NY governor’s accuser set for tell-all exposé
NEW YORK: A former aide who filed a criminal complaint against New York governor Andrew Cuomo last week alleging that he had groped her will appear in a televised interview on Monday to speak out publicly for the first time about her accusations.
Brittany Commisso reported Cuomo to the Albany county sheriff’s office last week, days after an investigation by the state attorney general’s office found she was among 11 women whom the governor had sexually harassed.
Commisso, who was identified only as “executive assistant #1” in the report, told CBS News and the Albany Times-Union that Cuomo “needs to be held accountable”, according to excerpts released by CBS on Sunday ahead of the interview’s airing. “What he did to me was a crime,” she said. “He broke the law.”
Commisso told investigators about the incident that occurred in the executive mansion in Albany last November. The Democratic governor has denied any wrongdoing, even as calls for him to resign have grown, including from prominent fellow Democrats such as President Joe Biden.
Cuomo also faces possible impeachment by the state legislature, which has been conducting its own inquiry into his actions.
Cuomo’s top aide resigns
A top aide to Cuomo resigned on Sunday, US media reported, as the net closed further around a once influential politician.
Melissa DeRosa had served as secretary to the embattled governor since 2017 and had long been described by New York media as one of his closest confidants.
In her resignation note on Sunday - obtained by several US media outlets - she said the last two years had “been emotionally and mentally trying”.