Nephew of former Andrew Cuomo opponent accuses 2010 campaign of ‘catfishing’ him

As a 23-year-old gay Democrat, Jeff Hannon often had to explain why he worked for his Republican uncle’s gubernatorial campaign in 2010. His decision was based on the promise that his uncle, Carl Paladino, would focus on fixing New York’s plethora of problems instead of attacking gay marriage or other social issues. But when Paladino spoke poorly about the LGBTQ community at a campaign function, Hannon felt betrayed.

Unfortunately, the much greater betrayal came from the campaign of his uncle’s opponent, then-Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, which Hannon believes engaged in “catfishing” to gain an advantage over Paladino. He took to Twitter Thursday evening to tell his story just over a decade after the horrible events happened.

“My story doesn’t accuse Governor Andrew Cuomo of anything illegal or corrupt,” he began his 33-Tweet thread. “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.”

Catfishing is “the process of luring someone into a relationship by means of a fictional online persona.” It is a practice often used to gain enough trust for the sake of exploitation, blackmail, or theft. But in Jeff Hannon’s case, the apparent motivation was for Cuomo’s campaign to gain advantages over Paladino by getting information from Hannon and possibly turning him against his Republican uncle.

Cuomo went on to win the election and has been plaguing New York ever since. And judging by his recent scandals surrounding a coverup and poor choices pertaining to Covid-19, the immoral acts of lying and cheating for political expediency are part of his standard operating procedure. But Hannon isn’t sharing his story now for political reasons. It just adds context to what we’ve been seeing from Cuomo’s office in recent weeks.

“I still hold on to a lot of shame for having worked for my uncle’s campaign,” Hannon continued. “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.”

According to Hannon, someone affiliated with Cuomo’s 2010 campaign engaged in a virtual and phone relationship with him. After spending an extended period of time courting him, his suitor “ghosted” him. Perhaps they felt they were not going to turn Hannon against his uncle or that they had collected enough information to act. Whatever the reason, “Daniel Wilhelm” stopped communicating with Hannon until a story broke about his uncle’s remarks pertaining to gay people.

That’s when “Daniel Wilhelm” suddenly reappeared, calling Hannon out of the blue the next day. But his focus was different now. Instead of romance, he was urging Hannon to come out against his uncle.

“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,” Hannon Tweeted. “I immediately hung up after realizing what had happened.”

Jeff Hannon’s sad tale portrays an Andrew Cuomo we’ve come to understand better in recent weeks. The Governor is a duplicitous, overly ambitious conniver who will stoop to any level for the sake of advancing his career.

Here is the full thread from Hannon:

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

— Jeff Hannon (@Jeffrey_Hannon) February 19, 2021

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

— Jeff Hannon (@Jeffrey_Hannon) February 19, 2021

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

— Jeff Hannon (@Jeffrey_Hannon) February 19, 2021

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

— Jeff Hannon (@Jeffrey_Hannon) February 19, 2021

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

— Jeff Hannon (@Jeffrey_Hannon) February 19, 2021

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

— Jeff Hannon (@Jeffrey_Hannon) February 19, 2021

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

— Jeff Hannon (@Jeffrey_Hannon) February 19, 2021

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

— Jeff Hannon (@Jeffrey_Hannon) February 19, 2021

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

— Jeff Hannon (@Jeffrey_Hannon) February 19, 2021

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

— Jeff Hannon (@Jeffrey_Hannon) February 19, 2021

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

— Jeff Hannon (@Jeffrey_Hannon) February 19, 2021

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

— Jeff Hannon (@Jeffrey_Hannon) February 19, 2021

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

— Jeff Hannon (@Jeffrey_Hannon) February 19, 2021

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

— Jeff Hannon (@Jeffrey_Hannon) February 19, 2021

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

— Jeff Hannon (@Jeffrey_Hannon) February 19, 2021

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

— Jeff Hannon (@Jeffrey_Hannon) February 19, 2021

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)

— Jeff Hannon (@Jeffrey_Hannon) February 19, 2021

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