Cuomo's Attorneys Question AG's Report, Request More Evidence

Attorneys for Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his staff said Friday they’re seeking transcripts of individuals interviewed as part of the Attorney General’s investigation into claims of sexual harassment against the three-term governor to mount a defense against the probe’s findings.

Rita Glavin, who’s representing Cuomo as his personal attorney, also outlined a handful of conclusions of the probe that she said aren’t supported by the evidence presented.

“We weren't given any advanced notice of when the report would be released, its findings, a chance to respond to errors, and inaccuracies,” Glavin said during a virtual media briefing. “And that was intentional."

Glavin said that, without the transcripts of interviews recorded as part of the probe, they don’t know who said what to support the claims, how the investigators’ questions were framed, and whether the report left out evidence that may have been in the governor’s favor.

A spokesperson for Attorney General Letitia James responded to Cuomo's attorneys Friday, noting that the governor had requested the investigation, and defending the integrity of the probe's investigators.

"To attack this investigation and attempt to undermine and politicize this process takes away from the bravery displayed by these women," the spokesperson said, “There will be a rolling production of interview transcripts made available to the state Assembly, which will be redacted as needed.

“There are 11 women whose accounts have been corroborated by a mountain of evidence. Any suggestion that attempts to undermine the credibility of these women or this investigation is unfortunate."

Earlier this week, claims of sexual harassment against Cuomo from several women were found to be credible when the Attorney General’s Office released the findings of their investigation in an omnibus report documenting each claimant’s allegations.

The report prompted new calls for Cuomo’s resignation, including from President Joe Biden, who was considered a close ally of the governor. Cuomo has denied the claims.

But Glavin said the report included a series of errors that could have been corrected if investigators had been more thorough with the probe.

Investigators spoke to 179 people and reviewed more than 74,000 pieces of evidence as part of the investigation, which lasted five months, and was often criticized for taking too long after the first claims against Cuomo came out in February.

"What I do know, based on the limited information we've been given access to, there are contrary facts and omissions from that report," Glavin said.

Among them, Glavin said, was a report from a woman referred to as Executive Assistant #1 that Cuomo had groped her beneath her shirt at the Executive Mansion last November.

Glavin said she went through emails between the woman and other staff in Cuomo’s office to see if her account added up. The timeline of a day in November didn’t match the woman’s claims, Glavin said.

She used the timeline of Nov. 16, 2020 to back up that finding, but Executive Assistant #1 testified in the attorney general’s investigation that she couldn’t remember if it was on that day, or another day during that time.

Later, Galvin said she’d looked into other days that month as well, and didn’t find records that would support her claims.

She then turned to the allegations made by Lindsey Boylan, a former top economic development official in the Cuomo administration who said Cuomo touched her inappropriately and made several uncomfortable comments to her.

Records show that, after Boylan publicly accused Cuomo of harassment in December, top staff in his administration worked behind the scenes to discredit her account by leaking her personnel records to the press, and drafting an op-ed that painted her claims as opportunistic.

In their report, independent investigators retained by the Attorney General’s Office said those actions constituted illegal retaliation against Boylan. But Glavin said that wasn’t the case.

"Statements undermining Lindsey Boylan's claims were ignored in this report," Glavin said.

Glavin said that, because Boylan had announced a campaign for Manhattan Borough President two weeks earlier, her motive was to gain attention through tweets claiming Cuomo sexually harassed her while she worked in his administration.

Boylan said at the time that she wouldn’t speak with reporters, but published a detailed account of her claims against the governor two months later. Those claims were found credible by the attorney general’s report.

When Boylan resigned from her job with the state, it was during a meeting with the governor’s counsel to discuss complaints made about her in the office. Glavin said that, because investigators didn’t include what those complaints were, the report was incomplete.

Boylan responded after the briefing Friday, saying the women who accused Cuomo of harassment would not be phased by the briefing.

“We will not be intimidated,” Boylan wrote.

Debra Katz, an attorney representing Charlotte Bennett, another woman who accused Cuomo of harassment, responded to the governor's attorneys in a statement Friday.

"The Governor’s continuing refusal to accept responsibility for his actions demonstrates his disdain for the rule of law, including the sexual harassment law he signed into effect with great fanfare, and his fundamental unfitness for the office he holds," Katz said.

Cuomo’s attorneys have been asked to submit evidence that would rebut the claims against him to the Assembly by next Friday, in preparation for lawmakers to draw up articles of impeachment against the governor.

It’s unclear when the Assembly will formally move to impeach Cuomo, but lawmakers expect that to happen sometime in the coming weeks if he doesn’t resign.