A second former assistant to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has accused him of sexual harassment.
Charlotte Bennett, 25, a former executive assistant and health policy adviser to the administration, said The New York Times that Cuomo had asked her multiple questions about her sex life and relationships, including whether she had ever slept with an older man and whether she was in a relationship with other staff members, when the two were alone in his office in June 2020. She said he said that he was open to a relationship with a woman in her twenties and was looking for a girlfriend in Albany.
“I understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me, and felt terribly uncomfortable and scared,” she said, adding that she “assumed it was the end of my job.” She reported the incident to his chief of staff and made a statement about the incident to a special counsel’s office, after which, she said, she was transferred from the governor to a job on the other side of the Capitol. Her parents and friends confirmed it Times that she mentioned the conversation with Cuomo over the following days.
Cuomo told the Times he had acted as a mentor to Bennett and that she had opened up to him that he was a survivor of sexual assault. He did not deny asking her personal questions.
“I never made any progress towards Ms. Bennett, nor did I ever intend to do anything that was inappropriate,” he said. “This situation cannot and should not be resolved in the press. I believe the best way to find out the truth is through a full and thorough external review, and I instruct all government employees to comply with that effort. “
Beth Garvey, a special counsel to the governor, said Bennett “was consulted on the resolution and expressed satisfaction and appreciation for the way it was handled.”
A former federal judge will conduct a review of the case.
Bennett’s allegations come shortly after another former aide, Lindsey Boylan, said that Cuomo repeatedly [me] about my appearance ”and that the behavior continued“ for years ”, at one point leaving her in“ shock ”after the governor allegedly subjected her to an unsolicited kiss. A spokesman for Cuomo said of Boylan’s claims, “There is simply no truth in these claims.”
The allegations of harassment aren’t the only scandal enticing Cuomo. His dealings with nursing homes during the coronavirus pandemic caused significant political repercussions after he wrote a book on the victory laps entitled American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 PandemicAn assistant said his government deliberately underreported the deaths of nursing home residents from COVID-19 for fear of prosecution and political backlash.
Cuomo has responded strongly to his government’s criticisms. New York City Representative Ron Kim said Cuomo threatened to “ destroy ” him after Kim called for an investigation into the number of deaths in the nursing home. Smelling blood in the water, his enemies have dumped a decade of resentment in their bitter criticism of his rule-by-fear politics style.