Investigation Proves Sexual Harassment Allegations of 11 women against NY Governor Andrew M Cuomo
The New York state attorney general’s investigation has confirmed the sexual harassment allegations of 11 women against Gov Andrew M Cuomo.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women, including current and former government workers, breaking state and federal laws and engaging in a pattern of unwanted touching and inappropriate comments, according to a report from the New York State attorney general, Letitia James, released on Tuesday.
The 165-page report said that Mr. Cuomo, a third-term Democrat, and his aides cultivated a toxic work culture in his office that was rife with fear and intimidation, and helped enable “harassment to occur and created a hostile work environment.”
The report included at least two previously unreported allegations of sexual harassment from women who accused Mr. Cuomo of improperly touching them, including an unnamed female state trooper and an employee of an energy company. And it highlighted at least one instance in which Mr. Cuomo and his aides retaliated against a woman who made her allegations public.
“Governor Cuomo sexually harassed current and former state employees in violation of both federal and state laws,” Ms. James said. “The independent investigation found that Governor Cuomo harassed multiple women, many of whom were young women, by engaging in unwanted groping, kisses, hugging, and by making inappropriate comments.”
The attorney general’s investigation was commissioned last year 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,” Ms James said. Mr Cuomo, she said, had engaged in “unwelcome and non-consensual touching and making numerous offensive comments”.
Cuomo Denies Allegations
Cuomo outright denied all of the allegations against him in a 15-minute monologue during which members of the media were not able to ask questions. The governor blamed the investigation’s outcome on biased reporting by the lead investigators tapped by state Attorney General Letitia James. Cuomo said the allegations against him “sought to unfairly characterize and weaponize everyday actions” he’s had with those accusing him of harassment.
“I want you to know directly from me that I never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances,” Cuomo said. “I am 63 years old. I’ve lived my entire adult life in public view. That is just not who I am and that’s not who I have ever been.”
Cuomo also brought up that someone in his family is a survivor of sexual assault. He said he tried to use his experience with his family member to get closer to Charlotte Bennett, one of his accusers who had disclosed to him that she was a survivor of sexual assault.
“The truth is that her story resonated deeply with me,” Cuomo said of Bennett’s story of sexual assault. “I had heard the same story before with the same ugliness, the same injustice, the same damage. Not only had I heard the story before, I had lived the story before. My family member is a survivor of sexual assault in high school. I have watched her live and suffer with the trauma. I would do anything to make it go away for her, but it never really goes away.”
The governor said he was “truly and deeply sorry” for sharing his personal experiences at work and acknowledged that it wasn’t helpful.
On top of the allegations of harassment, 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.”
Calls for Resignation
The report has led to a series of condemnations and sparked calls for his resignation from the leaders of both houses of Congress and every single Democratic member of Congress from New York State. “Recognizing his love of New York and the respect for the office he holds, I call upon the Governor to resign,” said Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives. President Biden reiterated the stand of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and New York’s US Senators and told the reporters “I think he should resign.”
The investigation is civil, rather than criminal, so will not directly lead to charges. But police could use the report in deciding to take further action and it is also likely to play a key part in a separate impeachment investigation he faces – as well as in a criminal inquiry in Albany, the state’s capital city.
