Governor Andrew Cuomo made a strange assertion, and an unlikely fundraising plea on March 7. Politico reports that Cuomo was asked whether New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was pushing actor Cynthia Nixon to challenge him in the Democratic primary election this year. “I think it was probably either the mayor of New York or Vladimir Putin. I’m going to leave it to you great investigative reporters to follow the facts and ferret out the truth.” Then he laughed. “Russian interference? Hahahaha.” A Cuomo spokesman said the governor was just joking. Slate reports that, also on March 7, Cuomo, using the email list of the New York State Democratic Committee, sent a fundraising plea with the subject line “NY Stands with #MeToo.” Cuomo writes in the fundraising email that “women across the country” are “courageously speak[ing] out about facing sexual assault and harassment” while Republicans support alleged child molester Roy Moore and alleged domestic abuser Rob Porter. “If that makes you angry, that’s good,” Cuomo writes, “But don’t just get angry, get involved and get even.” Cuomo has been criticized for hiring Sam Hoyt as a senior aide in 2011, three years after Hoyt admitted to having an extramarital affair with his 19-year-old intern. Then, the man that he hired with a shady past, was accused by state employee Lisa Marie Cater of getting her a job at the Department of Motor Vehicles in 2015, then repeatedly trying to kiss her, touch her genitals, and barraging her with phone calls, emails, and sexts. She filed a lawsuit, called the governor’s office, emailed Cuomo, and sent a message to his Facebook page, all to no avail. The woman claims Hoyt told her the governor’s office told him to “make this go away,” and then he paid her $50,000 to keep quiet. Cuomo’s office admits that three state agencies investigated Cater’s complaint, but took no action. Hoyt says it was a consensual relationship that went sour. This past December, journalist Karen DeWitt asked Cuomo if he would do anything about sexual harassment in state government. Cuomo then asked DeWitt what she was going to do to stop harassment in journalism. After a long filibuster, DeWitt said, “I understand. But can you just name one thing?” Cuomo answered “No.”