NEW YORK (AP) – A second former aide brought charges of sexual harassment against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who responded with a statement on Saturday saying he never made progress on her and never intended to be inappropriate .
Charlotte Bennett, a health policy advisor in the Democratic governor’s administration until November, told The New York Times that Cuomo asked inappropriate questions about her sex life, including whether she had ever had sex with older men.
Another former adviser, Lindsey Boylan, former undersecretary for economic development and special adviser to the governor, recently accused Cuomo to subject her to an unwanted kiss and inappropriate comments. Cuomo denied the charges.
Cuomo said in a statement on Saturday that Bennett was a “valuable and hardworking member of our team during COVID” and that “she has every right to speak up”.
He said he intended to be Bennett’s 25-year-old mentor.
“I never made any progress towards Ms. Bennett nor did I intend to act inappropriately,” said Cuomo’s statement. “The last thing I would like to do is make her feel any of the things that are being reported.”
Cuomo, however, said he had authorized an external review of Bennett’s claims.
The governor’s special attorney, Beth Garvey, said the review would be conducted by a former federal judge, Barbara Jones.
“I ask all New Yorkers to await the conclusions of the review so that they know the facts before making any judgment,” said Cuomo. “I will have no further comments until the review is complete.”
Bennett told the Times that her most disturbing interaction with Cuomo happened last June 5, when she was alone with him in his office in Albany. She said Cuomo started asking about her personal life, her thoughts on romantic relationships, including whether age was a factor, and said she was open to relationships with women in their 20s.
Bennett said he also shied away from Cuomo’s question about hugs, saying he missed hugging his parents. She said that Cuomo never touched her.
“I understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me and was terribly uncomfortable and scared,” Bennett told the Times. “And I was wondering how I was going to get out of this and I assumed it was the end of my job.”
Bennett said he informed Cuomo’s chief of staff, Jill DesRosiers, about the interaction less than a week later. She said she was transferred to another job on the opposite side of the Capitol. In late June, she said she also gave a statement to a special lawyer in Cuomo.
Garvey acknowledged that the complaint was made and that Bennett was transferred as a result to a position in which she was already interested.
Bennett told the newspaper he ended up deciding not to press for any further action by the administration. She said she liked her new job and “wanted to move on.”
The allegations did not result in any action against Cuomo at the time.
Jones, who will oversee the investigation, was appointed to the bench by President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, in 1995. As a judge, she overturned a portion of the Marriage Defense Act that denied federal recognition of same-sex marriage in one decision later confirmed by the United States Supreme Court.
After retiring, she joined the Bracewell LLP law firm, where her work focuses on investigations and corporate compliance.
His arbitration work included a 2014 decision that rejected Ray Rice’s NFL suspension for punching his fiance in an elevator in a videotaped attack.