New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo again said he won’t resign after another woman came forward and accused him of sexual harassment as the New York Attorney General completes an investigation into other allegations.
“I was elected by the people of the state. … I’m not going to resign because of allegations,” Cuomo said during a conference call, according to several reporters. “There is no way I resign.”
Critics, he said, should “let the attorney general do her job,” dismissing the resignation calls as political in nature.
At least five women have accused Cuomo, a Democrat, of inappropriate conduct. One of them, Karen Hinton—one of the governor’s former press aides—alleged that Cuomo called her to his hotel room and made inappropriate advances.
Hinton’s claims, he said, are “not true” and described her as a “long-time political adversary.”
His fourth accuser, Ana Liss, told the Wall Street Journal Saturday that the governor kissed her hand, asked if she had a boyfriend, and made other remarks that she described as inappropriate.
Last week, Cuomo apologized for making people feel uncomfortable and said he never touched women inappropriately.
“It was unintentional, and I truly and deeply apologize for it,” he said Wednesday in a press conference. “I feel awful about it and, frankly, I am embarrassed.”
Rich Azzopardi, a senior adviser to Cuomo, denied Liss’s claims, saying, “Reporters and photographers have covered the governor for 14 years watching him kiss men and women and posing for pictures. At the public open-house mansion reception, there are hundreds of people, and he poses for hundreds of pictures. That’s what people in politics do.”
But, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Panel, told The Epoch Times this week that Cuomo is being targeted by Democrats and the media because it’s an attempt to distract from reports saying that his administration undercounted nursing home COVID-19 deaths. New York Attorney General Letitia James in late January released that finding, while an aide to Cuomo told lawmakers that Cuomo’s administration essentially withheld the nursing home data due to a Department of Justice investigation; Cuomo has denied wronging.
“Cuomo’s deadly policies on nursing homes have been well-known among conservatives for a long time,” Nunes said. “However, before the election, the legacy media ignored that story, instead perversely hailing Cuomo’s exemplary leadership in fighting COVID and praising his self-congratulatory book. It’s unclear why Cuomo’s team even bothered with a cover-up, since the media was already doing it for them.”
Nunes suggested also that Cuomo may not be needed any longer by the Democratic Party.
“What’s changed is that Kamala Harris is now vice president, the de facto president, and the chosen standard-bearer for the Democratic Party,” added Nunes. “So the party’s power brokers are zeroing in on Cuomo as well as California Governor Gavin Newsom, who are her most likely rivals. Meanwhile, the legacy media is helping the party go after her competitors, while Big Tech is obediently lifting the filter from Cuomo and allowing the attacks to score.”
From The Epoch Times
