NEW YORK (Dagbladet): Andrew Cuomo resigned as governor of New York in August.
It came after the state’s Attorney General, Letitia James, concluded that he had sexually harassed eleven women. A large number of the most prominent democratic politicians in New York had also asked him to resign.
On Thursday, the Albany County sheriff filed a lawsuit in city court alleging that Cuomo had violated sexual laws. If he is convicted, he risks in the worst case one year in prison.
But now there is confusion about whether the document was published by mistake, writes AP.
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– Touched
The charge, which in legal parlance in New York is called a “criminal complaint”, is on one side. It accuses Cuomo of forcibly touching a woman under the woman’s shirt on December 7, 2020. One of Cuomo’s former employees has publicly accused him of just such an incident in the governor’s residence in Albany at about that time.
Accused of flood victims: – Sexually harassed
If the case ends up in court, it will be public prosecutor David Soares, who will head the prosecution. He has also been involved in the investigation. But on Thursday he sent out a press release stating that he had been taken to bed by the charge.
– Like the rest of the public, we were surprised to find out about the charge today in Albany City Court by the sheriff against Andrew Cuomo. The court administration has since published the indictment. Our office will not comment on the matter further, Soares said in a statement.
According to local newspapers Times Unions sources, the accusation must have been submitted “prematurely”.
Victim not informed
The Cuomo prosecutor’s lawyer told the Times that she had not been consulted about the charge either.
– It was my client’s understanding that the public prosecutor agreed with the sheriff that they should carry out a thorough, impartial and non-political evaluation of the case. Only after the investigation was completed would they talk to my client to give her an opportunity to make an informed decision if she wanted to continue as a victim in the case. As the public prosecutor, she became aware of the accusation through the media, her lawyer, Brian Premo, told the newspaper.
The charge means that Cuomo must appear in court at 2.30 pm local time on 17 November.
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Accusing the sheriff
Cuomo’s defender, Rita Glavin, says the ex-governor has never assaulted anyone. She also criticizes Sheriff Craig Apple for having “completely inappropriate” motives.
– Sheriff Apple did not even tell the public prosecutor about what he did. But Apple’s behavior is no surprise given his press conference on August 7, where he almost concluded that the governor was guilty before the case was investigated, and his office leaked information from the grand jury. This is not professional policing. This is politics, Glavin said in a statement, according to AP.
Cuomo risks up to one year in prison and three years’ probation if he is convicted after being charged with forcing someone to do so. But it is also possible for a judge to give a much milder sentence without imprisonment at all.
New accusation: – Outraged
Deny
Cuomo’s former assistant has publicly told of an incident when she and the then governor were alone together in the governor’s residence in December last year. She said that Cuomo pulled her towards her to give her a hug when she was about to leave. She said that Cuomo then put his hand under her shirt and grabbed it around her chest.
Cuomo, for his part, has stubbornly denied this.
“I must have lost my mind to do something like that,” Cuomo said of the accusation.
In March this year, however, he issued an apology if anyone felt ill-treated. He claimed that he himself had not understood that his behavior could be perceived as unpleasant.
– I now understand that I have behaved in a way that was uncomfortable for others. It was not intentional, and I am sincerely and deeply sorry for that, he said, according to CNN.
Isolated: – Unsound and dangerous
National hero
Cuomo became a national hero in the first phase of the pandemic for the way he handled the situation with his daily press conferences. But it later emerged that his office had covered corona deaths at state nursing homes. He was also criticized for giving his own family members special treatment and access to coronation testing as it was still very difficult to access. In addition, there were all the allegations of sexual harassment. Some of the women describe unwanted kissing. Others describe unwanted personal questions about sex and dating.
One week after Attorney General Letitia James of the state came to her conclusion, Cuomo withdrew even though he still claimed that her conclusion was inaccurate and incorrect.
James has not been involved in forensic science.
“The criminal charge against Cuomo today for forcing himself to feel validates the findings of our report,” James said in a statement.
According to the AP, she herself has great political ambitions and is now strongly considering running as a candidate for governor in the state.
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