Anna Ruch, 33, said the governor touched her face and back and asked to kiss her moments after they met at a wedding reception in 2019.
The New York Times reports that Anna Ruch said Cuomo put his hands on her lower back and, when she removed them, said he looked “aggressive” and put his hands on her face and asked if he could kiss her.
“I was very confused, shocked and ashamed,” Ruch told the Times, which published a photo of the meeting showing the governor’s hands on his face. “I turned my head and had no words at that moment.”
An email asking for comments was sent to Ruch’s photography business. Their social media accounts were private. An email was also sent to the Cuomo administration for comments.
The report by Ruch, who worked as a photographer at the White House during President Barack Obama’s second term, made her the second woman to accuse Cuomo of touching her without permission, and fueled broader calls for Cuomo to step down, including some at your own party.
Meanwhile, a former aide who accused Governor Cuomo of sexual harassment condemned him as a manipulative predator, rejecting an apology attempt in which he condoned his behavior as “playful”.
Charlotte Bennett, a low-ranking aide in the governor’s government until November, said that Cuomo asked questions about her sex life, including whether she has had sex with older men, and made other comments that she interpreted as a measure of her interest in a case.
“The governor refused to acknowledge or take responsibility for his predatory behavior,” she said in response to his comments. “As we know, abusers – especially those with tremendous amounts of power – are often repeat offenders who engage in manipulation tactics to lessen charges, blame victims, deny wrongdoing and escape the consequences. The governor took 24 hours and a reaction meaningful to allow a truly independent investigation. These are not the actions of someone who simply feels misunderstood; they are the actions of an individual who exercises his power to avoid justice. “
Her statement on Monday was made at the time the New York independent attorney general said she was moving forward with an investigation into the sexual harassment charges that Bennett and another woman, former aide Lindsey Boylan, had filed. against Cuomo.
Boylan, a former economic development adviser, elaborated on the allegations of harassment he made for the first time in December. Boylan said Cuomo subjected her to an unwanted kiss and comments about her appearance.
Bennett’s statement came hours before Ruch made his statement.
Cuomo formally referred the case of his alleged sexual harassment involving advisers to New York Attorney General Letitia James, a necessary step to initiate a subpoena investigation.
The reference also allows James to replace an outside law firm for “a rigorous and independent investigation”.
“This is not a responsibility that we take lightly, as allegations of sexual harassment must always be taken seriously,” said James. “As the letter states, at the end of the review, the findings will be released in a public report.”
The New York Attorney General’s office has read Anna Ruch’s report in the New York Times and will decide whether to incorporate it into the newly launched investigation into the governor’s conduct. His account is different from the previous two because Ruch did not work for Cuomo.
On Twitter, Bennett wrote: “I’m with Anna Ruch. Anna – I’m listening, I see you. I’m sorry. Your inappropriate and aggressive behavior cannot be justified or normalized. Thank you for your courage and strength. Here for you always.”
Cuomo acknowledged for the first time on Sunday that part of his behavior with women “may have been insensitive or very personal” and said he would cooperate with the investigation.
Cuomo, 63, said he intended to mentor Bennett, who is 25. He denied Boylan’s accusations.
In a statement released amid mounting criticism from his own party, the Democrat said he had never touched or made inappropriate proposals to anyone. But he said he teased people about their personal lives in an attempt to be “playful”.
“Now I understand that my interactions may have been insensitive or very personal and that some of my comments, given my position, made others feel in ways I never intended,” he said. “I acknowledge that some of the things I said were misinterpreted as unwanted flirting. To the extent that someone felt that way, I’m really sorry about that.”
WATCH | ‘This is not an apology’: Mayor of Blasio, New York, ponders Governor Cuomo’s statement
“There has to be some decency here, if these claims are proven to be true,” said New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. “I believe that the governor is invalidated and you know that this is a choice that he has to make. Does?”
Senate majority leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly President Carl Heastie, both Democrats, agreed that the attorney general should take care of the investigation.
Republican leaders had, for days, called on James to launch an investigation. On Sunday, the minority leader in the Republican state Senate, Robert Ortt, asked Cuomo to step down.
Congresswoman Kathleen Rice, D-NY, appears to be New York’s first Democrat in Congress now calling for Cuomo’s resignation.
The two American senators from New York, Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, said that an independent investigation is essential.
“These claims are serious and deeply worrying,” said Gillibrand. “As requested by Attorney General James, the matter must be referred to her office so that she can conduct a transparent, independent and complete investigation with subpoena power.”
Cuomo’s statement that women misinterpreted the comments that were intended to be jokes was met with outrage by some people, who said he seemed to be blaming women.
“Is it ‘playful’ to touch an employee’s legs and kiss him on the mouth against his will? Bc better men than A Cuomo were fired for that,” tweeted former Fox News and NBC journalist Megyn Kelly, whose accusations of sexual harassment against the late Fox News president, Roger Ailes, helped lead his resignation.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that President Joe Biden also supported an independent review that “should move forward as quickly as possible”.
The furor comes amid a new round of criticism of Cuomo’s leadership style and the actions his government has taken to protect his reputation as a leader in the coronavirus pandemic.
Cuomo won praise as a strong hand during last spring’s crisis of rising case numbers and overflowing morgues. His book, “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic”, was published in October.
But in recent weeks, his government has been forced to revise its COVID-19 death count in nursing homes, after criticisms that it had underestimated fatalities to blunt accusations that some of its government policies had made the situation worse.
James fueled some of these criticisms by publishing a report saying that the Cuomo government had counted fewer deaths.
Now, your support is waning faster.
“Lindsey Boylan and Charlotte Bennett’s detailed accounts of sexual harassment by Governor Cuomo are extremely serious and painful to read,” Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said on Twitter on Sunday. “There must be an independent investigation – not conducted by an individual selected by the governor, but by the attorney general’s office.”
On Monday, ABC News learned that Cuomo hired New York City attorney Elkan Abramowitz to represent the executive chamber in the federal investigation into data on deaths in nursing homes.
“My company and I are representing the Executive Board on the subject of the nursing home. We were not held back on the issue of sexual harassment,” said Abramowitz.
RELATED | The nursing home directive did not lead to the death of COVID, witnesses the NY health commissioner
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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