The keys to Andrew Cuomo’s sexual harassment investigation: three new cases have been added

the Andrew M. Cuomo’s future as New York governor hangs in the balance after the state attorney general released a report on Tuesday that found there was 11 sexually harassed women, including nine current and former employees, in violation of federal and state law.

Here are some clues about the report and a look at how the results can shape Cuomo’s future.

Investigators describe three allegations that were previously unreported

The report, from 165 pages, issued by New York State Attorney General Laetitia James, provided evidence that corroborates the accusations of eight of the women whose stories were already known, most of them are or have been employed by the state. Corn It also details three testimonies of sexual harassment by the governor that had not been previously reported..

In one case, Cuomo allegedly harassed an unidentified state soldier he was personally seeking to hire and join his protection team. He said that, among other incidents, he had put his hand on her stomach when she opened the door for him at an event; He ran his fingers down her back in an elevator and asked her why she wasn’t wearing a dress.

In another incident, the governor said ran on the chest of an employee of the energy company, using two fingers, then ran his hand over the area under his neck. In the latest of the previously unreported allegations, the governor allegedly grabbed an employee’s butt from an entity affiliated with the State of New York.

In a statement made on a previously recorded video, Cuomo did not address the new allegations and denied most of the report’s findings. He reiterated his claim that he had never touched anyone inappropriately. Cuomo’s lawyer Rita Glavin said the report was “unfair” and “inaccurate.”

“Investigators conducted a completely biased investigation and deliberately ignored evidence inconsistent with the narrative they attempted to weave,” he said in a written response.

The governor is alone

As the first wave of accusations surfaced against the governor, a chorus of Democratic politicians called for his departure. Corn some of his closest supporters avoid passing judgment, among them the most influential: President Joe Biden.

Prior to taking office, Biden was one of Cuomo’s most trusted allies. At press events, he often praised the governor’s infrastructure work. Cuomo was one of the first to support Biden’s presidential campaign. The governor attended the funeral of Biden’s son Beau and the president attended the funeral of Cuomo’s father Mario.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had also avoided joining the initial chorus of resignation calls.

Cuomo’s family has had ties to Pelosi since at least 1980, when she and Mario Cuomo visited Italy after an earthquake that left thousands dead there. In 1984, Pelosi chaired the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco, during which Mario Cuomo gave his famous “A Tale of Two Cities” speech.

On Tuesday, Pelosi and Biden broke up with Cuomo and asked him to step down.

Cuomo doesn’t seem too inclined to give up power on purpose. Corn it is difficult to govern without allies.

And Tuesday night, Cuomo had few followers except those he employed. Both leaders of the state legislature urged him to resign. Likewise all members of the Democratic delegation to the Congress of New York.

“He has no partners at any level of government, including the country’s first Democrat,” said MK Ron Kim, one of the first Democrats to demand Cuomo’s resignation. “Now what we have is a framework whose primary concern is to save itself”.

A criminal investigation

The report may leave Cuomo exposed to criminal charges, something which was brought to light by the revelation that the Albany County District Attorney was conducting a criminal investigation into the allegations.

In a statement Tuesday, District Attorney David Soares said his office was reviewing the attorney general’s report regarding “an ongoing criminal investigation” and had requested investigative documents from James’ office. He also encouraged victims to contact his office directly.

It is not known when Soares began his investigation or what behavior he was investigating. A spokeswoman for her office, Cecilia Walsh, said only that the office was investigating “any allegation which could reach the level of criminal conduct.”

In addition, criminal charges for sexual harassment require a high standard of evidence which may be difficult for prosecutors to present.

But the possibility of one or more charges against him, in addition to any civil lawsuits Cuomo might face over the details of the report, certainly complicate the governor’s nomination for re-election next year and they can compromise their ability to govern.

Attack on victims and investigators

The survey also detailed a Cuomo and his team’s desperate effort to leak damaging information about the women who accused him sexual harassment, as well as lawyers investigating the allegations.

On the same day the first person made his story public last December, Cuomo’s associates sent reporters copies of confidential documents from his human resources file that showed his colleagues had complained about his behavior, according to the ‘investigation.

A senior advisor, Richard Azzopardi, personally drafted the documents with correction fluid before sending them to reporters.

Later Cuomo wrote an opinion column that attacked women in which he cited, according to him, his interactions with other men. In the end, he decided not to publish the article.

The best advisers to the governor have even pressured former employees to secretly record phone calls with the woman and one of the other accusers, “potentially in the hope of obtaining additional information to use against any woman who chooses to speak up”, found the survey.

“I think it didn’t go well,” Melissa DeRosa, the governor’s main assistant, said of the effort, the report said.

Cuomo and his allies not only targeted women who accused him of harassing them, they also sued investigators.

On March 16, Steven Cohen, a former close aide to the governor, texted another former aide telling him that he was being asked to publish damaging research on Joon Kim, one of the lawyers at the head of the Cuomo investigation.

In his interview with investigators, Cohen said he did not recall being asked to make such a report. However, in the weeks leading up to Tuesday, Cuomo’s allies regularly attacked Kim saying he was biased.

Attention Carl Heastie

Since Cuomo is resisting calls for the resignation of the nation’s top three Democrats, as well as all Democratic members of the New York Congressional delegation, there remains one way to dismiss the governor: dismissal.

This puts the ball squarely in the court of Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie, whose legislature is empowered to initiate the impeachment process.

On Tuesday, Heastie met with members of the Assembly, who seemed practically united in wanting to move forward with impeachment.

Prior to the release of Tuesday’s report, the Assembly had conducted an investigation to determine whether impeachment was the appropriate next step.

On Tuesday night, Heastie called for Cuomo’s resignation and vowed to conclude the impeachment inquiry “as soon as possible.”

This suggests that impeachment may, in fact, be in the picture.

From now on, it would be “impossible” for the Assembly to do anything other than the impeachment process, according to Westchester MP Amy Paulin.

“The governor must resign and if he doesn’t, we must move forward with the impeachment process in the assembly,” said Paulin.

But according to someone familiar with the process, The ongoing investigation could take up to a month. By then, the urge to remove Cuomo might have worn off..

© The New York Times 2021