Report finds evidence Cuomo acted inappropriately
Investigation backs up claims former N.Y. governor sexually harassed women
A report by the New York State Assembly found “overwhelming evidence” that former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, engaged in sexual harassment and used state workers and resources for his memoir. The report also faulted his administration for undercounting the deaths at nursing homes during the coronavirus pandemic.
Cuomo has long denied any wrongdoing, but the results of the Assembly’s eight-month investigation, released Monday, paint a damning portrait of the former governor. Cuomo resigned in August in the face of a likely impeachment by the New York Assembly after a state investigation found that he sexually harassed 11 women and oversaw an unlawful attempt to exact retribution against one of his accusers.
The report corroborates the stories of the women who say Cuomo sexually harassed them and describes how his office diverted workers and resources from handling the deadly health crisis to focus on his book, for which he received $5.2 million. It also found that the former governor directed his staff to withhold or misrepresent information “regarding the effects of COVID19 on nursing home residents in New York.”
In March, New York House Speaker Carl Heastie, a Democrat, commissioned the report as an impeachment investigation into the then-governor. Cuomo resigned after state Attorney General Letitia James, now a candidate for governor, released a separate, 165-page report detailing numerous allegations against him.
In a statement Monday, Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi dismissed the Assembly’s 46-page report, calling it “hypocritical, revisionist” and saying any inquiry that uses James’ “politically biased investigation as a basis is going to be equally flawed.”
“To date, we have not been allowed the opportunity to review evidence in the Assembly’s possession, despite requests to do so and due process was certainly not afforded here,” Azzopardi said.
Cuomo was not interviewed by investigators for the Assembly’s report. The law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell conducted the investigation, which echoes many of the findings made in James’ probe. The firm reviewed hundreds of thousands of pages of documents, photographs, text messages, BlackBerry PIN messages, emails, policies, social media accounts and phone call records. Investigators also interviewed, received proffers from or reviewed deposition materials from 212 individuals.
In October, a misdemeanor complaint was filed against Cuomo, accusing him of forcibly touching a woman in the governor’s executive mansion last year. According to the complaint, the alleged incident took place in December.