His defendants, however, were not silent: Charlotte Bennett, a former assistant who Mr. Cuomo accused of sexual harassment issued her first public statement since setting out her allegations in a New York Times article, saying the apology and attempted explanation were issued by the governor. Sunday night was unfortunately inadequate.
“This is not the action of someone who is simply misunderstood,” she said. Bennett wrote. “This is the action of an individual who uses his power to avoid justice.”
Me. Bennett also appealed to other women, as they shared similar stories about Mr. Cuomo het. “If you choose to speak your truth, we will stand by you,” she said. “I promise.”
At the same time, the initial stages of a pending investigation into Mr. Cuomo’s actions underway in the offices of Attorney General Letitia James, who assessed the options for an external investigator.
In the statement issued Sunday night, Mr. Cuomo addressed his behavior, including ‘from my previous interactions with people in the office’, saying that he often teased and mocked his subordinates, ‘playfully’ in what he’s a very serious business. ”
According to him, this was misinterpreted.
“I now understand that my interactions could have been insensitive or too personal and that some of my comments, given my position, made others feel in ways I never intended,” he said.
A lawyer of me. Bennett, Debra S. Katz, questioned the governor’s initial proposal, made public in a statement Saturday night, that his relationship with Ms. Bennett was a mentor to his employee, nearly four decades his junior.