New York State assembly report finds ‘overwhelming evidence’ Cuomo sexually harassed subordinates

The New York state Assembly Judiciary Committee said Monday it found “overwhelming evidence” that disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned in August, engaged in sexual harassment while in office, concluding an eight-month impeachment investigation into multiple allegations of misconduct.

The judiciary committee’s 60-page report, which detailed the investigation by law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, said Cuomo “engaged in multiple instances of sexual harassment, including by creating a hostile work environment and engaging in sexual misconduct.”

In August, Attorney General Letitia James‘ office released its own findings that Cuomo had indeed sexually harassed multiple current and former employees and created a “toxic workplace” at the Governor’s office in violation of federal and state law.

The Assembly Judiciary Committee’s report has significantly more content than the one from James’ office, as it looked at additional potential misconduct relating to other actions Cuomo took while in office.

The report also found that Cuomo tasked top state officials with helping him develop his book, “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic,” and that one senior official even complained in a text message to a colleague that working on the book was compromising his or her ability to work on COVID-related matters.

The former governor “utilized state resources and property, including work by Executive Chamber staff, to write, publish, and promote his book regarding his handling of the COVID-19 crisis, a project for which he was guaranteed at least $5.2 million in personal profit,” the report said.

Investigators also found that the Cuomo administration “was not fully transparent” with the American people about the number of nursing home residents who died as a result of COVID-19, and that out-of-facility deaths were deliberately left out of a published state Department of Health report.

Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi released a statement in response to the report, blasting it as “hypocritical” and “revisionist.”

“Once again, the fact that an employee entered and exited the Executive Mansion as part of her job was never in dispute and once again this report offers no evidence to support any allegation,” Azzopardi’s statement said. “What is interesting is that the Assembly didn’t even try to prove Tish James’ bogus ’11 legal violations,’ and instead only focused on two. When all the facts are fairly weighed there will be none.”