Let's ask the question now. Is NYS Governor Cuomo above the law?
Lets be clear. Falsifying documents, depending on the charge is either a misdemeanor or felony in NYS:
S 175.20 Tampering with public records in the second degree. A person is guilty of tampering with public records in the second degree when, knowing that he does not have the authority of anyone entitled to grant it, he knowingly removes, mutilates, destroys, conceals, makes a false entry in or falsely alters any record or other written instrument filed with, deposited in, or otherwise constituting a record of a public office or public servant. Tampering with public records in the second degree is a Class A misdemeanor. S 175.25 Tampering with public records in the first degree. A person is guilty of tampering with public records in the first degree when, knowing that he does not have the authority of anyone entitled to grant it, and with intent to defraud, he knowingly removes, mutilates, destroys, conceals, makes a false entry in or falsely alters any record or other written instrument filed with, deposited in, or otherwise constituting a record of a public office or public servant. Tampering with public records in the first degree is a class D felony.
First question here is, Who exactly has "authority" to tamper with public records and why? Does the NYS Governor have the authority to falsify public documents? If so why? Let's assume he does NOT have the authority.
From the NYT:
The number — more than 9,000 by that point in June — was not public, and the governor’s most senior aides wanted to keep it that way. They rewrote the report to take it out, according to interviews and documents reviewed by The New York Times.
Knowing that falsifying public documents is a potential felony, did anyone bring this to the attention of Cuomo? Did Cuomo knowingly ask his staff to commit a crime?
was the earliest act yet known in what critics have called a monthslong effort by the governor and his aides to obscure the full scope of nursing home deaths.Since there were multiple people involved wouldn't that involve RICO statutes?
Mr. Cuomo finally released the complete data, saying he had withheld it out of concern that the Trump administration might pursue a politically motivated inquiry into the state’s handling of the outbreak in nursing homes.
But Mr. Cuomo and his aides actually began concealing the numbers months earlier, as his aides were battling their own top health officials, and well before requests for data arrived from federal authorities, according to documents and interviews with six people with direct knowledge of the discussions, who requested anonymity to describe the closed-door debates.
So the lie, Trump might use this against us, was a lie to cover up the earlier lying.
Again, it sounds like a conspiracy to commit fraud.
Remember that the NYS AG is going after Trump in part on claims that he inflated the value of his properties when he filed for taxes. That is, he made a false statement on official documents. If Trump can be facing potential prosecution for this, how is Cuomo not being given the same treatment?
Either Cuomo is under the same law as allegedly everybody else is under or NYS has a two tier system of justice [sic].