This column, from the weekly opinion piece MATTER OF FACT, first appeared on BrooklynReporter.com, the Home Reporter and Spectator dated March 11, 2022
One year ago this week, I wrote in this column about the multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against then-Governor Cuomo that had surfaced from several women over the span of a few days. Cuomo denied some of them and claimed others were misinterpreted, stating he “may have been insensitive or too personal,” but he never apologized for his behavior. Though many elected officials, including from his own party, called for an independent investigation, I wrote at the time that Cuomo should resign.
Within a week, Attorney General Letitia James had started an independent investigation of Cuomo. Over the next three weeks, several other women came forward with stories of inappropriate comments, touching or kissing by Cuomo. The investigation would take five months.
On August 3, 2021, James released her report detailing sexual harassment of eleven women by Cuomo, which included inappropriate and unwanted sexual comments, kissing, and groping. The allegations against Cuomo were credible, with corroboration from other sources for most of the instances, including photographs of one of them.
By this time, the chorus of leaders calling for Cuomo to resign became overwhelming and after denying the most serious allegations, a week after the report was released, he announced he would step down two weeks later. Five months earlier, there was plenty of credible information available to make it clear that Cuomo needed to resign.
Now, one year after that flurry of credible accusations in early March of last year, Cuomo sat in a Church on March 6, 2022, dismissing what he had done to all of those women, playing the victim, and hinting that after what he deemed to be unfair treatment, that he was ready for a political comeback.
“Cuomo wasn’t railroaded; he quit so he wouldn’t be impeached. New Yorkers are ready to move forward from this sick, pathetic man.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James’ Campaign, March 6, 2022
There will be no political comeback. That is not to say that Cuomo will not try. He may, but there is no possibility that he ever wins an election again, and that is how it should be. In addition to the reprehensible sexually charged behavior he subjected multiple women to, the investigation by the Attorney General’s office established that Cuomo had also engaged in illegal retaliation against his first accuser, who had gone public in late 2020.
Cuomo had a long history of going after anyone who dared cross him. Assemblyman Ron Kim shared how Cuomo berated him for not lying about the misrepresentation of COVID nursing home deaths Cuomo was pushing, threatening to ruin his career. Lindsay Nielsen, a former New York journalist, detailed the constant hostile harassment Cuomo directed at her, which ultimately led to her leaving the profession altogether.
Cuomo has been a serial harasser in every sense of the word. He used his position of power as a means to harass people, as well as to cover for that behavior. People like Cuomo get a pass for so long because there are many men who do the same or similar things and because many more people, including men and some women, will make excuses for it.
Democrats did the right thing, even if five months late, by presenting a united front in demanding Cuomo step down last year. There is still much work to be done, but the Democratic party continued to be the one that holds their own members, no matter how influential they are, to account.
Following Cuomo’s remarks last week, Attorney General James’ campaign released a statement, saying, ‘Serial sexual Harasser Andrew Cuomo won’t even spare a house of worship from his lies. Even though multiple independent investigations found his victims to be credible, Cuomo continues to blame everyone but himself. Cuomo wasn’t railroaded; he quit so he wouldn’t be impeached. New Yorkers are ready to move forward from this sick, pathetic man.”
James did not hold back, and the fact that the political comeback Cuomo hinted at could begin with him running against her for Attorney General could be part of the reason for how pointed her remarks were, but the words of Tish James are how everyone should be addressing Cuomo: with scorn, derision, and disgust. It is all that he deserves.
