The advisor never filed a formal complaint about the meeting; The governor’s council learned of the allegation earlier this week from other office officials, according to The Times Union.
The newspaper based its report on an anonymous source with knowledge of the allegation.
The new claim will certainly aggravate the most tumultuous crisis in Cuomo’s political career. The governor is facing intense scrutiny of his conduct towards women and is under increasing pressure to resign after two former aides, Lindsey Boylan and Charlotte Bennett, accused him last month of harassing them sexually.
Ms. Boylan, who is running for the Manhattan district presidency, published an essay on February 24 describing a series of disturbing experiences with Cuomo, including a case in which she said he kissed her on the mouth without his consent after a meeting in his New York City office in 2018. Cuomo’s office denied the charges.
Shortly thereafter, Bennett told The New York Times that Cuomo, 63, made sexual openings during an individual meeting at his State Capitol office in June in the midst of the pandemic. Bennett, now 25, said the governor asked if she had sex with older men and whether she had problems with intimacy because of her experience as a sexual assault survivor.
Disturbed by the comments, Ms. Bennett told the governor’s chief of staff about the meeting and provided a lengthy statement to a special governor’s attorney. She was moved to another job more distant from the governor’s office before resigning in November.
Understand the scandals that challenge Governor Cuomo’s leadership
The three-term governor is facing two crises simultaneously:
The accusations – and those of other women who have since described other inappropriate conduct by the governor – have shaken Albany, prompting an increasing number of Democrats to join Republicans to call for the governor’s impeachment or to step down. On Sunday, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the majority leader in the state Senate, became the most powerful Democrat in the state to call for Cuomo’s resignation, prompting many others in his conference to follow suit.
The governor, a third-term Democrat, apologized for comments about the workplace that he said may have hurt or offended women, insisting that he never intended to make anyone feel uncomfortable and never touched anyone inappropriately. .