NEW YORK (AP) — An investigation found that Gov. Andrew Cuomo
sexually harassed multiple women in and out of state government and
worked to retaliate against one of his accusers, New York’s
attorney general announced Tuesday in a finding that quickly
renewed calls for the Democrat’s resignation or impeachment.
![image](/2021/07/Justice-Ejembi-Eko-1.jpg")
![image](/2021/07/LawPavilion0.jpg")
The nearly five-month investigation found that Cuomo’s
administration was a “hostile work environment” and was “rife with
fear and intimidation.” The probe, conducted by two outside
lawyers, involved interviews with 179 people including Cuomo’s
accusers, current and former administration employees and the
governor himself.
![image](/2021/07/escrow-service1.jpg")
Employment lawyer Anne Clark, who led the probe with former U.S.
Attorney Joon Kim, said they found 11 accusers to be credible,
noting the allegations were corroborated to varying degrees,
including by other witnesses and contemporaneous text messages.
“These interviews and pieces of evidence revealed a deeply
disturbing yet clear picture: Gov. Cuomo sexually harassed current
and former state employees in violation of federal and state laws,”
New York Attorney General Letitia James said at a press conference
on Tuesday.
The investigation’s findings, detailed
in a 165-page public report,[1] turn up
the pressure on the 63-year-old governor, who just a year ago was
widely hailed for his steady leadership during the darkest days of
the COVID-19 crisis, even writing a book about it.
Since then, he’s seen his standing crumble with a drumbeat of
harassment allegations, questions in a separate, ongoing inquiry
into whether state resources went into writing the book, and the
discovery that his administration concealed the true number of
nursing home deaths during the outbreak.
Though James’ investigation concluded without any referrals to
criminal prosecutors, local authorities could decide to use its
evidence and findings to mount their own cases. The report is also
expected to play an important role in an ongoing inquiry in the
state Assembly into whether there are grounds for Cuomo to be
impeached.
Several of Cuomo’s accusers demanded swifter action, calling on
the governor to leave office immediately. Some Democratic and
Republican state lawmakers joined them, along with one-time Cuomo
allies including county executives and leaders of left-leaning
political groups.
“Resign, @NYGovCuomo,” accuser Charlotte Bennett tweeted.
Cuomo scheduled an afternoon press conference in Albany to
address the findings.
On at least one occasion, the investigation found, Cuomo and his
senior staff worked to retaliate against a former employee who
accused him of wrongdoing. Cuomo was also found to have harassed
women outside of government, the investigation found.
The report detailed, for the first time, allegations that Cuomo
sexually harassed a female state trooper on his security detail. It
said that the governor ran his hand or fingers across her stomach
and her back, kissed her on the cheek, asked for her help in
finding a girlfriend and asked why she didn’t wear a dress.
The report also included an allegation from a woman who worked
for an energy company who said Cuomo touched her inappropriately at
an event. The woman said Cuomo ran his fingers across the lettering
on her shirt, reading the name of her company aloud. Then he leaned
in and said: “I’m going to say I see a spider on your shoulder,”
and brushed his hand in between her shoulder and breasts, the
report said.
“These brave women stepped forward to speak truth to power and,
in doing so, they expressed faith in the belief that although the
governor may be powerful, the truth is even more so,” Kim said at
the press conference.
Cuomo faced multiple allegations last winter that he
inappropriately touched and sexually harassed women who worked with
him or who he met at public events. One aide in his office said he
groped her breast.
Another, Lindsey Boylan, said Cuomo kissed her on the lips after
a meeting in his office and “would go out of his way to touch me on
my lower back, arms and legs.”
After Boylan first made her allegations public in December, the
Cuomo administration undercut her story by releasing personnel
memos to media outlets revealing that Boylan resigned after she was
confronted about complaints she belittled and yelled at her
staff.
Boylan has said those records “were leaked to the media in an
effort to smear me.”
Other aides have said that the governor asked them unwelcome
personal questions about sex and dating. One former aide, Charlotte
Bennett, said Cuomo asked if she was open to sex with an older
man.
“Some suffered through unwanted touching, and grabbing of their
most intimate body parts. Others suffered through repeated
offensive, sexually suggestive, or gender-based comments,” Kim said
Tuesday. “A number of them endured both. None of them welcomed it.
And all of them found it disturbing, humiliating, uncomfortable and
inappropriate.”
In an 11-hour interview with investigators last month, Cuomo
admitted to certain behavior while denying other allegations,
investigators said. For example, Clark said, he conceded asking
Bennett whether she had been involved with older men and said he
may have kissed the state trooper at an event but denied touching
her.
Asked about an allegation that he grabbed a woman’s breast at
the executive mansion, according to the report, Cuomo responded: “I
would have to lose my mind to do such a thing” to a woman he hardly
knew with multiple staff members around.
Last winter there was a chorus of calls for Cuomo’s resignation
from many top elected Democrats in New York, including two U.S.
senators, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. But Cuomo refused
to quit and has been raising money for a fourth term in office.
His position on the allegations has also hardened into one of
defiance. Cuomo has always denied touching anyone inappropriately,
but he initially said he was sorry if his behavior with women was
“misinterpreted as unwanted flirtation.” In recent months, he’s
taken a more combative tack, saying he did nothing wrong and
questioning the motives of accusers and critics.
He has also questioned the neutrality of the lawyers hired by
the attorney general to investigate the allegations. Kim, was
involved in previous investigations of corruption by people in
Cuomo’s administration when he was a federal prosecutor in
Manhattan. Cuomo hasn’t expressly said why he believes that would
make Kim biased.
In the hours leading into James’ announcement, Cuomo’s office
issued numerous press releases including the completion of
mixed-use housing in Buffalo plans to build a new $3.9 billion
terminal at Kennedy Airport and JetBlue’s decision to keep its
headquarters in New York. As James was speaking, Cuomo’s publicists
sent out a release about reclaiming the sites of old power
plants.
The Assembly hired its own legal team to investigate Cuomo’s
conduct, plus other allegations of wrongdoing. The legislature is
looking into the help Cuomo got from senior aides to write a book
about the pandemic, special access that Cuomo relatives got to
COVID-19 testing last year, and the administration’s decision to
withhold some data on nursing home deaths from the public for
several months.
Some members of the judiciary committee have said they expect
James’ report to be “critical” for the impeachment
investigation.
New York state regulations say sexual harassment includes
unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature — from unwanted flirtation to
sexual jokes — that creates an offensive work environment,
regardless of a perpetrator’s intent.
The governor, in contrast, has repeatedly argued that he did not
intend to harass anyone. His office has said he took the state’s
mandated sexual harassment training, but has not provided any
documentation proving he did.
Cuomo championed a landmark 2019 state law that made it easier
for sexual harassment victims to prove their case in court. Alleged
victims no longer have to meet the high bar of proving sexual
harassment is “severe and pervasive.”
NEW YORK (AP) — An investigation found that Gov. Andrew Cuomo
sexually harassed multiple women in and out of state government and
worked to retaliate against one of his accusers, New York’s
attorney general announced Tuesday in a finding that quickly
renewed calls for the Democrat’s resignation or impeachment.
The nearly five-month investigation found that Cuomo’s
administration was a “hostile work environment” and was “rife with
fear and intimidation.” The probe, conducted by two outside
lawyers, involved interviews with 179 people including Cuomo’s
accusers, current and former administration employees and the
governor himself.
Employment lawyer Anne Clark, who led the probe with former U.S.
Attorney Joon Kim, said they found 11 accusers to be credible,
noting the allegations were corroborated to varying degrees,
including by other witnesses and contemporaneous text messages.
“These interviews and pieces of evidence revealed a deeply
disturbing yet clear picture: Gov. Cuomo sexually harassed current
and former state employees in violation of federal and state laws,”
New York Attorney General Letitia James said at a press conference
on Tuesday.
The investigation’s findings, detailed
in a 165-page public report,[1] turn up
the pressure on the 63-year-old governor, who just a year ago was
widely hailed for his steady leadership during the darkest days of
the COVID-19 crisis, even writing a book about it.
Since then, he’s seen his standing crumble with a drumbeat of
harassment allegations, questions in a separate, ongoing inquiry
into whether state resources went into writing the book, and the
discovery that his administration concealed the true number of
nursing home deaths during the outbreak.
Though James’ investigation concluded without any referrals to
criminal prosecutors, local authorities could decide to use its
evidence and findings to mount their own cases. The report is also
expected to play an important role in an ongoing inquiry in the
state Assembly into whether there are grounds for Cuomo to be
impeached.
Several of Cuomo’s accusers demanded swifter action, calling on
the governor to leave office immediately. Some Democratic and
Republican state lawmakers joined them, along with one-time Cuomo
allies including county executives and leaders of left-leaning
political groups.
“Resign, @NYGovCuomo,” accuser Charlotte Bennett tweeted.
Cuomo scheduled an afternoon press conference in Albany to
address the findings.
On at least one occasion, the investigation found, Cuomo and his
senior staff worked to retaliate against a former employee who
accused him of wrongdoing. Cuomo was also found to have harassed
women outside of government, the investigation found.
The report detailed, for the first time, allegations that Cuomo
sexually harassed a female state trooper on his security detail. It
said that the governor ran his hand or fingers across her stomach
and her back, kissed her on the cheek, asked for her help in
finding a girlfriend and asked why she didn’t wear a dress.
The report also included an allegation from a woman who worked
for an energy company who said Cuomo touched her inappropriately at
an event. The woman said Cuomo ran his fingers across the lettering
on her shirt, reading the name of her company aloud. Then he leaned
in and said: “I’m going to say I see a spider on your shoulder,”
and brushed his hand in between her shoulder and breasts, the
report said.
“These brave women stepped forward to speak truth to power and,
in doing so, they expressed faith in the belief that although the
governor may be powerful, the truth is even more so,” Kim said at
the press conference.
Cuomo faced multiple allegations last winter that he
inappropriately touched and sexually harassed women who worked with
him or who he met at public events. One aide in his office said he
groped her breast.
Another, Lindsey Boylan, said Cuomo kissed her on the lips after
a meeting in his office and “would go out of his way to touch me on
my lower back, arms and legs.”
After Boylan first made her allegations public in December, the
Cuomo administration undercut her story by releasing personnel
memos to media outlets revealing that Boylan resigned after she was
confronted about complaints she belittled and yelled at her
staff.
Boylan has said those records “were leaked to the media in an
effort to smear me.”
Other aides have said that the governor asked them unwelcome
personal questions about sex and dating. One former aide, Charlotte
Bennett, said Cuomo asked if she was open to sex with an older
man.
“Some suffered through unwanted touching, and grabbing of their
most intimate body parts. Others suffered through repeated
offensive, sexually suggestive, or gender-based comments,” Kim said
Tuesday. “A number of them endured both. None of them welcomed it.
And all of them found it disturbing, humiliating, uncomfortable and
inappropriate.”
In an 11-hour interview with investigators last month, Cuomo
admitted to certain behavior while denying other allegations,
investigators said. For example, Clark said, he conceded asking
Bennett whether she had been involved with older men and said he
may have kissed the state trooper at an event but denied touching
her.
Asked about an allegation that he grabbed a woman’s breast at
the executive mansion, according to the report, Cuomo responded: “I
would have to lose my mind to do such a thing” to a woman he hardly
knew with multiple staff members around.
Last winter there was a chorus of calls for Cuomo’s resignation
from many top elected Democrats in New York, including two U.S.
senators, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. But Cuomo refused
to quit and has been raising money for a fourth term in office.
His position on the allegations has also hardened into one of
defiance. Cuomo has always denied touching anyone inappropriately,
but he initially said he was sorry if his behavior with women was
“misinterpreted as unwanted flirtation.” In recent months, he’s
taken a more combative tack, saying he did nothing wrong and
questioning the motives of accusers and critics.
He has also questioned the neutrality of the lawyers hired by
the attorney general to investigate the allegations. Kim, was
involved in previous investigations of corruption by people in
Cuomo’s administration when he was a federal prosecutor in
Manhattan. Cuomo hasn’t expressly said why he believes that would
make Kim biased.
In the hours leading into James’ announcement, Cuomo’s office
issued numerous press releases including the completion of
mixed-use housing in Buffalo plans to build a new $3.9 billion
terminal at Kennedy Airport and JetBlue’s decision to keep its
headquarters in New York. As James was speaking, Cuomo’s publicists
sent out a release about reclaiming the sites of old power
plants.
The Assembly hired its own legal team to investigate Cuomo’s
conduct, plus other allegations of wrongdoing. The legislature is
looking into the help Cuomo got from senior aides to write a book
about the pandemic, special access that Cuomo relatives got to
COVID-19 testing last year, and the administration’s decision to
withhold some data on nursing home deaths from the public for
several months.
Some members of the judiciary committee have said they expect
James’ report to be “critical” for the impeachment
investigation.
New York state regulations say sexual harassment includes
unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature — from unwanted flirtation to
sexual jokes — that creates an offensive work environment,
regardless of a perpetrator’s intent.
The governor, in contrast, has repeatedly argued that he did not
intend to harass anyone. His office has said he took the state’s
mandated sexual harassment training, but has not provided any
documentation proving he did.
Cuomo championed a landmark 2019 state law that made it easier
for sexual harassment victims to prove their case in court. Alleged
victims no longer have to meet the high bar of proving sexual
harassment is “severe and pervasive.”