In the days after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was first accused of sexual harassment by a former aide, the governor’s office called at least six former officials to find out if they had heard the accuser or for information. about her in conversations that some said they saw as attempts to intimidate them.
Some of the people who received the calls said they had not heard of the government for months before receiving the call about the accuser. One said a person called to encourage them to give reporters any information that discredits the accuser, Lindsey Boylan, who worked as an economic advisor to the Cuomo government between 2015 and 2018.
The calls were made by current government officials and former advisers who are still close to the governor’s office, according to several recipients. The disclosure came at the request of Melissa DeRosa, the governor’s main advisor, according to people familiar with the effort.
“I felt intimidated and perplexed,” said Ana Liss, a former aide to the governor who received one of the calls.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo denied touching anyone inappropriately and apologized for any behavior that may have been misinterpreted.
Photograph:
Seth Wenig / press pool
Ms. Liss, who earlier this month accused Cuomo of inappropriate behavior, said Rich Azzopardi, a senior adviser to Cuomo, called her on December 21. The call came eight days after Boylan said in a post on Twitter that the governor sexually harassed her.
Liss had not worked for the governor for more than five years and could not remember the last time the government had contacted, she said.
She said that Azzopardi reminded her over the phone of how much she had achieved during her time working for the governor and asked if she had received a message from Ms. Boylan. She said no and that the conversation ended on a friendly note.
Azzopardi said in a statement: “After Boylan’s tweets in December, she, her lawyers and members of the press started contacting former members of the Chamber, many of whom never worked with her. The former members of the Chamber called to inform several officials and inform them that they were uncomfortable with the disclosure. As a result, we proactively contacted some former colleagues to verify and ensure that they were informed. “
Azzopardi said the calls were not coordinated by Ms. DeRosa. “There was no targeted effort – that reach happened organically when everyone’s phone started to explode.” He added that they did not intimidate anyone.
In posts on Twitter after the story was published, Boylan said he did not contact anyone in December and that he had no lawyer at the time.
Three former employees of his time as governor and a current Cuomo aide accused the governor of inappropriate behavior or sexual harassment in the workplace, leading to calls from high-ranking Republicans and Democrats for him to step down.
“I felt intimidated and perplexed,” said Ana Liss, a former aide to the governor who received one of the calls.
Photograph:
Libby March for The Wall Street Journal
Democrats who dominate the state assembly have launched an impeachment investigation that will examine the allegations and also how the Cuomo administration handled Covid-19 in nursing homes. State Attorney General Letitia James is now overseeing an investigation into the allegations made by former advisers and how Mr. Cuomo’s office handled the complaints.
Mr. Cuomo denied having touched anyone inappropriately and apologized for any behavior that may have been misinterpreted. He also asked New Yorkers to suspend the trial until James’ investigation is complete.
Ms. Boylan said that Cuomo tried to kiss her on the mouth in her office and, during a flight on her plane in 2017, suggested that they play strip poker.
A spokeswoman for Cuomo denied Boylan’s accusations.
Another former aide, Charlotte Bennett, said Cuomo asked about her sex life and whether she had relationships with older men. Mrs. Liss said he asked her if she had a boyfriend, touched her lower back at a reception and once kissed her hand when she got up from her table. A fourth woman this week accused the governor of touching her inappropriately during a meeting at the Executive Mansion last year.
In a statement on Wednesday, Cuomo said: “As I said yesterday, I never did anything like that. The details of this report are distressing. I will not speak about the details of this or any other allegation, given the ongoing review, but I am confident of the outcome of the Attorney General’s report. “
The governor, in previous statements, encouraged women to come forward and said his office would cooperate with James’ investigation.
But Cuomo and his aides have harassed accusers and rivals in the past, according to court documents and former officials.
In October 2000, Mr. Cuomo, when he was secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, was accused of sexual discrimination and harassment in an internal memo submitted by Susan Gaffney, a former HUD general inspector. She accused Mr. Cuomo and other HUD officials of intimidation and harassment after she launched an audit requested by Congress on some of the work that Mr. Cuomo had overseen.
Ms. Gaffney testified to Congress in 1998 that Cuomo’s aides tried to defame her, including by publishing an anonymous letter that Cuomo allegedly received saying that she was targeting minorities.
At one point, Cuomo assured her that it had nothing to do with the actions of top advisers, she said. “I suggested that if his top advisers were acting without his approval, he should fire them; the secretary did not respond, ”she said in her 1998 statement, adding that the tactics used by Cuomo and his aides were“ dirty tricks ”to force her to resign.
Mrs. Gaffney could not be found.
After Boylan tweeted her account in December, she said in a Medium post on February 24 that the media received “parts of an allegedly confidential personal file” from her time with the government. Ms. Boylan said in the post that she had never seen the file and that it was an effort to stain it.
In response to Ms. Boylan’s complaint about her personal background, Beth Garvey, the governor’s acting advisor, said: “With certain limited exceptions, as a general matter, it is at the discretion of a government entity to share written employment records, including in cases where members of the media request such public information and when it is for the purpose of correcting inaccurate or misleading statements. “
Ms. Boylan also said in the Medium post that “the governor’s supporters called around town, asking about me.”
A recipient of a call said the caller asked in December whether Boylan had contacted the recipient and what the recipient thought of his allegations.
Another recipient of a call said that an interlocutor, a current Cuomo government official, asked if reporters had been contacted about Ms. Boylan and wanted to confirm the nature of the recipient’s experience with Ms. Boylan. “The subtext was clear: I was asked to throw dirt on it,” said the recipient.
Write to Khadeeja Safdar at [email protected], Deanna Paul at [email protected] and Jimmy Vielkind at [email protected]
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