5 things to know about the Cuomo sexual harassment findings

Andrew Cuomo’s aboriginal arsenic politician of New York is successful uncertainty aft the authorities lawyer wide released a study Tuesday that recovered helium had sexually harassed 11 women, including 9 existent and erstwhile employees, successful usurpation of authorities and national law.

Here are immoderate takeaways from the study and a look astatine however its findings whitethorn signifier Cuomo’s fate.

Investigators Described 3 Previously Unreported Accusations

The 165-page report, released by New York authorities Attorney General Letitia James, gave corroborating grounds for 8 accusers whose stories were already known, astir of them existent oregon erstwhile authorities employees. But it besides elaborate 3 antecedently unreported accounts of intersexual harassment by the governor.

In 1 instance, Cuomo was said to person harassed an unnamed authorities trooper whom helium had personally sought to prosecute onto his protective detail. She said that helium had tally his manus crossed her tummy erstwhile she held the doorway unfastened for him astatine an event; had tally his digit down her backmost successful an elevator; and had asked her wherefore she did not deterioration a dress, among different incidents.

In different incident, the politician was said to person tally 2 fingers crossed the thorax of an vigor institution employee, Virginia Limmiatis, and past brushed his manus successful the country beneath her neck. And successful the last unreported allegation, the politician was said to person grabbed the rear of an unnamed worker of a New York-state affiliated entity.(BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM.)Cuomo did not code the caller accusations successful a prerecorded video connection wherever helium denied astir of the report’s superior findings, reiterating his contention that helium had ne'er touched anyone inappropriately. Rita Glavin, a lawyer for Cuomo, called the study “unfair” and “inaccurate.”

“The investigators person directed an utterly biased probe and willfully ignored grounds inconsistent with the communicative they person sought to weave,” she said successful a written response.

The Governor Stands Alone

When the archetypal question of accusations against the politician emerged, a chorus of Democratic politicians called for his ouster. But immoderate of his closest supporters reserved judgment, including possibly the astir influential: President Joe Biden.

Before becoming president, Biden was 1 of Cuomo’s astir reliable allies. At media events, helium often hailed the governor’s enactment connected infrastructure. Cuomo was an aboriginal protagonist of Biden’s statesmanlike campaign. The politician attended the aftermath for Biden’s son, Beau, and the president attended the aftermath for Cuomo’s father, Mario.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi besides avoided joining the archetypal unreserved of those urging the politician to resign.

Cuomo’s household ties to Pelosi day backmost to 1980, astatine least, erstwhile she and Mario Cuomo toured Italy aft an earthquake determination killed thousands. In 1984, Pelosi chaired the Democratic National Convention successful San Francisco, wherever Mario Cuomo delivered his celebrated Tale of Two Cities speech.

On Tuesday, some Pelosi and Biden broke with Cuomo and called connected him to resign.

Cuomo seems disinclined to voluntarily relinquish power. But it is hard to govern without allies.(BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM.)And arsenic of Tuesday evening, Cuomo had fewer supporters left, speech from those successful his employ. Both leaders of the authorities Legislature urged him to resign. So did each subordinate of New York’s Democratic legislature delegation.

“He has zero partners astatine immoderate level of government, including the apical Democrat successful the nation,” said Assembly subordinate Ron Kim, 1 of the archetypal Democrats to request Cuomo’s resignation. “Right present we person an enforcement who is chiefly acrophobic astir redeeming himself.”

A Criminal Investigation

The study whitethorn permission Cuomo exposed to transgression charges, a constituent underscored by a disclosure that the Albany County territory lawyer was conducting a transgression probe into the allegations.

In a connection Tuesday, the territory attorney, David Soares, said that his bureau was reviewing the lawyer general’s study successful transportation with an “ongoing transgression investigation,” and that it had requested investigative materials from James’ office. He besides encouraged different victims to interaction his bureau directly.

It was unclear erstwhile Soares had opened his probe oregon precisely which behaviour helium was looking into. A spokesperson for his office, Cecilia Walsh, said lone that the bureau was looking into “any allegations that emergence to the level of transgression conduct.”

In addition, transgression charges related to intersexual harassment necessitate a precocious modular of impervious and whitethorn beryllium hard for prosecutors to bring.

But the imaginable of a charge, oregon charges, atop immoderate lawsuits that Cuomo could look based connected the details of the study volition surely complicate the governor’s bid for reelection adjacent twelvemonth and whitethorn compromise his quality to govern.

An Offensive Against the Victims and Investigators

The probe besides elaborate a frantic effort by Cuomo and his squad to excavation up ungraded connected the women who accused him of intersexual harassment, arsenic good arsenic connected the lawyers probing the allegations.

On the aforesaid time that Lindsey Boylan became the archetypal idiosyncratic to spell nationalist with her communicative past December, Cuomo’s aides sent reporters copies of confidential documents successful her unit record showing that colleagues had complained astir her behavior, the probe found.

A elder adviser, Richard Azzopardi, personally redacted the documents with correction fluid earlier sending them to reporters. Cuomo aboriginal drafted an op-ed that attacked Boylan and cited what helium claimed were her interactions with different men; ultimately, helium decided not to people the piece.

Senior aides to the politician adjacent pressured erstwhile employees to secretly grounds telephone calls with Boylan and different accuser, identified successful the study arsenic Kaitlin, “potentially successful the hopes of obtaining further accusation to usage against immoderate women who mightiness talk out,” the probe found.

“I did not deliberation it went well,” the governor’s apical aide, Melissa DeRosa, said of the effort, according to the report.

Cuomo and his allies not lone targeted the women who accused him of harassment; they besides went aft the investigators.

On March 16, Steven Cohen, a erstwhile apical adjutant to the governor, sent a substance connection to different erstwhile employee, saying helium was being asked to dispersed absorption probe astir Joon Kim, 1 of the lawyers starring the probe into Cuomo.

In his interrogation with investigators, Cohen said helium did not callback being asked to bash absorption research. Nonetheless, successful the weeks starring up to Tuesday, Cuomo’s allies regularly attacked Kim arsenic biased.

All Eyes connected Carl Heastie

With Cuomo resisting resignation calls from the nation’s apical 3 Democrats, arsenic good arsenic from each Democratic subordinate of New York’s legislature delegation, 1 avenue remains for removing Cuomo from office: impeachment.

That puts the shot squarely successful the tribunal of Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, whose legislative assemblage is empowered to motorboat impeachment proceedings.

On Tuesday, Heastie met with Assembly members, who seemed virtually agreed successful their tendency to determination guardant with impeachment.

Before the merchandise of Tuesday’s report, the Assembly had been conducting an probe to find if impeachment was an due adjacent step.

By Tuesday evening, Heastie was calling for Cuomo’s resignation and was promising to reason the impeachment probe “as rapidly arsenic possible.”

That suggests that impeachment could, successful fact, beryllium successful the offing.

At this point, it would beryllium “impossible” for the Assembly to bash thing but impeach, according to Amy Paulin, an assembly subordinate from Westchester.

“The politician indispensable resign, and if helium doesn’t resign, we successful the Assembly request to determination guardant with impeachment proceedings,” Paulin said.

But according to idiosyncratic acquainted with the process, really concluding the existing probe could instrumentality arsenic agelong arsenic a month. By that point, the momentum to region Cuomo from bureau whitethorn person dissipated.

This nonfiction primitively appeared successful The New York Times.