A defiant governor Andrew Cuomo on Sunday promised that “there is no way” he will resign on charges of sexual harassment, now filed against him by five women – rejecting resignations because they were motivated by “politics”
“I was elected by the people of the state. I was not elected by politicians, ”said Cuomo during a brief conference call with reporters. “I am not going to quit because of allegations.”
The governor spoke a day after two other former employees, Ana Liss and Karen Hinton, accused him of inappropriate behavior, including improper physical contact – adding to the previous allegations of other former advisors Lindsey Boylan and Charlotte Bennett, as well as Anna Ruch.
“The premise of resigning because of accusations is actually undemocratic,” said Cuomo. “Anyone has the ability to make a claim in a democracy and that’s great. But it is in the credibility of the claim. “
An “embarrassed” Cuomo last week offered a conditional apology “if [his accusers] were offended ”by his remarks, while vehemently denying accusations of improper physical contact.
Cuomo on Sunday characterized Hinton as a “longtime political opponent”, claiming that his claim to the Washington Post that he grabbed her inside a dimly lit hotel room during a 2000 trip to Los Angeles “was not true”.
“Em. Hinton, every woman has the right to perform. It’s true,” said Cuomo. “But the truth also matters. What she said is not true.
“As everyone who has been involved at any level in New York politics knows, she has been a longtime, highly critical political opponent for many, many years and has made many, many accusations,” said Cuomo.
At the time, Cuomo allegedly grabbed Hinton in a way that she described as “too long, too long, too tight, too intimate”, he was serving as head of the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
She later served as a spokesperson for New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, a frequent political rival to Cuomo, and last month was one of several people on the New York political scene to speak out against the alleged pattern of Governor’s “intimidation” behavior.
Asked about Liss’ claim that he asked inappropriate questions about his love life, Cuomo said only that he was involved in “friendly games”
About Liss citing a photograph taken during a 2014 reception showing the governor with his hand around her waist, Cuomo said that over the years he has posed for photos with hundreds of people, including men and women.
“We take pictures with people. If you like the photo, you frame it and put it on your table, ”said Cuomo. “If you don’t like the photo, throw it in the trash. It is your right.
“I never intended to make anyone feel badly received in any way.”
Asked point-blank whether he was accusing women of lying about the experiences, Cuomo offered an apparently contradictory answer.
“No,” he said. “I just said that what Karen Hinton said was not true.”
The third Democratic term said that demands for his resignation – which came from both sides of the political corridor – are motivated by politics, an explanation he previously offered in response to bipartisan calls for an investigation into the management of the coronavirus in nursing. houses.
“There is politics in politics,” he said with a laugh.
“I have political differences with people. I have political differences with Republicans. I have political differences with Sen. [Alessandra] Biaggi, ”continued Cuomo, referring to the Democratic state legislator among those who asked for the governor’s resignation.
“But they do not nullify the will of the people,” he said. “They don’t cancel the elections.”
Arguing the benefit of allegations investigated privately until such time as they are substantiated, Cuomo suggested that Biaggi would not want the charges to be litigated in public.
“If this is what Senator Biaggi wants to do, we will release all allegations that the JCOPE [the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics] and the attorney general and the DAs have it over members of the senate, and then we’re going to put them in the public arena, and then we’re going to decide publicly … if that allegation leads a person to resign, ”said Cuomo. “This is absurd.”
Cuomo firmly stated that he was not resigning the post. “This is democracy,” he said, referring to due process and allowing investigations, such as the one initiated by Attorney General Letitia James, to run its course. “There is no way for me to resign.”