Calls for Andrew Cuomo’s resignation mount as third accuser emerges

Calls for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s resignation intensified late Monday after a 3rd lady accused him of offensive habits, saying he’d touched her face and again and requested to kiss her moments after they met at a marriage reception.
Anna Ruch instructed The New York Times late Monday that she eliminated the Democratic governor’s hand from her again, however he mentioned she appeared “aggressive,” promptly put his palms on her face and requested if he might kiss her.
“I was so confused and shocked and embarrassed,” Ruch, now 33, instructed the Times, which printed a photograph of the encounter displaying the governor’s palms on her face. “I turned my head away and didn’t have words in that moment.”
An e-mail in search of remark was despatched to Ruch’s pictures enterprise. Her social media accounts had been personal. An e-mail was additionally despatched to Cuomo’s administration for remark.
The account from Ruch, who labored as a photographer on the White House throughout President Barack Obama’s second time period, made her the second lady to accuse Cuomo of touching her with out permission, and fueled broader requires Cuomo to step down, together with from some in his personal social gathering.
“The pattern of sexual harassment and predatory behavior by Governor Cuomo is unacceptable, and I believe the women coming forward,” New York City Councilman Antonio Reynoso tweeted in feedback echoed elsewhere. “Governor Cuomo must resign.”

The newest accusation follows sexual harassment allegations in opposition to the governor from two girls who had labored for his administration, accounts that led New York’s independently elected legal professional normal to say she was shifting forward with an investigation of his conduct.
Attorney General Letitia James acquired a letter Monday from Cuomo’s workplace authorizing her to take cost of the probe after a weekend of wrangling over who ought to examine.
The letter allows James, additionally a Democrat, to deputize an outdoor regulation agency to conduct an inquiry with full subpoena energy. The findings might be disclosed in a public report, the letter mentioned.
Cuomo has maintained he had by no means inappropriately touched or propositioned anybody.

The former aide, Charlotte Bennett, rejected Cuomo’s tried apology wherein he excused his habits as “playful,” saying Monday that the governor has “refused to acknowledge or take responsibility for his predatory behavior.”
Bennett, who alleges Cuomo quizzed her about her intercourse life and requested whether or not she could be open to a relationship with an older man, tweeted that “abusers — particularly those with tremendous amounts of power — are often repeat offenders who engage in manipulative tactics to diminish allegations, blame victims, deny wrongdoing and escape consequences.”
After information of Ruch’s account broke, Bennett tweeted to her: “His inappropriate and aggressive behavior cannot be justified or normalized. Thank you for your courage and strength.”
Cuomo’s help has plummeted amid twin crises. The harassment allegations come on the heels of accusations he coated up the true dying toll of coronavirus on nursing residence residents.
It’s fairly a tumble for Cuomo, who had been extensively celebrated for his management throughout the pandemic, significantly the day by day information conferences the place he sought to tell and reassure the general public with charts, graphs and a machismo he dubbed “New York tough.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio and different elected officers have mentioned that whereas Cuomo is below investigation, he ought to cede emergency powers he’s held because the pandemic started, almost a yr in the past. The Legislature hasn’t taken any steps to revoke Cuomo’s emergency powers — set to run out April 30 — regardless of a push from Republicans and a few Democrats.
On Monday, Cuomo retained Manhattan litigator Elkan Abramowitz to signify him and his workplace in probes associated to nursing properties.
Abramowitz, who beforehand represented Cuomo’s workplace in a federal investigation into his 2014 resolution to shutdown a state anti-corruption fee, mentioned he isn’t representing Cuomo within the sexual harassment matter.
Bennett, 25, got here ahead together with her allegations in a narrative printed Saturday within the Times. She mentioned Cuomo instructed her he was lonely and on the lookout for a girlfriend.
Cuomo didn’t reply to Bennett’s assertion Monday.
Former aide Lindsey Boylan mentioned Cuomo made inappropriate feedback about her look, kissed her with out her consent on the finish of a gathering and as soon as advised they play strip poker whereas aboard his state-owned jet. Boylan, who’s operating for Manhattan borough president, first accused Cuomo in a tweet final December and elaborated on the allegations in a Medium put up final week.
She tweeted Monday about Ruch’s expertise with the governor, saying, “This doesn’t make me feel validated. It makes me feel sick.”
Cuomo has denied Boylan’s allegations. In a press release Sunday, he acknowledged that he had teased individuals about their private lives in an try to be “playful” and humorous. He mentioned he had needed to behave like a mentor to Bennett.
“I now understand that my interactions may have been insensitive or too personal and that some of my comments, given my position, made others feel in ways I never intended. I acknowledge some of the things I have said have been misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation. To the extent anyone felt that way, I am truly sorry about that,” he mentioned.
Cuomo’s assertion drew instant backlash from critics who mentioned he was throwing duty onto the ladies by saying they perceived his statements wrongly.
The letter authorizing James’ investigation mentioned that every one state workers have been directed to cooperate absolutely with the evaluate. Cuomo senior adviser Beth Garvey mentioned she would facilitate interviews with witness and requests for paperwork from Cuomo’s workplace.
Ross Garber, a lawyer who has represented former governors Mark Sanford of South Carolina and John Rowland of Connecticut, mentioned Cuomo is “essentially handing his reputation to an outsider and saying, ’Have at it. Go find whatever you want and publish a report to the public about whatever it is you’ve concluded that I’ve done or not done.’”
Bennett’s lawyer, Debra Katz, mentioned her shopper will cooperate absolutely with the legal professional normal’s investigation.
“He was not acting as a mentor and his remarks were not misunderstood by Ms. Bennett,” Katz mentioned. “He was abusing his power over her for sex. This is textbook sexual harassment.”

Initially, Cuomo appeared eager to retain a degree of management over the investigation. His workplace mentioned it was asking a former federal choose, Barbara Jones, to conduct the probe. Then, his workplace advised that the legal professional normal and the state’s high choose work collectively to nominate outdoors counsel.
Finally, on Sunday, Cuomo acquiesced to James’ calls for that she take management.