A senior adviser to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned on Sunday (8) after a five-month investigation found the Democrat sexually harassed 11 women and violated state and federal laws.
Melissa DeRosa, the governor’s secretary, has been linked in a report by the state attorney general to efforts to cover up the governor’s actions and to retaliate against one of her accusers.
The name of the senior adviser was mentioned 187 times in the 168-page report released on August 3.
“Personally, the past two years have been emotionally and mentally difficult. I am eternally grateful to have been able to work with such talented colleagues on behalf of our state,” DeRosa said in a statement.
According to the state attorney general’s office, Cuomo groped, kissed and kissed women without their consent and made inappropriate comments in conversations with them.
Prosecutor Letitia James said the governor’s office had become a “toxic” workplace that allowed “harassment to occur”.
“Specifically, the investigation found that Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed former employees and employees who still work for New York State by touching them without consent and making numerous offensive comments,” James said. .
Cuomo has resisted resignations, including calls from other Democrats such as President Joe Biden, but faces impeachment and impeachment by state lawmakers.
The New York State Assembly Judiciary Committee has scheduled a meeting to discuss the impeachment process for Monday (9).
A former aide who filed a criminal complaint against Cuomo will speak publicly on Monday about the charge in an interview broadcast by CBS News.
She told state investigators that Cuomo had stroked her chest on one occasion, the most serious charge the governor faces.
“What he did to me was a crime,” he said in an excerpt from the interview broadcast by CBS. “He broke the law.
Cuomo denies the charges and says that “the facts are very different from what has been portrayed”. “I want you to know directly from me that I have never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual innuendo,” he said in a televised speech. “I’m 63 years old. I’ve lived my entire adult life in public. It’s not who I am. And it’s not who I was,” he said.
The governor tried to explain the situations presented as his usual way of showing affection. He posted a video with several photos in which he appears hugging or kissing men and women of different ages in interactions that seem consensual.