Andy to hit back at sex claims, won’t run vs. AG
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, eager to rehabilitate his image after he resigned in disgrace last summer, will address the volley of sexual harassment allegations against him “relatively soon,” his lawyer teased Thursday.
In an hourlong virtual news conference, Rita Glavin, his personal attorney, also addressed rumblings that the defiant Cuomo might run again for office. Asked whether a campaign is coming, she told reporters, “I don’t know.”
Cuomo, who has kept a low profile since quitting, has begun to poke his head out recently as rumors grow that he might challenge the reelection bid of state Attorney General Letitia James.
Cuomo’s spokesman, Rich Azzopardi, said Thursday that Cuomo does not intend to run against James.
Still, the former governor is currently sitting on $16.4 million in cash, giving him several options within the influential sphere of New York state politics.
In a rare interview with Bloomberg News last week, he claimed he was “vindicated” by the decisions of five New York district attorneys not to press criminal charges against him. But multiple prosecutors said they found allegations against him credible.
A state Assembly report published in November described the evidence of Cuomo’s sexual misconduct as “overwhelming.” James’ office released a bombshell report in August that said Cuomo sexually harassed at least 11 women, prompting his resignation.
Cuomo, a 64-year-old Democrat who once served as state attorney general, has sought to rebut the allegations. Glavin said
Thursday that Cuomo did not sexually harass anyone and that “he’s not going to move on.”
She also said Cuomo would file a complaint against James with the court system’s Attorney Grievance Committee over her handling of the probe.
Glavin resisted getting into details about the complaint, saying that Cuomo would file it himself. It was not clear when Cuomo would file the complaint.
Cuomo’s representatives have argued that James’ investigation was politically motivated. James, also a Democrat, launched a short-lived run for governor in the fall.
“There’s a reason five DAs looked at this report, and 11 cases suddenly became zero,” Azzopardi said in a statement on Thursday. “There needs to be an examination of what happened here.”
He also claimed that James’ investigation was marked by suppressed evidence that did not comport with the probe’s finding.
After Glavin’s news conference, James’ office fired back.
“If he thinks he has a real legal case, he should go ahead and file it,” James’ office said in a statement. “These attacks are disgraceful and yet another desperate charade to mask the truth: Andrew Cuomo is a serial sexual harasser.”
Separately, the Sexual Harassment Working Group, made up of seven former legislative members, said it had filed a complaint to the Attorney Grievance Committee requesting a probe of Cuomo and disciplinary action against him.
“Admission to the bar is not an entitlement for the powerful, but an earned privilege,” said the nine-page complaint, which was dated Tuesday. “Mr. Cuomo has lost that privilege with his harmful behavior.”