Investigators talk with second Cuomo accuser
She also submitted records she said will corroborate accusation
Investigators with the state attorney general’s office on Monday interviewed Charlotte Bennett, the second woman to come forward with allegations of sexual harassment against Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, her attorney said in a statement.
The interview comes amid an intensifying investigation of multiple sexual harassment allegations against Cuomo that is being coordinated by the office of state Attorney General
Letitia James. Two private attorneys are leading the probe:
Joon H. Kim, a former acting U.S. attorney for New York’s Southern District in Manhattan, and Anne L. Clark, who specializes in labor law and sexual harassment cases.
The meeting with Bennett took place on Zoom, said Debra Katz, Bennett’s lawyer, and lasted more than four hours. Bennett also provided the investigators
with more than 120 pages of records and other evidence from her time working for Cuomo that she said would corroborate her accusations of harassment. Bennett alleges that Cuomo groomed her under the guise of mentorship, working his way up to asking her probing questions about her sexuality, such as whether she would sleep with an older man. She said that he communicated to her that he would sleep with a woman of her age. Bennett is 25, Cuomo is 63.
“One piece of new information that came to light today was the governor’s preoccupation with his hand size and what the large size of his hands indicated to Charlotte and other members of his staff,” Katz said.
Cuomo has repeatedly denied that he ever touched anyone “inappropriately,” harassed anyone or assaulted anyone. He has said instead that his desire to be friendly and “playful” with colleagues has been misinterpreted as flirting.
“I never meant to make
anyone feel uncomfortable, I never meant to make anyone feel awkward,” Cuomo said recently as he denied the womens’ allegations.
Lawmakers, and Cuomo, have said publicly they want the attorney general’s investigation to proceed quickly. There’s currently an uncomfortable stalemate where more than half of all Albany lawmakers have called for Cuomo to resign, but he says he intends to stay until the investigation finishes. The two lawyers conducting the probe were named last week by the attorney general, and other women with allegations against Cuomo have also been interviewed.
“The investigators have been moving quickly, and with sensitivity, to get to the heart of these allegations. We remain confident that their investigation will substantiate Charlotte’s claims of sexual harassment against Gov. Cuomo, as well as the failure of his senior staff to meet their mandatory reporting requirements under the very laws he signed,” Katz said.