2nd former aide accuses Gov. Cuomo of harassment

ALBANY, N.Y. — A second former aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo is accusing him of sexual harassment, saying that he asked her questions about her sex life, whether she was monogamous in her relationships and whether she had ever had sex with older men.

The aide, Charlotte Bennett, who was an executive assistant and health policy adviser in the Cuomo administration until she left in November, told the New York Times that the governor had harassed her late last spring, during the height of the state’s fight against the coronavirus.

Bennett, 25, said the most unsettling episode occurred June 5, when she was alone with Cuomo in his state Capitol office. In a series of interviews last week, she said the governor had asked her numerous questions about her personal life, including whether she thought age made a difference in romantic relationships, and had said that he was open to relationships with women in their 20s — comments she interpreted as clear overtures to a sexual relationship.

Cuomo said in a statement to the Times on Saturday that he believed he had been acting as a mentor and had “never made advances toward Ms. Bennett, nor did I ever intend to act in any way that was inappropriate.” He said he had requested an independent review of the matter and asked that New Yorkers await the findings “before making any judgments.”

Bennett said that during the June encounter, the governor, 63, also complained to her about being lonely during the pandemic, mentioning that he “can’t even hug anyone” before turning the focus to Bennett. She said that Cuomo asked her, “Who did I last hug?”

Cuomo never tried to touch her, Bennett said, but the message of the entire episode was unmistakable to her.

“I understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me, and felt horribly uncomfortable and scared,” Bennett said. “And was wondering how I was going to get out of it and assumed it was the end of my job.”

Bennett said she had disclosed the interaction with Cuomo to his chief of staff, Jill DesRosiers, less than a week later and was transferred to another job, as a health policy adviser, with an office on the opposite side of the Capitol. Bennett said she had also given a lengthy statement to a special counsel to the governor, Judith Mogul, toward the end of June.

Bennett said she ultimately decided not to insist on an investigation because she was happy in her new job and “wanted to move on.” No action was taken against the governor.

In his statement, Cuomo called Bennett a “hardworking and valued member” of his staff with

“every right to speak out.” He said that Bennett had opened up to him about being a sexual assault survivor, and he had tried to be supportive and helpful. “The last thing I would ever have wanted was to make her feel any of the things that are being reported,” the governor said.

Bennett’s account follows another accusation, published Wednesday, by Lindsey Boylan, a former state economic development official who said Cuomo had harassed her on several occasions from 2016 to 2018, at one point giving her an unsolicited kiss on the lips at his Manhattan office.

Cuomo’s office has called Boylan’s accusations untrue, but they have nonetheless prompted calls for investigations into her claims. In addition to the two women’s harassment allegations, the governor, a thirdterm Democrat, is confronting significant political fallout over his handling of the state’s nursing homes during the pandemic.

In a statement Saturday, Beth Garvey, another special counsel to the governor, said that “Ms. Bennett’s concerns were treated with sensitivity and respect and in accordance with applicable law and policy.”

Barbara Jones, a former federal judge in Manhattan, will lead the outside review into the matter, Garvey said.