Gov. Hochul didn’t check resume of embattled ex-adviser Adam Sullivan — who lost previous job she recommended him for
Gov. Kathy Hochul says she hired disgraced political adviser Adam Sullivan without bothering to ask about a previous job he lost in 2017 over sexual harassment allegations — a job she recommended him for.
“He worked as a manager on my [2011 congressional campaign] so I knew him back in that environment. So, to then think I have to ask for a resume and go through a whole new process later for campaigns, that wasn’t what I was doing,” she told The Post.
Sullivan landed a job with her 2018 reelection campaign for lieutenant governor less than a year after he got fired by the liberal advocacy group Hub Project for alleged sexual harassment, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
His reported behavior, often while drinking, allegedly included cornering a co-worker at a bar before bragging about his supposed sexual prowess and purported penis size.
The longtime reliance of the first female governor in state history on a shadowy Democratic operative in faraway Colorado, with a toxic reputation and questionable political advice, has raised questions about her own judgment in statewide office.
“It’s honestly frustrating to many Democrats that after nearly two years in office, the governor still hasn’t found her footing and it’s honestly shocking that nobody did even basic vetting of Adam Sullivan,” an Albany insider who helped raise money for her 2022 campaign, told The Post on Thursday.
Hochul vowed to crack down on sexual harassment after replacing disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (who resigned in 2021 over alleged sexual misconduct he has denied) despite having an alleged sexual harasser as her longtime adviser.
“Sexual harassment is absolutely unacceptable under all circumstances. There is no tolerance,” Hochul said Thursday.
Sullivan was also fired from the 2014 reelection campaign of then-Democratic US Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, who did not respond to a request for comment.
Several years later, Sullivan landed the job at Hub Project with Hochul’s recommendation, according to the Times, before getting fired a second time and returning to Hochul’s orbit with no questions asked.
The governor now claims she never heard of the Washington, DC-based company though she acknowledges she should have.
“Had I known what I know now, it would have been very different circumstances,” Hochul said Thursday of Sullivan.
The governor has previously displayed a knack for ignoring warning signs about people she brings into her inner circle, including ex-LG Brian Benjamin of Harlem, who was hit with federal bribery charges in 2022, which were later dropped.
Sullivan has seemingly made efforts to avoid the public eye since getting fired in 2017 by moving to the small Colorado mining town of Leadville, avoiding social media, and hiding much of the money he made while working for Hochul in 2022 despite having no formal role on her campaign.
He received $50,000 in consulting fees alongside roughly $500,000 from his cut of T.V. ads, according to the Times, that did not become publicly known until last week alongside the toxic behavior and sexual harassment that Hochul claims she never heard about until recently.
“She either knew and is covering up, which explains why they hid all his payments. Or two, she has a rare condition where she experiences catastrophic judgment loss when making key appointments and hiring decisions,” a second Democratic insider said Thursday.
“I do not know what is worse.”
Hochul severed ties with Sullivan – who has not denied the various allegations of bad behavior with colleagues – on Sunday following revelations of toxic behavior while the Colorado-based “egomaniac” oversaw her 2022 bid that included berating subordinates, belittling them, and asking personal questions.
“Almost entirely that ire was directed at women — and young women usually,” a source close to the campaign previously told The Post.
And such behavior was also seen on the 2018 campaign trail when she squeaked by then-City Council Member Jumaane Williams in the Democratic primary by single digits.
Hochul said Tuesday she did not know about Sullivan’s rep until recently because she tended to deal with him “one-on-one” rather than with other campaign aides.
Her critics said the political advice Sullivan explains a lot about the political missteps made by Hochul over the past year.
He reportedly played a role in making Benjamin lieutenant governor.
And his influence also extended to her December nomination of centrist judge Hector LaSalle to lead the state judiciary – a move that backfired when state Senate made Hochul the first governor in state history to have a judicial pick rejected.
Sullivan’s guidance almost led to another monumental embarrassment during the 2022 campaign when he overruled other advisers urging her to prioritize public safety amid rising crime, rather than abortion, in the closest gubernatorial contest in a generation.
“It just explains why there are so many problems, why there’s so much dysfunction, why they’ve made so many boneheaded decisions,” the second Democratic operative previously said.
