New York Governor Andrew Cuomo reportedly once told one of his accusers he wanted to 'get drunk' and 'take a woman into the mountains' to forget about the pandemic for a few hours, according to an excerpt in Attorney General Letitia James' scathing report on the governor's misconduct.
Charlotte Bennett recounted the shocking comment the governor reportedly made to her when she sat down with Jill Des Rosier, Cuomo's former chief of staff, for a counseling session in June 2020, according to Des Rosier's handwritten notes - which were included in the 165-page investigative report.
'He repeated that he was lonely and didn't know what to do,' Des Rosier wrote about what Bennett was telling her. 'He was to get drunk and get on his motorcycle nd take a woman into the mountains and forget about the pandemic for a few hours.'
Bennett is just one of the 11 woman who have accused Cuomo of sexual assault - claims that have since been corroborated by James' investigative report on Tuesday.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo reportedly told one of his accusers he was 'lonely' and wanted to 'take a woman into the mountains' to forget about the pandemic for a few hours, according to an excerpt from Attorney General Letitia James' report. The governor is seen here participating in the 9/11 Memorial Ride in New York City
Charlotte Bennett, a former aide, right, recounted the conversation with the governor in a sit-down counseling session with Jill Des Rosier, Cuomo's former chief of staff, in June 2020
Des Rosier's handwritten notes about what Bennett said at the session were included in James' 165-page investigative report released Tuesday
The motorcycle comments reportedly came after Cuomo ‘brought up his ex - he said Sandy (Sandra Lee) was not talking to him’ - the couple had ended their eight-year relationship in 2019.
Cuomo said he was ‘lonely, that he was not sleeping well, he was looking for a girlfriend’. Cuomo told Bennett she was ‘in charge of finding him a girlfriend’.
At the time Cuomo was winning national plaudits for his handling of the pandemic and his daily press conferences which would later win him an Emmy.
The notes from the Cuomo report reveal that his conversation with Bennett took a darker tone when the governor said that the only criteria for a prospective girlfriend was that they should be over 22 years of age.
He reportedly asked if she'd date older men, asking her help to find a girlfriend, and apparently quizzing her on a sexual assault she had endured.
At that point Bennett realized that Cuomo was ‘grooming’ her and became extremely uneasy.
The report contains a transcript of an October 4, 2019 phone call between Cuomo and Bennett in which he calls her ‘hun’ and sings to her.
Cuomo sings: ‘Are you reaaaaaady? do do do do do do do do’.
When Bennett says she doesn’t know the song, Cuomo says it is ‘before her time’.
Cuomo sings: ‘Do you love me, do you really love me? Do you love me, do you care?’
Cuomo says that the song is ‘like a 50’s, it’s before even my time’
The investigators behind the report have said that they found the accusers ‘credible’ and released dozens of Bennett’s contemporaneous texts messages sent by Bennett to back up her claims,
In one exchange with what appears to be a friend, Bennett writes that she is ‘GOING TO BURST INTO TEARS’ after an apparent incident with Cuomo.
Other messages show Bennett’s response to Cuomo’s statement following similar allegations by Lindsey Boylan.
Bennett appears to write that it ‘left me with a pit in my stomach’ and Cuomo’s statement was ‘gross’ and left her ‘SO mad’.
She writes: ‘You creep…it’s such b*******’
In other messages which appear to be to another Cuomo staffer Bennett writes: ‘He only spoke to me twice today and both times it was to tell me he didn’t like how I did my hair’.
Those include text messages between Charlotte Bennett and another aide, and conversations she had with her parents where she had she had a 'great conversation' with the 'Governor', and others where she says he made her feel uncomfortable.
Those include text messages between Charlotte Bennett and another aide, and conversations she had with her parents where she had she had a 'great conversation' with the 'Governor', and others where she says he made her feel uncomfortable.
The attorney general's report finds that Cuomo fostered a 'toxic work environment' where women were punished for reporting their allegations. It says that instead of dealing with the complaints properly, the women were simply moved out of his orbit, into different departments.
It concludes: 'The Governor sexually harassed a number of State employees through unwelcome and unwanted touching, as well as by making numerous offensive and sexually suggestive comments.
'We find that such conduct was part of a pattern of behavior that extended to his interactions with others outside of State government.'
James said all of the allegations are corroborated but she has not recommended any criminal charges against him, saying the scope of her work didn't include prosecution.
The 168-report was released on Tuesday after a five month investigation by the NY AG. It substantiated the allegations of 11 women who say Cuomo sexually harassed them either by groping them or making inappropriate comments dating back to 2013
Cuomo, who has always denied the allegations, gave a televised address an hour after James' report was released during which he denied all of the claims and called the report a political attack on his character. He says he welcomed the 'opportunity' for a 'full and fair review' of the facts
But calls have been growing on both sides of the aisle for him to resign - something the governor has said he will not do.
In response to the attorney general's report Tuesday, Cuomo's attorney released an 85-page rebuttal which she says she will continue to update.
'Even on a quick first review, it is clear that the report purposefully omits key evidence,' said Cuomo's attorney Rita M. Glavin.
Cuomo also used a slideshow of images of him hugging and kissing people throughout his life to demonstrate what he described as an affectionate and tactile personality, that he says the women have confused for a sexual predator.
'This has been a long and painful period for me and my family as others feed stories to the press,' he said at a news conference Tuesday.
'I never touched anyone inappropriately. The facts are much different to what has been portrayed.
'I am 63 years old. I have lived my entire adult life in public service. That is just not who I am or who I ever have been,' he said.
He went on: 'Trial by newspaper and biased reviews are not the way to find the facts. I welcome the opportunity for a full and fair review before a judge and jury because this just did not happen.'
In his rebuttal, Cuomo said he'd never sexually harass anyone, much less a sexual assault survivor like Charlotte Bennett - one of the accusers - claiming he has helped a female relative overcome sexual abuse himself.
He said that the women invariably misinterpreted his 'warm' gestures like hugs and kisses, or misunderstood compliments.
No comments:
Post a Comment