Cuomo impeachment report finds ‘overwhelming’ evidence of sexual harassment and other misdeeds: N.Y. State Assembly
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo engaged in repeated sexual harassment, deployed state resources in service of his multimillion dollar book project and was not forthcoming about nursing home COVID deaths, according to a long-awaited investigative report released by the state Assembly’s Judiciary Committee on Monday.
The eight-month impeachment probe determined that the evidence of Cuomo’s sexual misconduct is “overwhelming,” adding support to the bombshell state attorney general’s report, released in August, that found he had sexually harassed at least 11 women, putting him on a path to resignation.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Lavine (D-Glen Cove), who sent the new report and a letter outlining its findings to Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx), said in a statement that the behavior described in the report “is extremely disturbing and is indicative of someone who is not fit for office.”
“I hope this report helps New Yorkers further understand the seriousness of the allegations that have been made and serves to guide us to a more ethical and responsible government,” Lavine said in the statement. “New Yorkers deserve no less.”
The Assembly announced the launch of the impeachment investigation in March when a chorus of sexual harassment allegations against the governor was growing.
The report published Monday suggested the Assembly lacks “jurisdiction” to impeach a governor who has already left office, potentially sparing Cuomo a humiliating public penalty that would prevent him from running for office again. Still, the probe produced a damning denouncement that could put a damper on any future campaign.
The impeachment investigation focused particularly on two of Cuomo’s dozen accusers: an unnamed state trooper and Brittany Commisso, a former executive assistant whose groping accusation led to a misdemeanor sex crime charge against the disgraced former governor.
The report said the experiences of both accusers “independently satisfies the definition of sexual harassment under New York State law.” It described Cuomo’s misconduct as “extensive” and said he did not “meaningfully” respond to records requests from the Assembly.
“In the face of an impeachment trial, the former Governor chose to resign, not to contest the available evidence and confront witnesses in that legal forum,” the report said. “Having foregone that opportunity, he is not entitled to the production of any further evidence from this Committee.”
Cuomo, a 63-year-old Democrat, has vigorously denied accusations of sexual misconduct. Rita Glavin, his lawyer, said in a statement on Monday that the Assembly had failed to provide Cuomo access to all the evidence and claimed that he was denied “due process and a meaningful ability to respond.”
The probe also explored the creation of Cuomo’s book about his stewardship of the state during the coronavirus crisis, titled “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic.”
The memoir, which came with a contract guaranteeing him $5.2 million, was produced with assistance from junior-level staff at the governor’s office, according to the report. The report said the staffers were required to compile and print documents, transcribe recordings and personally deliver papers, all apparently in the production of the book.
The 320-page hardcover book was published Oct. 13, 2020, as New York was facing a winter COVID wave. The report concluded that the book was the result of “significant work performed by Executive Chamber staff during a time of a global pandemic requiring an around-the-clock response.”
The Assembly committee has worked with law enforcement authorities in relation to the probe of the book, according to the report. The production of the memoir may amount to a violation of ethics laws.
Rich Azzopardi, a spokesman for Cuomo, said he believes the junior staffers did not know what they were working on. He said in a statement, “Junior staff working on Covid materials were not helping on the book, but were helping on the state’s Covid response.”
The Assembly committee is also cooperating with law enforcement on the issue of COVID nursing home death tallies from Cuomo’s administration, according to the report. The data became a sticking point for Cuomo last January, after state Attorney General Letitia James issued a report detailing incomplete data released by the state.
The Assembly impeachment report described an internal debate in the executive chamber around whether to include nursing home resident deaths that took place outside the facilities — in places including hospitals. A published state report ultimately only included deaths in nursing homes.
The investigative document noted that Health Department officials expressed concern that Cuomo’s coronavirus task force was largely filled with members who were not medical experts. The report concluded that Cuomo and his staff “were not fully transparent with the public regarding the number of COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents.”
Assemblyman Ron Kim (D-Queens), who publicly and privately sparred with Cuomo last winter over the nursing home figures, released a statement on Monday accusing the former governor of conspiring with corporate interests to “portray conditions at nursing homes to be safe havens for our older adults, when nothing could be further from the truth.”
“They did this by cooking up data to sell a false narrative that would protect their corporate profits, and allow this governor to chase down a book deal,” Kim said in the statement. “I want to thank the Assembly Judiciary Committee for undertaking this very serious matter with thoughtfulness and concern.”
The 46-page report’s findings were based on about 600,000 pages of documents and materials stemming from more than 200 people, Heastie’s office said.
The probe included a review of texts, BlackBerry PIN messages, phone and video recordings, photographs and other documents, according to the Assembly speaker’s office. Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, a Manhattan firm, assisted with the investigation.
Azzopardi painted it as a recycling of the state attorney general’s report from the summer. “Any report that uses the Attorney General’s politically biased investigation as a basis is going to be equally flawed,” Azzopardi said in a statement.
James, a Democrat, is now running for governor. A spokeswoman for her office, Delaney Kempner, declined to comment beyond saying that she thinks the report speaks for itself.
Lavine said the Assembly’s expansive impeachment investigation was undertaken with care and diligence. And Heastie praised Cuomo’s brave accusers for sharing their stories.
“This has been a profoundly sad chapter in New York’s history,” Heastie, who drew criticism in August when he suggested shelving the probe, said in a Monday statement. “As we have throughout this process, we will continue to cooperate with all relevant investigative bodies to provide them with the evidence we have uncovered.”
Gov. Hochul, who has sought to distance herself from Cuomo since replacing him in the summer, said on Monday that she had not read the report. But she noted her support for both the attorney general’s report and the Assembly’s report, declaring that “a whole new day” has arrived in Albany.
“We’re focused on transparency, which is why in the first days of my administration, I insisted that the Department of Health release the true nursing home deaths picture,” Hochul, the state’s first female governor, told reporters at a turkey-packing event in Midtown Manhattan. “We’ve changed the culture from Day One.”
