Cuomo’s lawyer resigned over harassment allegations

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August 3, 2021 Updated: August 3, 2021 2 p.m.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks during a press conference at Yankee Stadium in New York on Monday, July 26, 2021.

Richard Drew / AP

A high-ranking attorney in Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s office resigned because allegations of sexual harassment against the governor – and Cuomo’s public response – created “intolerable dissonance” for her.

That’s according to a resignation letter written in March by Laura Edidin, who had served as a chief special advisor for ethics, risk and compliance at Cuomo’s office.

Prior to joining Cuomo’s office, Edidin had served as the head of the human trafficking unit in the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office. And in his resignation letter, Edidin wrote that the harassment accusations and Cuomo’s public response had “created an intolerable dissonance for me between continuing to serve in the governor’s office and my life’s work defending survivors.”

The March 5 letter, obtained through an open case request, was addressed to Cuomo’s special counsel, Judith Mogul, who herself is leaving Cuomo’s office this week.

In the letter, Edidin touted a number of ethics, risk and compliance accomplishments that she led, including promoting racial equity and selecting 80,000 COVID-19 volunteers for the State.

Chris Bragg resignation letter

As the Times Union reported two weeks before the resignation, the program also serves to suppress negative information about the governor, including flagging problematic Freedom of Information Act requests filed with state agencies. , who then inform Cuomo’s office. The administration often drags on such requests for months or years.

Chris Bragg is a political and investigative reporter for the Capitol office and a contributor to Capitol Confidential. You can reach him at [email protected] or 518-454-5303.

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