It's the biggest political cover-up since Watergate: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio may have been responsible for the death of a celebrity groundhog.
De Blasio has "groundhog blood on his hands," according to the New York Post, which reported that "Staten Island Chuck" died of internal injuries one week after the mayor dropped it 6 feet onto the ground during Groundhog Day festivities in February.
The furry local celebrity was found dead at the Staten Island Zoo on Feb. 9. A necropsy determined that the groundhog died from “acute internal injuries" consistent with the fall, according to the Post, citing anonymous sources.
The zoo, which receives millions of funding from New York City, reportedly decided to hide the groundhog's fate from the public and the mayor's office.
“I was told he died of old age, that he went to that big farm in the sky,” Assemblyman Matthew Titone told the Post.
Staten Island Zoo said de Blasio's actions did not likely cause the groundhog's death. The mayor's office claimed it first heard about the animal's death from the Post.
To add to the scandal, the newspaper discovered that the groundhog, thought to be the legendary Staten Island Chuck, was actually "Charlotte." The zoo reportedly used a different groundhog this year for fear that Chuck would bite de Blasio, as he had bitten former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2009.
May our furry friend rest in a shadowless peace. Let's just hope this sad event doesn't keep repeating itself over and over and over again...