Fox News Hires Former Top Andrew Cuomo Aide Who Helped Run Major Cover Up

Fox News Media has hired Melissa DeRosa, former aide to disgraced New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, to be a network contributor and rotating co-host on a new podcast, “The Girls,” set to debut Oct. 1.

The announcement came in a Fox news release that listed her among the first episode’s voices, along with with Rachel Campos-Duffy, Harris Faulkner, Kat Timpf, and former ESPN host Samantha Ponder.

DeRosa posted the same day that she was “excited to officially join the Fox News team as a contributor” and to appear on the show. New episodes are scheduled each Thursday on Fox News Digital, YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

Excited to officially join the @FoxNews team as a contributor and be part of “The Girls,” a new digital show and podcast bringing together unique female voices and perspectives across news, politics, sports, comedy, & culture.

Our first episode drops October 1 across FOX News Digital, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, & wherever you get your podcasts.

https://t.co/PNaSt6XHo0

— Melissa DeRosa (@melissadderosa) September 28, 2026

Fox’s release identified DeRosa as a Democratic strategist who held senior jobs in Cuomo’s administration and became the first woman to serve as secretary to the governor.

A network spokesperson separately told TheWrap she would appear across Fox News programming, not only on the podcast.

DeRosa’s tenure in the Cuomo administration includes the 2021 nursing-home data fight that defined the late Cuomo years.

In February 2021, the New York Post published audio of DeRosa on a call with state Democratic lawmakers. On that recording, she said the administration had held back the full COVID-19 nursing-home death tally from legislators after then-President Donald Trump “turns this into a giant political football” and the Justice Department began asking questions. “And basically, we froze,” she said, because officials were unsure whether numbers given to DOJ or to lawmakers “was going to be used against us.”

I don’t see what @FoxNews has to gain with this hire.

As Governor Andrew Cuomo’s top aide, Melissa DeRosa was a central figure in the administration’s biggest scandals. According to independent and state investigations, her most notable actions included:

Covering up COVID-19 nursing home deaths by freezing data and altering health department reports to hide the true mortality count from lawmakers and the public.

Leaking confidential personnel files of Cuomo’s first public sexual harassment accuser, Lindsey Boylan, to reporters in an effort to discredit her.

Drafting smear campaigns and retaliatory op-eds targeting accusers to protect the governor’s reputation.

DeRosa resigned in August 2021 just days after the NY Attorney General’s report detailed widespread harassment and unlawful retaliation within the administration.

— RoadMN (@RoadMN) September 28, 2026

DeRosa told the lawmakers that episode “played a very large role” in the delay and apologized to them for the political spot they were in with Republicans.

Assembly Health Chair Richard Gottfried rejected the apology on the call. Sen. Rachel May said it had felt like defending an administration that appeared to be covering something up.

Assemblyman Ron Kim told the New York Post the remarks sounded like an effort to avoid incriminating evidence while a federal inquiry was possible.

New York had publicly counted deaths that occurred inside nursing homes while omitting residents who later died in hospitals.

After Attorney General Letitia James estimated the omitted hospital deaths would raise the resident toll by more than 50 percent, the Health Department released combined figures that jumped from 8,711 in-facility deaths to 12,743 residents as of mid-January 2021, then 13,297 in a later letter, or 15,049 including assisted living.

Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said at the time that the Trump administration was running a political effort against Democratic states, that document production for the federal government was the priority, and that the legislature could be addressed once that pressure eased. The Justice Department declined to comment to the New York Post.

Fox meteorologist Janice Dean, whose in-laws died in New York nursing homes during the pandemic, has been among the loudest critics of that death-count fight. She posted about DeRosa’s Fox hire on social media after the announcement.

Just a reminder: Melissa DeRosa helped smear the women who came forward about Andrew Cuomo’s harassment, and played a hand in undercounting nursing home deaths during COVID. Also tried to silence my advocacy.

— Janice Dean (@JaniceDean) September 28, 2026

“Just a reminder: Melissa DeRosa helped smear the women who came forward about Andrew Cuomo’s harassment, and played a hand in undercounting nursing home deaths during COVID. Also tried to silence my advocacy,” she said.

Cuomo announced his resignation in October of 2021 after an investigation found he had sexually harassed multiple women, ABC News reported.

Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.