Cuomo apologizes amid sex harassment allegations
ALBANY, N.Y. — Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday sought to stem the growing political fallout over fresh allegations of sexual harassment, acknowledging that he may have made inappropriate remarks that could “have been misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation” to a young female aide during private meetings last spring.
Cuomo, 63, said his comments — including those which emerged in an account from the aide, Charlotte Bennett — were an extension of a life spent at work, where he sometimes “teased people about their personal lives and relationships.”
“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,” Cuomo said in a statement. “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 response from the governor seemed to reflect the gravity of Bennett’s accusations, and those of another former aide last week, as well as the potential damage that they could cause to Cuomo, a third-term Democrat.
Cuomo, who emerged as a national leader during the pandemic, also repeated his calls for an independent investigation of his own behavior, although the decision over who would oversee that inquiry has proved torturous. His initial choice of a former federal judge to lead the investigation was met with overwhelming criticism, as was his second suggestion that Letitia James, New York’s attorney general, be paired with Janet DiFiore, the chief judge on New York state’s highest court, to jointly pick someone to investigate the matter. James rejected that proposal.
Finally, late Sunday, Cuomo relented again, saying in a statement that he would grant subpoena power to whomever James designated as the outside investigator, as James had demanded.
In a series of interviews with the New York Times last week, Bennett said Cuomo had asked her about elements of her sex life. She also recounted that Cuomo told her that he was open to dating women in their 20s and spoke to her in discomfiting ways about her own experience with sexual assault.
She said she believed the governor — who also complained of being lonely and wanting a girlfriend in Albany — was making sexual overtures toward her.
“I understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me, and felt horribly uncomfortable and scared,” Bennett, 25, said. “And was wondering how I was going to get out of it and assumed it was the end of my job.”
With his administration reeling, Cuomo sought once again to explain his comments, saying “questions have been raised about some of my past interactions with people in the office.”
Cuomo said he “never intended to offend anyone or cause any harm,” and insisted that he “never inappropriately touched” or propositioned anyone. Bennett did not accuse the governor of touching her.
“I never intended to make anyone feel uncomfortable,” he said.
Despite the governor’s explanation, a chorus of fellow Democrats have called for investigations, including Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and progressive stars like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Politicians from both parties expressed outrage at the allegations, amid a growing sense that Cuomo, long a master of New York’s hardball politics, was in a precarious position.