BUILDING THE CASE VS. CUO
Accuser meets with law enforcement
The state worker who has accused former Gov. Andrew Cuomo of groping her inside the Executive Mansion met with criminal investigators Monday morning — and authorities are using subpoenas to gather additional evidence, Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple said.
Brittany Commisso, 33, spent “several hours” being interviewed in connection with the complaint she filed against Cuomo, 63, earlier this month, Apple said.
Law-enforcement officials have also issued “several” subpoenas related to her allegations, Apple said.
Apple declined to say what evidence was being sought or from whom.
The sheriff has previously said that Cuomo could face “a couple” of misdemeanor charges based on Commisso’s allegations but he wouldn’t say if Monday’s interview had increased Cuomo’s potential legal exposure.
Albany County District Attorney David Soares said a prosecutor from his office was present during Commisso’s interview, but declined to comment further.
Commisso’s interview and the issuance of the subpoenas were first reported by the Albany Times Union.
Her accusation that Cuomo reached under her shirt and grabbed her breast is the most serious detailed in the explosive, 168-page report released by state Attorney General Letitia James on Aug. 3.
The report — which found that Cuomo had sexually harassed 11 women, including nine current or former state workers — led him a week later to announce that he would resign to avoid a looming impeachment by the state Assembly.
The Judiciary Committee’s impeachment investigation was suspended following Cuomo’s decision midway through his third term, but the Assembly plans to release a report on its findings, Speaker Carl Heastie (D-The Bronx) has said.
Cuomo also faces criminal investigations by the FBI and the Brooklyn US Attorney’s Office into his administration’s coverup of nursing-home deaths from the coronavirus, as well as by James into reports that he improperly used state workers to prepare and promote his $5.1 million memoir, “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic.”
The ex-governor, who left office last week, has denied any wrongdoing.
His defense lawyer, former Justice Department official Rita Glavin, declined to comment.