New York Attorney General Letitia James, who released a report in January alleging that Andrew Cuomo’s government has dramatically underemphasized COVID-19 nursing deaths in the state, will have full control over the investigation into sexual harassment that his government threatened.
James said on Sunday that she was expected to get a referral authorizing her office and enabling her to place an outside law firm for a rigorous and independent investigation. ‘
Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kristen Gillibrand, both New York Democrats, called for James to be given the investigative power “so that she can conduct a transparent and thorough investigation with the subpoena force.”
The Democrat & Chronicle reports that Cuomo first wanted to refer the matter to Barbara Jones, a former U.S. district judge who worked with one of his former advisers.
After the idea was rejected, the newspaper reported that Cuomo wanted James to work with a judge he had appointed to select a suitable independent lawyer to investigate the case.
James and other leading party officials rejected Cuomo’s proposals on how an investigation could proceed in a few hours on Sunday.
According to the newspaper, the governor agreed by 5:30 p.m. Sunday to cede power to James. No office responded immediately to Fox News emails.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden also supported an independent review that ‘should proceed as soon as possible’.
Cuomo is accused by a former assistant, Lindsey Boylan, of orchestrating a ‘pervasive’ culture of ‘sexual harassment and bullying’. She reported on Medium that Cuomo once suggested that they should play ‘strip poker’ during a flight in October 2017 and said that he kissed her on the lips once.
Boylan, a Democratic president for the Manhattan City Council, said that during her more than three years in the Democratic government, Cuomo “made a great effort to touch me on my lower back, arms and legs.”
Charlotte Bennett, described by The New York Times as an executive assistant and health policy adviser in the Cuomo government until she left in November, ‘claims that Cuomo’ asked her questions about her sex life, or whether she was monogamous in her relationships. and if she’s ever had sex with older men. ‘
Cuomo’s office denied Boylan’s allegations. He said he never made progress with Bennett “nor did he intend to act in any way that was inappropriate. The last thing I would have ever wanted was to make her feel something about be reported. “
Cuomo issued a statement on Sunday addressing allegations of sexual harassment, but even the statement was criticized by critics as deaf-mute.
“At work I sometimes think I’m playful and make jokes that I think are funny. I sometimes bother people in a good way,” the governor explained. “I do it in public and in private. You’ve seen me do it hundreds of times at briefings. I’ve teased people about their personal lives, their relationships, whether to get married or not. I mean no offense and try just to add a little liveliness and jokes which is a very serious undertaking. “
Cuomo continued: “I now understand that my interactions may have been insensitive or too personal and that some of my comments, given my position, made others feel in ways I never intended to. I acknowledge that some of the things “What I said was misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation. To the extent that someone felt that way, I’m really sorry about it.”
The scandal is the second Cuomo faces, and James plays a central role in both.
James said last month that COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes in New York were down by as much as 50%, prompting Cuomo to appear before the Home Supervision Committee. A Cuomo spokesman called the request “empty political theater”.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman, Joesph A. Wulfshon and the Associated Press contributed to this report