A second former New York governor aide, Andrew Cuomo, accused him of sexual harassment.
Charlotte Bennett, 25, a former executive assistant and health policy advisor in the administration, said The New York Times that Cuomo asked her several questions about her sex life and relationships, including whether she had ever slept with an older man and whether she was romantically involved with other team members when the two were alone in her office in June 2020. She said he said he was open to a relationship with a woman in her 20s and was looking for a girlfriend in Albany.
“I understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me and felt terribly uncomfortable and afraid,” she said, adding that “I assumed it was the end of my job.” She reported the incident to his chief of staff and gave a statement about the incident to the office of a special lawyer, after which, she said, she was transferred from the governor to a job on the other side of the Capitol building. His parents and friends confirmed to the Times that she mentioned the conversation with Cuomo in the following days.
Cuomo told the Times he was acting as a mentor to Bennett and that she had opened up to him about being a sexual assault survivor. He did not deny having asked personal questions.
“I never made any progress towards Mrs. Bennett, nor did I intend to act inappropriately,” he said. “This situation cannot and should not be resolved in the press. I believe that the best way to get to the truth is through a complete and complete external review and I am instructing all state employees to carry out this effort. “
Beth Garvey, the governor’s special adviser, said Bennett “was consulted on the resolution and expressed satisfaction and appreciation for the way it was treated.”
A former federal judge will conduct a review of the matter.
Bennett’s allegations come shortly after another former aide, Lindsey Boylan, says that Cuomo had repeatedly “harassed [me] about my appearance ”and that the conduct continued“ for years ”, at one point leaving her“ in shock ”after the governor allegedly subjected her to an unsolicited kiss. A spokesman for Cuomo said of Boylan’s allegations: “There is simply no truth to these allegations.”
Accusations of harassment are not the only scandal that deceives Cuomo. The way he handled asylums during the coronavirus pandemic caused considerable political consequences after he wrote a book on victory entitled American Crisis: COVID-19 Pandemic Leadership Lessons. An aide said his government intentionally underestimated the deaths of COVID-19 nursing home residents for fear of prosecution and political reaction.
Cuomo responded firmly to criticism from his administration. New York lawmaker Ron Kim said Cuomo had threatened to “destroy him” after Kim called for an investigation into the death toll at the nursing home. His enemies, smelling blood in the water, poured out a decade-long resentment into their bitter criticism of their fear-ridden policy style.