Rep. Lee Zeldin to Newsmax: Cuomo Sticking Around to Destroy Evidence?

The 14-day departure window for Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is not only unnecessary but also leaves open the possibility of more scandal on the way out, Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., told Newsmax.

"I can't even begin to come up with excuses for good reason," Zeldin said Wednesday on "Spicer & Co." "The best thing would be for him to have just announced yesterday that he is going to leave yesterday, but he's being stubborn, saying he's going to stay for another two weeks, and I can't sit here right now and make excuses for it and explain it away.

"We also have to make sure that they don't spend the next two weeks getting rid of evidence, because there's a lot of investigations and interests — for example, getting more information with regard to the nursing home cover-up.

"I hope those documents aren't ending up in a shredder while we're here having this conversation."

While Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul is ready to take over, she is likely "complicit" in the administration's malfeasance, Zeldin told co-hosts Sean Spicer and Lyndsay Keith.

"Throughout the deadly nursing home order and cover-up, where was she speaking out?" Zeldin asked. "We knew publicly. This was a debate that was going on within the media, New York, and the American public. There's no way that she can act like she has no idea of any of this. We all knew about it. We're all here talking about it. ...

"Is she complicit, and to what extent, or is she just completely out to lunch during her time as his lieutenant? Pick one. But don't try to play this third card, because it doesn't exist. The rest of us have too many facts to say that she is not part of the Cuomo-Hochul administration."

Zeldin is running in the Republican primary for governor of New York, which will take place next June, but he says Hochul is already lining up her identity politics and stacking up her "left flank" in the deep blue state.

"I think what will likely happen is Kathy Hochul will continue to try to stake out herself, her reputation, her positions as an ideological progressive thinking about the June '22 primary, and all of the people who are going to be stacking up to her left flank," Zeldin said, adding that Hochul has already vowed to pick a running mate based on race and gender.

"You ask me what kind of a person you're looking for the lieutenant governor, I want to know about their qualifications to be governor; I want to know about their experience, their work ethic, the chemistry that exists, to make sure that they are able to lead," Zeldin said. "And you know, unfortunately with Democrats, they want to know biographical information about your race, your religion, your ethnicity.

"They'll ask all these other questions before they're going to be asking about, 'OK, what's your experience? What's your ability to be the governor?' It's about electability inside of that Democratic primary base."

Zeldin concluded by slamming CNN's conflict of interest and anchor Brian Stelter's attempts to explain the network's liberal activism away.

"Stelter's book of journalism ethics is one that none of the rest of us have seen, but it's either empty or filled with falsehoods. No one wants to set our compass off of him," Zeldin said. "But I think at the end of the day ratings end up suffering, because people tune in to the news to get the news.

"You want to get caught up on facts and truth, and the more that they run away, shy away from that stuff, more people flee to other networks like Newsmax and elsewhere."

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