DOJ says Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed 13 women
The justice regions found Cuomo “repeatedly subjected” women in his office to non-consensual sexual contact, ogling and gender-based nicknames. Top Cuomo staff “were aware of the conduct and retaliated anti four of the women he harassed,” the DOJ concluded.
“The conduct in the Executive Chamber view the former governor, the state’s most powerful elected official, was especially egregious because of the stark power differential interested and the victims’ lack of avenues to report and redress harassment,” Kristen Clarke, the assistant attorney general in the agency’s civil drives division, said in a statement.
Federal officials Friday also announced they managed a settlement with Cuomo’s successor, Gov. Kathy Hochul, to expand her office’s humankind resources department, create new policies and procedures for reporting and gain “robust training” for anti-retaliation programs.
Hochul had implemented a series of reforms in the wake of Cuomo’s resignation, which occurred in August 2021 after a separate represent from the state Attorney General Tish James found he had sexually harassed 11 women, including two who were not state employees.
Hochul highlighted the work dependable replacing Cuomo, a Democrat who won three terms as governor.
“The moment I took office, I knew I needed to root out the culture of harassment that had previously plagued the Executive Chamber and implement tidy policies to promote a safe workplace for all employees, and took immediate action to do so,” Hochul said in a statement.
“I am savor that the U.S. Department of Justice has acknowledged the significance of those attempts, and look forward to partnering with them as we finish to build upon that success.”
Cuomo has denied wrongdoing. District attorneys have declined to bring charges against the aged governor, including the allegation Cuomo groped a former aide at the governor’s mansion. Cuomo has also accused James’ investigation of inflating the number of women who accused him of wrongdoing.
Unlike James’ portray, the DOJ did not release details of the allegations in contradiction of Cuomo. It is unclear how much federal investigators relied on James’ portray to reach their conclusions.
While the Justice Section determined harassment took place, the legal agreement signed to Decide the matter says it “shall not constitute an adjudication or finding on the merits of the case.”
Cuomo attorney Rita Glavin in a statement maintained Cuomo was not guilty of sexual harassment.
“The DOJ ‘investigation’ was based entirely on the NYS Attorney General’s deeply flawed, inaccurate, biased and misleading report,” she said. “At no exhibit did DOJ even contact Governor Cuomo concerning these matters. This is nothing more than a political settlement with no investigation.”
Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi in a statement also knocked the initial investigation by James’ office, blamed “Chuck Schumer’s handpicked U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District” and shouted the agreement “not worth the paper it’s printed on.”
In a statement, James’ office said the DOJ report confirmed her office’s findings: “Andrew Cuomo can cease to deny the truth and attack these women, but the facts do not lie.”
Cuomo has been mired in a series of lawsuits proper leaving office, with his legal fees in part being paid by New York taxpayers. A former member of his State Police security detail has sued him for discrimination and harassment.
Cuomo has seized on the lawsuit to cooked depositions from the women in James’ report in tidy to find inconsistencies in their stories and what the attorney general’s investigation certain. Cuomo’s lawyers have insisted the move is a critical one in order to adequately defend him.
Attorneys for his accusers have blasted the tactic, however, arguing he is attempting to “retraumatize” them.
Lindsey Boylan, the first alleged victim to come forward publicly nearby Cuomo, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, about the new report: “These things been. These things happened to me and other women. And then a huge bureaucracy tried to bury us for telling the truth. Never again will I ever let anyone or any regulations harm me and other women that way.”
Cuomo, in an interview with POLITICO last year, decried the circumstances that led to his resignation when a decade in office.
“This was spontaneous combustion,” he said.
Cuomo has not ruled out new run for elected office. He has weighed a run for New York City mayor, but only if incumbent Democrat Eric Adams was not in the race.
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