Two more former aides have come forward with sexual misconduct allegations against disgraced New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, bringing the total number of women who have come forward to six.
Karen Hinton, a former press aide to the governor, told the Washington Post that back in 2000, Cuomo, when he led the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, summoned her to his “dimly lit” hotel room and embraced her twice after a work event.
The governor’s office denied the allegations.
“This did not happen,” Peter Ajemian, Cuomo’s director of communications, said. “Karen Hinton is a known antagonist of the Governor’s who is attempting to take advantage of this moment to score cheap points with made up allegations from 21 years ago. All women have the right to come forward and tell their story — however, it’s also the responsibility of the press to consider self-motivation. This is reckless.”
Hinton dismissed Cuomo’s denial, saying that “attacking the accuser is the classic playbook of powerful men trying to protect themselves.”
Another former aide, Anna Liss, told the Wall Street Journal that when she worked for Cuomo as a policy and operations aide from 2013 to 2015, the governor asked her if she had a boyfriend, touched her on her lower back, and kissed her hand as she rose from her desk.
“It’s not appropriate, really, in any setting,” she said.
In addition to the sexual harassment of female subordinates, two former male aides to Governor Cuomo told the Washington Post about Cuomo’s routinely abusive behavior, and several staffers interviewed by the paper confirm that the governor’s office was a hostile workplace.
Last week, Governor Cuomo responded to the sexual harassment claims made against him, but refused to resign.
“I now understand that I acted in a way that made people feel uncomfortable. It was unintentional, and I truly and deeply apologize for it,” the Emmy Award-winning governor said. “I feel awful about it, and frankly, I am embarrassed by it.” Cuomo then repeatedly claimed he never touched anyone inappropriately, and that he “never knew at the time I was making anyone feel uncomfortable,” and has “learned an important lesson,” and “will be the better for this experience.”
While Cuomo still isn’t likely to resign, the addition of more allegations still puts his political future in jeopardy. Between the sexual harassment claims and the ongoing nursing home scandal, Cuomo’s political goose is most certainly cooked…
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Matt Margolis is the author of Airborne: How The Liberal Media Weaponized The Coronavirus Against Donald Trump, and the bestselling book The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama. You can follow Matt on Twitter, Gab, Facebook, MeWe, Heroes, Rumble, and CloutHub.
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