Andrew Cuomo resigns as New York Governor a week after AG report amid sexual harassment allegations
Cuomo QUITS one week after AG report found he sexually harassed 11 women: NY governor maintains innocence but stands down ‘to let government can focus on COVID’
- Governor Andrew Cuomo announced his resignation on Tuesday; it will take effect in 14 days
- The 63-year-old said he is innocent of the claims in the Attorney General’s report but that defending himself through an impeachment trial will take up precious time and money
- Kathy Hochul, Cuomo’s Lieutenant Governor, will become the first female governor of New York
- Cuomo started his 20 minute speech by saying he was the victim of a political attack by AG Letitia James
- He also said #MeToo had gone too far and that there have been ‘cultural shifts’ that he ‘didn’t understand’
- Impeachment by the New York State Assembly was looking more like an inevitability for Cuomo
- 86 of the 150 members in the Assembly said they would vote to impeach – 10 more than the majority needed
- Cuomo also apologized to the state trooper who says he touched her inappropriately on her belly and back
- He said he didn’t remember doing it but that he sometimes touched troopers as a way to ‘thank them’
- He also addressed his three daughters, calling them his ‘jewels’, and saying: ‘Your dad made mistakes’
- Cuomo is still facing criminal investigations in Manhattan, Albany and Westchester
- At least one of his accusers – Lindsey Boylan – says she intends to sue him and others in his staff
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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has resigned, bringing an end to a 40-year political career that made him a pandemic hero but is now in ruin thanks to a damning report by Attorney General Letitia James which labeled him a serial sexual harasser.
Speaking on Tuesday morning in New York City, Cuomo insisted he is innocent and has never groped anyone, but is stepping aside in the interest of the people so government can focus on COVID.
In a 20-minute speech, he addressed his three daughters, calling them his ‘jewels’ and saying he had ‘made mistakes and learned from them’, but insisting he was not the serial abuser the report made him out to be.
He apologized to the women who he ‘offended’ and said he didn’t understand how the ‘line had been redrawn’ by #MeToo. He will replaced by Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul in two weeks.
Impeachment by the New York State Assembly was looking more like an inevitability for Cuomo, with 86 of the 150 members confirming last week they would vote him out – ten more than would be needed.
They were not just looking at the sexual harassment report but also claims that Cuomo used state resources to fund his book, gave his family early access to COVID tests and obscured the number of nursing home residents who died from the virus to avoid criticism after ordering thousands of them back in into homes.
‘The best way I can help now is if I step aside and let government get back to government… so therefore that is what I’ll do because I work for you. Doing the right thing is doing the right thing for you,’ he said.
Among the first to celebrate his resignation was Mayor Bill de Blasio, who was routinely overruled and ridiculed by Cuomo during the pandemic on how to handle it in New York City.
De Blasio told the press in a statement: ‘Make no mistake, this is the result of survivors bravely telling their stories. It was past time for Andrew Cuomo to resign and it’s for the good of all New York.’
Cuomo spoke from New York City. He has been hiding out in Albany since last week, when the Attorney General’s report was released
Cuomo spoke for around 20 minutes from his New York City headquarters.
Cuomo will be replaced by Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul in two weeks. She is expected to serve out the rest of his current term, which ends in November 2022
He also credited New Yorkers for how they fought COVID, giving an emotional eulogy to the city’s ‘fallen brothers and sisters’ and how sirens ‘filled the city’s silence’ after ‘the enemy landed’.
The first half of his speech was devoted to undermining the AG’s report and explaining why he thought his behavior was acceptable.
‘The report said I sexually harassed 11 women. The reaction was outrage. It should have been. However it was also false.
‘My lawyers have reviewed the report and raised serious issues and flaws that should concern all New Yorkers.
‘When there is a lack of fairness it is a concern for everyone. The most serious allegations made against me have no credible factual basis. There is a difference between alleged improper conduct and concluding sexual misconduct. This is not to say there are not 11 women who I truly offended.
Hochul will be New York’s first female governor
‘There are and for that I deeply, deeply apologize.’
He went on to say that he thought a hug was ‘friendly’ and kissing women on the cheeks at weddings was ‘being nice’.
He then launched into his resignation, saying: ‘You know me, I am New Yorker, born and bred, I am a fighter.
‘My instinct is to fight through this controversy because I truly believe it is politically motivated.
‘I believe it is unfair and untruthful and I believe it demonizes behavior that is unsustainable for society.
‘If I could communicate the facts through the frenzy, New Yorkers would understand.
‘But when I took my oath as governor, I became a fighter but I became a fighter for you and it is your best interest that I must serve.
‘This situation, by its current trajectory, will generate months of political and legal controversy. That is what is going to happen. That is how the political wind is blowing.
‘It will consume government, cost taxpayers millions of dollars, it will brutalize people.
‘The State Assembly outlined weeks of process that will then lead to months of litigation.
‘Time and money that government should spend managing COVID, guarding against the Delta variant, reopening up state, fighting gun violence, and saving New York City.
‘All that time would be wasted… government really needs to function today. Government needs to perform. It is a matter of life and death. Wasting energy on distractions is the last thing state government should be doing.
‘I cannot be the cause of that…. given the circumstances, the best way I can help now is if I step aside and let government get back to government.
Cuomo had been facing impeachment by the New York State Assembly – a process that would have taken months and, he said, cost millions in precious tax payer dollars.
The Judiciary Committee investigating him wasn’t just looking at the sexual harassment claims, but also his handling of nursing home deaths in COVID-19, whether he used state resources write and promote his book, or if he gave his family early access to COVID-19 tests when they were hard to come by.
The sexual harassment allegations began last December with the tweets of Lindsey Boylan, a former staffer who says he made inappropriate remarks to her.
The most serious allegation is that of Brittany Commisso, who says he groped her breast in the Executive Mansion in November 2020.
Cuomo denies her claim but he admitted making inappropriate comments to some of the women, saying it’s his way of speaking to people.
On Tuesday he specifically apologized to the state trooper who says he ‘touched her belly’ and ran his finger down her back and said if he did ever touch her, it was his way of thanking her for her service.
He went on to suggest that #MeToo has gone too far and that he didn’t understand what would now be considered inappropriate.
‘In my mind, I’ve never crossed the line with anyone but I didn’t realize the extent to which the line has been redrawn.
‘There are generational and cultural shifts that I just didn’t fully appreciate. And I should have. No excuses,’ he said.
Cuomo addressed his three adult daughters, calling them his ‘jewels’. ‘Your dad made mistakes and he apologized and he learned from it. That’s what life is all about,’ he said
Melissa DeRosa, one of the Governor’s most loyal aides, resigned on Sunday. She was seen visiting the Governor less than 24 hours later. He thanked her in his resignation speech
Earlier on Tuesday, Cuomo’s attorney Rita Glavin gave a press conference where she again tried to undermine the women’s allegations and say James’ investigation was biased.
Glavin used a slideshow that was similar to the type Cuomo uses to give COVID-19 updates to chip away at the women’s claims.
She asked why only 41 of the 179 witness interviews in the report have been transcribed and made public, and said the AG left out ‘favorable evidence that did not support the narrative’.
One of the most problematic claims, she said, was that of the doctor who gave Cuomo his COVID-19 test last March on camera at one of his press conferences.
He told her “you make that gown look good”, referring to her PPE. The Governor made a joke to the doctor in the hospital gown.
Protected against COVID while she gave him a test.
‘He said in front of the whole world, “you make that gown look good.” That’s not sexual harassment. I don’t know why that was included in the report except to add another number and make the governor look bad,’ Glavin said.
Lindsey Boylan said Cuomo harassed her with inappropriate remarks then launched a smear campaign against her when she quit in 2018. Brittany Commisso says Cuomo groped her breast in his office in November 2020
She added that investigators failed to interview key witnesses who could have contested the women’s allegations and that it was a deliberate attempt to oust him.
Cuomo with accuser Brittany Commisso in his office. She says he had just rubbed her backside for five seconds before they took this photo
‘I don’t mean to take away from how this woman felt but we do need to think qualitatively about what these women say.’
She pointed to a selfie that Brittany Commisso took with Cuomo, after he allegedly ‘rubbed her butt’ and said that it does not show her looking uncomfortable.
‘For me as a lawyer, as a former prosecutor, I often use pictures as exhibits at trial. The Governor did not violate Brittany Commisso, he did not rub her rear end before this photo.
‘I think this picture demonstrates the comfort level of someone who wanted a selfie with the Governor.
‘She sent this to her friend, and there is a footnote, her friend said: “I’m so jealous.”
‘Men should also be believed and treated fairly. All people should be given that and everybody should have a chance to respond.
‘Everybody should be scrutinized by facts and context. That hasn’t happened here. Our country has a rule of law. I believe in the rule of law. Not mob mentality and not media mentality.
‘The Governor deserves to be treated fairly and that did not happen here,’ Glavin said. he is who will now represent him in any criminal cases and lawsuits.
Among those to celebrate Cuomo’s resignation on Tuesday was New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who was regularly overruled by Cuomo during the pandemic.
In a statement to the press less than an hour after Cuomo resigned, de Blasio said: ‘Make no mistake, this is the result of survivors bravely telling their stories.
‘It was past time for Andrew Cuomo to resign and it’s for the good of all New York.’
Meet the ‘down to earth’ Irish immigrants’ daughter who will replace Cuomo: Kathy Hochul was once endorsed by the NRA and replaced a male colleague who was busted soliciting sex on Craigslist
Lieutenant Gov. Kathy Hochul who will replace Cuomo if he resigns or is impeached, which is becoming increasingly likely. The 62-year-old mother-of-two is an Irish immigrants’ granddaughter who started her political career upstate with more conservative policies than Cuomo’s
The woman who will replace Andrew Cuomo is Lieutenant Kathy Hochul, the granddaughter of Irish immigrants who was handpicked by the embattled governor and has now turned against him.
Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul, 62, will become the first female governor in New York’s history when she replaces Cuomo in two weeks, on August 24.
Throughout the pandemic, she has taken a quiet backseat to her boss’s very public profile after being cherry-picked by him in 2014.
She won another political role in 2011 by replacing Rep. Chris Lee, her married male colleague who was caught soliciting women for sex on Craigslist.
Hochul was only in his seat for a year before being replaced. Previously, she ran upstate as a more conservative candidate and was once endorsed by the NRA.
In 2007, when she was the Erie County Clerk, she went against the then Governor Elliot Spitzer’s effort to give all undocumented migrants driver’s licenses.
She was endorsed again in 2012, when running against Chris Collins, but she lost that election.
Hochul was chosen by Cuomo in 2014, replacing former Lieutenant Gov. Lieutenant-Governor Robert Duff, and was re-elected along with Cuomo in 2018.
Hochul grew up in upstate New York, the daughter of a steelworker father once so poor his family had to live in a trailer, before he became a successful businessman.
She has served Cuomo loyally but this week, as the Attorney General found him guilty of sexually harassing at least 11 women, she turned on him.
Hochul – who grew up in upstate New York, the daughter of a steelworker father, has served Cuomo loyally but this week, as the Attorney General found him guilty of sexually harassing at least 11 women, she turned on him.
Hochul’s husband is William J. Hochul Jr, a prosecutor of 23 years whose convictions include those of the Lackwanna Six – six American men who joined al-Qaeda.
Hochul was endorsed by the NRA in 2007 when she was running as Erie County Clerk but she has since become decidedly anti-gun and is shown above at a 2019 rally against gun violence. In the background is AG Letitia James – who found Cuomo guilty in her report this week
‘The AG’s investigation has documented repulsive & unlawful behavior by the Governor towards multiple women. I believe these brave women & admire their courage coming forward.
‘No one is above the law. Under the New York Constitution, the Assembly will now determine the next steps.
‘Because Lieutenant Governors stand next in the line of succession, it would not be appropriate to comment further on the process at this moment,’ she tweeted.
Her husband is William J. Hochul Jr, a prosecutor of 23 years whose convictions include those of the Lackwanna Six – six American men who joined al-Qaeda.
In 2011, Hochul replaced Rep. Chris Lee who was caught soliciting women for sex on Craigslist despite being married
He is now a private attorney but was previously the United States attorney for the Western District of New York.
The pair live in Buffalo in a $800,000, three-bedroom apartment, according to public records.
Their kids are in their early 30s. Katie, or Caitlin, works for PR firm Concepts Inc whose past clients include The Gates Foundation and the Justice Department.
Her son, William Hochul III, is a DC lawyer.
Unlike Cuomo – whose father was a governor and who grew up in wealth and New York society – Hochul’s family are Irish immigrants.
On her public bio, she talks about how her mother and father lived at one time in a trailer on the grounds of the steel plant where her father worked in Buffalo.
She describes herself as ‘progressive’ and is keenly pro-choice and pro-LGBTQ rights. Hochul is well-liked upstate, where Cuomo’s popularity has evaporated.
‘She is probably one of the most down-to-earth people that you could ever meet.
‘She’s gone to great heights in government, yet one-to-one, she is so accessible and so warm and just a very generous person.
‘She’s always able to help — particularly women, too,’ Assembly member Karen McMahon told Politico recently.
‘She works hard, she listens to people, she cares. In any state, you want for your lieutenant governor somebody who can do the job of governor. It doesn’t always happen, but in Kathy Hochul’s case she has the ability to do the job if it comes to it,’ Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan told The Wall Street Journal.
