Photo: Marc A. Hermann / MTA New York City Transit
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is facing impeachment after an independent inquiry said he had harassed multiple women.
The state senate leader and fellow Democrat Andrea Stewart-Cousins called Gov. Cuomo’s behavior “unacceptable” and said he should resign.
A majority of New York assembly favor impeachment proceedings, which could lead to his removal.
Andrew Cuomo has denied any wrongdoing and vowed to stay in office.
Telling reporters it was not in his nature to assault a woman, he blamed cultural differences and political vindictiveness for the scandal.
Andrew Cuomo is part of a Democratic political dynasty – his late father was also governor – and he became a household name leading New York out of the pandemic.
In a statement, Andrea Stewart-Cousins said that Andrew Cuomo must quit “for the good of the state”.
President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have also called for his resignation.
The Associated Press has reported that at least 86 of 150 members of the Democratic-controlled state assembly are in favor of initiating impeachment proceedings.
On August 5, the chair of the state assembly judiciary committee, Charles Lavine, said the committee’s investigation is “nearing completion” and will soon consider articles of impeachment against Andrew Cuomo.
The assembly has called on the governor and his legal team to submit any evidence in his defense by Friday, August 13.
If a simple majority of members vote to impeach Andrew Cuomo, the case moves to an impeachment court comprised of the state senate – except for its majority leader – as well as seven judges of New York’s highest court. A two-thirds vote would be needed to convict.
If that happens, Andrew Cuomo would become only the second New York governor to be removed from office, following Governor William Sulzer in 1913.
Support for Gov. Cuomo appears to also be slipping among voters.
A Marist poll released on August 4 after the report found that 59% of New Yorkers believe he should resign, which is a significant rise from previous polls.
The attorney general’s inquiry found that Andrew Cuomo had harassed 11 women during his time in office.
Investigators spent five months speaking to nearly 200 people, including staff members and some of those who made complaints against him.
While the inquiry is civil – rather than criminal – several local district attorney offices across New York have asked to review its findings to determine whether criminal charges could potentially be filed.
Photo: Marc A. Hermann / MTA New York City Transit
According to an independent investigation, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women, subjecting them to unwanted kissing and groping.
Announcing the results of the inquiry, New York Attorney General Letitia James said Andrew Cuomo had violated state and federal laws.
Governor Cuomo is yet to respond to the investigation but has previously denied wrongdoing.
The report is likely to play a major part in a separate impeachment inquiry.
The investigation was commissioned in 2020 after several women came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against the governor.
Investigators spent five months speaking to nearly 200 people, including staff members and some of those who made complaints against him. Tens of thousands of documents, texts and pictures were reviewed as part of the inquiry.
“The independent investigation has concluded that Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women and in doing so violated federal and state law,” Letitia James said.
Andrew Cuomo, the attorney said, had engaged in “unwelcome and non-consensual touching and making numerous offensive comments”.
In one case, Governor Cuomo and his staff retaliated against a former employee who accused him of wrongdoing, according to Letitia James.
Other women described being groped, kissed or sitting on the governor’s lap.
Andrew Cuomo allegedly reached under the blouse of an assistant to touch her breast, while another aide said he asked her if she was open to sex with an older man.
The governor stood behind a state trooper in a lift, running his finger down her neck and saying “hey you”, according to investigators.
On top of the allegations of harassment, Andrew Cuomo is accused of presiding over a “hostile and toxic work environment”.
Joon Kim, who co-led the investigation, said: “It was a culture where you could not say no to the governor and if you upset him or his senior staff you’d be written off, cast aside or worse.”
“At the same time the witnesses described a culture that normalized and overlooked everyday flirtations, physical intimacy and inappropriate comments by the governor,” he added.
Photo: Marc A. Hermann / MTA New York City Transit
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is facing a second claim of harassment coming from his former aide Charlotte Bennett.
Charlotte Bennett, a health policy adviser to Governor Cuomo until November, told the New York Times that he had harassed her last year.
Andrew Cuomo, 63, has denied any inappropriate behavior and ordered an independent inquiry into the allegations.
Another former aide, Lindsey Boylan, has previously accused the governor of harassing her.
The 63-year-old, who has been governor for more than a decade, has found himself under pressure on several fronts in recent weeks.
Andrew Cuomo is under scrutiny from the Democratic Party – of which he is a member – for allegedly hiding the true number of Covid-related deaths in New York care homes.
He has also faced allegations of bullying, including from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Charlotte Bennett, 25, told the New York Times that Andrew Cuomo had asked her numerous questions about her personal life including whether she believed that age made a difference in romantic relationships.
She said he had also suggested that the governor was open to relationships with women in their 20s. Charlotte Bennett said she believed the comments were clear overtures to a sexual relationship.
In the interview, she said that in June last year Governor Cuomo had talked about feeling lonely during the pandemic and had asked her whom she had last hugged.
She said she dodged the question by saying she missed hugging her parents, but she believed the conversation had been another overture.
Charlotte Bennett said: “I understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me, and felt horribly uncomfortable and scared and was wondering how I was going to get out of it and assumed it was the end of my job.”
She said she informed Governor Cuomo’s chief of staff, Jill DesRosiers, after the interaction and less than a week later was transferred to another job.
She said she had decided not to seek a formal investigation because she “wanted to move on”. No action was taken against Andrew Cuomo.
In a statement released on February 27, Governor Cuomo said he believed he had been acting as a mentor to Charlotte Bennett.
He said he had “never made advances toward Ms Bennett, nor did I ever intend to act in any way that was inappropriate”.
He said: “The last thing I would ever have wanted was to make her feel any of the things that are being reported.”
Governor Cuomo said he had authorized an external review of the matter.
“I ask all New Yorkers to await the findings of the review so that they know the facts before making any judgements,” he said.
Earlier this month, Lindsey Boylan published an essay detailing her claims of harassment.
She accused Governor Cuomo of kissing her on the lips and asking her to play strip poker while on his private jet.
She also claimed that he touched her without consent and frequently made inappropriate comments to her and other women about their appearances.
Andrew Cuomo had denied the accusations when they emerged late last year and reiterated those denials after the essay was published.
New York was one of the states worst hit by the pandemic and the governor won widespread praise for his response.
However, in January a report about New York’s response to Covid-19 in care homes – and the handling of related data – said it appeared a complete tally had not been provided to state lawmakers.
More than 15,000 New Yorkers in care homes have died since the start of the pandemic – believed to be the highest of any state in the US.
But until January, New York’s health department had logged just over 8,500 fatalities.
Andrew Cuomo acknowledged “a delay” in the reporting of some nursing home deaths but said the overall Covid-19 death count had always been accurate.
However, in a private conversation leaked to the New York Post, a top aide to Governor Cuomo confessed to covering up the real numbers and withholding the information out of concern the data “was going to be used against us”.
Andrew Cuomo has also faced accusations of bullying.
After Democratic New York Assemblyman Ron Kim criticized Andrew Cuomo over the nursing home issue, Governor Cuomo allegedly rang him and threatened his career.
Ron Kim accused his fellow Democrat of “verbal abuse” as other officials rushed to his defense.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called the account “classic Andrew Cuomo,” adding that “the bullying is nothing new”.
Andrew Cuomo became one of the nation’s most influential Democrats during the early days of the pandemic.
The governor’s briefings, TV live, sometimes received more attention than appearances by the then-presidential Democratic candidate Joe Biden.
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