Cuomo Sexual Harassment Files Made Public By AG

New York City NY

10 November, 2021

11:44 AM

Description

Updated 1:32 p.m. with more details from Andrew Cuomo's testimony. NEW YORK — Thousands of pages of interview transcripts with 10 women who accused former Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment are now open to the public. Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday released files behind a bombshell 165-page report about Cuomo's alleged misconduct that ultimately prompted his resignation as New York's governor. Cuomo, 63, has denied accusations leveled by women and pressed for the probe's files to be released. His denials are included in a 515-page transcript detailing "highly confidential" testimony he gave in July to investigators. "I don't remember," he said repeatedly when asked about accusations women made. Cuomo at other points in his testimony said he was careful in how he behaved around women and claimed several of his accusers had misrepresented what happened. He bristled at a groping allegation by an aide, Brittany Commisso, who said the governor had pulled her to him and grabbed her breast in the governor's mansion. The accusation from Commisso led to a criminal complaint from the Albany County's sheriff's office, but its future is in doubt. Groping Commisso would be "not even feasible," Cuomo claimed, especially because he believed his conduct was constantly under scrutiny by enemies, including one of the lawyers then investigating him, former acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim. "You've investigated me for six years," he told Kim, referring to corruption investigations conducted by federal prosecutors during Kim's tenure, including one that sent one of Cuomo's close friends to prison. "I would have to lose my mind to do some — such a thing. It would be an act of insanity to touch a woman's breast and make myself vulnerable to a woman for such an accusation." "Numerous people have tried to set me up," Cuomo said. "I'm always wary of people. I have phenomenal precautions. It would be an act of insanity." Further files will be released on a "rolling basis," a statement from James's office states. Read the files here. The Associated Press contributed this report.