The Albany County sheriff held a news conference one day after a misdemeanor complaint was filed charging former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo with forcibly touching a woman. Cuomo, who resigned in August after several allegations were made against him, has repeatedly denied accusations of sexual harassment.
According to the charging documents, at around 4 p.m. on December 7, 2020, at the executive mansion in Albany, Cuomo “intentionally and for no legitimate purpose, forcibly place[d] his hand under the blouse shirt of the victim and onto her intimate body part. Specifically, the victim’s left breast for the purposes of degrading and gratifying his sexual desires.”
In a statement Thursday, Cuomo’s attorney, Rita Glavin, denied the claim, writing that “Governor Cuomo has never assaulted anyone.”
The charges appear to stem from allegations made by Cuomo’s former aide Brittany Commisso, who claimed the governor groped her in December 2019 and again in November 2020. Commisso told “CBS Mornings” that Cuomo “put his hand up my blouse and cupped my breast over my bra” in November.
In August, the sheriff’s office said it would investigate her claim, which Cuomo refuted. “To touch a woman’s breasts, who I hardly know, in the mansion with 10 staff around, with my family in the mansion, to say, ‘I don’t care who sees us.’ I would have to lose my mind to do such a thing,” he said.
Victoria Albert contributed reporting.
