SUNY Chancellor Malatras Said He’s Not Stepping Down

Jim Malatras

State University of New York Chancellor Jim Malatras has told reporters he has no plans to resign after investigations have cast more light on the role he played in Governor Andrew Cuomo‘s inner circle.

According to a Spectrum New Report, transcripts and supporting documentation released by Attorney General Letitia James included an email from Malatras in which he was critical of Lindsey Boylan, a staffer who would later accuse Cuomo of sexual harassment. Boylan at the time was knocking the Cuomo administration for having a toxic work environment.

In an text message chain with other Cuomo aides, Malatras suggests releasing some of Boylan’s “cray emails” and used a swear word.

Boylan was one of 11 women included in a report released in August by the attorney general’s office detailing allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct by Cuomo, who resigned August 24.

Cuomo aides last year after Boylan’s initial harassment claims leaked the details of her departure from the administration to the media, including complaints by those who worked in Boylan’s office.

Malatras has been a key advisor to Cuomo over the years, serving as the director of state operations and was later appointed to the SUNY chancellorship in 2020 as the pandemic was bringing mounting challenges to the state university system.

A state Assembly report released last month following a lengthy investigation provided more details on how Cuomo used state resources to help him write a book about the pandemic, which was part of a $5.1 million contract. Malatras had helped Cuomo with the book, and Malatras has said he volunteered his time to help with it.

But other aides in the governor’s office have refuted claims made by Cuomo’s team they had volunteered their time to work on the book, calling it a central focus of the governor’s office at the time.

Malatras also helped with the production of a report in July 2020 seeking to refute allegations of how nursing home residents died during the pandemic and whether a hospital discharge order was at fault. How the state reported fatalities of residents is being investigated by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn.