Attorney General Receives Referral to Begin Cuomo Harassment Probe

State Attorney General Letitia James said Monday that she’s received from Gov. Andrew Cuomo the referral required to investigate him and his office on two former aides’ allegations of sexual harassment. The accusations include inappropriate touching, an unsolicited kiss, and invitations for sex.

One day after Cuomo offered his response to the charges, many elected officials, both Democrats and Republicans, said they don’t buy it.

James made public the letter she received from Cuomo’s chief counsel, Beth Garvey, giving the go-ahead for the probe to begin and for a chief investigator to be chosen.

Under the rules, the attorney general is supposed to report back weekly to the governor’s office, but Garvey said that “due to the nature of the review,” the governor’s staff will not ask to see anything related to the report until it’s completed and made public.

Two former aides to the governor said Cuomo’s inappropriate behavior included an unsolicited kiss, personal questions about dating relationships and an inquiry about potential interest in sleeping with an older man, as well as invitations to play strip poker while on a business flight in the state plane.  

Cuomo, in a statement Sunday night, partially answered some of the women’s charges. He said that he is sometimes “playful” with work colleagues and makes jokes that he might think are funny, but that he now understands can be insensitive and “misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation.” He said he’s “truly sorry” that anyone might have felt that way.

His statement was criticized by Democrats, including New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has long feuded with Cuomo.

“That's not an apology. He seemed to be saying, ‘Oh, I was just kidding around.’ You know, sexual harassment is not funny. It's serious. It has to be taken seriously,” de Blasio said. “And he just clearly was letting himself off the hook for something that for the women involved, sounded pretty terrifying.” 

Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, also a Democrat, who has also had his differences with Cuomo, said it falls short. 

“There’s a significant difference between saying, ‘I’m sorry that someone was offended by what I did,’ and saying, ‘I’m sorry for what I did,’ ” Gianaris said. “I think his statement was more the former of those two.” 

Republicans in the Legislature called for the governor to resign. Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt said the sexual harassment investigation, combined with the federal investigation into the governor’s nursing home policies, will take up a lot of Cuomo’s time.

“How can that person also do the job they’ve been elected to do, in guiding us through this pandemic?” Ortt asked. “In guiding us through the fiscal and economic crisis that we are facing?”

The two highest-ranking women in state government, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul and Senate Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, both Democrats, over the weekend issued statements before Cuomo released his response.

Stewart-Cousins said the allegations are disturbing and that an independent investigation should take place. Hochul, in a statement, also said she backs an independent review and said “everyone deserves to have their voice heard and taken seriously.”

Neither mentioned Cuomo by name, and neither have commented on the governor’s explanation for his alleged behavior.