San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
CUOMO ACCUSERS SUBPOENAED IN N.Y. SEX HARASSMENT INQUIRY
AG reportedly aims to release finding by summer’s end
Four women who have accused New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment have received subpoenas to testify under oath, the latest indication that the state attorney general’s investigation into Cuomo’s behavior has entered a critical phase.
The issuing of the subpoenas, which was expected at some point in the inquiry, underscores the investigation’s progress beyond an initial fact-finding phase, during which lawyers interviewed multiple women at length but not under oath.
The attorney general, Letitia James, has not set a deadline for releasing the findings of her office’s inquiry, which began in early March, but it will almost certainly be completed by summer’s end, according to a person with knowledge of the investigation who was not authorized to discuss it publicly.
In the past few months, outside lawyers hired by James have requested troves of state records and have held hourslong preliminary interviews with several of the women now being asked to testify under oath. Joon Kim, a former federal prosecutor, and Anne Clark, a prominent employment lawyer, who are overseeing the inquiry, have led the interviews.
Clark has been delving into the specifics of the sexual harassment accusations. She has collected vast documentation of the claims, including text messages, emails and photographs that Cuomo’s accusers say support their allegations, according to two people who were present at interviews with the women and spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter.
Kim, the two people said,
is examining closely whether Cuomo or his aides broke any laws, destroyed documents or other evidence, or sought to retaliate against the governor’s accusers or interfere with the investigation in any way. The investigators are also looking into whether Cuomo and members of his staff followed the appropriate processes for dealing with sexual harassment, the two people said.
The lawyers have cast a wide net, issuing subpoenas to executive chamber staff members that seek emails, documents and other materials that, in some cases, date as far back as 2013, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Charlotte Bennett, a former aide to the governor who says Cuomo, 63, made sexual advances when they were alone in his Albany office, is expected to provide testimony under oath in the next two weeks, her lawyer, Debra Katz, said.
Bennett, whose allegations against Cuomo were the impetus for the attorney general’s inquiry, sat with investigators for more than four hours of preliminary interviews in March, Katz said. Bennett, 25, has also provided more than “120 pages of contemporaneous records” and has identified more than two dozen possible eyewitnesses, Katz said.
A female staff member who accused Cuomo of groping her in the Executive Mansion in Albany has also been subpoenaed, her lawyer told The New York Times. (The woman has not been publicly identified.)
Lindsey Boylan, the first woman to accuse Cuomo of sexual harassment, also received a subpoena, her lawyer said. Ana Liss, a former administration official who accused Cuomo of making her feel uncomfortable, said she had also gotten a subpoena.
The issuing of the subpoenas comes as Republicans and, privately, some Democrats in the state Assembly criticize an impeachment investigation by a state Assembly committee that is examining the sexual harassment allegations, among other issues.
The investigation by the Assembly, which is controlled by Cuomo’s fellow Democrats, began after James opened her inquiry. It has drawn criticism for the pace at which it is moving, with some lawmakers describing it as an attempt to buy the governor time as he faces calls for his resignation.
The Assembly inquiry is being led by the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell, specifically by Martine Beamon and Greg Andres, two former federal prosecutors, and by Angela Burgess, an expert in white-collar defense and compliance.
Cuomo has denied any wrongdoing.