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It’s a sad sight.
It’s sad that Andrew Cuomo got involved in what New York State investigators describe as a model of sexual harassment, unwanted touching and inappropriate comments involving 11 women, including one retaliation case.
It is sad that he responded to the attorney general’s dazzling report with denials and deviations – accompanied by apologies to two of the women – and a few hits in the press.
It is sad that the governor suggested it was all political, when Letitia James is a fellow Democrat and who he asked to investigate the matter.
It’s sad that Cuomo created what has been described as a toxic culture where everyone – including the women involved – was afraid to say no to him.
It is sad that most of the media, which denounced him on Tuesday and speculated on his resignation or impeachment, initially ignored or downplayed the first allegations of harassment against a politician they had adored.
And it’s sad that the man I met when he was in his twenties – pursuing a homeless project while his father was governor – blew up his third term and tainted his reputation, to the point that President Biden urged him to resign.
The AG report is simply damning. Whether it was Executive Assistant # 1, who says Cuomo grabbed her buttocks, gave her unwanted kisses and at one point “reached for her blouse and grabbed her chest.” Let it be State Trooper # 1, who says Cuomo “ran his hand across her stomach, from her navel to her right hip, as she held an open door for him at an event.” Leaving her to feel “completely violated”. Whether it’s Charlotte Bennett, who says Cuomo made her an offer and texted a friend, “GO MELT IN Tears … Yeah, like shaking … I’m so upset and so confused.”
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A former collaborator texted a current member of Cuomo’s staff about Bennett’s account: “It’s crazy that if you or I did what is alleged, we would be fired on the spot with no questions asked … and this would also be the right thing. ” The current official’s response: “That’s the damn truth.”
And yet, as Bennett found his boss’s conduct “extremely abusive”, Cuomo yesterday delivered a lengthy explanation of how he was trying to guide her because she confided that she had been the victim of an assault. sexual. Saying that a family member (not clear if it was his daughter) had a similar experience in high school, the governor said he was just trying to console them both, and both failed.
Likewise, Cuomo released a photo montage of him hugging and kissing men and women. While he tends to treat people as if they are all one big Italian family, that hardly excuses the conduct detailed in the report (including hiring a young woman after a chance meeting for a salary. ridiculous $ 120,000).
Cuomo can be tough on reporters, and he criticized his media coverage: “A newspaper lawsuit or biased reviews is not the way to find the facts in this case.” However, he had asked the press to wait for the outcome of the investigation. At the start of last year, the press described Cuomo as a heroic figure for his Covid briefings (before the cover-up of nursing home deaths emerged) and presented him as a running mate for Joe Biden .
Chris Cuomo, the prime-time CNN host, makes a cameo appearance in the report, after emailing the governor’s office a draft statement his brother released in February, denying the original allegations. CNN took no action on what it called “inappropriate” actions when the Washington Post reported that Chris Cuomo had joined the governor and his key aides on strategic appeals.
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What shall we do now? Democratic politicians who never liked Cuomo, like Bill De Blasio, are calling for his resignation again, along with Chuck Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand and Nancy Pelosi.
There is increasing talk in Albany about impeachment proceedings. James’ investigation is over, but a district attorney could use his findings to prosecute criminal charges. Whether Cuomo runs for a fourth term next year will likely depend on polls and donors.
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The press knew full well that Cuomo could threaten his allies as well as his opponents, but described it as part of a harsh style that got things done. We are now seeing the darker side of what the report calls his bullying behavior.
“It’s not who I am,” Cuomo said of the results.
But whoever he is, it’s sad – for him, for the women, for New York and the country.
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