Charlotte Bennett, a former aide to New York governor Andrew Cuomo, 25, who accused him of sexual harassment, said during a televised interview on Thursday night that she believed the 63-year-old governor had proposed her to sex during a meeting at the workplace.
“Without saying explicitly, he implied that I was old enough for him and that he was alone,” Cuomo’s former aide told Norah O’Donnell of “CBS Evening News.”
In this photo provided by CBS News, Norah O’Donnell, left, interviews Charlotte Bennett, a former aide to Governor Andrew Cuomo, during the CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell, Thursday, March 4, 2021, in New York. Bennett, 25, is accusing Governor Cuomo, 63, of sexual harassment. (Adam Verdugo / CBS News via AP)
She said the governor, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, was encouraged when his national profile increased amid daily updates on television outbreaks.
“I think he felt untouchable in many ways,” she told O’Donnell.
Bennett claimed that the governor called her into his office on June 5 and said he was alone and looking for a girlfriend.
In parts of the interview, she reiterated the statements she made when she presented her accusations to the New York Times earlier in the week. She accused the governor of asking if the age difference mattered and said he said he was “fine” with anyone over 22. Bennett is 25 years old. The incident happened during the summer.
“I thought, he is trying to sleep with me, the governor is trying to sleep with me,” she told O’Donnell. “And I am deeply uncomfortable, and I have to get out of this room as soon as possible.”
She also attacked the governor’s attempt at a public apology, made while reporters questioned him during his first press conference in more than a week on Wednesday.
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“It’s not an apology,” said Bennett. “It is not a question of my feelings. It is a question of his actions. The fact is that he was harassing me sexually and he did not apologize for harassing me sexually. And he cannot even use my name.”
Bennett, who said he told the governor that she was a sexual assault survivor, accused him of insisting on this aspect of his story.
“He asked if I had trouble enjoying being with someone because of my trauma,” she said during the interview. “The governor asked me if I was sensitive to intimacy … during the workday.”
He was her boss, O’Donnell noted.
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She said that due to her position as governor, she felt she had no choice and had trouble escaping the conversation.
“When I was thinking about performing, I think that was when I was most ashamed,” she said. “I was really uncomfortable. … I feel like people put the responsibility on the woman to end this conversation and, in responding, I was somehow engaging in it or allowing it … It didn’t seem like I had a choice. “
During a news conference on Wednesday, the first since three women filed charges against him, Cuomo apologized, denied knowing he was acting inappropriately and said he “learned an important lesson”.
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Another former aide, Lindsey Boylan, accused the governor of forcibly kissing her in an essay published on Medium last week. And a third woman with no professional ties to the governor, Anna Ruch, accused Cuomo of making unwanted strides, touching her exposed lower back and asking to kiss her.
Debra Katz, Bennett’s lawyer, later said that the governor’s comments were “full of falsehoods and inaccurate information.”
“The governor repeatedly said that he had no idea that it made anyone uncomfortable,” said Katz. “My client, Charlotte Bennett, immediately reported her sexual harassment behavior to the chief of staff and the legal advisor. We are sure that they informed you of her complaint.”
In addition to allegations of sexual misconduct and allegations of bullying by lawmakers and journalists, Cuomo also faces a federal investigation into his role in a coronavirus outbreak in New York’s nursing homes that left more than 15,000 patients dead.