Groping charge dropped

Embattled former N.Y. governor has denied allegation

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo won't face criminal prosecution over an allegation that he fondled an aide, after a prosecutor said Tuesday he was dropping the case because he couldn't prove it.

Three days before the Democratic ex-governor was due to answer the misdemeanor charge in court, Albany County District Attorney David Soares said he was asking that a criminal complaint that the county sheriff filed in October be dismissed.

“While we found the complainant in this case cooperative and credible, after review of all the available evidence, we have concluded that we cannot meet our burden at trial,” Soares said in a statement, adding that he was “deeply troubled” by the allegation.

Soares, a Democrat, had previously suggested that the forcible touching complaint was problematic.

“While many have an opinion regarding the allegations against the former governor, the Albany County DA’s Office is the only one who has a burden to prove the elements of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt," Soares said Monday.

Cuomo, who has vehemently denied the allegation, had no immediate comment on the development. It was first reported by The TimesUnion of Albany.

The complaint did not name the woman, but she has identified herself as Brittany Commisso. She was one of Cuomo’s executive assistants before he resigned amid sexual misconduct allegations in August.

Commisso “had no control over the filing or prosecution of criminal charges. She had no authority or voice in those decisions,” her lawyer, Brian Premo, said in a statement Monday.

“The only thing she has any power over is her resolution to continue to speak the truth and seek justice in an appropriate civil action, which she will do in due course,” he added.

Commisso says Cuomo slid his hand up her blouse and grabbed her breast when they were alone in an office at the governor’s mansion in Albany in late 2020.

Her testimony was included in a report, released in August, that concluded Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women.

Cuomo announced his resignation a week after the release of the report, which he has attacked as inaccurate and biased.

“I knew, and he knew, too, that that was wrong,” Commisso told investigators for the attorney general’s office. “And that I in no way, shape or form invited that, nor did I ask for it. I didn’t want it.”