Calls for Resignation Multiply for the Governor of New York, Accused of Sexual Harassment

Calls have multiplied for the governor of New York to resign after he was accused of sexual harassment.

New York elected officials have opened an investigation into the possible indictment of Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has been accused of sexual harassment, marking the first such investigation in more than 100 years.

The New York Times reports that members of the New York State Assembly have opened an investigation into the possibility of bringing charges against the Democratic governor, accused of sexual harassment by several women. “The accusations against the governor are serious,” said Democratic Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, while 59 Democrats, representing 40% of the Democratic members of the Senate, have signed a letter demanding Cuomo’s resignation. Cuomo comes from an influential political family. His father served three terms as governor of New York, and his brother, Chris, is one of CNN’s star anchors. Andrew Cuomo has three children with Kerry Kennedy, the daughter of Robert Kennedy.

Andrew Cuomo’s situation is getting worse. In addition to the five women who have accused him of harassment, delivering their accounts to the media, a complaint with facts arising “to the level of a crime” has been filed with the New York State Police. According to the Albany Times Union, an adviser accused the governor of assaulting her at his residence in Albany at the end of last year. “They were alone in Cuomo’s private residence, on the second floor, when he closed the door and slid his hand under her blouse to fondle her,” the paper reported. “Her accusations extend to regular flirtatious behavior with her,” the newspaper added, describing the incident as “not the only time he touched her.” The young woman decided to report the incident after a press conference in which Cuomo claimed he never touched a woman in an “inappropriate” manner. Questioned about this new accusation, Cuomo described the report as “gut-wrenching,” but maintained that he had “never done anything like this.”

“I’m 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,” he said.

Numerous Calls for Resignation

Once mentioned as a possible presidential candidate given his presence on the national stage during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, something that stood in contrast to the absence of Donald Trump, who minimized the seriousness of the disease, Cuomo is now losing the support of his own party. House of Representatives members Jerry Nadler, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman, all three of whom represent Manhattan and the Bronx, have called for his resignation, as have New York Reps. Mondaire Jones, Grace Meng, Carolyn Maloney, Nydia Velazquez, Yvette Clarke and Adriano Espaillat. The two Bronx representatives deplored the “recent alarming and disturbing pieces of information for the security and well-being of the administration teams.”

The Democrats’ anger is explained by another scandal. Cuomo admitted that state agencies under-reported the number of deaths caused by COVID-19 in nursing homes by 50%, fearing that this report might be “politicized” by the Trump administration, an explanation that was unconvincing to the New York members of Congress. New York Attorney General Letitia James has opened an investigation into this matter as well as the sexual harassment allegations.