Rep. Elise Stefanik Tells Us Why She Thinks Cuomo Is Toast

BUCK: We’ve got Congresswoman Elise Stefanik with us now, representing a district in the great state of New York. Congresswoman, thanks for being with us.

REP. STEFANIK: Good to be with you.

BUCK: So, is Cuomo definitely getting impeached and is he going to be removed from office, in your opinion, as a result of that process?

REP. STEFANIK: I believe that we’ve finally reached a tipping point and finally state Democrats are going to move toward impeachment. They’ve still said they’re going to delay this until next Friday to start the Judiciary Committee process in the state legislature. But, remember, this has been months for the Democrats in Albany who have slow walked this and really put their heads in the sand.

But there is not a single elected official in Albany who has stuck their neck out to protect Governor Cuomo. That’s a sea change. That’s very different than where we were a week or two weeks ago. And, if you read the attorney general’s report, it is just unbelievable. It makes your skin crawl.

Especially one of the cases of his sexual assault and sexual harassment of a New York state trooper that was assigned to his protective service. That had not been in the press before; so that was a bombshell report. So, I do believe that he will be impeached. And, if the state legislature Democrats fail to, they need to be held accountable by the voters across New York.

CLAY: Congresswoman, if he is impeached and removed from office, could he come back and try to run again in 2022 to reclaim the office that he has now? Obviously, we talk a lot about impeachment on the national level as it pertains to the Congress and the president, but how does it work in the state of New York in terms of Cuomo’s viability going forward?

REP. STEFANIK: You know, I really don’t see him running again if he is impeached. I have to look technically at what the rules are in New York state. Again, I’m a federal official and I’m very familiar with the impeachment proceedings (chuckles) —

CLAY: Yeah, no kidding.

REP. STEFANIK: having lived through two impeachments that were illegal and unconstitutional at the federal level, but any assumption is that if he is impeached, he — that will be the end of his time in politics. Certainly he, I think, would be unable to win a Democratic primary if he were even going to run again. He was trying to run again. You saw earlier this year, despite the multiple scandals, he was hosting fundraising. Shame on those donors for supporting Governor Cuomo, but I don’t see him being on the ballot next November.

BUCK: Can I just ask, Congresswoman, if he’s going to fight this out ’til the very end, ’cause he knows the process, he knows New York state politics as well as anybody. A lot of favors owed to him, probably knows a lot of things about people that he might be able to use as leverage on them, behind closed doors at least. What are the ways that you could see this getting derailed? I mean, is delay essentially the greatest ally that Cuomo would have in staying in office and surviving this current moment of revolt against him even from Democrats?

REP. STEFANIK: I think delay is something that every New Yorker should be concerned about. Remember, virtually every elected official had called for his resignation months ago, yet they failed to act in the state assembly and state senate. So they have been slow walking this. That was before the report. You bring up a really important point.

Cuomo’s entire reign in New York is known for political vindictiveness, for leaking materials — sometimes true, sometimes not true — against his political opponents. You saw even in the attorney general’s report the retaliation — which is illegal in the state of New York — against some of the victims. They leaked personnel files and shopped them around to the media. So I would not put anything past him. He is a political, vindictive bully.

Even I’ve experienced that. I have been one of the strongest Cuomo critics during my time in office, and I was vilified in the press for simply call him the worst governor in America, and it turns out that was a very true statement and everyone across America understands that to be the case right now. But I think time is something we have to watch, but also the political vindictiveness that he and his team are known for.

And you’ve seen it in some of the articles in the New York Post, the Washington Post today, about his senior aides. Their job has only been to protect Governor Cuomo, and they have smeared victim after victim. They smeared the families who lost their loved ones in nursing homes, and they’ve smeared their political opponents.

CLAY: Congresswoman, does it surprise you even if Cuomo is getting some of what he deserves because of this sexual harassment investigation, that simultaneously the fact that he may well have caused thousands of additional deaths with the way that he responded to covid nursing homes in particular, and that the Department of Justice basically has stepped away from that investigation. Shouldn’t he have to answer for that as well for people in New York?

REP. STEFANIK: Absolutely, and we are going to continue holding the Department of Justice accountable for that decision of closing up that investigation. Again, New York state lost over 15,000 vulnerable seniors. I’ve talked to family members and loved ones of seniors who were lost in nursing homes in my district.

And regardless of whether or not Governor Cuomo stays in office, we need justice, transparency, and accountability for those families. And most importantly, we need to make sure that we have policy protections so never happens again in future public health crises. These were truly our most vulnerable people that Governor Cuomo essentially sent to their deaths, defying and breaking federal guidance from CMS.

He forced nursing homes to take positive covid patients without their ability to isolate them. Meanwhile, he had empty bed space in the Javits naval ship that was sent by President Trump at the time. And what’s really stunning is, yes, the media is very focused on the sexual assault, sexual harassment. The media has not been as focused on the nursing home scandal of late.

And how they covered Governor Cuomo at the beginning of covid is just shameful. The fact that he won an Emmy — the fact that they were lifting him up, praising him as the most effective governor in the nation — it just shows how out of touch and disingenuous the mainstream media is, and they should have accountability in this too. So much of Governor Cuomo’s actions — bullying, retaliation, criminal conduct — has been done in plain sight for years.

BUCK: What happens if, in fact, he is removed? Do you think that that has reverberations in the Democrat Party statewide in New York that could result in some changes in policy? And also, could a Republican, you think, take that seat if in fact Cuomo goes?

REP. STEFANIK: I think a Republican can win statewide and win the governor’s seat, regardless if it’s Cuomo or someone replacing Cuomo. Because the New York Democratic Party has protected Cuomo, they have put failed policies into place. You see crime skyrocketing. We’re one of the least friendly states when it comes to businesses. We have the some of the highest taxes in the nation.

Corruption is, unfortunately, king in Albany and has been for years. What happens technically — and New Yorkers know this, ’cause this is not the first governor that we’ve had to either resign — it is the first one in my lifetime that will be impeached, though — is the lieutenant governor, that’s Kathy Hochul, she will step into that job.

I anticipate the Democrats will have a very, very contested primary for who will be the gubernatorial nominee. And who knows. We may end up with a very far-left socialist candidate who could be the Democratic nominee, and Republicans have a great opportunity to win statewide I believe just because of the overall frustration with the failed far-left policies.