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ALBANY, NY (AP) – Melissa DeRosa, the main assistant to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, resigned her post, she told media on Sunday evening, about a week after a report from Attorney General of the state revealed that the governor sexually harassed 11 women.
DeRosa, who joined Cuomo’s administration in 2013, ultimately became one of the governor’s most trusted confidants. She wrote in a statement to news agencies that serving the people of New York has been “the greatest honor of my life.”
“Personally, the past two years have been emotionally and mentally taxing,” DeRosa wrote in her statement. “I am eternally grateful to have been able to work with such talented and committed colleagues on behalf of our state.”
DeRosa has often stood up for Cuomo when he faced criticism from the public. In March, she told lawmakers that the Cuomo administration did not release nursing home death data to lawmakers last August, fearing the information could be used against them by President Donald Trump’s administration.
DeRosa is chair of the New York State Council on Women and Girls, which Cuomo launched in 2017 to, in part: “ensure that every policy adopted and every program created takes into account the experiences of women and girls and try to advance equality. in our state.
As the aftermath of the Attorney General’s report unfolds, Cuomo, a Democrat, has embarked on the fight of his political life despite the threat of potential criminal investigations and widespread calls for his impeachment.
Many Democrats, including President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and some former Cuomo loyalists, have urged him to step down or face an impeachment battle he likely cannot win.
About two-thirds of members of the National Assembly have already said they favor an impeachment trial if he refuses to resign. Almost all 63 members of the state Senate have called for Cuomo’s resignation or impeachment.
“From what I hear, I feel like he’s still looking for ways to fight this and get his side of the story out,” state Democratic Party Chairman Jay said. Jacobs, in an interview with The Associated Press. But Jacobs added: “I just think he’s going, at some point, to see that political support just isn’t close enough that even an attempt is worth it.”
Lawyers for the governor have pledged what will likely be a long battle to stay in power.
“I’m not aware the governor is considering resigning,” Cuomo’s lawyer Rita Glavin told CNN on Saturday.
Cuomo – who for months said the public would be “shocked” once he shared his side of the story – has not spoken publicly since the publication of a 168-page report written by two independent attorneys who have been selected by the state attorney general to investigate. .
An executive assistant who accused Cuomo of groping her said on Sunday that what the governor did to her was a felony. She was the first woman to file a criminal complaint against Cuomo.
In her first self-identified public interview, Brittany Commisso told “CBS This Morning” and the Albany Times-Union that the governor “must be held accountable.”
Commisso said Cuomo stroked her under her shirt while they were alone in a room in the Executive Mansion last year and that on another occasion he rubbed her behind as they posed for a photo.
“He broke the law,” she said in an excerpt from an interview that was due to be broadcast in its entirety on Monday.
Cuomo’s attorneys have focused his defense on attacking the credibility and motives of his accusers. Glavin also lambasted the investigation overseen by Attorney General Letitia James for failing to provide her findings and transcripts to Cuomo’s attorneys in advance, and for failing to include more material favorable to Cuomo in the report.
“It was crap. It was biased. He omits the evidence, and it was an ambush, ”Glavin said.
Dozens of state lawmakers who were once reluctant to call for Cuomo’s resignation or impeachment told the PA in recent interviews that they were swayed by the weight of the report.
“I think the majority of us feel that the governor is no longer able to run the state, and this is not a temporary post,” said Assembly Member John McDonald, a Democrat. whose district includes Albany.
Cuomo has categorically denied ever touching anyone inappropriately, but he admitted hugging and kissing assistants and other people.
Glavin said it was clear to Cuomo that the people who “worked for him felt like he was invading their space and that was unwanted.”
“He didn’t think it was inappropriate,” Glavin said. “He saw what these women said, and he feels bad about it. “
Meanwhile, the State Assembly Judiciary Committee planned to meet on Monday to discuss when to conclude its months-long investigation into whether there are grounds for impeaching Cuomo.
The investigation focused on sexual harassment and misconduct, the administration’s previous refusal to disclose how many nursing home residents have died from COVID-19, the use of state resources to Cuomo’s $ 5 million book deal and efforts to prioritize COVID-19 testing for the governor’s interior. circle in the spring of 2020, when testing was scarce.
Some lawmakers want an impeachment vote in a few days, but committee members say the investigation could end in a month. State law requires at least 30 days between an Assembly impeachment vote and the Senate impeachment trial.
Assembly member Amanda Septimo called for urgency.
“What we need to do ASAP is take Cuomo out of power because of the way he’s using him, like a weapon,” the Bronx Democrat said.
Democrats are increasingly concerned about how Cuomo will affect political races in New York and potentially nationwide, Septimo said.
“I’m ready to put some money on when we see Cuomo’s face on an attack mail somewhere in Ohio,” she said. “I feel like everyone’s calculation is bigger than themselves at this point, other than the governor.”
Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul would replace Cuomo if a majority of the 150 members of the Assembly votes to remove him.
Cuomo defended a sweeping law he signed in 2019 that made anti-harassment training mandatory, extended the statute of limitations, and said accusers didn’t have to prove they were treated differently from other workers. He also lowered the New York standard for sexual harassment to include unwanted behavior that exceeds the level of “petty slights and trivial inconvenience.”
Many lawmakers have criticized the governor for failing to recognize that his unwelcome remarks and touching violated his administration’s own definition of sexual harassment, which is based on how a person feels despite the perpetrator’s intention.
Cuomo is also under close scrutiny by federal prosecutors over its administration’s handling of COVID-19 nursing home data. And the state ethics commission is looking at the same issues that the Assembly is investigating.
In addition, Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple said on Saturday that Cuomo could face misdemeanor charges if investigators substantiated Commisso’s complaint. At least five district attorneys have requested documents from the attorney general’s investigation to see if any of the allegations could lead to criminal charges.
The investigation concluded that Cuomo sexually harassed a state soldier with unwanted touching and suggestive remarks, a previously unknown account. Investigators discovered that the governor wanted to assign the soldier to his security service after meeting her briefly, even though she lacked qualifications for the job.
Cuomo plans to address the allegation “very, very soon,” Glavin said.
She championed the governor’s interest as an effort to increase diversity after finding the soldier “impressive” for maintaining eye contact with him during a conversation.
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