Andrew Cuomo has denied the former assistant’s allegations of sexual harassment

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Lindsey Boylan claimed the Democratic governor kissed her on the lips in 2018 after a one-on-one briefing in his New York City office.

“As I got up to leave and walked to an open door, he stepped out in front of me and kissed me on the lips,” Boylan wrote, describing the encounter. “I was in shock, but I kept walking.” Boylan first accused the governor of sexual harassment in a Twitter thread in December.

“As we said before, Ms. Boylan’s claims about inappropriate behavior are simply false,” Caitlin Girouard, the governor’s press secretary, said in a statement Wednesday.

In that same statement, the office also issued a denial by four current and former staffers about a specific interaction on a flight in which Boylan says the governor suggested they play strip poker. The four staffers who flew with Cuomo and Boylan said this never happened.

Cuomo also vehemently denied the allegations at a press conference in December, when Boylan first did them.

Cuomo's national star is threatened by increased control over nursing home death treatment

CNN has been unable to confirm the allegations, and when asked for further comment, Boylan replied that she let her Medium post speak for itself.

However, the post has caused another series of bad headlines for the Cuomo government.

New York state majority leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, a Democrat, released a statement on Wednesday calling the accusation “disturbing”.

“This is very disturbing. There is clearly no place for this type of behavior in the workplace or anywhere else,” wrote Stewart-Cousins.

Cuomo, who had enjoyed skyrocketing popularity and national recognition for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic last spring, is now facing growing criticism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in his state over his administration of nursing home death records. CNN has reported pleading with lawmakers for support and has even been accused of threatening political retaliation against Democrats who have criticized him in an aggressive attempt to stem the political fallout from the revelations.
CNN has also reported that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, along with the FBI, are scrutinizing the handling of some data on Covid-19 deaths in long-term care facilities in New York. The investigation was described as preliminary and it was not clear whether the authorities are looking at the governor himself or members of his administration.

Boylan is currently running for president of Manhattan. She unsuccessfully challenged Representative Jerry Nadler in a Democratic primary in 2020.

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