Cuomo refuses to communicate with his staff by email, sources close to the governor revealed to the Daily News.
If aides can’t talk in person or by phone, they are told to use the BlackBerry PIN-to-PIN messaging system — a function that leaves no lasting trail because it bypasses data-saving email servers. It allows users to connect directly through their devices using Personal Identification Numbers.
Only members of Cuomo’s inner circle are told his PIN, sources say.
A message sent over a data server can always be recovered, even when deleted. Not so for PIN messages, which are gone forever once killed, a spokesman for BlackBerry operator Research In Motion said.
And while much of the back-and-forth communication between the governor and his aides is private, it could be subject to subpoena by ethics investigators, prosecutors and possibly members of the Legislature in the event of a probe.
“He told me directly to use the PIN and that was the way to do it,” said one former administration official.
Cuomo — who promised to have the most open and transparent administration in state history — did not tell the former official the reason to use PIN communication, but the message was clear, the source said.
“It doesn’t have a paper trail,” the official said. “If he gets a new phone, he gets a new PIN, even if he has the same phone number. Every phone has a specific PIN.”
“If you want to exclude folks from having it, you get a new phone and distribute the PIN to a smaller or different group,” the official added.
I would also remind readers that Cuomo still hasn't released his official papers from his time as attorney general.
Those papers are important, since Cuomo was supposed to be "Sheriff of Wall Street" in that position.
Cuomo did not bring any charges against any of the Wall Street figures responsible for the collapse of '08.
Not even one.
It has been alleged that his office did lots of investigations around the activities that led to the financial collapse, so it is odd that Cuomo ultimately decided not to bring any charges at all.
Or perhaps not so odd - many of those same figures like to donate to political campaigns and Cuomo sure does like donations from Wall Street figures.
That's why he currently has a $19.3 million dollar warchest to use against unions and other political enemies.
Could there be a quid pro quo between who Cuomo raises funds from and who he gave a pass to as attorney general?
Dunno, but since Cuomo refuses to release his official papers from his time as attorney general, we can't say for certain either way, can we?
And since Cuomo now only communicates using untraceable messaging systems, it is clear that he wants the same unaccountability as governor that he has enjoyed as attorney general.
He sure does like to operate in the dark.
That penchant isn't a smoking gun that he's doing something crooked and unseemly, but it sure does smell bad.
And it does mean he's hiding something.
So I ask the governor again, what are you hiding?
Why won't you release your papers from your time as attorney general?
Why do you only communicate using untraceable systems?
Why do you refuse to release the donors who have raised money for you as part of the Committee To Save New York superPAC?
Why do you like the dark so much?
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