Forcible Touching Charge Against Former Gov. Cuomo to be Dropped, Albany DA Says

A criminal charge filed against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo over an alleged incident of forcible touching between himself and a former aide will be dropped, Albany County District Attorney David Soares said Tuesday.

Soares, a Democrat, said in a statement that, while he found the victim’s claim to be credible, he wasn’t confident the case against Cuomo was strong enough to succeed in court.

“While we found the complainant in this case to be cooperative and credible, after review of all the available evidence we have concluded we cannot meet our burden at trial,” Soares said.

Cuomo was scheduled to be arraigned on the charge, a misdemeanor, in Albany City Court Friday. If a judge agrees to the request from Soares to drop the charge, that will not happen.

The charge was brought in October against Cuomo by the Albany County Sheriff’s Office, which claimed at the time that the case against the former governor was “solid.”

The aide, Brittany Commisso, has claimed that Cuomo groped her beneath her blouse when she was sent to the Executive Mansion in Albany to help the former governor with a technical issue. Cuomo has denied the claims.

The announcement from Soares comes after two other prosecutors — Westchester County District Attorney Mimi Rocah and Nassau County Acting District Attorney Joyce Smith — also said they wouldn’t charge Cuomo over allegations of sexual harassment and assault.

Cuomo resigned in August after a report from the New York Attorney General’s Office found several claims of sexual harassment made against him to be credible. Cuomo has denied those claims as well.