Now with allegations against Cuomo, due process is back in vogue

Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, not to mention fellow Justice Clarence Thomas, must surely find it rich that Democrats and some likeminded commentators are suddenly in thrall to due process now that a Democratic governor is the subject of sexual harassment allegations.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, thus far accused by three women of sexual harassment, has refused to step down from office. He allegedly kissed one of the women, who also happened to work for him, without consent. He touched another’s bare back at a party because, as it turns out, her dress was backless. We know for certain that he held the same woman’s face in his hands while asking for a kiss because we’ve seen the photo. I guess he gets credit for asking. He also allegedly spoke explicitly about a possible sexual relationship with a second female employee, who also happened to be a survivor of sexual assault.

And then, of course, there’s the ongoing investigation by the FBI and the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn into whether officials in Cuomo’s office acted criminally when they concealed the true number of nursing home deaths during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Members of Cuomo’s administration reportedly rewrote a July report about the deaths, which were about 50% greater than had been previously revealed to the public.

My, my: How hard the powerful fall. Just a few months ago, Cuomo was the voice of reason on all things Covid and the man many Americans trusted as much, if not more, than Anthony Fauci. With a just-the-facts, ma’am, delivery, Cuomo held daily news conferences to inform with charts and soothe fears with compassion. I even speculated at the time that Cuomo held presidential appeal for many of those tuning in.

Now, suddenly, he’s a pariah accused of a cover-up and, far worse by today’s skewed standards, being a creep who preys on much younger women in his employ. The stories of harassment are familiar by now and, if true, plainly unacceptable. The question is whether the allegations are so repugnant to New Yorkers that their governor should remove himself from office. Others accused of lesser charges have been sent packing before him, notably Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., who resigned in 2017 after, among other transgressions, a photograph surfaced in which he pretended to air-tweak the breasts of a sleeping colleague.

It was fellow Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who demanded Franken’s resignation. Hoping to burnish her image in advance of a 2020 presidential run, Gillibrand’s decision to rout her colleague hurt rather than helped her. This, perhaps, explains her reaction now. Saying that the allegations against Cuomo are “serious and deeply concerning” — and notwithstanding her scolding of her Republican Senate colleagues for their support of Kavanaugh — she has joined others in calling for a full investigation of Cuomo. But not for his resignation.

Other Democratic leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., have followed suit. #MeToo now apparently stands for “Me love due process, too.” Commentators who had no such patience with evidence-free allegations against Kavanaugh now have fresh eyes.

In a ritual all too familiar, Cuomo has apologized, if only in the usual halting and unhelpful way of men who know they did something wrong. Now what? Investigations. And, probably, job security for Cuomo, who, despite tabloid headlines calling him a

“pig,” still has reasonably high approval ratings.

As or due process — meaning facts first, then verdict — let’s hope it catches on, especially in our public squares, where pitchforks and torches have become too common and mob rule is a recurring, terrifying reality. Too many people have been persecuted and prosecuted with innuendo, gossip and baseless allegations that don’t hold up under close scrutiny. And while every aggrieved person has a right to seek justice as he or she sees fit, there’s a right and wrong path to that end.

Ultimately, however, it is incumbent on every individual — Twitter users, political operatives, preachers in the pulpit — to resist the urge to exact justice through a virtual flogging without consideration for what is fair and right and true. To do otherwise would be to put everything at risk and to deliver ourselves to the next inevitable reckoning.