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Pro-Bruce Blakeman Super PAC accuses Kathy Hochul of pay-to-play ‘corruption’ scheme in multi-million dollar ad

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Campanile, C. (2026, October 7). Pro-Bruce Blakeman Super PAC accuses Kathy Hochul of pay-to-play ‘corruption’ scheme in multi-million dollar ad. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/07/us-news/pro-bruce-blakeman-super-pac-accuses-kathy-hochul-of-pay-to-play-covid-corruption-scheme-in-multi-million-dollar-ad/

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New York Post · collected 2026-10-07 · by Carl Campanile

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Story summary

A Super PAC supporting Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman has launched an advertisement accusing New York Governor Kathy Hochul of pay-to-play corruption. The ad highlights a $637 million contract awarded to Digital Gadgets for COVID tests during the pandemic, days after CEO Charles Tebele and family members contributed over $500,000 to Hochul’s campaign. According to reports, New York paid roughly twice what other states like California paid when buying directly from manufacturers. The ad aims to portray Hochul as benefiting her donors while taxpayers foot the bill.

Written for “Kathy Hochul Corruption Accusations” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Kathy Hochul Corruption Accusations
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans strongly right and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Mother Jones
⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this Hedges 10 of 281 claims Outlet record 60/100
“Article A focuses on a specific ad campaign by a Super PAC targeting Kathy Hochul, while Article B discusses broader issues of money in politics and corruption without referencing the specific incident mentioned in Article A.”
New York Post
Hedges 1 of 21 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different activities by the same Super PAC: one focuses on an ad campaign attacking Kathy Hochul, while the other reports on billboards supporting Saritha Komatireddy for attorney general.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
22
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 22 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans strongly right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-07 · how these are computed

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Publisher

New York Post · 16741 article(s) · 36 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 36 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Carl Campanile
69 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
🔮 The most competitive races for Congress are in swing suburban and upstate districts, while statewide ballots will include elections for governor, attorney general and comptroller.
🔮 Democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani remains popular, backed by a group of largely younger voters who lean left and are energized around an anti-capitalist message of taxing the rich.
🔮 New York is again expected to play a pivotal role in determining which party takes control of the House of Representatives — four years after the GOP’s four-seat pickup turned the tide in 2022.
🔮 The law exempts restaurants from the green prohibition, so wok stir-fry cooking on gas stoves will continue in Chinese eateries.
🔮 Gov. Kathy Hochul will raise New Yorkers’ taxes to fulfill Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s socialist agenda if she’s re-elected next week, her GOP opponent Bruce Blakeman warned.
🔮 A spokesperson for the Justice Department said, “The Department takes allegations of antisemitism seriously and is committed to enforcing federal civil rights laws that protect students from discrimination.” The city DOE and Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
🔮 “New York needs an attorney general who will put public safety over politics and make sure New York State is one of the most prosperous, best places to live in the country,” Teixeira added.
🔮 The Transport Workers Union of America, whose local members include roughly 40,000 city subway and bus workers toiling under an MTA contract that lapsed in May, began airing the scathing spots Friday, a day before early voting opened
🔮 Critics – including President Trump — immediately called for her to step away, saying she was too political, biased and unethical to fairly investigate the case. Norman Siegel, a longtime civil rights lawyer, said James is doing the right thing, adding that her taking the case would be like a police commissioner commenting on police misconduct cases before a probe is finished.
🔮 The folky tunes of an extremely rare piano will once again sound in Manhattan Friday — nearly a century after Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia banned the instruments from the city streets.
Also by Carl Campanile
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
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Topics

COVID Digital Gadgets Hochul New Yorkers Republican

Subjects

Hochul PERSON · 13× Kathy Hochul PERSON · 3× New Yorkers NORP · 3× Tebele PERSON · 3× Digital Gadgets ORG · 2× Republican NORP · 2× Bruce Blakeman PERSON · 1× Charles Tebele PERSON · 1× Kathy Hochul’s PERSON · 1× the Strong and Safe New York Super Pac ORG · 1×

Narrative

The ad revives reports by the Times Union that Hochul’s administration purchased 52 million COVID tests in 2022 from Digital Gadgets at roughly twice the price others paid, like California, for buying directly from a manufacturer — all while Tebele and family members funneled $300,000 to Hochul’s campaign.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-07

Claims (22 extracted, 0 hedged)

A Super PAC backing Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman has launched a multi-million-dollar ad slamming Kathy Hochul for pay-to-play “corruption” after she promptly awarded a donor with a no-bid contract during the pandemic to buy COVID tests. asserted
she → back → tests
The $637 million emergency deal given to Digital Gadgets came just days after its CEO Charles Tebele and other family members held a lavish fundraiser for Hochul ahead of her 2022 reelection. asserted
CEO → give → reelection
“Kathy Hochul’s corruption is the tax we all pay,” said the ad paid for by the Strong and Safe New York Super Pac, a group bankrolled by Knicks owner James Dolan and casino magnate Steve Wynn. asserted
ad → pay → Dolan
She gave her friends a $637 million no-bid contract for COVID tests, paying more than double what others were charging. asserted
others → give → charging
And weeks before the deal, the CEO threw her a big fundraiser. asserted
CEO → throw → fundraiser
The family ultimately shelled out more than $500,000 to Hochul’s machine. asserted
family → shell → machine
“Hochul gets rich, her friends get richer,” the ad’s narrator says. asserted
narrator → get → ?
“And we get the bill.” asserted
we → get → bill
An image of Hochul appears with a mock $637 million check paid to a “Hochul donor” for a “No bid Covid contract.” asserted
image → appear → contract
The pro-Blakeman ad – costing $750,00 per week – is running on streaming services, paid social media and video texting to more than 1 million voters. asserted
ad → cost → voters
It is scheduled to run until Election Day, Nov. 3, the group said. asserted
group → schedule → Day
“Everything Kathy Hochul does raises costs on struggling New Yorkers, including her expensive and corrupt no-bid contracts,” a Strong and Safe spokesman said. asserted
spokesman → do → contracts
“New Yorkers simply can no longer afford Kathy Hochul.” asserted
Yorkers → afford → Hochul
The ad revives reports by the Times Union that Hochul’s administration purchased 52 million COVID tests in 2022 from Digital Gadgets at roughly twice the price others paid, like California, for buying directly from a manufacturer — all while Tebele and family members funneled $300,000 to Hochul’s campaign. asserted
Tebele → revive → campaign
Start your day with all you need to know Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more. asserted
Report → start → news
Tebele’s fundraiser was held in November 2021. asserted
fundraiser → hold → November
The payments were justified by Hochul’s office at the time as necessary to buy rapid tests quickly to keep schools open – though many of the tests were still not used months after they were bought. asserted
they → justify → tests
Hochul’s office also claimed the governor was not personally involved in awarding the contract to Tebele’s firm – and that contracts had to be awarded quickly to curb a spike in COVID cases. asserted
contracts → claim → cases
“Governor Hochul did not oversee the procurement process and was not involved in the day-to-day procurement decisions,” a Hochul spokesperson said in September 2022. asserted
spokesperson → oversee → September
“She simply instructed her team to purchase as many available tests as possible to meet the tremendous need across the state, and they did exactly that to keep New Yorkers safe.” asserted
they → instruct → Yorkers
Lee Zeldin, Hochul’s 2022 Republican opponent, also blasted her over the contract during their race. asserted
Zeldin → blast → race
The Post has reached out to Hochul’s campaign for comment. asserted
Post → reach → comment
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