An investigation released Monday found “strong evidence” that former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed women and ordered government officials to help him release a book on leadership during the pandemic.
The report also highlights that Andrew Cuomo’s team “substantially revised” the NYS Department of Health’s report on COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes, excluding statistics that could tarnish his reputation as a leader during the pandemic.
The report’s findings, produced by a law firm hired by the state legislature’s judiciary committee, were broadly expected, in particular the findings on sexual harassment, which mirrored allegations released over the summer by an investigation by the New York attorney general, AP reported.
But the investigation revealed new data, such as a $ 5.2 million private deal. [cerca de 4,6 milhões de euros] Andrew Cuomo has written The American Crisis: Lessons From A Pandemic Leadership. [Crise Americana: Lições sobre liderança durante a pandemia, em português]…
The former governor of New York has ensured that no state resources will be used to write the book, but investigators from the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell pointed to evidence that Andrew Cuomo’s team spent a lot of time on the project.
“A senior government official explained that tasks related to books are considered a priority and this work was not voluntary,” the investigation report said.
“Another senior employee sent a text message to his colleague that work on the book was undermining his ability to work on covid-19 issues,” it says.
Team members told the researchers that they were assigned tasks for the book during office hours, such as printing, delivering documents, or attending meetings with agents or editors.
The report also highlights that a senior government official sent and received 1,000 emails about the book, and while he did not mention the employee’s identity, the details allowed him to identify her as a former adviser to former governor Melissa DeRos.
Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, resigned in August to avoid an impeachment process.
Cuomo denied sexual harassment and inappropriate touching of any woman.
The former governor is facing a separate criminal case in which he is accused of touching the chest of a former assistant Brittany Komisso after being summoned to her official residence on December 7, 2020.
The report, released Monday, said it analyzed travel, phone calls and text messages that confirmed the whereabouts of the former aide on the day of the attack.
“We have concluded that there is overwhelming evidence that the former governor was involved in sexual harassment,” it says.
The investigation further examined allegations that Cuomo’s team asked the state health department to remove the link to 10,000 covid-19 deaths among nursing home residents, instead pointing to 6,500 deaths, not counting deaths among victims who contracted the virus in nursing homes. but died after death. transferred to hospitals.
“Witnesses noted that the same senior official who served as the cornerstone of the book made the decision to include only domestic deaths in the data,” the report said.
Former Governor’s spokesman Richard Azzopardi and his lawyer Rita Glavin have not yet reacted to the report’s findings.
