New York government Andrew Cuomo this week denies allegations that he used his position to belittle and bully critics and opponents, sexually harass an assistant and suggest that she “plays strip poker.”
What are some of the most prominent liberal women in the nation saying about this issue in the wake of the # MeToo movement against sexual harassment?
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, an outspoken advocate of women’s rights who had humiliated former Senate colleague Al Franken, D-Minn., When he was impeached after his own allegations of wrongdoing in 2018, did not respond to Fox News’ requests for comment on her home state governor.
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“There is no prize for someone who tries to hold accountable a powerful man who is good at his day job,” Gillibrand, DN.Y., told a reporter in 2019, adding that one of Franken’s prosecutors was a staffer . “But we have to have the courage to do it anyway.”
Cuomo faced a storm of accusations this week that he was using his political power to bully critics and staffers, following the explosion last week of a cover-up scandal surrounding the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in New York’s nursing homes.
Lindsey Boylan attends the 9th Annual Elly Awards hosted by the New York Women’s Forum on June 17, 2019 in New York City. (Mike Coppola / Getty Images for Women’s Forum of New York)
(Getty Images)
Cuomo’s office has denied allegations of harassment by former assistant Lindsey Boylan.
But Cuomo was also accused by former journalist Morgan Pehme of threatening his career, and his former spokesman Karen Hinton accused both Cuomo and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio of using “gender dominance” to assert power over women.
The sexual harassment working group called for “an immediate independent investigation” of Cuomo.
The group was founded by seven former New York state staffers in response to sexual harassment by lawmakers and their aides in Albany, the state capital.
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“There should be an immediate independent investigation into Governor Cuomo’s behavior in the workplace, conducted by an entity over which Cuomo has no nomination or oversight powers,” the group said in a statement Wednesday.
“For those who are out there with their own trauma, in any workplace, many of whom have certainly felt it closer to the surface in the past week, know this: We see you even when you feel like you need to hide You hear even when you feel voiceless, ”the group added.
Cuomo has also been accused of bullying by de Blasio and Representative Ron Kim, who has emerged as a leading Democratic critic of Cuomo’s dealings with the nursing homes.
“He’s abused his powers,” Kim said on ABC’s “The View” last week. “And abusers are cowards.”
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The White House did not respond to requests for comment from Vice President Kamala Harris, who said during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary campaign that she believed women accused of inappropriate touching then rival Joe Biden.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a longtime ally of Cuomo, did not respond to Fox News’ request for comment. Neither did House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who last week along with Cuomo’s GOP critics called for an investigation into the nursing home crisis, did not respond to a Fox News request for comment.
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Zephyr Teachout, a lawyer who launched a failed primary attempt against Cuomo in 2014, has called for an investigation – but she also said prosecutors had “no serious existing investigative body” to deal with such an investigation.
Assembly Patricia Fahy, an Albany Democrat, issued a statement on Wednesday demanding “a timely and independent investigation.”