According to a recent investigation by the New York attorney general’s office, a communications manager at Facebook helped Governor Andrew Cuomo smear a woman who accused him of sexual harassment.
The New York Post reports that a top communications manager at Facebook worked with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) to fight allegations of sexual misconduct. According to a recent investigation by the New York attorney general’s office, a Facebook communications manager named Dani Lever, who previously worked in Cuomo’s press operation, played a major role in suppressing the recent allegations against the governor.
Lever reportedly worked in Cuomo’s press operation since 2014 and left for Facebook in August 2020, where she assumed a communications manager role. Former Cuomo staffer Lindsey Boylan first made accusations against the governor in December 2020 and was the first of many with similar stories.
Shortly after the allegations came to light, Cuomo’s communications director Rich Azzopardi sent Boylan’s personnel file to multiple journalists. Investigators claim that Azzopardi’s decision to share confidential information about Boylan was an attempt to “discredit and disparage” her.
Lever allegedly helped Cuomo’s staffers share and spread the files, despite working at Facebook for some time. The report from the attorney general states: “Ms. Lever coordinated with some of the reporters who received the documents to let them know that the Executive Chamber would be sending them.”
Mark Zuckerberg at Georgetown
Lever also worked to defend Cuomo as part of a “team of advisors from within and outside the Chamber [who] had ongoing and regular discussions about how to respond to the allegations publicly,” which also included CNN host Chris Cuomo, the brother of the New York governor. Shortly after Boylan accused Cuomo, the governor’s team began working on a draft letter that included complaints made against Boylan found in her confidential personnel files. The letter also “impugned her credibility,” the AG report states. The letter also appeared to suggest that she could be colluding with supporters of former President Donald Trump to unseat Cuomo as governor. A Cuomo aide named Melissa DeRosa reportedly sent a version of the letter to multiple people and requested they sign it.
Lever refused to sing the letter, stating that it came across as “victim shaming.” Lever did, however, sign a different statement supporting Cuomo in February that disputed Boylan’s accusations that the governor suggested that they play “strip poker” while traveling aboard a taxpayer-funded jet in 2017.
Leve said in a joint statement with other former and current aides John Maggiore, Howard Zemsky, and Abbey Fashouer Collins: “We were on each of these October flights, and this conversation did not happen.”
AG investigators wrote of Lever, Chris Cuomo, and other associates that worked to protect Andrew Cuomo: “None of them was officially retained in any capacity by the Executive Chamber or any of the individuals involved. Nonetheless, they were regularly provided with confidential and often privileged information about state operations and helped make decisions that impacted State business and employees — all without any formal role, duty, or obligation to the State.”
Lever told the Post that she could not discuss the situation as she had to attend a meeting. Facebook’s broader press team also failed to reply to questions from the Post.
Read more at the New York Post here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.