Cuomo Lawyer Asks for New Investigation Into Sexual Misconduct
Cuomo Lawyer Asks for New Investigation Into Sexual Misconduct
(Bloomberg) -- Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo wants a new investigation into allegations that he sexually harassed almost a dozen women, including state employees, his lawyer said.
A probe led by New York Attorney General Letitia James was biased and politically motivated, Cuomo’s lawyer Rita Glavin said at a press conference on Wednesday. The investigation, which led to the Democratic governor’s August resignation, wasn’t truly independent because James could be after the job, Glavin said.
James, also a Democrat, hasn’t said whether she plans to run in the 2022 New York gubernatorial race. Kathy Hochul, Cuomo’s lieutenant governor, took over as governor.
“This man’s reputation was destroyed on Aug. 3,” Glavin said, describing James’s press conference and release of the report as prejudicial. “What happened there was not meant to be independent -- it was meant to be an ambush.”
Cuomo wants the attorney general to appoint an independent reviewer to consider the report “and also to fairly consider our application to amend and supplement that report,” Glavin said. She said details of that request are outlined in her approximately 150-page submission to the attorney general, which will be made public.
Glavin said the AG’s office didn’t release evidence from the report, limiting the Cuomo team’s ability to respond.
James spokesman Fabien Levy said in a statement that Glavin’s press conference was a “charade” and an attempt by Cuomo to stifle an ongoing criminal probe into allegations that he used state resources for a book deal and personal profit.
“Another day, another baseless attack by the former governor who resigned so he didn’t have to participate in an impeachment hearing,” Levy said in the statement.
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