Four women who have accused New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) of sexual harassment have received subpoenas to testify under oath, intensifying a state inquiry into the governor that got underway in March.
The New York Times first reported the subpoenas issued by the New York Attorney General’s office in the investigation into sexual harassment allegations.
Charlotte Bennett, a former aide to the governor whose allegations sparked the attorney general’s inquiry, is expected to provide testimony under oath in the next two weeks, her lawyer, Debra Katz told the Times.
Lindsey Boylan and female staffer who accused Cuomo of groping her in the Executive Mansion in Albany have also been subpoenaed, their lawyers told the Times. Ana Liss also received a subpoena, she told the paper.
Some of the women had already sat for lengthy interviews with investigators in the probe, although not under oath.
A person with knowledge of the investigation told the Times that the inquiry will almost definitely be wrapped up by the end of summer. New York Attorney General Letitia James, however, hasn’t announced a deadline for releasing findings for the inquiry which began in March.
James’ inquiry is just one of the investigations into Cuomo amid mounting claims of sexual harassment, in addition to parallel inquiries into alleged efforts by his office to conceal COVID-19 deaths linked to nursing homes last year.
The issued subpoenas come as outside lawyers hired by the attorney general have made requests for state records and have conducted preliminary interviews in recent months with several of the women now being asked to testify under oath.
Joon Kim, a former federal prosecutor, and Anne Clark, an employment lawyer, who are handling the inquiry have led those interviews, and have collected text messages, emails and photographs that Cuomo’s accusers say support their allegations. Kim has also been examining whether Cuomo or his aides broke any laws, destroyed documents or other evidence or otherwise sought to interfere or retaliate against Cuomo’s accusers.
Cuomo has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and rebuffed calls to step aside as he rounds out his third-term as governor.
An emboldened Cuomo suggested on Thursday that making a person “feel uncomfortable” was not harassment, even though the Times points out he previously signed a law in 2019 that suggests otherwise.
“If I just made you feel uncomfortable, that is not harassment, that is feeling uncomfortable,” Cuomo said on Thursday. “I never said anything I believed was inappropriate. I never meant to make you feel that way.”
Four women served with subpoenae… and they show up and testify. No fuss, no muss. So down florida way, why is the FBI having to “negotiate” with the various women who have, er, transacted with local politicians?
Not like it’s a partisan thing or anything…
Speaking of sexual scandals - nothing like Tr__p running a kompromat honeypot operation against his own National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster. Eric Prince, Amway heir, Chief of Blackwater Mercenary Service Inc., Betsy DeVos’s brother -THAT GUY? Well sorry, but he’s no patriot. It’s a mercenary service for the profit and other benefit of Blackwater and its shareholders, right? Why is this not a huge scandal, already? Do we know that key FBI officials were not compromised and blackmailed by the trust-fund warlord? Was this kompromat operation conducted on the advice of a certain V. Putin? The question seems relevant, as active measures are used by Putin to propagandize so as to diminish citizen respect for institutions of democracy, thus destabilizing western democracies.
Am I a supergenius for opposing this? It seems any pro democracy person would.
Why the heck does the demon Murdock family spread Putin Propaganda? Anybody able to make sense? Talk about putting a “Tapp” on somebody’s “lines”
It looks like my non-Prime account can still post here today. I’m now operating under the impression that this is my last day to comment. I would suggest that while these articles are all important, I would also suggest that they have relatively little impact on the struggle of societies to follow . I’m not talking about Republican vs Democratic or Autocracy vs WeThePeople. All of the political stuff is very important. However, what also concerns me is the existential threat to all of us, despite the obvious denial behavior of many on the right, and the development of long-term scientifically-based policies to best address those threats.
I’m talking about the environment. Global warming. It’s real. Even Satan’s Avatar knows it, but will never admit it. How do I know this? You may recall his interest in Greenland. He wasn’t thinking about golf courses in Greenland. He was thinking about profit from real estate ventures for humanity wishing to move north where the climate will be more hospitable.
When the glaciers go bye-bye in Greenland and Antarctica, we are shit outta luck. The ocean currents will slow and the moderation of winters in Europe by the North Sea will be dramatically reduced, leading to winters similar to Siberia. The glaciers in the Himalayas will become depleted and the great rivers of Asia will flow seasonally. This will lead to significant migration unless renewable energy is used to power desalination plants and massive water pumping stations for vast pipelines to supply locations dependent on those great rivers. And there will be the threat of wars over water resources.
In the United States the lands to the west of the Mississippi river will become arid. The drought conditions in California will worsen. Sorry, but unless we successfully terraform our own planet and start removing CO2 from the atmosphere, life is going to get much harder and more expensive. All the farmlands to the west of the Mississippi will drop greatly in productivity.
Sorry to be all doom and gloom, but I don’t see an effective unified global effort to halt and reverse Global Warming occurring anytime soon.
Take good care and goodbye.
Volvo
Could it have to do with having them talk rather than take the 5th?
Good point, they have unreported income liability, and possibly prostitution under state law.