Sexual harassment allegation against Cuomo

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A former aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday provided new details to back up her claims of sexual harassment — including an allegation that New York’s top elected official kissed her “on the lips” without warning inside his Manhattan office.

Lindsey Boylan — now a Democratic candidate for Manhattan borough president — made the stunning allegation in an essay posted on the Medium website.

Boylan said the incident took place after her 2018 promotion to be Cuomo’s deputy secretary for economic development and special advisor to the governor — a job she initially turned down “because I didn’t want to be near him.”

We were in his New York City office on Third Avenue,” she wrote.

“As I got up to leave and walk toward an open door, he stepped in front of me and kissed me on the lips. I was in shock, but I kept walking.”

Afterward, Boylan wrote, “I came to work nauseous every day,” then resigned on Sept. 26, 2018.

Boylan also alleges that Cuomo suggested, “Let’s play strip poker,” while they were “flying home from an October 2017 event in Western New York on his taxpayer-funded jet.”

Governor Andrew Cuomo has created a culture within his administration where sexual harassment and bullying is so pervasive that it is not only condoned but expected,” she wrote.

Boylan also posted screenshots of government emails, including one in which Cuomo’s executive secretary, Stephanie Benton, purportedly passed along a message from him that referenced a reported former girlfriend to show she was his type.

“He said look up Lisa Shields. You could be sisters. Except you’re the better looking sister,” the Dec. 14, 2016, email said.

Later, Boylan wrote, Cuomo “began calling me ‘Lisa’ in front of colleagues. It was degrading.”

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Former aide Lindsey Boylan alleges Cuomo ‘sexually harassed’ her about looks
Another image shows a Nov. 1, 2016, email exchange in which Cuomo’s chief of staff, Jill DesRosiers, asked Howard Zemsky — then the state’s economic-development czar — whether Boylan would be attending a meeting the next day.

Zemsky wrote back, “Ha!” and added that Boylan would be in Albany “but it will be hard for her to concentrate on the presentations while worrying about how the Gov’s day is going in Rochester.”

In her essay, Boylan also said that after she first accused Cuomo of sexual harassment in a series of tweets in December, “two women reached out to me with their own experiences.”

“One described how she lived in constant fear, scared of what would happen to her if she rejected the Governor’s advances,” she wrote.

“The other said she was instructed by the Governor to warn staff members who upset him that their jobs could be at risk. Both told me

Cuomo’s office didn’t immediately return a request for comment, but the governor denied Boylan’s allegations in December.

A second former aide to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is accusing him of sexual harassment, saying that he asked her questions about her sex life, whether she was monogamous in her relationships and if she had ever had sex with older men.

The aide, Charlotte Bennett, who was an executive assistant and health policy adviser in the Cuomo administration until she left in November, told The New York Times that the governor had harassed her late last spring, during the height of the state’s fight against the coronavirus.

Ms. Bennett, 25, said the most unsettling episode occurred on June 5, when she was alone with Mr. Cuomo in his State Capitol office. In a series of interviews this week, she said the governor had asked her numerous questions about her personal life, including whether she thought age made a difference in romantic relationships, and had said that he was open to relationships with women in their 20s — comments she interpreted as clear overtures to a sexual relationship.

Mr. Cuomo said in a statement to The Times on Saturday that he believed he had been acting as a mentor and had “never made advances toward Ms. Bennett, nor did I ever intend to act in any way that was inappropriate.” He said he had requested an independent review of the matter and asked that New Yorkers await the findings “before making any judgments.”

Ms. Bennett said that during the June encounter, the governor, 63, also complained to her about being lonely during the pandemic, mentioning that he “can’t even hug anyone,” before turning the focus to Ms. Bennett. She said that Mr. Cuomo asked her, “Who did I last hug?

Ms. Bennett said she had tried to dodge the question by responding that she missed hugging her parents. “And he was, like, ‘No, I mean like really hugged somebody?’” she said.

Mr. Cuomo never tried to touch her, Ms. Bennett said, but the message of the entire episode was unmistakable to her.

“I understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me, and felt horribly uncomfortable and scared,” Ms. Bennett said. “And was wondering how I was going to get out of it and assumed it was the end of my job.”

Ms. Bennett said she had disclosed the interaction with Mr. Cuomo to his chief of staff, Jill DesRosiers, less than a week later and was transferred to another job, as a health policy adviser, with an office on the opposite side of the Capitol, soon after that. Ms. Bennett said she had also given a lengthy statement to a special counsel to the governor, Judith Mogul, toward the end of June.

Ms. Bennett said she ultimately decided not to insist on an investigation because she was happy in her new job and “wanted to move on.” No action was taken against the governor.

In his statement, Mr. Cuomo called Ms. Bennett a “hard-working and valued member” of his staff with “every right to speak out.” He said that Ms. Bennett had opened up to him about being a sexual assault survivor, and he had tried to be supportive and helpful. “The last thing I would ever have wanted was to make her feel any of the things that are being reported,” the governor said.

The governor did not deny that he asked Ms. Bennett personal questions; he said in the statement that he would have no further comment until the review concluded.

If Cuomo is indeed guilty, he should still stay on as governor.

If a Republican did the same thing, he should be removed from office.

Faced with multiple allegations of sexual harassment, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday apologized for comments that "have been misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation" and, following pressure from fellow Democrats, agreed to refer the matter to the state attorney general's office.

"At work sometimes I think I am being playful and make jokes that I think are funny," he said, adding, "I mean no offense and only attempt to add some levity and banter to what is a very serious business."

"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," he continued. "I acknowledge some of the things I have said have been misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation. To the extent anyone felt that way, I am truly sorry about that."

On Sunday, Cuomo said: "To be clear I never inappropriately touched anybody and I never propositioned anybody and I never intended to make anyone feel uncomfortable, but these are allegations that New Yorkers deserve answers to."

The statement came amid a back-and-forth Sunday between the governor's office and New York Attorney General Letitia James over the parameters of an investigation into the matter. His office on Saturday appointed a former federal judge to review the allegations, but top Democrats, including James, said Cuomo hadn't gone far enough to ensure the independence of the inquiry into the claims.

The governor's office changed course Sunday morning, announcing that it was asking the state's attorney general and its chief judge to appoint an independent investigator to examine allegations of sexual harassment against him. But James said later Sunday that she didn't accept the proposal, as it wouldn't give her office full authority over the process.

"While I have deep respect for Chief Judge DiFiore, I am the duly elected attorney general and it is my responsibility to carry out this task," she said in a statement. "The governor must provide this referral so an independent investigation with subpoena power can be conducted." Janet DiFiore is chief judge of the Court of Appeals, the state's highest court.

Just prior to the release of Cuomo's statement Sunday, Cuomo's office said that it would ask Attorney General Tish James to "select a qualified private lawyer to do an independent review of allegations of sexual harassment."

James confirmed later Sunday evening that the referral was "in line with our demands and New York state law."

"This is not a responsibility we take lightly," she said. "We will hire a law firm, deputize them as attorneys of our office, and oversee a rigorous and independent investigation."

Within the past 24 hours, a number of prominent Democrats had called for such an independent investigation following the allegations, criticizing the prob Cuomo initially announced.

A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement, "Sen. Schumer has long believed sexual harassment is never acceptable and must not be tolerated, and that allegations should be thoroughly and independently investigated."

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., on Sunday also called for "an independent, transparent and swift investigation into these serious and deeply concerning allegations." She later clarified that James' office should solely handle the review.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y, tweeted Sunday: "Lindsey Boylan and Charlotte Bennett's detailed accounts of sexual harassment by Gov. Cuomo are extremely serious and painful to read. There must be an independent investigation — not one led by an individual selected by the Governor, but by the office of the Attorney General."

Speaking Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden believes Bennett and Boylan "should be treated with respect and dignity."

"There should be an independent review of these allegations," she said. "They're serious. It was hard to read that story as a woman. And that process should move forward as quickly as possible, and that's something we all support and the president supports.

Rudi Giulini is going to be jealous

I sincerely hope that's a reflection of how the media portays these events rather than a personal opinion...

To think that this type of behaviour can (or should) be treated differently due to the person's political affiliations (or other characteristic\ group affiliation) is an abhorent form of double standards, as well as an insult to victims of these types of events.

Anna Ruch had never met Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo before encountering him at a crowded New York City wedding reception in September 2019. Her first impression was positive enough.

The governor was working the room after toasting the newlyweds, and when he came upon Ms. Ruch, now 33, she thanked him for his kind words about her friends. But what happened next instantly unsettled her: Mr. Cuomo put his hand on Ms. Ruch’s bare lower back, she said in an interview on Monday.

When she removed his hand with her own, Ms. Ruch recalled, the governor remarked that she seemed “aggressive” and placed his hands on her cheeks. He asked if he could kiss her, loudly enough for a friend standing nearby to hear. Ms. Ruch was bewildered by the entreaty, she said, and pulled away as the governor drew closer.

“I was so confused and shocked and embarrassed,” said Ms. Ruch, whose recollection was corroborated by the friend, contemporaneous text messages and photographs from the event. “I turned my head away and didn’t have words in that moment.”

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday refused to resign, even as he said he was “sorry for whatever pain I caused” three women who allege that he sexually harassed them.

An emotional Cuomo also asked the public to reserve judgment as New York Attorney General Letitia James oversees an investigation of the allegations by the women, two of whom previously worked as his aides.

“I now understand that I acted in a way that made people feel uncomfortable,” the embattled Democrat said in his first public comments on the women’s allegations. “It was unintentional.”

“And I truly and deeply apologize for it,” he said. “I feel awful about it.”

“I certainly never ever mean to offend anyone or hurt anyone or cause anyone any pain,” Cuomo said. “That’s the last thing I would ever want to do.”

Asked directly if he would quit in the middle of his third term, Cuomo said, “I’m not going to resign,”

The governor said he will “fully cooperate” with the harassment investigation by a lawyer or lawyers whom James will appoint. Those lawyers will have subpoena power to compel witnesses, including Cuomo, to answer their questions.

Hard to understand. I hope the President can talk some sense into him.