Rep. Stefanik: Now New Yorkers Know Gov. Cuomo Is a 'Criminal Sexual Predator'
Source: AP Photo/Seth Wenig
Lindsey Boylan, a former aide for Gov. Andrew Cuomo, published a shocking piece on Medium on Wednesday detailing a series of alleged inappropriate sexual comments and advances she received from the governor. Her very first sentence reveals that the governor asked her if she wanted to play "strip poker" on a flight home from Western New York. In his New York City office on Third Avenue, she was "shocked" when he "kissed her on the lips."
She said that kind of behavior was par for the course for his administration.
Governor Andrew Cuomo has created a culture within his administration where sexual harassment and bullying is so pervasive that it is not only condoned but expected. His inappropriate behavior toward women was an affirmation that he liked you, that you must be doing something right. He used intimidation to silence his critics. And if you dared to speak up, you would face consequences. (Medium)
She claims how Cuomo would intimidate her into his office, make references to the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky affair, and harass other female employees.
"He ridiculed them about their romantic relationships and significant others," Boylan writes. "He said the reasons that men get women were 'money and power.'"
Cuomo addressed Boylan's accusations back in December, saying, "It's just not true." His office revisited that response on Wednesday.
"As we said before, Ms. Boylan's claims of inappropriate behavior are quite simply false," Cuomo's office stated.
Lawmakers like Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) believe Boylan's account. She released the following statement, calling Cuomo a "criminal sexual predator" and calling for Gov. Cuomo's resignation.
???? My Statement Calling for the Resignation of Governor Cuomo ???? https://t.co/gWvBm4rS31 pic.twitter.com/jZZEobvE92
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) February 24, 2021
Assemblyman Ron T. Kim, who recently revealed that Gov. Cuomo threatened to end his career in an aggressive phone call, also stands with Boylan.
Cuomo is a coward who has abused his powers. His pattern of abuse and harassment toward his aides, journalists, lawmakers, and critiques is despicable. As a lawmaker, I have the duty to hold him accountable. I will not stand down. I will stand with Lindsey Boylan.
— Ron T. Kim (@rontkim) February 24, 2021
1/2 https://t.co/5XxCqQ3nJR
Gov. Cuomo is currently being investigated for his role in the state's nursing home tragedy. Over 15,000 individuals died from COVID-related causes the past year. The Sexual Harassment Working Group in Albany said there needs to be an investigation into his workplace behavior as well.
Journalist Claims Andrew Cuomo’s Office ‘Terrorized’ Him; ‘Editors Kill Stories Because of His Threats’
Journalist Morgan Pehme alleged Governor Andrew Cuomo’s (D-NY) office “terrorized” him for investigating his administration, according to an op-ed published Monday.
While the April 2014 call I received from DeRosa didn’t come directly from the governor, I knew it bore the full weight of his power. City & State, the New York politics magazine I edited at the time, was about to publish a story exposing Cuomo’s machinations to distort the final report issued by the Moreland Commission on Public Corruption.
Pehme said he received a “barrage of calls” as Cuomo’s media handlers” who vigorously “pushed me to spike the article, alternately approaching me with carrot (a hot exclusive to be named later) and stick.”
“Seven years later, I don’t recall precisely everything DeRosa hurled at me, though I’m positive she vowed to ‘destroy’ my career and take revenge on my publication. I remember vividly how I felt: scared,” Pehme said, adding that he had “no reason to think these were idle threats” as he was aware of Cuomo’s infamous “volcanic temper and track record of vindictiveness.”
He described the situation as a “gut check,” as he feared he could lose everything — but pressed on and published the piece. He said that is not always the case with other journalists and media outlets that see “editors kill legitimate stories because of his threats.”
“Reporters shy away from promising tips; sources stay silent,” he said, contending that members of the media are aware of Cuomo’s bullying tactics but shy away from exposing hit for a number of reasons — from fear to dismissal.
“Until last week, most New Yorkers didn’t know about Cuomo’s despicable ways. But they should have,” he concluded, calling on journalists to expose Cuomo and tell their stories.
Kim is calling for the governor to be impeached.
“We need to check this governor. … And I think the only option that we have as the Assembly body is the exercise of impeachment,” he said during an appearance on The Hill’s Rising.
“And by the way, we have a duty, a constitutional duty, when there’s willful, corrupt conduct to — we are obligated to pursue impeachment. And that he clearly has done,” Kim said, urging officials to move forward “as soon as possible.”
Former Staffer Accuses Gov. Andrew Cuomo of Sexual Harassment
A former aide accused New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) of unwanted sexual advances in a blog post published Wednesday.
Lindsey Boylan, the former deputy secretary for economic development and special adviser to Cuomo, said Cuomo repeatedly touched her body, attempted to kiss her on the mouth, invited her to play “strip poker,” and overtly objectified her, documenting her experiences with screenshots of emails and texts in a Medium post.
Boylan alleges that Cuomo’s top female staff members “normalized” the governor’s conduct. In 2018, she says, she began to “speak up” after Cuomo allegedly kissed her without consent, but her superiors “reprimanded” her:
After that, my fears worsened. I came to work nauseous every day. My relationship with his senior team — mostly women — grew hostile after I started speaking up for myself. I was reprimanded and told to get in line by his top aides, but I could no longer ignore it.
On September 26, 2018, I sent a mass email informing staff members of my resignation.
The allegations come as Cuomo’s administration is under investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn following reports that the governor’s top deputy told Democrat lawmakers that officials withheld the nursing home data, admitting that they “froze” due to fears that the figures could “be used against us” in a federal probe.
The New York Post first revealed the damning admission.
In response to the scandal, New York state lawmakers are calling for Cuomo’s emergency powers, granted for coronavirus pandemic, to be stripped from him.
There have been more than 13,000 confirmed and presumed-positive coronavirus deaths of nursing home residents since March 1, 2020, with about 4,091 of those deaths occurring after the resident was transported out of a nursing home, according to an update posted Monday on the health department’s website. There were also about 1,743 such deaths among residents of other adult-care facilities since March, the new data showed, with about 1,493 of those deaths occurring after the resident was transported elsewhere.
The UPI contributed to this report.
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