A woman who accused New York Governor Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment told investigators on Monday that he was concerned about talking to subordinates about “the size of his hands” and “what the size of his hands indicated “, revealed his lawyer.
The accuser, former Cuomo advisor Charlotte Bennett, spent four hours chatting via Zoom teleconferencing software with investigators conducting an investigation into allegations of her and several other women that the Democrat sexually harassed them or made inappropriate comments and physical contact. .
The investigation is being overseen by state attorney general Letitia James.
Bennett, 25, “detailed his allegations of sexual harassment and provided investigators with more than 120 pages of contemporary records, as well as other examples of documentary evidence, to support his charges against Governor Cuomo and his senior team,” his lawyer Debra Katz said. in a statement.
Katz said Bennett gave investigators “detailed information about the sexually hostile work environment that the governor promoted in his Manhattan and Albany offices and his deliberate effort to create rivalries and tension among the employees he paid attention to.”
“A new piece of information that came up today was the governor’s concern about the size of his hands and what the size of his hands indicated to Charlotte and other members of his team,” said Katz.
The lawyer said the investigators “have acted quickly and sensitively to get to the heart of these charges.”
“We remain confident that their investigation will substantiate Charlotte’s allegations of sexual harassment against Governor Cuomo, as well as the failure of her senior team to comply with mandatory reporting requirements under the very laws he signed,” said Katz.
She also said that “it is imperative” that the investigation focus not only on Cuomo’s conduct towards women, “but also on the culture of fear, abuse and secrecy that he and his senior staff have cultivated”.
“To that end, we have complete confidence in the investigation and the investigators. We urge others who have been subjected to inappropriate conduct by the governor – and we know that you are there – to present what you have experienced,” said Katz. “And for those who have observed the behavior, we recommend that you do the same.”
Dozens of Democrats in the New York legislature and in the state’s parliamentary delegation, including the two U.S. senators, last week demanded that Cuomo resign in the middle of his third term in light of the claims of Bennett and other women.
Cuomo, who also faces an impeachment investigation pending in the state legislature, has repeatedly refused to do so. Cuomo’s office did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Bennett told The New York Times last month that Cuomo, 63, last year asked her questions about her sex life and whether she has had sex with older men.
At the time, Bennett, who had played football in high school against one of Cuomo’s daughters, worked for him as an executive assistant and health policy consultant.
“I understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me and he felt terribly uncomfortable and scared,” Bennett told the newspaper when describing an incident last June in which Cuomo complained of being alone and asked her, “Who did I hug last? “
Cuomo said he never advanced towards Bennett or behaved inappropriately with other women.
On Monday, a new survey by Siena College revealed that 50% of New York voters said Cuomo should not resign immediately, while 35% said he should resign. And 57% of voters said they were satisfied with the way he handled the charges.
The governor attended a Covid vaccination post on Long Island on Monday, where he was praised by the authorities. There was no mention of the growing sexual harassment scandal and reporters were not allowed to ask questions.
On Sunday, The Washington Post and The New York Times reported that Larry Schwartz, a former Cuomo adviser who now serves as the state’s Covid-19 vaccination secretary, asked state Democratic leaders to support Cuomo, even while he discuss immunizations with them.
Last Friday, a county executive’s attorney filed a preliminary complaint with the attorney general’s office of public integrity about a possible ethical violation by the Cuomo office, The Times reported.
Several officials who spoke to the Post said they feared Cuomo’s retaliation if they spoke out against him.
A county official told the Post, “I didn’t think there was a correlation between the response I would give and my vaccine supply.”
“But I could see how maybe someone else had that impression,” added the official.
Schwartz, who at one point last year lived in the governor’s mansion, said he did nothing wrong with the calls.
Beth Garvey, acting governor of the governor, said on Monday that “the distribution of the vaccine in New York is based on objective criteria to ensure that it matches the eligible populations, to ensure equity and the ability to administer vaccines quickly in arms”.
“To be clear, Larry’s conversations did not bring about the distribution of vaccines – he would never link political support to public health decisions,” said Garvey.
“Distorting Larry’s role or intentions for headlines slanders a decades-old public servant who has done nothing but volunteer since March to help New York overcome the COVID pandemic. Any suggestion that Larry acted unethically or in any other way than in the best interests of the New Yorkers he served selflessly is patently false. “