Alghadeer TV Alghadeer TV
A five-month investigation has found that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women in violation of federal and state law, creating a “climate of fear” within his office, state Attorney General Letitia James, said on Tuesday.
The independent inquiry showed that Cuomo engaged in unwanted groping, kissing and hugging, and made inappropriate comments, James told a news briefing, adding that the Democratic governor’s office had become a “toxic workplace” that enabled “harassment to occur.”
The findings, detailed in a scathing 168-page report, could deal a devastating blow to Cuomo’s political future and hinder his administration, although the probe was civil in nature and will not directly lead to any criminal charges against him.
“Specifically, the investigation found that Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed current and former New York State employees by engaging in unwelcome and non-consensual touching and making numerous offensive comments,” said James, a Democrat.
There was no immediate comment from the governor’s office. Cuomo, 63, has denied wrongdoing.
There was also no immediate comment from Carl Heastie, the speaker of the Democratic-controlled New York Assembly, who had authorized an impeachment investigation into Cuomo. Heastie has previously said that lawmakers would incorporate James’ findings into their impeachment probe.
Investigators spoke to 179 people, including complainants and current and former members of the executive chamber, James said. She said the probe resulted in a “deeply disturbing yet clear picture” of what she called a “climate of fear” in which Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women, many of them young.
James launched her investigation into the allegations after receiving a formal request from Cuomo’s office on March 1 to do so as the number of publicly reported allegations mounted.
James named two veterans outside attorneys to run the investigation: Joon Kim, a former federal prosecutor and acting U.S. attorney in Manhattan, and Anne Clark, an employment lawyer with experience in sexual harassment cases.
Kim told the briefing that the Cuomo workplace was “rife with bullying, fear and intimidation” and one in which crossing the governor or his senior staff meant you would be “written off, cast aside or worse.”
The report shows that investigators did not find Cuomo’s explanations about his encounters to be credible. It said Cuomo’s “blanket denials and lack of recollection as to specific incidents stood in stark contrast to the strength, specificity, and corroboration of the complainants’ recollections.”
It was a swift fall from grace for the governor. Cuomo became nationally popular last year in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic by presenting himself as an authoritative figure in daily televised press conferences. The complaints about sexual harassment emerged after broader criticism by Democratic politicians in the state that Cuomo governed through intimidation.
Cuomo, the divorced father of three adult daughters, was elected to three terms as governor, as was his late father, Mario Cuomo. Like his father, Andrew Cuomo resisted the temptation to run for U.S. president despite much speculation about possible national ambitions.
