What we know about the Cuomos government’s sexual harassment allegations

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Governor Andrew M. Cuomo faces the most tumultuous moment of his political career, after several women, including current and former state employees, accused him of sexual harassment or other inappropriate behavior.

State Attorney General Letitia James has opened an investigation into the allegations and has appointed two outside lawyers to head it.

Calls for Mr. Cuomos to resign have spread from Republicans to fellow Democrats, and from Albany, the State Capitol, to Washington, with most of the New York congressional delegation demanding he resign.

The State Assembly, which like the State Senate is controlled by Mr. Cuomos’ Democratic colleagues, has launched an impeachment inquiry to encompass the harassment allegations as well as questions about the management by the Cuomo administrations of coronavirus-related deaths of nursing home residents.

Mr Cuomo has adamantly resisted calls for his resignation, suggesting those pushing him to do so are motivated by political differences and driven by the so-called cancellation culture.

He apologized for acting in a way that made people uncomfortable, but said he did it unintentionally and questioned the veracity of some of the accusations.

Beyond the specific harassment allegations, dozens of current and former employees have described the governor’s office more broadly as a toxic workplace, especially for young women.

The harassment scandal and the nursing home issue have left Mr. Cuomos’ political future in limbo, even though he insists he is focusing on state budget negotiations and that ‘he brings a bruised New York back to normal.

Here’s what we know about the sexual harassment allegations so far. (And here’s a look at the nursing home scandal.)

A former aide said Mr Cuomo asked about his sex life

Charlotte Bennett, a 25-year-old former assistant to the governor, accused him of sexually harassing her last year. She told the New York Times that Mr Cuomo, 63, asked her about her sex life and whether she had ever had sex with older men.

On one occasion, Ms. Bennett said, she was alone with Mr. Cuomo in his State Capitol office when asked if she thought age mattered in romantic relationships. She took the remark as an opening for sex.

I understood the governor wanted to sleep with me and felt horribly uncomfortable and scared, Ms Bennett told The Times.

Ms Bennett said she reported the interaction to Mr Cuomos’ chief of staff, made a lengthy statement about it to a special adviser to the governor and was transferred to another post. She left the administration in November.

In a statement, Mr. Cuomo described Ms. Bennett as a hardworking and valued member of her staff and said he respected her right to speak out.

I never made any advances to Ms Bennett and I never intended to act inappropriately, he said.

Another former aide said the governor kissed me on the lips

Ms Bennetts’ allegations came shortly after another former administrative assistant, Lindsey Boylan, explained the sexual harassment charges she first made against the governor in vague terms in Twitter posts in December .

In an online essay, Ms Boylan, who worked at the state’s economic development agency from 2015 to 2018, detailed years of uncomfortable interactions with Mr Cuomo.

Ms Boylan, 36, said her then boss told her Mr. Cuomo had a crush on her. She also said that he went out of his way to touch my lower back, arms and legs.

In October 2017, Ms. Boylan wrote, Mr. Cuomo told her they should be playing strip poker on a flight from an event in western New York. In 2018, she said, Mr. Cuomo gave her an unsolicited kiss in his Manhattan office.

As I got up to leave and walk towards an open door, he stood in front of me and kissed me on the lips, wrote Ms. Boylan, the Manhattan Borough presidential candidate.

The governor’s office has denied Ms Boylans’ allegations.

A third woman recounts an unwanted advance by the governor at a wedding

Anna Ruch, 33, said she met Mr Cuomo at a wedding in September 2019.

They had started talking about a toast the governor gave when Mr Cuomo put his hand on the lower part of her bare back, Ms Ruch said. When she took it off, she said, he said she looked aggressive, placed her hands on her cheeks and asked if he could kiss her.

Ms Ruch said she walked away as Mr Cuomo approached.

I was so confused, shocked and embarrassed, said Ms Ruch, who has never been employed by the governor or the state.

It is the act of impunity that strikes me, said Ms Ruch. I had no choice in the matter.

At first, Mr. Cuomo did not respond directly to his allegation. Instead, a spokesperson cited an earlier statement in which the governor generally acknowledged that certain things he had said had been misinterpreted as unwanted flirtation.

The governor apologized but said he would not resign

Immediately after the allegations first surfaced, Mr Cuomo issued them a statement lamenting he made funny jokes and teased employees in what he believed was a good-humored manner.

Finally, he said he was embarrassed by his actions and apologized, while insisting that he had not intended to act inappropriately.

I now understand that I acted in a way that made people uncomfortable, he said at a press briefing on March 3.

He also said he had never touched anyone inappropriately.

Asked about the episode recounted by Ms Ruch, Mr Cuomo said that kissing and hugging was his usual and customary way of greeting.

If they were offended by it, then it was wrong, Mr Cuomo said.

An attorney for Ms Bennett, Debra S. Katz, said the governor’s remarks at the briefing were full of lies and inaccurate information.

Other accusations emerged after Cuomos’ apology

The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal subsequently published testimony from two other women who accused Mr. Cuomo of behaving inappropriately.

The post office account implicated Karen Hinton, a paid consultant to Mr. Cuomo when he was Federal Housing Secretary. Ms Hinton told the Post that Mr Cuomo gave her an unsolicited intimate hug after summoning her to a hotel room in 2000. She said she resisted when he tried to do so a second. time.

Mr Cuomo denied Ms Hintons’ account and called her a longtime political opponent.

The Journal report concerned Ana Liss, a former assistant who said Mr. Cuomo made her uncomfortable by kissing her on the hand and asking questions about her love life.

Mr Cuomo said the exchange with Ms Liss was in line with how he generally interacts with members of his staff.

The Times Union of Albany then reported that an aide who currently works for Mr Cuomo accused her of groping her in the executive mansion.

The woman, who the newspaper did not identify, said she was summoned to the governor’s private residence last year to help him with a technical issue. When they were alone on the second floor, he closed the door, put his hand under her blouse and started to touch her, the newspaper reported.

Albany Police officials said the woman had not made a formal complaint about the alleged episode, which they said could amount to a felony, but police in Mr. Cuomos’ state and staff had informed the department.

Mr Cuomo denied the allegation, saying he had never done anything like it.

On March 19, another current assistant, Alyssa McGrath, told The Times that the woman who said Mr. Cuomo groped her at the Executive Mansion described the meeting in detail to Ms. McGrath after the allegation became public. . Ms McGrath also said Mr Cuomo eyed her body and made suggestive comments to her and the other assistant.

Another allegation of harassment emerged in a New York magazine first-person essay by Jessica Bakeman, a former Albany reporter who described several instances where Mr. Cuomo was either physically inappropriate with her or publicly humiliated her.

Attorney General is investigating

Lawyers hired by Ms James, a Democrat, to lead the investigation are a former Manhattan federal prosecutor and an employment law specialist.

The scope of the investigations could be wider than expected. Investigators will have the power to subpoena to request documents and compel witnesses, including the governor, to testify under oath. The survey can also examine the potential claims of other women. A final report could take months to produce.

Cuomos’ office said it would cooperate fully and that all state employees had been urged to do so as well.

The political backlash is bipartisan

Elected officials on both sides condemned Cuomo, called for an impartial investigation into the women’s allegations and demanded that he resign.

Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the majority leader of the States Senate, said Mr. Cuomo should step down for the sake of the state. Carl E. Heastie, Speaker of the Assembly, has asked a committee to initiate an investigation that could lead to impeachment proceedings.

Kathy Hochul, who as lieutenant governor would succeed Mr. Cuomo if he left office, has also called for an independent review.

On March 12, nearly all Democrats in the New York Congressional delegation, including Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, said Mr. Cuomo had lost the ability to govern and should resign.

Michael Gold contributed reporting.

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