Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, DN.Y., did not read the sexual harassment complaint made against New York’s Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo by one of her former advisers, she said on Thursday.
Gillibrand made the admission to reporters, according to Politico. Cuomo’s former aide, Lindsey Boylan, published an essay on Medium this week accusing Cuomo of unwanted kisses and touches while working in his office. She also claimed that he had employees arrange meetings with her, where he made inappropriate comments, and once asked her to play “strip poker”.
“Well, obviously these allegations are serious and deeply worrying and anyone has the right to come forward to be heard and have the allegations investigated,” said Gillibrand. “Governor Cuomo also has the right to be heard and has come forward and denied these charges. But ultimately, the decision will be up to the state.”
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Boylan also wrote that he hopes that “the governor and his top advisers will try to disparage me even more, just as they did with Assembly member Kim” – who has come forward in recent weeks with his own accusations against the governor of intimidating and threatening him it.
The focus on Cuomo comes when liberal CNN and the governor’s brother, host Chris Cuomo, give Democratic controversies little or no airtime. The network previously gave Chris Cuomo carte blanche to conduct friendly, comical interviews with the governor, who wrote a book on how to deal with the pandemic in the midst of the pandemic.
Gillibrand qualified as a champion of sexual harassment victims and was one of the most prominent Democratic voices at the height of the #MeToo movement.
She led the charge against Brett Kavanaugh during his 2018 Supreme Court confirmation battle, the famous statement that he was guilty of the sexual assault charge brought against him by Christine Blasey Ford because he did not ask the FBI to review it.
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Gillibrand also led his caucus in the expulsion of former Senator Al Franken, D-Minn., After he was accused by several women of sexual harassment and misconduct in 2017. Many Democrats later said they were hasty in forcing Franken’s resignation. , but Gillibrand said she had no regrets.
“My only decision was whether or not I chose to remain silent. My decision was whether or not I chose to carry his water and defend him with my silence, ”she said in 2019, during her brief presidential campaign.
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She was criticized in 2019 for handling a sexual harassment complaint in her Senate office. One of her aides resigned in protest after she accused Gillibrand’s team leader of unwanted advances and said the office had not properly investigated her accusation.
Cuomo’s office denied Boylan’s allegations. It is yet another controversy involving the governor, who is also facing an investigation into his suspected cover-up of deaths in nursing homes by coronavirus and accusations of intimidating members of his own party.
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Gililbrand endorsed Cuomo in 2018 when he was challenged from his left by actress Cynthia Nixon, but Cuomo did not return the favor when she ran for president, instead opting for eventual candidate and winner Joe Biden.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.