After several months of challenging or downplaying the sexual harassment accusations that were piling up against him, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo finally announced Tuesday, August 10, that he was leaving his post. . “Under the circumstances, the best way to help you is to withdraw Mr. Cuomo said in a televised speech, presenting his “Deep apologies”, while implicating attacks “Politically motivated” to its place.
It is a complaint, lodged last week by an assistant of the governor’s team, which finally precipitated his departure before the end of his mandate, at the end of 2022. It paved the way for possible legal proceedings in the against Mr. Cuomo, 63, in power for ten years and one of the most powerful governors in the United States.
She spoke on Monday, testifying on CBS to tell how her “Dream job” was having “Turned into a nightmare”, recounting inappropriate and indecent actions by the governor since the end of 2019, such as “Close and intimate hugs”. She also accuses him of having her “Grabbed the buttocks” several times and having spent “His hand under [s]we blouse and touching her breast “. She is one of eleven women who accuse Mr. Cuomo of inappropriate conduct and sexual harassment, whose testimony can be found in the report of the investigation by New York State Attorney General Letitia James.
This 168-page document released on August 3, based on 179 testimonies including that of Mr. Cuomo, seemed to have sealed his political fate. Mme James, also a Democrat, concluded that Mr. Cuomo had created a “Climate of fear” in its services and violates several federal and state laws:
“The Governor has sexually harassed a number of current and former New York State employees by engaging in, among other things, unwelcome and non-consensual touching, and making numerous offensive comments of a suggestive and sexual nature that have created a hostile working environment for women. “
The vast majority of the facts were already known since this winter, in particular since the first accusations of one of his former advisers published in March in a blog. Lindsey Boylan, 36, claimed the governor had kissed her unsolicited on the mouth, suggested she played with him at the “Strip-poker” and “Increased efforts to [lui] touch the back, arms, legs ”, while she worked for her administration from 2015 to 2018.
Cuomo: “That doesn’t mean eleven women weren’t offended”
Andrew Cuomo had repeated since the publication of the document that he had “Never touched someone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances”, while acknowledging that certain behaviors may have been misinterpreted or made uncomfortable due to differences “Generational or cultural”.
He maintained, Tuesday, when announcing his departure, that “The most serious accusations have no credible basis in the report. And there is a difference between making allegations of inappropriate behavior and concluding that there is sexual harassment ”. “But that doesn’t mean eleven women weren’t offended. They are. And for that, I apologize deeply ”, he added.
His resignation will take effect in fourteen days. He will be replaced by Vice-Governor Kathy Hochul, a 62-year-old Democrat who will become New York State’s first female governor.
Political pressure was becoming more and more difficult for a governor who, for a week, had been more isolated than ever. Some of his Democratic allies in New York State were calling for his departure this winter. More recently, a pre-impeachment inquiry was launched by the New York State legislature.
Andrew Cuomo’s decision was hailed by US President Joe Biden who said “Respect” his choice, after calling for his resignation a week ago. “It was high time that Andrew Cuomo resigned, for the good of all New York”, added for his part the mayor of the city, the democrat Bill de Blasio, openly hostile to the governor.
A “progressive” democrat who had set himself up as a defender of women’s rights
If Andrew Cuomo’s political end is not unexpected, given the recent cascade of revelations, his fall since last year has been abrupt. At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic on the East Coast of the United States, when New York City had become one of the world’s epicenters, the governor seemed to hold the megalopolis on its own. A national star, thanks to his daily television spots, and a leader both rational and reassuring compared to the very dysfunctional Trump administration.
Some even attributed national ambitions to him, but Andrew Cuomo never really thought about the White House. He did not hide, however, his desire to run for a third term as governor in 2022, even at the height of the crisis in recent months.
Reelected in 2014 and 2018, he presented himself as a “progressive” Democrat, having notably legalized gay marriage, increased the minimum wage to $ 15 and extended parental leave. Since the start of the #metoo movement, he had also set himself up as a defender of women’s rights, notably passing a series of laws protecting against sexual harassment, which the American press did not fail to point out.
