Special investigators describe disturbing actions by New York’s governor, including inappropriately touching a state trooper
The office found that Cuomo harassed current and former state employees, as well as a number of women outside of state government, James said, as the office released a lengthy report on the investigation.
James said Tuesday that her investigation found that Cuomo engaged in “unwelcome and nonconsensual touching,” and made comments of a “suggestive” sexual nature. James said that the conduct created a “hostile work environment for women.”
Cuomo’s conduct violated multiple federal and state laws, James said.
The governor denied the allegations. “I want you to know directly from me that I never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances,” Cuomo said in a speech Tuesday.
Cuomo’s behavior was not limited to members of his own staff, but extended to other state employees, including a State Trooper on his protective detail, as well as members of the public, the attorney general’s report states.
“We also conclude that the Executive Chamber’s culture — one filled with fear and intimidation, while at the same time normalizing the Governor’s frequent flirtations and gender-based comments — contributed to the conditions that allowed the sexual harassment to occur and persist,” investigators Joon Kim and Anne Clark wrote in the report. “That culture also influenced the improper and inadequate ways in which the Executive Chamber has responded to allegations of harassment.”
“I believe women. And I believe these 11 women,” James said
The report states Cuomo made specific denials of conduct that complainants recalled clearly, but investigators said “we found his denials to lack credibility and to be inconsistent with the weight of evidence obtained during our investigation.”
Investigators spoke to 179 individuals, and reviewed 74,000 pieces of evidence, James said. That evidence painted a “deeply disturbing yet clear picture,” she added.
The investigators repeatedly described Cuomo’s conduct as “unlawful.” A footnote in the report, however, said that the report was not reaching a conclusion as to “whether the conduct amounts to or should be the subject of criminal prosecution.”
Several investigations into Cuomo’s office
The investigation into the sexual harassment claims is one of several that the state attorney general’s office has launched into Cuomo and his inner circle, as a political firestorm has raged around the governor in recent months. The controversies that have swirled around Cuomo are a far cry from the acclaim he received at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
This story has been updated with Cuomo’s response.
