Andrew Cuomo Sexual Harassment Investigation Transcripts Released
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo‘s attempt to defend himself from the allegations of sexual harassment made by nearly a dozen women has been made public.
It includes his emotional insistence that the allegations he groped a female aide simply “never happened.”
As CBS2’s political reporter Marcia Kramer reported Wednesday, it’s the ultimate “he said, she said” story that could very well end up being played out in an Albany courtroom.
Former aide Brittany Commisso went to authorities with her tale of being manhandled by Cuomo in the Executive Mansion, but he says the incident is “just not even feasible.”
“He put his hand up my blouse and cupped my breast over my bra. I exactly remember looking down, seeing his hand, which is a large hand, thinking to myself ‘Oh my God, this is happening,'” Commisso said.
Web Extra: Read The Testimony Transcripts
Commisso made the accusation not only to investigators for Attorney General Letitia James, but to the Albany county sheriff, who ended up bringing charges against the former governor for forcible touching.
But to Cuomo, who was grilled for 11 often combative hours about allegations he sexually harassed nearly a dozen women, Commisso’s tale that is just that: A tale.
Web Extra: TIMELINE: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo Resigns In Wake Of Sexual Harassment, Nursing Home Scandals
“That never happened,” Cuomo told investigators. “You know, at one point, there has to be a little reality. To touch a woman’s breast 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. It would be an act of insanity to touch a woman’s breast and make myself vulnerable to a woman for such an accusation.”
“I am 63 years old. I have been in every public office — state, federal. Numerous people have tried to set me up. I’m always wary of people. I have phenomenal precautions… I mean… it’s just not even feasible,” Cuomo added.
This is the first time we’ve heard Cuomo’s actual testimony. It was released by James, whose investigation led Cuomo to resign as governor on Aug. 10. Cuomo’s 515 page deposition was released, along with the transcripts of 11 women who testified against him. But the most damning, because it could lead to a misdemeanor conviction, was Commisso’s. She also said that Cuomo touched other parts of her body while she was taking a selfie.
“I then felt, while taking the selfie, his hand go down my back, onto my butt. And he started rubbing it. Not sliding it, not quickly brushing over it. Rubbing my butt,” Commisso said.
The governor was asked at length about his penchant for kissing people. There are many pictures of him kissing people at various public events. He says it’s usually on the cheek, but says he may have kissed staffers on the lips at staff parties or birthdays. He was also asked “Have you ever lied down on a couch with your head on the lap of a staffer?”
“I have… lay down on the couch often because I have a bad back,” Cuomo said. But, he insisted, “I’ll put my hand behind my head to sort of prop it up.”
Cuomo also made it clear he didn’t care for the investigator hired by James, Joon Kim, a deputy under former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who previously investigated the Cuomo administration and led the prosecution of Joe Percoco, the governor’s longtime aide who he once described as Mario Cuomo’s third son.
“I mean, the concept of you as the resolution to the conflict as an independent reviewer, is bizarre to me, and raises ethical and legal questions,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo left the interview with a parting shot at Kim.
“I would like to say it was a pleasure, Mr. Kim,” Cuomo said. “But I’m under oath.”
Meanwhile, the state Assembly Investigations Committee is shortly scheduled to release its own report on Cuomo’s behavior.
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November 11, 2021 at 04:24AM
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