It appears that former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) was not the only with a COVID-19 scandal, though in his case, he faced many. Where his successor, current Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) has one of her own includes paying $637 million for COVID tests when the vendor happened to be a donor.
Hat tip to @chris_churchill, who noted the November Tebele donations in his column (prompting me to go back and look at them) https://t.co/UCvofenPnJ
— Chris Bragg (@ChrisBragg1) September 20, 2022
As Chris Bragg covered for The Times Union, Gov. Hochul claimed during a July 20 press briefing that "I was not aware that this was a company that had been supportive of me" and that "I don't keep track of that. My team, they have no idea."
It appears that the governor may have been lying, though, as records show that the company's founder had thrown an in-person fundraiser for Hochul.
Bragg further details in his piece:
According to Hochul's campaign disclosure forms, the Nov. 22 fundraiser was thrown by Charlie Tebele, founder of Digital Gadgets LLC. A month later, the company would begin reaping $637 million in payments from Hochul’s administration to facilitate the purchase of 52 million at-home, rapid coronavirus tests.
The deal was enabled by Hochul's revived suspension of competitive bidding rules for the administration's purchase of COVID-19 supplies — a policy change that had also been been put in place for a time by former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. Through an emergency executive order, Hochul suspended those rules on Nov. 26, four days after the Tebele fundraiser.
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The Tebele family has donated nearly $300,000 to Hochul’s campaign, and Tebele has thrown her two campaign fundraisers: One a month before the purchase orders were executed, and one on April 10, two weeks after the payments were complete.
In instances involving other campaign donors, emails show Hochul has discussed state government business at fundraisers, and her campaign staff helped connect those donors with high-ranking staff in Hochul’s Executive Chamber.
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On Dec. 16, Hochul’s campaign received $20,000 from Leon Tebele, who is also listed as having the same Manhattan address as the couple.
Four days later, on Dec. 20, Charlie Tebele made an offer to sell the Hochul administration 26 million coronavirus rapid antigen test for $13 apiece — an offer the Hochul administration approved that same day.
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On May 18, both Nancy and Charlie Tebele hit the maximum of $69,700 they could give Hochul's campaign. An array of other Tebele family members subsequently gave large amounts, many on the same day, including several with no other history of donating in New York elections.
In addition to donations, members of the Tebele family were hired by the Hochul campaign.
Particularly telling is that the tests could have been purchased for far less, and were, at one point.
"The health department has declined to say whether New York could have purchased more tests in late December from other vendors at lower prices. Just before New York signed its first purchase order with Digital Gadgets for $13 per test on Dec. 21, the department had struck another deal for 5 million tests — at $5 apiece — with iHealth Labs," Bragg also wrote.
Hochul's Republican opponent, Rep. Lee Zeldin addressed this aspect when tweeting about the scandal.
Kathy Hochul gave a no-bid $600M+ contract to a top campaign supporter after she unilaterally suspended NY’s competitive bidding law. The same day the donor offered to be the middle man for the COVID tests, Hochul agreed to pay twice the price. Where’s the AG, DA, & Comptroller? https://t.co/OTTpeRMqWP
— Lee Zeldin (@leezeldin) September 20, 2022
Rep. Zeldin also sent a statement to Townhall. "Kickback Kathy Hochul agreed to a COVID testing contract worth over $600 million. The recipient? One of her top campaign contributors who donated $300,000 to her campaign. Not only was this a no-bid contract, but she agreed to pay her donor over twice the going rate for the COVID tests with taxpayer funds. Every day, we learn of a new Hochul pay to play scandal, how she’s used her unilaterally granted COVID emergency powers to suspend the state's competitive bidding law and bankroll her campaign donors," he said. "Enough is enough. This November, we must end the Corrupt Hochul-Cuomo Machine once and for all!"
The Hochul campaign has also tried to dance around the issue:
A Hochul spokeswoman did not directly address the governor's July statement that she'd been unaware Digital Gadgets was associated with a campaign supporter.
Hazel Crampton-Hays, a spokeswoman for Hochul, said the governor "did not oversee the procurement process and was not involved in the day-to-day procurement decisions."
"She simply instructed her team to purchase as many available tests as possible to meet the tremendous need across the state, and they did exactly that to keep New Yorkers safe. As we have always said, campaign donations do not have any influence on government decisions and we reject any implication otherwise," Crampton-Hays said.
It's also worth noting that an attorney for the Tebele family told the Times Union in July that "Mr. Tebele has never had a conversation about (Department of Health) business with the governor — ever," with Bragg writing that "Tebele never spoke to the Hochul campaign about providing the COVID-19 tests. Digital Gadgets, which had previously landed state contracts, became 'aware of the need for tests based on public media reports,' according to the company."
While forecasters have Hochul with an edge to win in November, her lead is slim in multiple polls, and Zeldin has raked in multiple endorsements, including from Democratic officials in New York, both current and former.
Zeldin was also endorsed by former Gov. George Pataki on Tuesday morning, the state's most recently elected Republican governor. Pataki was first elected in 1994, when he defeated Mario Cuomo, the father of Andrew Cuomo, who had been seeking a third term.
It’s time to make a change in Albany. That’s why I’m endorsing ?@leezeldin? for #NY Governor. #Vote pic.twitter.com/JF9APJRkY6
— George E. Pataki (@GovernorPataki) September 20, 2022
"Hochul" was trending over Twitter on Tuesday in part due to such a scandal.
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