HEY, I’M A FUNNY GUY
Cuomo’s excuse for sexual harassment — it was a joke!
He can’t be serious. Gov. Cuomo yesterday agreed to have an independent investigator probe allegations of sexual harassment against him — after bizarrely explaining his creepy conduct by saying, “At work sometimes I think I am being playful and make jokes that I think are funny.”
Gov. Cuomo on Sunday tried to explain away his alleged sexual harassment of female staffers as “jokes” that were misinterpreted as “unwanted flirtation” — as he agreed to let the state attorney general appoint an outside investigator to look into the growing scandal.
“At work sometimes I think I am being playful and make jokes that I think are funny,” Cuomo, 63, said in a statement released Sunday evening. “I do, on occasion, tease people in what I think is a good-natured way.
“I now understand that my interactions may have been insensitive or too personal and that some of my comments, given my position, made others feel in ways I never intended. I acknowledge some of the things I have said have been misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation. To the extent anyone felt that way, I am truly sorry about that.”
The statement came one day after former Cuomo staffer Charlotte Bennett, 25, alleged to The New York Times that the governor last year made a series of inappropriate remarks that left her convinced he “wanted to sleep with” her.
That claim came less than a week after another former staffer, Lindsey Boylan, 36, alleged that Cuomo kissed her on the lips without warning and suggested that they spend a flight playing “strip poker.”
While copping to remarks that may have crossed the line, Cuomo on Sunday again denied going any further.
“To be clear, I never inappropriately touched anybody, and I never propositioned anybody, and I never intended to make anyone feel uncomfortable,” he said. “But these are allegations that New Yorkers deserve answers to.”
Erica Vladimer, co-founder of the Sexual Harassment Working Group — which is made up of former state legislative staffers — dismissed Cuomo’s defense as “complete BS.”
“It’s Gaslighting 101,” Vladimer told The Post. “He’s trying to put the onus on the victim. He’s clearly trying not to take ownership for his actions.
“This is classic Cuomo in a compressed time period. People are finally recognizing what kind of powerful abuser he is.”
Cuomo’s statement was issued minutes after his special counsel and senior adviser, Beth Garvey, blinked first in an hourslong back-and-forth with state Attorney General Letitia James over how to investigate the allegations.
As news of Bennett’s allegation broke late Saturday, Garvey said the administration had tapped former Manhattan federal Judge Barbara Jones to head up an inquiry.
But the move drew bipartisan criticism, both because Cuomo appeared to be trying to dictate his own investigation and because Jones previously worked with lawyer and key Cuomo adviser Steve Cohen.
As backlash mounted Sunday morning, James requested that the Cuomo administration let her office appoint an independent investigator with subpoena power, as state law prescribes.
Garvey responded with a counteroffer, suggesting James and top state appeals Judge Janet DiFiore — a Cuomo appointee — reach a consensus on an outside investigator.
After James fired off a statement reminding Garvey that, as attorney general, she had sole authority in the matter, Garvey waved the white flag.
“The independent lawyer will be legally designated as a special independent deputy attorney general and granted all powers under Section 63(8) of the Executive Law,” Garvey said.
“The governor’s office will voluntarily cooperate fully.”
The concession came as a chorus of top Democrats — including Rep. Alexandria OcasioCortez and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — demanded a truly independent probe.
“The women who have come forward with serious and credible charges against Governor Cuomo deserve to be heard and to be treated with dignity,” Pelosi said. “The independent investigation must have due process and respect for everyone involved.”