New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigns over sexual harassment
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
NEW YORK (AP) — Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned over a barrage of sexual harassment allegations Tuesday in a fall from grace a year after he was widely hailed nationally for his detailed daily briefings and leadership during the darkest days of COVID-19.
The three-term governor's decision, which will take effect in two weeks, was announced as momentum built in the Legislature to remove him by impeachment. It came after New York's attorney general released the results of an investigation that found Cuomo sexually harassed at least 11 women.
Investigators said he subjected women to unwanted kisses; groped their breasts or buttocks or otherwise touched them inappropriately; made insinuating remarks about their looks and their sex lives; and created a work environment "rife with fear and intimidation."
Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, a 62-year-old Democrat and former member of Congress from the Buffalo area, will become the state's 57th governor and the first woman to hold the post.
The #MeToo-era scandal cut short not just a career but a dynasty: Cuomo's father, Mario Cuomo, was governor in the 1980s and '90s, and the younger Cuomo was often mentioned as a potential candidate for president, an office his father famously contemplated seeking. Even as the scandal mushroomed, Cuomo was planning to run for reelection in 2022.
Cuomo still faces the possibility of criminal charges, with a number of prosecutors around the state moving to investigate him.
The string of accusations that spelled the governor's downfall began to unfold in news reports last December and went on for months.
Cuomo called some of the allegations fabricated, forcefully denying he touched anyone inappropriately. But he acknowledged making some aides uncomfortable with comments he said he intended as playful, and he apologized for some of his behavior.
He portrayed some of the encounters as misunderstandings attributable to "generational or cultural" differences, a reference in part to his upbringing in an affectionate Italian American family.
As a defiant Cuomo clung to office, state lawmakers launched an impeachment investigation, and nearly the entire Democratic establishment in New York deserted him — not only over the accusations, but also because of the discovery that his administration had concealed thousands of COVID-19 deaths among nursing home patients.
The harassment investigation ordered up by the attorney general and conducted by two outside lawyers corroborated the women's accounts and added lurid new ones. The release of the report left the governor more isolated than ever, with some of his most loyal supporters abandoning him and President Joe Biden joining those calling on him to resign.
His accusers included an aide who said Cuomo groped her breast at the governor's mansion. Investigators also the governor's staff retaliated against one of his accusers by leaking confidential personnel files about her.
As governor, Cuomo touted himself as an example of a "progressive Democrat" who gets things done: Since taking office in 2011, he helped push through legislation that legalized gay marriage, began lifting the minimum wage to $15 and expanded paid family leave benefits. He also backed big infrastructure projects, including airport overhauls and construction of a new bridge over the Hudson River that he named after his father.
At the same time the behavior that got him into trouble was going on, he was publicly championing the #MeToo movement and surrounding himself with women's rights activists, signing into law sweeping new protections against sexual harassment and lengthening the statute of limitations in rape cases.
His national popularity soared during the harrowing spring of 2020, when New York became the epicenter of the nation's coronavirus outbreak.
His tough-minded but empathetic response made for riveting television well beyond New York, and his stern warnings to people to stay home and wear masks stood in sharp contrast to President Donald Trump's brush-off of the virus. His briefings won an international Emmy Award, and he went on to write a book on leadership in a crisis.
But even those accomplishments were soon tainted when it was learned that the state's official count of nursing home deaths had excluded many patients who had been transferred to hospitals before they succumbed. A Cuomo aide acknowledged the administration feared the true numbers would be "used against us" by the Trump White House.
Also, Cuomo's administration was fiercely criticized for forcing nursing homes to accept patients recovering from the virus.
The U.S. Justice Department is investigating the state's handling of data on nursing home deaths. In addition, the state attorney general is looking into whether Cuomo broke the law in using members of his staff to help write and promote his book, from which he stood to make more than $5 million.
The governor had also increasingly come under fire over his rough and sometimes vindictive treatment of fellow politicians and his own staff, with former aides telling stories of a brutal work environment.
Cuomo has been divorced since 2005 from the author and activist Kerry Kennedy, a member of the Kennedy family, and was romantically involved up until 2019 with TV lifestyle personality Sandra Lee. He has three adult daughters.
He gained political experience early on as his father's hard-nosed and often ruthless campaign manager, and went on to become New York attorney general and U.S. housing secretary under President Bill Clinton before getting elected governor in 2010.
New York has seen a string of high-level political figures brought down in disgrace in recent years.
Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned in 2008 in a call-girl scandal. Rep. Anthony Weiner went to prison for sexting with a 15-year-old girl. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman stepped down in 2018 after four women accused him of abuse. And the top two leaders in the Legislature were convicted of corruption.
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Sad ending and what a fall.
Karma really is a bitch. Too bad all the elderly he killed are not alive to see his sorry ass go.
He is a NY Democrat. Chances are he is thinking this will all blow over and he will be able to run again at some level.
Maybe some of the upper Democrats offered to make some of the investigations go away if he resigned?
Quite possibly, though if he were a NY Republican with two dozen credible accusations of sexual assault and a claim of raping a 13 year old girl he'd still serve out his term as if nothing had ever happened and his right wing Republican sycophants would heap praise on him like he was the second coming of Christ. If right wing Republicans didn't have double standards, they'd have no standards at all.
But it seems only Democrats choose to clean up their party and kick out those who act so blatantly inappropriately as to have numerous accusations of sexual assault or inappropriate behavior. I have no doubt that no Democrat could survive being caught paying off multiple porn stars to the tune of nearly half a million dollars during a campaign to keep them quite about their numerous sexual encounters while the thrice married candidate's third wife was pregnant with a child. And a Democrat certainly couldn't weather more than two dozen accusations of sexual assault on top of the porn star pay offs.
It has, and when found and confirmed either by a plethora of complaints or credible testimony, Democrats take action like they did here. For the Republican party they seem only interested in circling the wagons and calling any accusers liars or claim it's the fantasy 'deep state' out to get them.
They wouldn't all be humping trump's leg if they didn't.
Democrats take action like they did here
As Bill Clinton laughs at you for carrying his water for decades.
Imagine making that claim with the examples of Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Justin Fairfax, Keith Ellison, Ted Kennedy, Bobby Scott, John Conyers staring you in the face..
Yeah really!
I know you didn't say that with a straight face [deleted]
Their hypocrisy runs deep my friend .... very, very deep.
As I've said many times here before I was no fan of Bill Clinton and didn't vote for him in either '92 or '96 because I believed his accusers. Can you say the same of yourself and dirty Donald? So don't bother trying to accuse me of something when you clearly have no clue.
Do you really want to try and play that game? Or were you also clueless as to the examples of Dennis Hastert, Pat Meehan, Roy Moore, Jeff Hoover, Jeff Kruse, Jack Latvala, Wes Goodman, Chris Myers, Larry Craig, Bob Allen, Mark Foley, Matt Gaetz, Joseph Dendy, David Swartz, Mark Pazuhanich, Philip Giordano, Mike Hintz, Donald "Buz" Lukens, Ralph Shortey, Earl "Butch" Kimmerling, Paul Ingram, Keith Westmoreland, Tim Nolan, Bobby Stumbo, Hewart Lee Bennett, Wilton Frederick Bland, John Bryan, Brian Doyle, Donald Fleischman and hundreds more Republicans, many of whom were not just sexual predators but child molesters.
I've never defended any Democrat who was caught behaving inappropriately or had numerous accusations of sexual assault against them, I really have to wonder what would make a rational person do such a thing, but then again I guess assuming Trump supporters are rational people is a few steps to far.
I've never voted for Donald Trump for anything. So don't bother trying to accuse me of something when you clearly have no clue.
But you claimed "Democrats take action." They did no such thing with Clinton. They vilified and ridiculed his accusers and made him a hero.
Do you really want to try and play that game?
I'm not the one making blanket statements that are easily refuted, you are.
Although why you pointed to some Republicans who resigned after being pressured to resign by Republicans as if that somehow helps your case is beyond me. I only pointed to Democratic offenders who didn't resign off the top of my head. Since I just saw an elected Arizona Democrat just got arrested the other day for molesting a boy and hasn't resigned you can add Tony Navarrete to the list.
The topic isn't about New York Republicans.
Stay on topic.
Keep trying, lol.
I don't have an issue with you. It's true we have different political views but you've always seemed fairly moderate.
I made a comment to Vic about him telling you to "stay strong". I thought it was funny and over the top. It wasn't an offense to you.
Bullshit, your snark towards her in this case is clear as day. I'm sure you and the mutual admiration society are getting a good laugh about that in the back room.
Weak sauce man, very weak sauce!
[deleted]
You're posting jibberish.
Lol weak sauce there Pat but okay, i'll play along ......mines not jibbersh, yours is jibberish, so nanny, nanny boo boo ...... no worries though, you'll always be backstopped by the moderator of the year .....
You couldn't match wits with me on your best day or my worst.
More weak sauce ... exposing a weak intellect, once again
Smartest move he's made in a long long time.
Next up, his dimbulb brother over at the Clown-car News Network
Sending thousands of seniors to their deaths was ok, but being a rude boss gets you kicked out.
I’m sure I don’t need to explain (but I probably do) that these are simplifications and neither is ok. But still: “He grabbed my boob” > thousands of unnecessary deaths?
Democrats want him kicked out for the sex stuff. Republicans wanted him kicked out because of the death stuff.