Karen Hinton is one of the women who accused Governor Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment but did not make it in the top 11 of AG James’s report. Nonetheless, she deserves special attention.
From the moment she entered the stage, Hinton has been using Cuomo’s name to promote her book “Penis Politics: A Memoir of Women, Men and Power”. But Hinton is not simply an opportunist. She’s a central figure in this story and deeply entangled in the web of lies and intrigues.
Hinton’s Background
Karen Hinton was press secretary to Cuomo, when he served as U.S. secretary of housing and urban development more than 20 years ago. On her LinkedIn page she describes herself as a “communications consultant with 40 years of experience” with expertise in “development of communications strategies for use in news and editorial coverage“.
In April 2017, Hinton fell off a treadmill and sustained a brain injury. In an interview later that year she said that Cuomo had “called to check on [her] condition several times, which [she] greatly appreciated’ (Screenshot). The accident clearly impacted her life. Four years later, in March 2021, Hinton tweeted “I will never be able to work a 9 to 5 job again.” (Screenshot) and “I’m a 62 yr old woman with no job because of my accident” (Screenshot).
After her accident she started to write as part of her rehab – and, so she says – she “started remembering things” (Screenshot) and decided to write a memoir (Mississippi Today, June 28, 2021) which she gave the enchanting title “Penis Politics”.
In May 2018, Hinton wrote an article about “manipulative men in politics”, which she recycled in May 2019 on her Medium page. The names serving as selling point in this piece are Eric Schneiderman and Bill Clinton. Interestingly, in this article she points out Cuomo (as well as de Blasio) as positive example of men in politics:
I’ve been fortunate to have male bosses, like Andrew Cuomo and Bill de Blasio, who know how to be respectful of women even while being no-nonsense managers.
And here is a letter she wrote to Governor Cuomo in December 2019 after her accident.
Fun Facts About Karen Hinton
Hinton and her husband Glaser have a house in Katonah, New York (Screenshot), a small town with a population of 1761. She is a five minute car ride away from Charlotte Bennett’s parents’ home (Screenshot), where Charlotte Bennett (Screenshot) has been living at least until recently. The Boylans (Lindsey, her mother and husband) have (or had until recently) a house in Bedford, a 10 minute car ride away from Hinton’s place (Screenshot#1, Screenshot#2, Screenshot#3). At least on Twitter, interaction with Lindsey Boylan’s mother, Karen Boylan exists (Screenshot#1, Screenshot#2).
Hinton is married to Howard Glaser. Glaser was Ana Liss‘ boss when she worked for the Cuomo administration. Ana Liss also accused Cuomo of sexual harassment. The interview with her came out exactly on the same day as Hinton’s, March 6, 2021.
Howard Glaser is working in the gaming industry, as Global Head of Government Affairs and Legislative Counsel at Scientific Games. Scientific Games operates (among others) in casinos in New York State in Seneca County and Upstate Oneida Nation. Glaser is very fond of and has clear expectations of current Governor Hochul (who was destined to be Cuomo’s replacement after he was forced to resign). Hochul’s husband William Hochul Jr. happens to be a Casino Executive as well. He is Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary for Delaware North.
On Dec. 10, 2021, Glaser and Hinton hosted a fundraiser for Kathy Hochul in their New Orleans Apartment (TU article, Jan. 28, 2022). In 2022 budget proposal in January 2022, Hochul announced to speed up authorizations for three new casinos in New York State (Newsday article).
Glaser and Hinton donated $6,500 to Hochul late 2021 to early 2022.
Hinton is in league with New York’s far left (below: campaigning for Maya Wiley and Instagram chatting with Jessica Ramos). In March, Politico reports a plot of the far-left in a Clubhouse chatroom to take down Governor Andrew Cuomo. This conversation must have taken place between February 24th and March 12th, 2021. Read HERE: Clubhouse politics: Democratic insurgents plot against Cuomo in digital space.
Character Assassination as Marketing Strategy?
Throughout 2020, Hinton was quite fond of Andrew Cuomo. On June 29, 2020 she wrote “New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is helping other states, especially those in the South, fight the virus.” (Medium).
But in late 2020 or early 2021, Hinton must have made the decision to use Andrew Cuomo to front her marketing campaign and his name to promote her book. Or rather, land a book deal first. It doesn’t appear that she had one at that time. Cuomo’s popularity was skyrocketing due to his pandemic response and a perfect target. Clearly, Lindsey Boylan thought so too when she employed him for her own campaign.
On February 24, 2021, the New York Daily News published an opinion piece by Hinton. In “How to counter penis politics: What it’s like to work for Andrew Cuomo and Bill de Blasio”. Hinton accused Cuomo of bullying and being a master of the art of “penis politics”. In the same article she promotes her book. (Screenshot). She also claims “it cost [her] a Senate confirmed appointment when Cuomo had the White House quietly pull [her] nomination” (Screenshot). This was on the same day Boylan published her Medium post.
On March 6, 2021, in an interview published by the Washington Post, Hinton claims that Cuomo embraced her in his hotel room in Los Angeles after a work event 20 years ago, in December 2001. However, according to the article, Hinton already spoke to WaPo on February 14 (Screenshot). This was before Boylan’s Medium article and Bennett’s and Ruch’s public appearances. Yet, she claims she came out to support these 3 women (NBC4 interview same day). In that interview, she again promotes her upcoming memoir. Her interview was published on the same day as Ana Liss’ interview, who worked for Hinton’s husband under Cuomo.
On February 27, 2021 Charlotte Bennett’s New York Times Interview came out. That day, Hinton started an aggressive online promotion campaign for her book. Over the following months she tied her hashtag #penispolitics to Andrew Cuomo’s name and face at every opportunity. Tellingly, she did this not only regarding the harassment allegations, but also the nursing home allegations.
On October 13, 2021, she announces the release of her book “Penis Politics” in December. Only 3 days earlier she fired up a series of tweets linking #penispolitics with Cuomo.
The Tweet below deserves special mentioning. Hinton is wielding this racist trope against Cuomo – often used by his enemies on the right. Is she is a racist behind her leftist façade or simply panders to them for strategic reasons?
Strategic rollout of a firehose of allegations
Hinton traveled from her primary residence in New Orleans to New York in March. According to her Instagram posts (Screenshot#1, Screenshot#2, Screenshot#3, Screenshot#4), she was in New York at least from March 2-5 . On February 27, she was in Florida, possibly en route to New York.
This puts Hinton at the scene exactly when the gates of hell opened. What happened in March looks like a strategic rollout of accusations. Moreover, it bears a striking resemblance with a Russian propaganda technique called “firehose of falsehoods” (also employed masterfully by Trump). Rapid, continuous, repetitive dissemination of falsehoods through various channels with the goal to overwhelm, confuse and destroy trust.
February 27: Charlotte Bennett first allegations (interview).
March 1: Anna Ruch allegations (article).
March 3: Brittany Commisso first vague allegations to coworkers.
March 4: Charlotte Bennett CBS interview.
March 6: Ana Liss first allegations (article).
March 6: Karen Hinton allegations (article)
March 6: Karen Hinton gives an interview with NBC New York.
March 6: Brittany Commisso tells coworkers Cuomo groped her.
March 7: Brittany Commisso obtains a personal injury lawyer.
March 8: Ana Liss interview.
March 9: Brittany Commisso anonymous allegations (article).
March 12: Kaitlin allegations (interview)
March 19: Alyssa McGrath allegations (interview).
The plot of the far-left to take down Cuomo was discussed between February 24 and March 12 (according to Politico article).
See the full and more detailed timeline of allegations here.
Karen Hinton is a “communications consultant with 40 years of experience” and an expert in “development of communications strategies for use in news and editorial coverage”.
Brittany C .. not getting a raise, and not being soley granted the overtime hours, is evidence that he wasn’t enticing her, nor was he trying to appease her, to keep her quiet, about an inappropriate touch..his behavior show no guilt.
Great article. I think people on both left & right participated in the attack on Governor Cuomo.