New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is calling for an independent investigation into claims New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed a former aide.
In an essay published to Medium Wednesday, Lindsey Boylan – who worked as a special advisor to Cuomo in 2018 – charged that the Governor asked her to play strip poker and kissed on the lips without her permission.
The allegations have been vigorously denied by Cuomo, but de Blasio told reporters during a press conference Thursday that they should be examined more thoroughly.
‘These allegations are really disturbing. Let’s be clear about that, they’re really disturbing. We have to, as New Yorkers, we got to take this seriously. When a woman comes forward with this kind of very specific allegations, they have to be taken seriously,’ de Blasio stated.
‘We need a full and independent investigation, I want to emphasize the word ‘independent,’ investigation by some individual or entity that is not compromised, is not dominated by the governor’s office, but an independent investigation,’ he continued.
‘This kind of behavior, if it’s true, is unacceptable in any public servant, in anybody. So we’ve got to get the truth about this.’
Meanwhile, New York state’s two senators were also questioned about the allegations, with a spokesperson for Chuck Schumer stating: ‘He has said many times that sexual harassment is never acceptable and must not be tolerated, and that any credible allegation should be thoroughly investigated.’
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is calling for an independent investigations into claims New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed a former aide
In an essay published to Medium Wednesday, Lindsey Boylan -who worked as a special advisor to Cuomo in 2018- charged that the Governor asked her to play strip poker and kissed on the lips without her permission.
Sen. Kristen Gillibrand was also asked about the allegations on Thursday, but gave a somewhat softer reply.
“I have not read her allegations or her posts or Medium posts. But as I said, everyone has a right to be able to come forward, speak their truth and be heard. And that’s true for her and it’s also true for Governor Cuomo,’ Gillibrand said Thursday, according to a tweet posted by Huffington Post’s Igor Bobic.
In this past, Gillibrand has seemed far more reluctant to let Republicans accused of sexual assault ‘speak their truth’.
The Democrat senator demanded President Trump be ‘resign’ after he was accused of sexual assault.
In 2018, she called allegations of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh ‘disqualifying’.
Meanwhile, the Democratic party’s other prominent women are curiously staying silent about the bombshell allegations.
Vice President Kamala Harris, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton have not yet released statements regarding the claims despite fashioning themselves as champion of women.
Fox News reports that representatives for Harris, Pelosi and Clinton failed to respond to their request for comment.
Meanwhile, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – who recently revealed she had been a victim of sexual assault – has been similarly quiet.
Mainstream TV networks ABC, NBC and CBS similarly did not report on their allegations in their news bulletins Wednesday night.
No comment? Vice President Kamala Harris has not made a statement on the claims. At one point, the incoming Biden-Harris Administration were reportedly considering Cuomo for the role of Attorney General. Harris is pictured with Boylan in a photo taken several years ago
Hillary Clinton and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have not released statements regarding the claims
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – who recently revealed she had been a victim of sexual assault – was similarly quiet
Clinton and Cuomo have long been friends. The pair are pictured together in 2016
However, actress and activist Rose McGown has spoken out in defense of Boylan and, like de Blasio, she is demanding an independent investigation.
‘I completely stand by Lindsey Boylan. Its truth leaks from every word on the screen that she wrote. She, none of us, should endure what she endured,’ McGowan told Fox News.
‘If they’re doing it to her, what are they doing to constituents? What is he going to do to what he considers the little people? It’s monstrous.’
She continued: ‘I would like to see an honest investigation. I would like that position of power to be filled by somebody who is not dangerous and a bully and intimidating and threatening because that’s what sexual harassment is. It’s power abuse. It’s trying to make the little person feel small.’
Actress and activist Rose McGown has spoken out in defense of Boylan and, like de Blasio, she is demanding an independent investigation
In Wednesday’s Medium post Boylan claimed she was taking a plane ride with Cuomo in 2017 when he asked her to play strip poker.
‘I should have been shocked by the Governor’s crude comment, but I wasn’t.’
She further alleged that during a one-on-one briefing with the Governor to update him on economic and infrastructure projects he kissed her without permission.
‘We were in his New York City office on Third Avenue. As I got up to leave and walk toward an open door, he stepped in front of me and kissed me on the lips. I was in shock, but I kept walking.
‘I had complained to friends that the Governor would go out of his way to touch me on my lower back, arms and legs,’ she wrote.
Boylan had already alleged in tweets in December last year that Cuomo ‘abused his power’ and sexually harassed her for years.
Cuomo’s press secretary Caitlin Girouard issued a statement Wednesday saying Boylan’s latest allegations are untrue.
‘As we said before, Ms. Boylan’s claims of inappropriate behavior are quite simply false,’ she stated.
In Wednesday’s Medium post Lindsey Boylan claimed she was taking a plane ride with Cuomo in 2017 when he asked her to play strip poker
NY Democrat Assemblyman Ron Kim has come out in support of Boylan. He tweeted support after she went public with her sexual assault allegations
The accusation comes as Cuomo is under increasing pressure over his handling of COVID-19 deaths in the state’s nursing homes. He signed a March order that allowed nursing homes to accept COVID-19 patients back to their facilities.
Earlier this month, Melissa DeRosa, Cuomo’s secretary, unleashed a political firestorm when she admitted to state Democrats that the administration had deliberately hid data on the number of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes.
At least 15,000 people living in long-term care facilities have died of COVID-19, nearly double the number Cuomo had initially disclosed. Cuomo says his office was always honest about the figures but that it came down to differences in categorization.
Days after DeRosa’s revelation, NY Democrat Assemblyman Ron Kim claimed that the Governor made threats as part of an effort to get him to ‘cover up’ for DeRosa’s admission.
‘The Governor called for about ten minutes, it seemed like one hour,’ Kim told CNN last week.
Kim claimed that the Governor made threats as part of an effort to get him to ‘cover up’ for his staffers admission about inaccuracies in the number of nursing home deaths
He accused Cuomo of ‘berating’ him in order to pressure him ‘to issue a statement that invalidated what I heard. He asked me to lie to cover up for his staff.’
Kim said the phone call left his family traumatized.
Kim has now come out in support of Boylan, who tweeted after she went public with her sexual assault allegations.
‘Cuomo is a coward who has abused his powers. His pattern of abuse and harassment toward his aides, journalists, lawmakers, and critiques is despicable. As a lawmaker, I have the duty to hold him accountable. I will not stand down. I will stand with Lindsey Boylan,’ Kim wrote.
Fox News star Janice Dean appeared at a rally held by Kim on Wednesday
Meanwhile, he held a rally about Cuomo’s nursing home scandal on Wednesday, with Fox News star Janice Dean taking to the microphone.
Dean has been a vocal critic of Cuomo’s after both of her in-laws died from COVID in nursing homes.
‘A lot of news agencies, news companies, think that this is breaking news,’ she said. ‘We have been shouting from the rooftops for ten months!’
‘And I have yet to hear this governor say, in front of a microphone, I am sorry for your loss. That would have been a good start.’
Cuomo is pictured on Wednesday. The Governor is currently mired in a number of scandals
Source: Daily Mail US
