So my colleague Chris Bragg, an investigative reporter whose dogged digging is why we know anything about any of this, asked this question: "Your staff didn't say to you, 'We want to buy 52 million tests from Digital Gadgets, do you approve?' or anything like that?" Tebele, his family members, and entities associated with the company have contributed more than $700,000 to Hochul's campaign, and Tebele has hosted two fundraisers for the governor. But Hochul was initially evasive when asked about her exact role in buying from Digital Gadgets, based in New Jersey. In essence, she described herself as being highly concerned with filling the need for widespread testing. In that meeting last Tuesday at this newspaper's building in Colonie, Hochul spoke of the need to procure COVID-19 tests at a time - December of 2021 - when the highly contagious omicron variant was running rampant, even if that meant overpaying. Why did she? Again, she lacks good answers. The governor put raising money above perceptions - and, perhaps, above ethics, too. By taking money from companies with direct business before the state, the Democrat placed herself in this uncomfortable position. So, yes, answering the questions is a no-win proposition, which doesn’t mean Hochul deserves our sympathy. After all, if the state is going to spend $637 million on something, you might think the governor had darn well better be involved. But when Hochul says she was not involved in the decision, as she suggested during a meeting last week with the Times Union editorial board, well, that raises additional questions.
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