New York AG Report on New York Governor Andrew Cuomo: Read It For Yourself

New York Attorney General Letitia James has released a public report detailing the investigation into New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and his alleged sexual harassment of multiple women.

NBC4 New York:

New York Attorney General Letitia James and the team of attorneys selected to investigate allegations of sexual harassment made against Gov. Andrew Cuomo have completed their investigation and released a public report of their findings.

The attorney general’s report, which is being made available to the public for the first time, found that the harassment claimed by a number of the governor’s accusers is in violation of state and federal law.

James said the 165-page report on the investigation details the inner-workings of the governor’s office, his harassment of multiple women, including an effort in at least one instance to retaliate against one of those women, and details what is described as a toxic work environment in and around the governor’s chambers.

Allegations of sexual harassment by the governor were made public in February by former Cuomo aides Lindsey Boylan and Charlotte Bennette, weeks after Attorney General James released a scathing report saying the state may have undercounted COVID-related nursing home deaths by thousands.

The compounding claims of wrongdoing were met with intense public pressure for an independent probe into the governor, who eventually granted the power to James after initially selecting a judge who had distant ties to Cuomo. He has repeatedly denied allegations of wrongdoing.

The attorney general’s probe was initially focused on the claims of sexual harassment by a couple of former staffers. Over time though, the investigation ballooned to include allegations from more than half a dozen women and reports from dozens of current and former staffers of mistreatment while working in Albany.

James selected former acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Joon H. Kim and employment discrimination attorney Anne L. Clark to lead the office’s investigations.

The investigatory team had subpoena power to examine relevant documents, records, and data relating to the case and conduct interviews and formal depositions. They were instructed to give weekly reports to the state attorney general and produce a written final report of their findings, now released to the public.

Additionally, their probe looked into whether Cuomo had members of his family get prioritized, special access to COVID testing during the early stages of the pandemic last year, and potential misuse of state resources to produce and promote his published book covering the COVID-19 pandemic; the latter investigation made at the request of State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli.

The probe is not a criminal one, but the report released by the attorney general could significantly influence the state legislature’s impeachment inquiry.

The state legislature has a separate impeachment inquiry, and with Governor Cuomo repeatedly stating he will not resign and denying the allegations, impeachment by the Democrat controlled New York State Assembly would be the only recourse to remove him from office before the end of his term.

Couple moving parts here. First, let’s be grown folks and acknowledge that it is no secret AG James has her own eyes on the Governor’s office. Even still, between his bombastic and deadly handling of the COVID-19 crisis that included “writing” a book about what a great job he was doing in the middle of the crisis you’d be hard pressed to find a serving elected official more unfit for office. Nor could you find one more entrenched against any effort to remove him from said office.

To the eternal shame of everyone involved, Governor Andrew Cuomo is probably not going anywhere anytime soon. But he should, for multiple reasons. Folks with the power to do something about the stain on American governance that is Andrew Cuomo should pick one of them, and get to work.

You can read the New York Attorney General’s report on Andrew Cuomo here: