A New York state Republican and other critics – including former “Sex and the City” star Cynthia Nixon – reacted scornfully on Saturday after a retired judge was appointed to conduct a “review” of the sexual harassment allegations against Governor Andrew Cuomo.
After Cuomo authorized an external review after the latest allegations raised by former aide Charlotte Bennett, the governor’s special attorney, Beth Garvey, announced that the investigation would be conducted by Barbara Jones, a former federal judge.
But Cuomo’s critics quickly noticed that Jones is a former law firm colleague of Steve Cohen, a former Cuomo adviser. They wondered if Jones could bring the impartiality that a review of serious allegations would require.
NY DEMS CONDEMN NEW CUOMO SEXUAL HARASSMENT CLAIMS, CALL YOUR INDEPENDENT PROBE
“Who asked the judge to review the new allegations?” Asked Nixon. “If the answer is the Cuomo government itself, let’s make it clear that it is an internal job, NOT an external review.
In a previous post on Friday, Nixon scoffed at a statement Cohen made on Thursday, defending Cuomo, his former boss. Cohen’s comments came after allegations of sexual harassment by Cuomo’s first accuser, Lindsey Boylan.
“I can say that never in my life working with the governor, the former attorney general, private citizen Andrew Cuomo, I have never seen anything like what Ms. Boylan described,” Cohen told reporters, according to New York Daily news. “His conduct has always been in my presence with the members of the other team, appropriate, not that it is always fun and entertaining, but it is always appropriate and he pushes for results.”
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and former principal opponent Cynthia Nixon. (Associated Press)
But Nixon, who launched a candidacy to challenge Cuomo for governor in 2018, did not believe in Cohen’s defense of the Democrat.
“For Steve Cohen, who has never witnessed Cuomo harass women,” wrote Nixon, “if that isn’t incredibly obvious, he won’t do it in front of you, then SIT.”
Other critics of Jones’ choice as judge of Cuomo’s review included Republican state deputy Mike Lawler, who called for Cuomo’s immediate resignation.
“@NYGovCuomo ‘independent’ investigator Barbara Jones has previously worked with former governor secretary Steve Cohen,” wrote Lawler on Twitter. “You know, the guy who just came out officially defending Cuomo the other day. Barbara Jones should immediately refuse the position.”
In a subsequent tweet, Lawler asked Cuomo to step down and asked state attorney general Letitia James to “appoint a special prosecutor to investigate all complaints against the governor and his accomplice team.”
At least two former Cuomo advisers accused the governor of sexual harassment last week.
First Boylan, in rehearsal on the website Medium, accused the governor of unwanted kisses and touches while working in his office. She also said that Cuomo had officials organize meetings with her, where he made inappropriate comments.
“Let’s play strip poker,” said Boylan Cuomo, commented on a flight from an event in October 2017.
A statement from Cuomo’s office on Wednesday denied the allegations.
“As we said before, Boylan’s claims about inappropriate behavior are simply false,” said press secretary Caitlin Girouard.
Then, on Saturday, Bennett told The New York Times that Cuomo allegedly “asked questions about her sex life, whether she was monogamous in her relationships and whether she had ever had sex with older men.”
In a press release on Saturday, Cuomo called Bennett “a valuable and hardworking member of our team during COVID”, who has “every right to speak up”.
“When she came to me and talked about being a sexual assault survivor and how it shaped her and her continued efforts to create an organization that would empower her voice to help other survivors, I tried to support and help,” said Cuomo in a statement, which was issued to the Times. “Mrs. Bennett’s initial impression was right: I was trying to be a mentor to her. I never made any progress towards Ms. Bennett nor did I intend to act inappropriately. The last thing I wanted was to do it feel any of the things that are being reported. “
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Cuomo added that he “would have no further comment” until a “complete and complete external review” of Bennett’s allegations is conducted and completed.
Accusations of sexual harassment followed a torrent of criticism against Cuomo for dealing with the coronavirus among patients in state hospitals. The charges include the alleged underreporting of deaths attributable to the virus after the governor asked that patients be admitted to nursing homes after treatment in hospitals.
Vandana Rambaran and Joseph A. Wulfsohn of Fox News contributed to this story.