Cuomo Demands Sheriff’s Office “Preserve All Records” Related to Groping Investigation
00:40 GMT 31.10.2021 (Updated: 13:25 GMT 06.08.2022)
© AFP 2023 / JOHANNES EISELE
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A sex crime misdemeanor complaint against Cuomo was filed by an Albany County Sheriff's Department investigator on Thursday. The ex-NY governor previously had to resign after an investigation by State Attorney General Letitia James found he harassed nearly a dozen colleagues. Cuomo denies any wrongdoing.
Andrew Cuomo demands the Albany County sheriff's office “preserve all records” from the groping probe, while the investigator has slammed the ex-governor’s camp as “bullies”.
In a letter to Sheriff Craig Apple, Cuomo’s attorney Rita Glavin outlines records which led to the misdemeanor criminal complaint filed this week to be kept confidential including correspondence with Brittany Commisso, the former executive assistant who claims Cuomo groped her in the Executive Mansion.
Additionally, they are requesting correspondence from Commisso’s husband Frank Commisso, Jr., and his father, a former Albany County Democratic Majority Leader, as well as all records of correspondence with the press.
Today Rita Glavin, Attorney for Governor Cuomo, Served a Preservation Notice on Sheriff Apple Demanding that all Evidence be Preserved In Rogue Investigation
— Andrew Cuomo (@andrewcuomo) October 30, 2021
“What occurred here was a clear abuse of power by Sheriff Apple and we plan to get to the bottom of it." - @RichAzzopardi pic.twitter.com/eXLmGjtns4
Cuomo also shared an additional tweet saying that although Apple claimed there was an “overwhelming amount of evidence in the case,” every item listed “only verifies uncontested facts that this employee was in & out of the mansion as part of her job—there is zero corroborating evidence that a crime occurred.”
“Sheriff Craig Apple claimed there was an ‘overwhelming amount of evidence’ in this case. However, every item listed only verifies uncontested facts that this employee was in & out of the mansion as part of her job—there is zero corroborating evidence that a crime occurred” pic.twitter.com/pRiBnzmQFd
— Andrew Cuomo (@andrewcuomo) October 30, 2021
“They’re bullies,” said Apple in an interview with The Post Saturday. “But we expected this,” referring to the preservation that Cuomo and his attorney are using as a standard legal tactic.
“If he doesn’t show up the stakes will be raised,” Apple said. “They keep doing what they do, and we’re going to continue to move forward with our investigation. People can see through that smoke screen. We’ve tried to keep this from being a circus but they’ve turned it into a circus.”
On Thursday, a New York court charged Cuomo with a sex crime over allegations that he forcibly touched a former aide in December 2020. The complaint accuses Cuomo, 63, of “forcibly” putting his hand under the victim's blouse and groping her last December at his official residence.
Though the name of the victim is redacted in the complaint, she is apparently the former executive assistant to the governor, Brittany Commisso, who gave a tearful interview to US media this August detailing the alleged harassment against her on the part of Cuomo.
A summons has been issued to Cuomo to appear at Albany City Court on Nov. 17.
