An Albany-based investigative journalist says the governor’s staffers bullied her relentlessly when they disapproved of her reporting.
By World Israel News Staff
Lindsay Nielsen recently told Fox News that one of the reasons she quit her position as an investigative reporter for Albany’s News10 was the Cuomo administration’s campaign of intimidation and “accusatory and threatening phone calls.”
Nielsen detailed her interactions with Cuomo staffers, including calls “late at night” trying to “intimidate [her] and get [her] to not continue on with [her[ reporting.”
According to Nielsen, she came forward after reading similar accusations from fellow journalist Morgan Pehme, who also accused a Cuomo aide of threatening her.
“I just started crying,” Nielsen told to Fox. “I had very similar experiences and it all just kind of came flooding back to me.”
Nielsen’s statements paint a picture of a Cuomo administration that attempted to harass and manipulate members of the media, as part of a campaign to shape coverage of the governor.
The former reporter said she was pressured to kill stories and told she had a “vendetta” against Cuomo. She also says she was given the silent treatment by the administration when it disapproved of a story, which became “personal attacks” once the story aired.
“They would wait until the story aired and then I would get a barrage of phone calls with threats to talk to the news director. You know, ‘Change the title, change the story,’ and sometimes it worked,” she added.
Nielsen says her experience is part of a pattern of behavior in which Cuomo’s team exerts its “intimidation power” over local media.
Cuomo is currently facing scandals on multiple fronts, with a third woman accusing him of sexual harassment on Monday and a potential coronavirus-related investigation looming related to under-reporting deaths at New York’s nursing homes.
On Monday, Cuomo appeared to make a partial admission with regard to the harassment claims, issuing a statement that portrayed his behavior as an attempt to be “playful.”
The governor stated, “I now understand that my interactions may have been insensitive or too personal and that some of my comments, given my position, made others feel in ways I never intended. I acknowledge some of the things I have said have been misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation. To the extent anyone felt that way, I am truly sorry about that.”