Increasing political pressure on allegations of sexual harassment New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Sunday that he would support the appointment of an independent special investigator to investigate the claims against him. Cuomo also issued a number of statements on Sunday, including one in the evening apologizing, saying he “never intended to offend or harm anyone.”
Cuomo, a Democrat, called on the Attorney General and the Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal in New York to jointly appoint an ‘independent and qualified lawyer’ to thoroughly review the case and issue a public report. to reach ‘.
After falling back on his initial request for the investigation, Attorney General Letitia James issued a statement saying her office would hire a law firm, replace lawyers from our office and oversee a strict and independent investigation’.
James, a one-time ally of Cuomo, rejected the governor’s initial proposal, saying she only had the power to investigate the allegations once the governor formally referred the matter to her office.
“Although I have deep respect for Chief Justice DiFiore, I am the duly elected Attorney General and it is my responsibility to carry out this task in accordance with executive law,” James said, referring to Chief Justice. “The governor must provide this reference so that an independent inquiry can be conducted with authorization for the summons.”
Earlier Sunday, James said she was “ready” to oversee an investigation and “make any appointments”.
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Cuomo’s support for an independent inquiry is a reversal, after his special lawyer said on Saturday night that a judge elected by the governors’ office would investigate the allegations, an arrangement deemed inadequate by elected officials across the country. .
In a story published on Saturday, a former assistant told The New York Times that Cuomo was harassing her at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. The woman, Charlotte Bennett, told the Times that Cuomo asked her if she was open to a relationship with an older man – an encounter she interprets as a sexual tone. Bennett, 25, told the Times that when she told Cuomo’s chief of staff about the meeting, she was transferred to another job on the other side of the capital.
Cuomo responded on Saturday night with a statement that he believes he is acting as a mentor and that he ‘never made progress on me. Bennett did not, and I never intended to act in any way that was inappropriate. ‘
In an updated statement Sunday night, Cuomo said he “never intended to offend or harm anyone. I spend most of my life at work and colleagues are often personal friends as well.”
“At work, I sometimes think I’m playful and make jokes that I think are funny,” Cuomo said. “I sometimes bother people in a good way. I do it in public and in private. You’ve seen me do it hundreds of times. I teased people about their personal lives, their relationships, about getting married or not getting married. I mean no offense and just trying to add a little liveliness and joking to a very serious business. ‘
He claims that his actions may have been “misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation. To the extent that someone feels that way, I really regret it.”
The allegations come in the same week that another former assistant, former deputy secretary of economic development and special adviser to the governor Lindsey Boylan, accused him of subjecting her to an unwanted kiss and inappropriate comment. Cuomo denied the allegations.
The anger also comes as the governor fights another scandal, with federal authorities investigating how his administration treated patients in the nursing home in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Cuomo and his administration have been forced to admit in recent weeks that the COVID-19 death rate for nursing home residents is nearly 15,000, almost double the previous number. The figure of 15,000 includes patients in long-term care facilities and those who died after being taken to a hospital.
While the Trump administration has been investigating Cuomo’s handling of nursing home data, criticism has grown after a top assistant acknowledge she was worried that the data would be used against us.
While some Republicans and Democrats have begun to drop Cuomo amid the allegations, others, including New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, have called for some of the emergency government forces he has at the height of the pandemic.
Cuomo is currently in his third term as governor, ending in 2022.