Now Joe Biden also turns away from Andrew Cuomo. The New York governor may not be able to stay in office much longer, the president called on Tuesday for the resignation of his longtime political ally. The reason is the report by the New York Attorney General Letitia James, who investigated allegations of sexual harassment against Cuomo. As a result, Cuomo sexually harassed and coerced eleven women and created a working atmosphere on his staff that was described as "toxic" and undermining women's careers.
Biden recalled that he had already taken the allegations very seriously in the spring.
"Back in March, I said that if the Attorney General's investigation showed the allegations were true, I would recommend that he resign," said the president, who had not spoken to Cuomo directly.
“That's what I'm doing today.
I think he should resign. ”The head of the House of Representatives, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, joined the call, as did several governors of her party.
Carl Heastie, the Democratic "spokesman" for the New York Congress of Deputies, said the prosecution's findings would expedite the governor's impeachment proceedings in the chamber.
Allegations made in February
Cuomo allegedly asked several women, including employees, questions about their personal lives, encouraged them to have sex, and touched them without consent. Lindsey Boylan, formerly Cuomo's economic policy advisor, was the first to make her allegations public in February. Other women followed her. Between 2016 and 2018, Cuomo Boylan touched and kissed Boylan several times without consent, Attorney General James said. After Boylan spoke to journalists about it, the governor actively sought to discredit them, releasing personal information about them in the process. The most serious accusation comes from an unnamed employee who described, among other things, that Cuomo had unintentionally grabbed under her blouse and on her chest.
In the investigation report, three witnesses also describe Cuomo's behavior that had not yet been reported. Among those affected is a state police officer who testified that she had been harassed by the politician when she was part of his security team.
James and her staff investigated and interviewed 179 witnesses for five months. This and other material such as emails have broadly confirmed the women's allegations. "I believe these women," said the attorney general on Tuesday when the report was presented. Cuomo himself had been questioned for eleven hours. The 63-year-old politician went public on Tuesday and said again that he had never touched anyone unsolicited. He has spent his entire adult life in service to the citizens. Cuomo played a slideshow that showed him hugging other people in office - his gestures were always there to “convey warmth, nothing more,” he said.