Gov. Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women, and retaliated against one for going public, the New York attorney general’s inquiry found.
Tuesday, August 3, 2021 11:16 AM EST
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/08/03/nyregion/andrew-cuomo
The findings could fuel support for impeachment proceedings against Mr. Cuomo in the State Legislature, lead to additional calls for his resignation and influence public opinion as he considers running for a fourth term.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women, including current and former government workers, and retaliated against at least one of the women for making her complaints public, according to a much anticipated report from the New York State attorney general released on Tuesday.
The 165-page report said that Mr. Cuomo, a third-term Democrat, and his aides cultivated a toxic work environment in his office that was rife with fear and intimidation, and helped enable “harassment to occur and created a hostile work environment.”
“Governor Cuomo sexually harassed current and former state employees in violation of both federal and state laws,” she said. “The independent investigation found that governor Cuomo harassed multiple women, many of whom were young women, by engaging in unwanted groping, kisses, hugging, and by making inappropriate comments.”
Ms. James said the report revealed “a deeply disturbing, yet clear picture” and “conduct that corrodes the very fabric and character of our state government and shine lights on injustice that can be present at the highest levels of government.”
The report included at least two previously unreported allegations of sexual harassment from women who accused Mr. Cuomo of improperly touching them, including an unnamed female state trooper and an employee of the National Grid energy company.
The findings of the report could fuel support for impeachment proceedings against Mr. Cuomo in the State Legislature, which Democrats overwhelmingly control, lead to additional calls for his resignation and influence public opinion as he considers running for a fourth term. Outside lawyers hired by the Assembly’s judiciary committee are currently looking at not only the sexual harassment claims, but a series of scandals with a common theme: whether or not Mr. Cuomo abused his power while in office.
The investigation was conducted by two outside lawyers hired by Letitia James, the state attorney general: Joon H. Kim, a former top federal prosecutor, and Anne L. Clark, a well-known employment lawyer.
“Our investigation revealed that these were not isolated incidents,” Mr. Kim said on Tuesday. “They were part of a pattern.”
Even before the report’s release on Tuesday, the damage to Mr. Cuomo has been considerable: In a span of a few weeks earlier this year, the allegations and a series of other scandals compounded into the most severe political crisis Mr. Cuomo has confronted in his ten years in office, a steep fall for a governor once hailed a national leader during the coronavirus pandemic.
Members of his party openly turned on him, raising questions about his capacity to govern and calling on him to resign. The State Assembly launched a broad impeachment investigation to scrutinize, among other issues, the governor’s handling of nursing homes during the pandemic, which federal prosecutors also began to investigate. Mr. Cuomo saw his once-soaring approval ratings sink, his fund-raising numbers take a hit and a list of potential challengers expand as he eyes a run for a fourth term next year.
Yet, despite the profound political backlash, Mr. Cuomo has refused to step down. Mr. Cuomo has repeatedly denied many of the claims and any deliberate wrongdoing, apologizing for interactions that may have made women “feel uncomfortable.”
In late February, Lindsey Boylan, a former economic development official in the Cuomo administration, became the first woman to outline her claims against the governor. Ms. Boylan said Mr. Cuomo suggested they play “strip poker” on a plane while on a work trip and said the governor kissed her on the lips in his Manhattan office.
A few days later, Charlotte Bennett, a former executive assistant to Mr. Cuomo, told The New York Times that the governor made certain comments that she took as sexual overtures while they were alone in his Albany office last year. Ms. Bennett said Mr. Cuomo said he was looking for a girlfriend and asked her whether she was monogamous and had sex with older men.
In early March, a current female aide who has not been publicly identified, leveled one of the most serious allegations: She said Mr. Cuomo reached under her blouse and groped one of her breasts while they were alone on the second floor of the Executive Mansion in Albany late last year. She said she had been summoned to his residence to assist Mr. Cuomo with a technical issue. Mr. Cuomo has denied the woman’s account, saying he has never touched anyone inappropriately.
The flurry of allegations, and the growing calls for his resignation, led Mr. Cuomo to authorize Ms. James to oversee an investigation led by outside lawyers into the any sexual harassment claims against him.
In not-so-unrelated news, the aforementioned Attorney General Leticia James is one of the leading candidates for governor.
