Former NY Gov. Cuomo facing criminal sex charges for forcibly touching staffer
ALBANY — Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo was charged Thursday with a misdemeanor sex offense related to allegations that he groped a staffer at the Executive Mansion in Albany last year.
The complaint, filed by the Albany County Sheriff’s Office and prematurely issued by a judge, accuses the governor of reaching under the blouse of a woman and grabbing her left breast on Dec. 7 of last year.
Investigator Amy Kowalski wrote that Cuomo “knowingly and intentionally” committed the crime of forcible touching, a class A misdemeanor that carries a sentence of up to a year in jail and is bail eligible.
“Andrew M. Cuomo did intentionally, and for no legitimate purpose, forcibly place his hand under the blouse shirt of the victim and onto her intimate body part,” the complaint reads.
According to the sheriff’s office, Cuomo is due to appear in court on Nov. 17.
Complicating matters, the Albany Times Union reported that Cuomo’s accuser had not yet consented to press charges and the complaint was erroneously filed after investigators met with court officials simply to start the process of obtaining a criminal complaint.
The local prosecutor overseeing the case was likewise caught off guard.
“Like the rest of the public, we were surprised to learn today that a criminal complaint was filed,” Albany County District Attorney David Soares said in a statement.
Rita Glavin, Cuomo’s personal attorney, said in a statement that the ex-pol has “never assaulted anyone.” She went on to accuse Albany Sheriff Craig Apple of playing politics, saying his “motives here are patently improper.”
“Sheriff Apple didn’t even tell the District Attorney what he was doing,” Glavin said. “This is not professional law enforcement; this is politics.”
Cuomo Complaint by New York Daily News on Scribd
The idea that the sheriff “accidentally” filed a criminal complaint “doesn’t pass the laugh test,” said Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi. He said the filing “reeks of Albany politics and perhaps worse,” and that James’ reported plan to run for governor “is lost on no one.”
“The truth about what happened with this cowboy sheriff will come out,” he said.
While the victim’s name is redacted in the filing, former Cuomo executive assistant Brittany Commisso has publicly accused the ex-governor of groping her at his official residence late last year and filed a criminal complaint in August with the Sheriff’s Office in Albany.
Commisso’s attorney, Brian Premo, told the Times Union his client “was surprised by the turn of events but she has been and will remain a resolute cooperating victim in pursuit of blind justice.”
The 33-year-old revealed her identity following the release of a damning report from Attorney General Letitia James’ office detailing multiple sexual harassment claims against the 63-year-old Democrat.
The allegations outlined in the report, from 11 women, including Commisso and several other young staffers, led to Cuomo’s resignation on Aug. 10.
However, Cuomo has forcefully denied the claims against him and his lawyers have contested Commisso’s account, arguing that dates in the attorney general’s report didn’t add up and that pictures show the executive assistant welcomed and even initiated physical contact with Cuomo.
“I would never on my own get up and initiate a hug with the governor,” Commisso said during an August interview with “CBS This Morning.”
“He came back to me and that’s when he put his hand up my blouse and cupped my breast over my bra,” Commisso said.” “I exactly remember looking down, seeing his hand, which is a large hand, thinking to myself, ‘Oh, my God. This is happening.’”
Commisso said it was as if Cuomo was “in a sexually aggressive state of mind. I really don’t know how to explain the moment. It was, it was — I don’t have the words. I don’t have the words.”
Commisso told independent investigators working under James that Cuomo groped her and grabbed her breast while the two were alone in his office at the Executive Mansion last year. A November date is noted in a footnote in the report.
In addition to the harassment claims, investigators determined the Cuomo administration was a “hostile work environment” that was “rife with fear and intimidation.”
Glavin has made near-weekly public appearances attempting to discredit Cuomo’s accusers and accusing James, who is in the process of launching her own campaign for governor, of interfering in the investigation.
James said the charges against Cuomo back up the finding of the investigation her office oversaw.
“From the moment my office received the referral to investigate allegations that former Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women, we proceeded without fear or favor,” she said. “The criminal charges brought today against Mr. Cuomo for forcible touching further validate the findings in our report.”
The charge sparked celebration from Mariann Wang, a lawyer representing two other alleged harassment victims, who said the disgraced politician is “being held to account as he should be.”
“We hope that all men who abuse their power by abusing women will see this and understand that there will be real consequences to their profoundly damaging behavior,” she added.
