“The governor must be held accountable. What he did to me is a crime. He broke the law, ”Brittany Commissiono told CBS News.
The woman, who filed a criminal lawsuit against the politician last week in the New York capital, Albany, went into detail about her accusations as Cuomo comes under pressure to step down and possible legal battles.
Commissiono is one of eleven women mentioned in a report released last week by New York State Attorney General Letitia James, who accuses Cuomo of sexual harassment. In the document, she is anonymously listed as “Assistant Director # 1”.
“I am Brittany Komisso too. I am a woman, I have a voice, and I decided to use it, ”she said in an interview. “For me it was a dream job and, unfortunately, turned into a nightmare,” he added.
In 25-minute excerpts from interviews published Monday by CBS, the woman recounts how the governor went from “goodbye hugs” to “intensifying kisses on the cheek.”
Finally, one day, Cuomo “turned quickly to kiss my lips,” he accused. Komisso also recalled two incidents mentioned in the report: the first, when the governor allegedly grabbed his ass while taking a “ selfie ”, and then, in November 2020, at his official residence, when he reached under his blouse to touch your chest …
The governor denied the charges last Tuesday. “I want them to know straight from me that I have never touched anyone inappropriately or committed inappropriate sexual harassment,” he said in a televised speech in which he gave no indication of what he was considering. the possibility of leaving your position.
“Perhaps for him he thought it was okay. But for me and the other women with whom he did these things, it was not so. This was not welcomed, and of course it was not agreed upon, ”Commiso said.
The interview aired a few days after Melissa DeRosa, who was named one of the governor’s closest associates by New York media, announced her resignation.
In an explosive New York Attorney’s Office report, de Rosa was singled out as part of a group seeking revenge on one of the women who blamed the governor. In his resignation letter released Sunday by various US media outlets, DeRosa wrote that the past two years “have been emotionally and morally difficult.”
Despite mounting pressure, Cuomo has rejected calls from President Joe Biden and other Democratic leaders to step down as state lawmakers mobilize for his resignation.
The governor faces an impeachment trial, which lawmakers say could be carried out quickly.
“Members (of the state assembly) do not believe the governor can stay in power,” said House Representative Carl Heasty, a Democrat. “This is a problem that will be resolved in weeks, not months.”
