China News Agency, New York, August 3-New York State Attorney General Letitia James announced on the 3rd that the independent investigation into Governor Andrew Cuomo's sex scandal had ended. The investigation confirmed that he had sexually harassed multiple women.
Zhan Lexia said at the press conference that day that after several women accused Cuomo of sexual harassment, at the beginning of this year, the New York State Attorney General’s Office appointed an independent investigation team.
After nearly five months of investigation, the team released a report on the 3rd that Cuomo had sexually harassed multiple women including unwelcome kissing, touching and inappropriate remarks during his tenure.
After reading the investigation report, Zhan Lexia said that she believed the testimony of the 11 female complainants in the report. Cuomo had violated federal and state laws. His actions created a “hostile working environment” for women, and the government had Responsibility to protect women in the workplace.
According to the New York Times, this report was completed by an independent investigative team led by former US prosecutor Joon Kim and practicing lawyer Anne Clark.
As part of the investigation, the team spoke with 179 people, including 11 complainants, former and current members of the Executive Yuan.
According to reports, the investigation also included an 11-hour interrogation of Cuomo.
On July 17, Cuomo was questioned by Jin Jun and Clark in a conference room in his office in Midtown Manhattan, New York, during which he denied the most serious allegations.
The investigation report stated that his denials belonged to, or directly carried out "total denials", or lacked memory of specific events, which was very different from the complainant's statement.
On the 3rd, many New York State congressmen called for Cuomo to resign.
The state’s Senate Majority Leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, said in a statement that Cuomo’s behavior was unacceptable and he should resign immediately.
However, Cuomo has repeatedly refused to resign.
That afternoon, shortly after Zhan Lexia's press conference, Cuomo responded to the investigation report.
He first denied the report’s conclusions, saying that he had never touched or spoken inappropriately to anyone, and explained his “daily kissing behavior”, “kissing the other person’s hand, cheek, or cheek in public or privately. The forehead is a kind of etiquette, it brings warmth to people."
Afterwards, Cuomo challenged the complainant's allegations.
He stated that he would not be "distracted" and emphasized that he would continue to guide the public to fight the epidemic.
CNN quoted experts as saying that after the release of this independent investigative report, Cuomo may face civil lawsuits and may even face impeachment. Legal analyst Laura Coates said that, unlike the impeachment of the president, once the New York State Assembly votes to initiate the impeachment of the governor, Cuomo will lose the governor’s decision-making power before the impeachment trial begins until the end of the trial, depending on the outcome. Then decide. (Finish)