Former Cuomo Aide Details Sexual Harassment Allegations
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Jemima McEvoyForbes StaffBusinessI'm a British-born reporter covering breaking news for Forbes.
A former aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo who had previously accused the Democratic leader of abusing his power to sexually harass her details her allegations in a post published Wednesday, adding "many other women" were subjected to the same treatment by the governor.
Key Facts
Lindsey Boylan, a long-time state government employee who served as the governor's special advisor in 2018 and is now running for Manhattan borough president, first made public her accusations of sexual harassment against Cuomo in early December on Twitter, as his name was being floated for U.S. Attorney General under the Biden administration.
Cuomo denied the allegations when they were initially made, and Cuomo's Press Secretary Caitlin Girouard labeled the latest claims "quite simply false" in a statement released hours after the post was published, specifically challenging Boyland's account of an October 2017 flight in which Cuomo allegedly said, "Let's play strip poker."
"We were on each of these October flights and this conversation did not happen," wrote Girouard (representatives for Cuomo did not respond to requests for comment).
In the Wednesday post, published on Medium, Boylan alleges Cuomo acted inappropriately toward her and sexually harassed her for years after the two met in January 2016 while she was working as chief of staff at the state's economic development agency, adding that he "would go out of the way to touch me on my lower back, arms and legs" (Cuomo was at the time in a relationship with cookbook author Sandra Lee).
She says she only accepted a promotion to be the governor's special advisor in 2018 with the requirement that she "remain on a separate floor from him and his inner circle."
Previously justifying the alleged harassment as "only words," Boylan said she submitted her resignation in September 2018 after Cuomo kissed her on the lips during a one-on-one briefing about economic and infrastructure projects.
"I am letting my Medium post speak for itself," Boylan said when asked for further comment by Forbes.
Tangent
Boylan claims she was approached by two other women who shared similar experiences working in the Cuomo administration after she first made her allegations public in December: "Both told me they are too afraid to speak out."
Crucial Quote
"Governor Andrew Cuomo has created a culture within his administration where sexual harassment and bullying is so pervasive that it is not only condoned but expected," Boylan writes.
Key Background
Boylan said she was "panicked" while first making the allegations but decided to share her story after criticism of the governor's "bullying" swirled in recent weeks. Cuomo—who was hailed as a hero for his early pandemic leadership—faces a political firestorm for his administration's handling of Covid-19 in nursing homes. The Cuomo administration has continued to deny wrongdoing after the New York Attorney General published a report revealing that the state had under-reported nursing home deaths by as much as 50%. The New York Post later reported that Melissa DeRosa, a top aide to the governor, told lawmakers that the data had been purposefully withheld out of fear that it would be used for political retribution by former President Trump's Department of Justice. DeRosa later sought to clarify that she meant the state had "temporarily" and transparently set aside a request from the state Legislature to share data while it dealt with a Department of Justice inquiry. Cuomo is also fielding allegations of bullying from fellow New York government officials, including State Assemblyman Ron Kim, a Democrat, who said Cuomo threatened his career after he criticized the governor's handling of nursing homes.
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Believe all women, except those who accuse Democrats.
MSM and pseudo-feminists Gillibrand, AOC, Hillary, Kamala Harris, Pelosi, Michelle Obama, and others are unsurprisingly silent about this.
Heard this on the drive in to work this morning.
I wouldn't put it past Cuomo as I've always suspected him to be a womanizing pig. Lets see where it goes, and it there is evidence to move it beyond a he-said-she-said.
I only know about him from what I hear on the news.
My first thought was, who in the hell plays strip poker...Sounds like someone trying to relive their teenage years.
The silence continues to be deafening when it comes to fact that his actions and orders were directly responsible for the deaths of thousand of mostly elderly people , and then he lied about it and blamed others . I doubt if he will ever be prosecuted and forced to resigned. Where's the left wing outrage?
Any you have documented evidence of this? Do share.
I know you don't Greg as the FBI nor the federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have yet to issue their findings. If he or his staff lied to investigators I want Cuomo hammered!
Well done!
I'd like to remind our fellow members that Cuomo's March 25, 2020 mandate was implemented AFTER Trump had already sent The Comfort to NY (for use by NY, NJ and other states) -- AFTER Trump had equipped the Javits Center and other Covid-prepped hospital locations in NYC -- AND -- AFTER Franklin Graham set up a hospital in Central Park.
ALL of those locations remained empty or barely used while Cuomo forced thousands of Covid-positive patients into public and private nursing homes ... BUT gave the nursing homes immunity from being sued.
"Luv Guv" Cuomo's 3/25/2020 nursing home mandate killed thousands of innocent people. I'm glad to see bipartisan NY support for impeaching him.