Member of gov’s COVID task force steps down
ALBANY — A top member of Gov. Cuomo’s COVID task force is returning to his old post as the governor faces a growing number of sexual harassment complaints, including from a guest at aide Gareth Rhodes’ wedding.
Rhodes, who has been a major part of the state’s data analysis testing and vaccination efforts, is returning to his job as deputy superintendent at the Department of Financial Services. His move comes as Cuomo contends with misconduct complaints from two former staffers and Anna Ruch, who claims the governor inappropriately touched and asked to kiss her after officiating Rhodes’ 2019 wedding.
Ruch told The New York Times that Cuomo approached her, touched her bare back and after she removed his hand, grabbed her face and kissed her on the cheek.
“I was so confused and shocked and embarrassed,” Ruch told The Times. “I turned my head away and didn’t have words in that moment.”
A photo of the incident shows Cuomo holding Ruch’s head with both hands as she looks at him with a sense of dread.
Rhodes’ wife, Alexa Kissinger, tweeted her support for Ruch on Monday.
“I am so proud of Anna for sharing her story. This pattern of behavior is completely unacceptable,” she wrote.
Rhodes, who did not join the governor at his briefing Wednesday, Cuomo’s first such appearance since the accusations became public, said he decided to return to Financial Services last week.
“I decided it was time, given the progress of the vaccination program and continued decline of COVID numbers, to return to my previous role at the Department of Financial Services, and
I informed the governor’s senior staff at the time,” Rhodes said in a statement.
Others departures were announced as Cuomo’s problems pile up, but aides say they are unrelated to the governor’s troubles.
Press aide Will Burns is heading to law school and will take on another role in the administration and press secretary Caitlin Girouard accepted another job back in January, according to Cuomo senior adviser Rich Azzopardi.
“Gareth graciously agreed to temporarily put aside his duties at the Department of Financial Services and join the task force, in which he worked night and day for a year, and is now returning to his normal duties in the administration,” Azzopardi said.
“Will informed us he intends to attend law school next year and is seeking another position in the administration while he prepares for the LSATs.”
Attorney General Letitia James is probing the governor after two former staffers came forward to accuse Cuomo of misconduct. Charlotte Bennett, 25, a former aide, said the governor questioned her about her sex life and asked whether she would be open to a relationship with an older man.
Another former aide, Lindsey Boylan, said Cuomo kissed her without her consent during a meeting at his Manhattan office and accused the state’s most powerful Democrat of creating a toxic workplace.
Cuomo, 63, has denied Boylan’s allegations and apologized for his behavior with Bennett, claiming he was trying to be “playful” and that his jokes had been misinterpreted as flirting.
The governor’s top officials are also currently contending with a federal probe into the state’s handling of nursing home deaths during the pandemic and data that were withheld from the public for months.