Governor Cuomo hires defence lawyer in nursing home probe
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has retained a prominent criminal defence lawyer to represent his office in a federal investigation into the state’s misreporting of Covid19 deaths among nursing home residents, a spokesperson said.
Cuomo has come under fire in recent weeks over his office’s role in reporting the official count of coronavirus fatalities among patients of nursing and extended-care facilities, as well as for allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him.
Former federal prosecutor Elkan Abramowitz, now working in private practice in New York City, was hired to represent the governor and his immediate staff in the US Justice Department inquiry into the Covid-19 nursing home deaths, senior adviser Rich Azzopardi said in a text message on Monday.
Azzopardi earlier told the Wall Street Journal that Cuomo had not hired a lawyer in connection with the sexual harassment probe.
Cuomo, one of the nation’s best-known Democratic politicians, has been accused by two former aides of engaging in a series of unwanted, sexually suggestive comments, and in one case an unsolicited kiss.
On Sunday, he apologised if any of his remarks or behaviour were misinterpreted as flirtatious and said he never tried to make anyone feel uncomfortable.
He said he never physically touched anyone.
New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday said she had accepted the governor’s formal referral of the matter to her office, clearing the way for appointment of an outside counsel to conduct an investigation into the accounts of both women — Lindsey Boylan and Charlotte Bennett.
Late on Monday, a third woman, Anna Ruch, came forward in an interview published by the New York Times to accuse the governor of inappropriate conduct at a September 2019 wedding reception.
As reported by the Times, Ruch recounted the governor first put his hand on her bare lower back, then when she brushed his hand away, called her “aggressive” and placed his hands on her cheeks and asked her if he could kiss her.
Ruch, according to the
Times, said she pulled away and the encounter left her feeling “confused and shocked and embarrassed”.
The moment was caught in a cellphone photo Ruch said was taken by a friend and published by the Times with the article.
Reuters was unable to independently verify Ruch’s account.
Attempts to reach her were unsuccessful.
A representative for Cuomo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The often outspoken governor has stayed mostly out of the public eye since the sexual harassment scandal started gaining traction last week.
Cuomo rose to national prominence for his daily televised briefings last spring, when New York was the epicentre of the Covid-19 epidemic in the US.
In January, the attorneygeneral’s office issued a report that cast doubt on the Cuomo administration’s handling of the coronavirus crisis, saying the state health department significantly undercounted the death toll in nursing homes and implemented policies that may have contributed to it.