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Andrew Cuomo is once again hitting New Yorkers’ television sets.
The former governor, who resigned in disgrace last summer, will begin an attempt at a political comeback with an ad claiming he’s been exonerated from charges he sexually harassed multiple women, The Post has learned.
Cuomo’s campaign confirmed it had commissioned “a number of ads” in response to questions from the paper after The Post independently obtained one of the commercials.
The 30-second spot reviewed by The Post selectively strings together snippets from TV reports about the outcomes in those cases to bolster Cuomo’s continued claims of exoneration.
It highlights recent decisions by five district attorneys to not bring charges against Cuomo for sexual harassment for technical reasons.
However, the spot viewed by The Post makes no mention of the fact those officials also said their investigations affirmed the credibility of the women who brought the allegations.
The ad attacks Attorney General Letitia James, who commissioned the bombshell Aug. 3 report that exposed widespread sexual harassment and workplace abuse in Cuomo’s administration, which he has repeatedly denied.
The report’s conclusion that Cuomo broke “multiple state and federal laws” helped torpedo his governorship in the middle of his third term.
“Political attacks won and New York lost a proven leader,” the ad concludes.
One Cuomo insider said the ad is “about clearing Andrew’s name.”
“He’s been wanting to speak out for some time. Andrew has been stuck in neutral a long time. He’s trying to break out,” said the source.
Another political source who requested anonymity slammed the ad after reviewing it.
“[Former Gov.] Mario Cuomo — who famously said ‘you campaign in poetry’ — must be rolling in his grave right now. Not only is his son a sexual harasser, he can’t cut a decent ad to save his life. Instead of poetry, Cuomo is giving us a putrid lesson in shamelessness,” the source said.
Sources said the ad would start running on Monday.
Subsequently, a firm that tracks political advertising, Media Buyer, reported Cuomo’s political committee had bought time for commercials on New York television stations starting the same day.
“We’ve produced a number of ads and haven’t decided what we’re going to run yet,” said longtime Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi, who is once again on the politician’s campaign payroll.
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