New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) should face an independent investigation over accusations of sexual harassment from two former aides, one of the state’s most prominent Democratic figures said Sunday.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) joined the growing number of lawmakers from the state calling for Cuomo to face an investigation that is not initiated or controlled by one of his appointees. The calls come after two former aides, Lindsey Boylan and Charlotte Bennett, separately accused Cuomo of unwanted sexual advances while they were employed by the state.
“Lindsey Boylan and Charlotte Bennett’s detailed accounts of sexual harassment by Gov. Cuomo are extremely serious and painful to read,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “There must be an independent investigation – not one led by an individual selected by the Governor, but by the office of the Attorney General.”
The comments from Ocasio-Cortez, along with similar remarks from White House press secretary Jen Psaki on CNN’s State of the Union” on Sunday, are the latest signs that Democrats will not circle their wagons around Cuomo as he faces dual scandals in the former aides’ claims as well as findings that New York officials hid thousands of COVID-19-related nursing home deaths from state tallies.
New York City’s Mayor Bill de Blasio (D), a political rival of Cuomo’s, issued his own statement on Sunday calling on the governor to face two investigations over the scandals.
“[T]he investigation into sexual misconduct must be led by someone fully independent of the governor,” said the mayor.