New York Governor Cuomo. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo has asked the state’s attorney general Letitia James and the Janet DiFiore chief judge of the court of appeals to jointly select an independent panel to investigate the escalating allegations of sexual improprieties against him.
The governor had previously asked a former federal judge to handle the investigation but she too will now step aside so as not to present the impression that the governor was trying to influence the outcome.
“The Governor’s Office wants a review of the sexual harassment claims made against the Governor to be done in a manner beyond reproach. We had selected former Federal Judge Barbara Jones, with a stellar record for qualifications and integrity, but we want to avoid even the perception of a lack of independence or inference of politics,” Beth Garvey, the governor’s special counsel and senior advisor said in a statement.
“Accordingly we have asked the Attorney General of New York State and the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals to jointly select an independent and qualified lawyer in private practice without political affiliation to conduct a thorough review of the matter and issue a public report. The work product will be solely controlled by that independent lawyer personally selected by the Attorney General and Chief Judge. All members of the Governor’s office will cooperate fully. We will have no further comment until the report is issued,” the statement added.
The governor has been on the defensive since two former staffers accused him of sexual improprieties, in articles published in The New York Times of sexual improprieties.
A former state economic development official, Lindsey Boylan, accused the governor of sexual harrassment between 2016 to 2018 and claimed he’d also kissed her on the lips on one occasion in his Manhattan office. A second former employee, Charlotte Bennett, who is 25, said the governor asked her about her personal private life and told her he was willing to have sexual relations with a younger woman. She also accused him of asking her whether she’d had sex with an older man.
