Disgraced Governor Andrew Cuomo reportedly dodged work on 4 August in the wake of the New York Attorney General's damning report detailing several cases of sexual harassment against him that dropped on Tuesday.
The embattled Democrat opted to hole up in the Governor’s Mansion, where he once lived with his father Gov. Mario Cuomo, to devise a strategy to salvage his tattered political career, reported the New York Post.
Cuomo met with aides and close allies in Albany’s Executive Mansion, sources are cited as saying.
“Mr. Cuomo spent Wednesday at the Executive Mansion in Albany talking with his closest advisers preparing for a public event that would further respond to the charges,” according to the outlet.
Findings assembled by independent investigators concluded that Andrew Cuomo had sexually harassed 11 women, including current and former state employees, from 2013 to 2020 in violation of state and federal law.
The Governor has been accused of making inappropriate comments on sex and dating and subjecting his “victims” to nonconsensual groping. The Governor’s office remained silent on the conclusions presented in the report.
“The event never happened because the governor’s team couldn’t settle on an exact message or format,” said the sources.
All that the public has been treated to since Attorney General Letitia James released the 165-page bombshell report on Tuesday morning has been a pre-recorded video where the three-term governor reiterated his denial of the accusations.
He stated that “the facts are much different than what has been portrayed” and that he “never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances.”
The 63-year-old Cuomo also emphasized that some aspects of his behavior or statements were misinterpreted, while hinting at political motives by would-be rivals. The pre-taped message was accompanied by a slideshow of photos of him hugging and kissing men and women of all ages and races.
Legal Woes, Calls to Quit
A bipartisan chorus of calls for Cuomo’s resignation is gaining strength, with President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, New York’s U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, and other onetime Democratic allies, all urging Cuomo to face the consequences of his actions.
District attorneys in Manhattan, Nassau, Oswego and Westchester Counties have separately announced that they were investigating Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s actions. Prosecutors in Manhattan and Albany were reported to have already opened criminal investigations.