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My story doesn't accuse Governor Andrew Cuomo of anything illegal or corrupt. But I think it sheds some light on the kind of person he is. When I was a 23-year-old staffer for my uncle Carl Paladino’s gubernatorial campaign, his campaign catfished me on a gay website. 1/33
I've decided to share now as an act of solidarity to add my voice to the chorus of courageous voices who have recently spoken out publicly against this man. I've relived these events over and over again in the past decade since my world was turned upside down. 2/33
I still hold on to a lot of shame for having worked for my uncle’s campaign. I was so ignorant and naïve. I thank God every day that my uncle lost the election, so please don't think this is sour grapes. Perhaps it’s closure. 3/33
I should also make it known that I've had nothing to do with my uncle politically since this all went down. 4/33
Back in 2010, I was 23, recently graduated, gay, living in Buffalo, and believed with all my heart that my uncle was going to clean up our state government and finally bring prosperity to my beloved Buffalo, WNY, and more broadly speaking, Upstate NY. 5/33
I've been a Democrat my whole life, interned for Gov. Spitzer in college, and was a huge Barack Obama supporter. How the hell did I end up working for an anti-gay Republican? Well, it’s complicated. 6/33
Leading up to the 2010 campaign, following all the political blogs, I had become fed up with NY State's corrupt Democratic party machine. First, it was Cuomo's shadow campaign that pushed David Paterson, our first black governor, out of the race. 7/33
Even more infuriating was when our newly elected NYS Democratic Senate failed to pass Marriage Equality in 2009. 8/33
I was and still am a political junkie, so when the opportunity fell on my lap to work on a campaign that could actually shake things up, I jumped on it. 9/33
Carl assured me that he would not make the campaign about opposition to gay marriage. He promised me that his focus would be on corruption and reforming state government. 10/33
The campaign was a long shot, but anyone from Buffalo knows we love rooting for an underdog. It’s in our DNA. I'm not going to lie--I was 100% in it to win it and fully believed in the cause. 11/33
Which brings me to my encounter with Andrew Cuomo. 12/33
It was summer of 2010, and I was a campaign aide and social media and volunteer coordinator. We received a tip that AG Cuomo was making a secret campaign stop at the Wyoming County Fair outside Buffalo on his (I'm not making this up) "Make New York Great Again" tour. 13/33
We jumped at the opportunity to try and get him to take a position on a number of hot-button issues at the time. Up until then he'd avoided actually campaigning and taking any public stances on any issues. He preferred to do press releases in his official capacity as AG. 14/33
We got there just in time, and had a volunteer dress up in a duck costume and hold signs saying Cuomo needs to stop "Ducking" the issues. We all had duck calls and blew them as loud as we could. 15/33
Looking back, it was juvenile. We embarrassed him in front of his daughters and his entourage of press, staff, and volunteers. 16/33
We followed them around the fairgrounds for a good ten minutes without any pushback from the sheriffs. I remember it like it was yesterday: the look on his face and the anger in his eyes when he looked me directly in the eyes and said, "You're going to pay for this." 17/33
Then one of his body men tackled me, said some disparaging remarks, and it was over. 18/33
I didn't think much of it then, but shortly thereafter, I met a man on a gay website who went by the name Daniel Wilhelm. He was so handsome and charming. He was only a few years older than I and was visiting Buffalo for the day for work. 19/33
We exchanged photos right away, traded phone numbers, and started talking on the phone nightly. We really hit it off over the phone. He shared with me some of his deepest and darkest secrets about his childhood and his family, and I did the same. 20/33
We made plans to meet that always somehow fell apart. I told him about my personal issues with my uncle and my work drama, including issues with campaign co-workers. Some of our conversations would last for hours and go until 2 or 3 a.m. 21/33
I fell in love with him. 22/33
This lasted for most of August, and then he ghosted me and disappeared. His phone went straight to voicemail, and his online account was deleted. I was heartbroken and devastated. 23/33
I didn't share this with anyone at the time because, looking back, I felt ashamed of even being on those websites, which were used primarily for hooking up. 24/33
A month later we beat Rick Lazio in the Republican Primary. All of a sudden shit got real. A few weeks after the shocking upset, on Columbus Day weekend, my uncle made some disgusting homophobic statements while speaking to a group of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Williamsburg. 25/33
Within the hour I started to receive texts and phone calls. First it was from family and friends, then the press. And then the next day, out of the blue, Daniel Wilhelm reappeared. 26/33
He had interviews already lined up for me with his friends at People Magazine, Good Morning America, and CNN, and wanted to fly me down to NYC that night to tell my story. I immediately hung up after realizing what had happened. 27/33
I had been catfished by Andrew Cuomo's campaign. 28/33
Daniel’s phone number was deactivated, his photo was of some male model, and his stories were all made up. I had been tricked. I was devastated, heartbroken. I felt so vulnerable and violated. I had no one to talk to about it. 29/33
Not only had I been catfished, but I had also unintentionally been feeding this man all sorts of deeply personal information about me and my family. 30/33
I was also furious with my uncle and co-workers, who I felt had thrown me under the bus. I became depressed and suicidal. Though I didn't make any public statements or agree to any interviews, my face ended up plastered all over the NYC tabloids and the internet anyway. 31/33
It could've been much worse for me. The NY Post called me hunky, and I received a lot of love and support from my extended family and from random strangers on Facebook.
It’s only recently that I’ve started opening up about my trauma. 32/33
It’s only recently that I’ve started opening up about my trauma. 32/33
I will remember Daniel’s voice for the rest of my life. I have my suspicions who that person is, but it's not even important at this point. The bottom line is what kind of person would catfish a 23-year old to win a campaign. That man is Andrew Cuomo. 33/33 (End)
