Gov. Andrew Cuomo finally took public questions on Monday about a scorching report in The Times last week that revealed how his aides had interfered with ethics investigators in Albany.

The governor’s delayed press briefing was a defiant attempt to defend himself against politically damaging evidence of his conduct. Once again, Mr. Cuomo has changed his story about the way he created, handled and then suddenly disbanded the Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption.

When Mr. Cuomo appointed the commission last year, he promised commissioners they would be “totally independent.” They could investigate anybody in state government, even him, he said. Then, as The Times reported, his top aide tried to head off investigations that touched on the governor’s own interests. The aide, Lawrence Schwartz, told some investigators that the governor was off-limits and their job was to go after legislators.

Mr. Cuomo abruptly shut down the commission in March, and in April argued that because he had created it, “it is mine. It is controlled by me.”