■ New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo admitted his behavior with women could be “misinterpreted.”
AG seeks to investigate two women’s harassment allegations
ALBANY, N.Y. — Gov. Andrew Cuomo acknowledged for the first time Sunday that some of his behavior with women had been “misinterpreted as unwanted flirtation” and said he would cooperate with a sexual harassment investigation led by the state’s attorney general.
In a statement released amid criticism from within his own party, the Democrat maintained he had never inappropriately touched or propositioned anyone. But he said he had teased people and made jokes about their personal lives in an attempt to be “playful.”
“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. 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,” he said.
He made the comments after the state’s attorney general demanded Cuomo grant her the authority to investigate allegations that he sexually harassed at least two women who worked for him.
Cuomo’s legal counsel said the governor would back a plan to appoint an outside lawyer as a special independent deputy attorney general.
Top Democrats statewide appeared to be abandoning Cuomo as he tried to keep some say over who would investigate his workplace conduct.
Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat who has been, at times, allied with Cuomo but is independently elected, appeared to emerge as a consensus choice to lead a probe.
Over several hours Sunday, she and other party officials rejected two plans by the governor that they said could have limited the independence of the investigation.
Under his first plan, announced Saturday evening, a retired federal judge picked by Cuomo, Barbara Jones, would have reviewed his workplace behavior. In the second proposal, announced Sunday morning to appease legislative leaders, Cuomo asked James and the state’s chief appeals court judge, Janet Difiore, to jointly appoint a lawyer to investigate the allegations and issue a public report.
James said neither plan went far enough.
“I do not accept the governor’s proposal,” she said. “The state’s Executive Law clearly gives my office the authority to investigate this matter once the governor provides a referral.”
The calls for an investigation into Cuomo’s workplace behavior intensified after a second former employee of his administration went public Saturday with allegations she had been harassed.
Charlotte Bennett, a low-level aide in the governor’s administration until November, told The New York Times that Cuomo asked inappropriate questions about her sex life, including whether she ever had sex with older men, and made other comments she interpreted as gauging her interest in an affair.
Her accusation came days after another former aide, Lindsey Boylan, a former deputy secretary for economic development and special adviser to the governor, elaborated on harassment allegations she first made in December. Boylan said Cuomo subjected her to an unwanted kiss and inappropriate comments about her appearance.
Cuomo, 63, said in a statement Saturday he had intended to be a mentor for Bennett, who is 25. He has denied Boylan’s allegations.