Lindsey Boylan, the first woman to publicly accuse Governor Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment, condemned the governor as a “disgusting monster” and called for his resignation after two more women shared their own accusations against the legislature, bringing the total to five.
Writing late on Twitter on Saturday, Boylan also expressed support for fourth and fifth prosecutors, fellow former Cuomo staffers Ana Liss and Karen Hinton.
“Quit my job, disgusting monster, @NYGovCuomo,” Boylan tweeted in the wake of the two latest allegations.
Liss, 35, told the Wall Street Journal in a paper published Saturday that Cuomo once kissed her hand, asked if she had a boyfriend, and made other comments that made her feel like “just a skirt.”
And Hinton told the Washington Post that Cuomo, then the head of the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, grabbed her in a “ really long, too long, too tight, too intimate ” embrace in his dimly lit hotel room in 2000. Los Angeles.
“I am very proud of Ana Liss. She’s brave and she speaks for me too, ” Boylan tweeted“It is extremely destructive that our boss, the governor of New York, has treated us this way.”
The message was retweeted by hundreds, including co-plaintiff and ex-Cuomo staffer Charlotte Bennett, 25, who accused the governor of making a series of unwelcome comments that convinced her he was seeking a sexual relationship.
Boylan added of the other new charge: “Thank you Karen Hinton for bravely sharing your story of how our boss, one of the most powerful men in the country, used his power to abuse you. I send you love. I am with you. We are on your side. “
The fifth prosecutor – and the only one who has not worked for Cuomo at any point – is Anna Ruch, 33, who claims that Cuomo grabbed her and kissed her on the cheek as she tried to withdraw from a wedding they both attended in 2019 .
A Cuomo spokesman denied that the run-in alleged by Hinton took place, claiming she had ulterior motives to accuse him of sexual harassment.
“This has not happened,” said Peter Ajemian in a statement to the Washington Post. “Karen Hinton is a well-known antagonist of the Governor who is trying to take advantage of this moment to score cheap points with trumped-up charges from 21 years ago.”
As for the other new accusation, another Cuomo spokesperson, Rich Azzopardi, did not specifically deny Liss’s story, but said it was not uncommon to kiss people lovingly.
Reporters and photographers have covered the governor for 14 years as he watched men and women kiss and pose for photos. At the public reception of the open house there are hundreds of people, and he poses for hundreds of photos, ”Azzopardi told the Journal. “That’s what people do in politics.”
Cuomo made a similar statement at a press conference last week, his first since the scandal broke.
The governor also offered a conditional apology “if [his accusers] were offended ”by his comments, and flatly denied touching anyone inappropriately.
He vowed not to resign, as a twofold contingent of lawmakers and political groups have demanded.