More details have emerged about the latest sexual harassment allegation against Governor Andrew Cuomo: The Albany Times-Union reports that a current female staffer told a supervisor that the governor fondled her under her shirt. The incident allegedly happened late last year, when the woman was summoned to the governor's private residence inside the Executive Mansion.
This accusation of inappropriate behavior—the sixth in the past few weeks—was first reported by the Times-Union on Tuesday. The report notes that the staffer, who is described as being "much younger than Cuomo," revealed her experience last week in Cuomo's Executive Chamber as his staff "watched his first news conference in the week since Lindsey Boylan published an online essay detailing her own allegations against Cuomo."
In the news conference, the governor denied ever touching any women "inappropriately."
Hearing those remarks, the female aide became emotional. At least one female supervisor came to her aide and asked her why she was upset. The female aide subsequently told the supervisor what she said had been inappropriate encounters with Cuomo, the source said.
"Her broader allegations include that he frequently engaged in flirtatious behavior with her, and that it was not the only time that he had touched her," a source told the Times-Union.
In a statement released on Wednesday in response to these latest allegations, Governor Cuomo said, "I have never done anything like this. The details of this report are gut-wrenching. I am not going to speak to the specifics of this or any other allegation given the ongoing review, but I am confident in the result of the Attorney General’s report."
During a press call on Tuesday, Cuomo said he was "not aware of any other claims," and added, "This is very simple. I never touched anyone inappropriately."
Attorney General Letitia James is overseeing an investigation into the sexual harassment claims, and just appointed former federal prosecutor Joon Kim and employment discrimination lawyer Anne Clark to lead the probe. [Update, March 11, 2021: The Attorney General's investigators have created a website, AG Independent Investigation, to field information for their probe. The website says, "This website was created by the Special Deputies to the First Deputy Attorney General of New York to gather information relating to the investigation into sexual harassment allegations against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. If you have information relevant to the investigation, you can contact the Special Deputies in the following ways: 212-225-3100 for voice
messages; independent.investigations@ag.ny.gov; 518-545-0870 for text messages."]
In addition to the current staffer's allegation, there are five other women who have disclosed incidents, three of them former employees in the governor's office and one from his days in the Clinton administration.
Boylan was the first former staffer to come forward, claiming that the governor forcibly kissed her in his Manhattan office and once suggested they play "strip poker" when she worked for him between 2015 and 2018. Another former aide, Charlotte Bennett, claimed the governor asked her if she was open to dating older men, suggested she get her butt tattooed, and asked if she was sensitive to intimacy because of a previous sexual assault while she worked in his office last year.
Two more women have also come forward: Ana Liss, who was a fellow in the governor's office between 2013 and 2015, said the governor regularly kissed her on the cheek and hand, commented on her appearance, and touched her on the small of her back at social functions. When Cuomo oversaw the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Karen Hinton, his press secretary at the time, said that in 2000 she was summoned to a dimly lit hotel room after a work function; Cuomo drew her in for a long, uncomfortable embrace before she backed away.
Another woman, Anna Ruch, met Cuomo in passing at a wedding in September. She says Cuomo slipped his hand down her back, grabbed her face with both hands and kissed her on the cheek against her will. A photograph shows the governor with his hands on her face and Ruch looking uncomfortable.
On Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said that Cuomo should step down. "Every day there is another account that is drawing away from the business of government," Steart-Cousins said. "We need to govern without daily distraction. For the good of the state Governor Cuomo must resign."
Her counterpart in the Assembly, Speaker Carl Heastie, was somewhat more guarded, and stopped short of calling for Cuomo's resignation. "I too share the sentiment of Senate Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins regarding the Governor's ability to continue to lead this state," he said. "We have many challenges to address, and I think it is time for the Governor to seriously consider whether he can effectively meet the needs of the people of New York."
The governor has said he will not resign; on March 3rd, he told reporters, "I was elected by the people. I'm not going to resign. We have a teetering NYC, terrible financial picture, vaccines...so, no, I'm going to do the job I was elected to do."
While there here are growing calls for the legislature to start impeachment hearings against the governor, it's not clear there are enough votes to force him from office.
Assemblymember Ron Kim of Queens tweeted, "I do not expect Andrew Cuomo to have the self dignity to resign. Impeach."
Another Assemblymember, Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas said, "I’ve had enough. Cuomo must be impeached."
The governor, Assembly, and State Senate are currently negotiating a new budget, which is due by April 1st—a task made even more complicated because of $3 billion gaps that remain in last year's pandemic budget.