, and I believe it’s a continuing racket because he is still doing it.”

A few days later, after Democratic lawmakers in New York signaled they were “inching” toward an impeachment inquiry into Cuomo’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, Kim called Cuomo’s actions “an impeachable offense,” The Daily Wire’s Emily Zanotti reported.

Cuomo abused his powers to hide life and death information from the Department of Justice that prevented lawmakers from legislating – like fully repealing corporate immunity for nursing homes. That is an impeachable offense,” Kim said.

On Monday, the day after Kim criticized Cuomo at the memorial, he appeared on Fox News to again discuss his allegations that Cuomo threatened him to stay quiet about nursing home deaths.

“The governor wanted me to lie and cover everything up to protect him, and I wasn’t going to have that,” Kim said, according to The Federalist. “The public had a right to know, and we have a duty to report to the public that this is what’s going on with the executive, and we need to check the executive and we need to do our jobs to get to the truth.”

New York State Attorney General Letitia James found that the state massively undercounted nursing home deaths, underreporting them by as much as 50%.

In addition to the nursing-home scandal, Cuomo also faces calls for resignation after eight women accused him of sexual misconduct.

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