By John Ikani
U.S. President, Joe Biden had asked New York State Governor, Andrew Cuomo to resign after an investigative report released Tuesday by the state’s Attorney General found that Cuomo had sexually harassed numerous women in violation of federal and state laws, allegations that he vehemently denied.
“I think he should resign,” Biden told reporters Tuesday afternoon at a press conference in Washington.
Letitia James, New York’s Attorney General, in the report said Cuomo allegedly targeted 11 current and former employees of the state government.
The nearly five-month investigation, led by two outside lawyers, concluded that 11 women who said that Cuomo had touched them inappropriately, commented on their appearance or made suggestive comments about their sex lives were telling the truth.
Those accusers included an aide who said Cuomo groped her breast at the governor’s mansion and a state trooper on his security detail, who said he ran his hand or fingers across her stomach and her back.
Anne Clark, who led the probe with former U.S. Attorney Joon Kim, said the allegations were corroborated to varying degrees, including by other witnesses and contemporaneous text messages.
However, the governor has remained defiant, saying in a taped response to the findings that “the facts are much different than what has been portrayed” and that he “never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances.”
Biden’s call for Cuomo’s resignation is the most devastating, yet politically for the governor, who for months has resisted calls that he resign from prominent New York Democrats as he seeks to finish his third term. Cuomo is up for reelection in 2022.
