Cuomo has 'abused his power', 'nobody is surprised' by alleged threats to lawmaker: Rep. Malliotakis

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Malliotakis: Cuomo has abused his power, ‘nobody is surprised’ by allegations he threatened lawmakers

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis reacts to allegations from various Democrats that Cuomo threatened them over nursing home scandal.

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis R-N.Y., blasted New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo on "America Reports" Thursday, claiming that "nobody is surprised" that he allegedly threatened lawmakers over questions about his role in his administration's nursing home scandal. 

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The freshman Congresswoman claimed that the governor Cuomo has "abused his power," and called for an independent investigation, as well as his resignation. 

She added that Cuomo has been "vindictive" in the past and is responsible for misinformation spread to the media and the Department of Justice, despite his denial and lack of accountability. 

NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS: "Every week we are learning more and more about what has occurred here and finally, we are seeing my colleagues on the Democrat side of the aisle come forward and say, 'This is not right.'

GOV. CUOMO'S 'DAYS ARE FINISHED' AFTER NURSING HOME SCANDAL: REP. MALLIOTAKIS

So first, we do need to take back those executive powers. He has abused his power -- you see what he’s doing to schools, to small businesses, and of course with the nursing homes, but that is just a small part of this. What we want is an investigation, which we know that it is taking place now. We want it to be done independently and that is, I think, the key to making sure there's justice for these families ...

As the Twitter-sphere is saying, you know, nobody is surprised by this. This is a governor who is very vindictive. He and those who work for him have bullied state legislators in the past, even [New York City] Mayor [Bill] de Blasio said this morning this is common practice by somebody like Governor Cuomo. 

He is a bully, and I believe what Assemblyman [Ron] Kim is saying, and I think that what we do need is New Yorkers to continue speaking out, demanding that their local elected officials put pressure on this governor to resign...

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The governor is in denial and the only misinformation is the misinformation that his office has provided to state legislators, to the media, and perhaps even the Department of Justice and that’s why we need a thorough investigation. 

I know that the governor is stubborn, he did dig his heels in a little bit this week and that’s what's really shocking, I think, to the thousand of families that lost loved ones, to not even to hear an apology from him. It's almost inhuman to not apologize, to not acknowledge that something went drastically wrong here and that bad decisions were made by his administration and someone needs to be held accountable."