New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is now in deep trouble. Even President Joe Biden has called for Cuomo to resign. The reason? Democratic State Attorney General Letitia James announced Tuesday that, after a nearly five-month investigation conducted by two well-respected outside lawyers, there is credible evidence to support allegations that Cuomo sexually harassed multiple current and former state government employees. Cuomo also was found to have retaliated against at least one former employee for complaining publicly about his conduct.
The damning findings against Cuomo are laid out in a lengthy investigative report. The report ended as follows:
Upon completion of our independent investigation into allegations of sexual harassment brought against Governor Andrew Cuomo and the surrounding circumstances, we have reached the conclusion that the Governor sexually harassed a number of State employees through unwelcome and unwanted touching, as well as by making numerous offensive and sexually suggestive comments. We find that such conduct was part of a pattern of behavior that extended to his interactions with others outside of State government.
We also find the Executive Chamber’s response to allegations of sexual harassment violated its internal policies and that the Executive Chamber’s response to one complainant’s allegations constituted unlawful retaliation. In addition, we conclude that the culture of fear and intimidation, the normalization of inappropriate comments and interactions, and the poor enforcement of the policies and safeguards, contributed to the sexual harassment, retaliation, and an overall hostile work environment in the Executive Chamber.
The bottom line, as Attorney General James pointed out in her press conference announcing the results of the investigation, was that Cuomo had “violated federal and state law” with his sexual misconduct.
Last winter, multiple women came forward alleging that Cuomo had engaged in sexually inappropriate behavior towards them, including, in some cases, groping and kissing them without their consent. It was a situation of “he said-they said,” as Cuomo denied all the accusations.
Now, after the independent investigation backed up the women’s claims, Cuomo is continuing his defiance. He claimed that he “never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances.” He attacked the media and claimed he was the victim of political bias. Despite his crumbling defenses, Cuomo still refuses to resign.
Every employer in New York State is required to provide employees with sexual harassment prevention training on an annual basis. It is not clear whether Cuomo himself has taken the course annually.
Freedom Center founder David Horowitz has stressed on Twitter that “we should all be clear, though Cuomo richly deserves the misery he is in, and deserves having his political career being terminated, though he is a hypocrite, a bully and a liar, this is a lynching – and I’m disappointed that I haven’t seen a Republican saying so.” True enough, Cuomo does deserve, as Horowitz stresses, due process. At the same time, Horowitz is undeniably correct that Cuomo is the poster boy for hypocrisy:
“The allegations of sexual assault against Judge Kavanaugh are disturbing and deeply concerning,” Cuomo tweeted on September 18, 2018 as now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh was facing unsubstantiated charges during his Senate confirmation hearing for a seat on the Supreme Court. “I call on the Senate to postpone any vote until the allegations are fully investigated. Our democracy demands nothing less.”
About a week later, Cuomo accused Senate Republicans and the Trump administration of treating the claims of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh by his chief accuser with disrespect.
“There is a disrespect for women that this administration chronically exemplifies. After the Me Too movement, they did absolutely nothing when it came to sexual harassment,” Cuomo moralized. He continued:
They have always diminished the charges of women. Always. Consistently. And they’re doing it again. To cheapen or ridicule the pain a woman suffers from a sexual attack is disgusting — sexist and disgusting…I mean it’s just insensitive, you don’t understand the pain, you don’t understand how the system tortures a person who wants to come forward.
But now, as events reveal, Cuomo himself might not have mastered the whole “sensitivity” aspect himself when it came to matters of sexual harassment. And his own party is now turning ferociously against him. As mentioned above, President Biden, who once reportedly praised Cuomo for his “enormous balls,” said that Cuomo should now resign. Democrat New York Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul tweeted:
Sexual harassment is unacceptable in any workplace, and certainly not in public service. The AG’s investigation has documented repulsive & unlawful behavior by the Governor towards multiple women. I believe these brave women & admire their courage coming forward.
Democrats in the New York State Assembly held an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss next steps in moving ahead with their impeachment probe.
Speaker Carl Heastie said that State Attorney General James’ findings were “gut-wrenching,” adding that the conduct the report described “would indicate someone who is not fit for office.” Heastie issued a statement saying,
After our conference this afternoon to discuss the attorney general’s report concerning sexual harassment allegations against Gov. Cuomo, it is abundantly clear to me that the governor has lost the confidence of the Assembly Democratic majority and that he can no longer remain in office.
At one time, Governor Cuomo was fully in lockstep with the avenging Left when it came to going after Kavanaugh and former President Trump.
And now the utopian revolution is, once again, eating its own.
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