Gov. Andrew Cuomo is about to address the elephant in the room — the growing pressure for him to step down in the wake of the NY Attorney General’s finding he sexually harassed several women.
The 10-year N.Y. guv is holding a news conference Tuesday morning. It will be his first public comment since last week when NY AG Letitia James announced the results of her office’s investigation — saying Cuomo had sexually harassed former and current female staffers, dating back to 2013 all the way up to 2020.
NY AG Letitia James: “Governor Cuomo sexually harassed current and former state employees in violation of federal and state laws. The independent investigation found that governor Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women.” pic.twitter.com/md7WtYyHK9
— andrew kaczynski (@KFILE) August 3, 2021
@KFILE
It’s unclear if he’s announcing his resignation, but last week he remained defiant … saying he would not. Just about every prominent Democrat you can imagine, including President Joe Biden, was calling on Cuomo to step down, and the NY State Legislature has been meeting to discuss impeachment if he doesn’t.
ny.gov
Some of the alleged behavior, per A.G. James, included groping, kissing, hugging and inappropriate comments — some of which could possibly amount to criminal charges, she added. Charges may actually arise from this — as one of Cuomo’s accusers has already filed a police report out of Albany County … and they say they’re investigating it now.
Cuomo, for his part, had denied wrongdoing … claiming he’d never touched anyone in the ways described by the A.G.. He’d previously said he might’ve been too familiar with some of his staffers in the past — but chalked it up to him mistakenly not recognizing boundaries.
3/3/21
ny.gov
He had also adamantly refused to resign, saying he wasn’t going to let the allegations get in the way of his duties as Governor.
Cuomo’s been acting as NY’s chief executive since 2011 … and was mostly beloved during that time.