ALBANIA – A female assistant to Governor Andrew M. Cuomo claims he aggressively touched her on a sexual charge after she was summoned to the governor’s house late last year, according to a person with direct knowledge of the woman’s demands.
The staff member, whose identity is withheld by the Times Union, was summoned to the mansion under the apparent pretext that she would help the governor with a small technical problem with his cellphone. They were alone in Cuomo’s private residence on the second floor of the mansion when he closed the door and allegedly tucked it under her blouse and began to love her, according to the source.
The person, who is not authorized to comment in public, said the woman – who is much younger than Cuomo – told the governor to stop. Her broader allegations include that he had regular flirtations with her, and that this was not the only time he had touched her.
The woman’s story was revealed in the governor’s executive chamber on March 3 when staff members watched his first news conference of the week since Lindsey Boylan published an online essay outlining her own allegations against Cuomo. At the news conference, the governor denied that he had ever touched any woman “inappropriately”.
When the female assistant hears these remarks, she becomes emotional. At least one female supervisor came to her assistant and asked her why she was upset. The woman then told the supervisor what she thought were inappropriate encounters with Cuomo, the source said.
In response to the Times Union’s questions about the allegations, Cuomo issued a statement to the newspaper on Wednesday night: “As I said yesterday, I have never done anything like this. The details of this report are violent. I do not care to speak with the details of this or any other allegation given the ongoing review, but I am confident in the outcome of the Attorney General’s report. ”
The woman’s allegations, first reported by the Times Union on Tuesday, are the worst allegations the governor has faced since several women have come forward since December accusing him of sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior.
In the latest case, at least one of the woman’s supervisors reported the allegations to a lawyer in the governor’s office on Monday.
On Tuesday afternoon, hours after Cuomo’s office was asked about the matter by the Times Union, the governor said, “I do not know of any other claim,” when asked by a reporter about the new story, which was published by when published online. The story contains a statement from his acting counsel, Beth Garvey, who said that “all allegations” of sexual harassment against the governor are being referred to the Attorney General’s office.
“As I said last week, it’s very simple: I never touched anyone improperly,” the governor said Tuesday. “I never made inappropriate progress … (and) no one ever told me at the time that I made them feel uncomfortable. Obviously, there are people who said they felt uncomfortable.”
The woman did not lodge a formal complaint with the governor’s office.
The State Attorney’s Office, Letitia James, is investigating several allegations against Cuomo based on a letter of reference that Garvey, his attorney, requested in a March 1 letter.
This week, James announced that the investigation is being handled by two private attorneys: Joon H. Kim, a former acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, and Anne L. Clark, who specializes in labor law and sexual harassment.
Assistants to the governor said Tuesday the governor stands by his statements that he never touched anyone improperly. They would not declare the governor’s statement that he was not aware of the latest allegation against him.
The latest allegations by the woman who reported that she was touched by Cuomo to the governor’s house have increased the seriousness of the accusations: the behavior she describes could possibly be committed as a charge of sexual assault.
The Attorney General’s office declined to comment Wednesday morning on answers to detailed questions about how the office, which is not legally competent over any criminal component of the case, will be handled. Garvey’s letter of March 1 to the Attorney General appeals to a section of the Executive Law empowering the Attorney General’s Office to conduct a civil investigation with the Office’s Assistant Assistant, but not to not to conduct a criminal case or to bring the allegations before a large jury.
If a criminal complaint is filed by Boylan or the female assistant who claims to have touched her at the mansion, the cases could possibly be handled by the offices of the Albany County District Attorney, David Soares, or the Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance. .
The new allegations that came to light on Tuesday immediately increased the pressure from many lawmakers – including Cuomo’s fellow Democrats – to resign the governor. He had already called for the resignation of state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and House Speaker Carl E. Heastie issued a statement on Sunday acknowledging Cuomo’s ability to be an effective leader. remain, questioned.
Republicans in the legislature were more forceful in their remarks. Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt on Tuesday characterized the latest allegation as “a disturbing pattern of predatory behavior by the Cuomo government, not to mention a pattern of lies and broken public trust.” ‘
The initial allegations were made by three women – Boylan as well as Charlotte Bennett and Anna Ruch, who did not work for Cuomo but told the New York Times last week that the governor grabbed her and tried to kiss her during the 2019 wedding of one of his senior assistants, Gareth Rhodes.
Bennett told the New York Times that during June last year, Cuomo spoke in his office in the Capitol about loneliness during the pandemic and that he missed it in order to embrace someone. She said Cuomo never tried to touch her. Bennett, in another interview with CBS News, also told that he was alone with Cuomo in the mansion and said that he asked her investigative questions about her personal life but did not touch her.
Debra Katz, Bennett’s attorney, issued a statement late Wednesday saying the allegations by the female assistant were “terribly similar to what Charlotte Bennett claimed.”
“Charlotte was summoned to the Capitol on a Saturday, isolated with the governor and asked to help him with minor technical problems with his phone. Charlotte passed this behavior and the governor’s sexual proposal to his oldest assistants, including his special counsel. “Judith, reported. Mogul. In response, the assistants could not report Charlotte’s claims to the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations as it was legally required,” Bennett continued. “If the staff of Governor Charlotte Bennett’s allegations and their legal obligations were taken seriously, this woman might have been spared from this sexual assault. That the governor does not deny that he touched people, but insists that he never ‘has done wrong, shows that he is committed to relieving victims of gas and the perpetuation of these lies. This is exactly how abusers act.’
Over the weekend, in stories published by the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, two more women came forward and described what they described as inappropriate behavior by Cuomo, including Karen Hinton, who more than two decades ago joined the governor worked at the U.S. housing. and urban development agency.