NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 An investigation into New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo found that he sexually harassed multiple current and former state government employees, state Attorney General Letitia James announced Tuesday.![\"FILE](\"https:\/\/img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net\/tenant\/amp\/entityid\/AAMTc8p.img?h=557&w=799&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=1529&y=1070\")
The nearly five-month investigation, conducted by two outside lawyers who spoke to 179 people, found that the Cuomo administration was a \u201chostile work environment\u201d and that it was \u201crife with fear and intimidation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSpecifically, the investigation found that Gov. Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed current and former New York State employees by engaging in unwelcome and nonconsensual touching and making numerous offensive comments of a suggestive sexual nature, that created a hostile work environment for women,” James said at a press conference on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On at least one occasion, the investigation found, Cuomo and his senior staff worked to retaliate against a former employee who accused him of wrongdoing. Cuomo was also found to have harassed women outside of government, the investigation found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cuomo faced multiple allegations last winter that he inappropriately touched and sexually harassed women who worked with him or who he met at public events. One aide in his office said he groped her breast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another, Lindsey Boylan, said Cuomo kissed her on the lips after a meeting in his office and \u201cwould go out of his way to touch me on my lower back, arms and legs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After Boylan first made her allegations public in December, the Cuomo administration undercut her story by releasing personnel memos to media outlets revealing that Boylan resigned after she was confronted about complaints she belittled and yelled at her staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Boylan has said those records \u201cwere leaked to the media in an effort to smear me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other aides have said that the Democratic governor asked them unwelcome personal questions about sex and dating. One former aide, Charlotte Bennett, said Cuomo asked if she was open to sex with an older man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last winter there was a chorus of calls for Cuomo\u2019s resignation from many top elected Democrats in New York, including two U.S. senators, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. But Cuomo refused to quit and has been raising money for a fourth term in office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His position on the allegations has also hardened into one of defiance. Cuomo has always denied touching anyone inappropriately, but he initially said he was sorry if his behavior with women was \u201cmisinterpreted as unwanted flirtation.\u201d In recent months, he\u2019s taken a more combative tack, saying he did nothing wrong and questioning the motives of accusers and critics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He has also questioned the neutrality of the lawyers hired by the attorney general to investigate the allegations. One of the attorneys, Joon Kim, was involved in previous investigations of corruption by people in Cuomo\u2019s administration when he was a federal prosecutor in Manhattan. Cuomo hasn\u2019t expressly said why he believes that would make Kim biased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The attorney general\u2019s report is expected to play an important role in an ongoing inquiry in the state Assembly into whether there are grounds for Cuomo to be impeached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Assembly hired its own legal team to investigate Cuomo\u2019s conduct, plus other allegations of wrongdoing. The legislature is looking into the help Cuomo got from senior aides to write a book about the pandemic, special access that Cuomo relatives got to COVID-19 testing last year, and the administration\u2019s decision to withhold some data on nursing home deaths from the public for several months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some members of the judiciary committee have said they expect James\u2019 report to be \u201ccritical\u201d for the impeachment investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New York state regulations say sexual harassment includes unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature \u2014 from unwanted flirtation to sexual jokes \u2014 that creates an offensive work environment, regardless of a perpetrator\u2019s intent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The governor, in contrast, has repeatedly argued that he did not intend to harass anyone. His office has said he took the state\u2019s mandated sexual harassment training, but has not provided any documentation proving he did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cuomo championed a landmark 2019 state law that made it easier for sexual harassment victims to prove their case in court. Alleged victims no longer have to meet the high bar of proving sexual harassment is \u201csevere and pervasive.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"