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In a stunning fall from grace in August 2021, Andrew Cuomo resigned as governor.
Facing multiple sexual harassment allegations, the governor said he never meant to make anyone feel uncomfortable.
“In my mind, I never crossed the line with anyone, but I didn’t realize the extent to which the line has been redrawn,” Cuomo said at the time.
It was a week after New York’s attorney general issued a report finding the governor harassed 11 women, some on his staff, engaged in unwanted touching and created a hostile work environment.
Those accusers sat down with outside investigators in hours of videotaped testimony for the report.
One former assistant to the governor said Cuomo groped her breast in November 2020.
“He really pulled me in and I remember his hand just sliding right up my blouse,” Brittany Commisso said during her testimony. “And I remember looking down and seeing his hand. I would say it’s a large hand, over my bra, and looking down and thinking, ‘Holy s***.’”
Cuomo denied the allegations, taking questions under oath for 11 hours during the attorney general’s inquiry.
“To touch a women’s breast, who I hardly know, in the mansion with 10 staff around, with my family in the mansion, to say I don’t care who sees us,” Cuomo said during his testimony. “You’ve investigated me for six years. I would have to lose my mind to do such a thing.”
Denials aside, the political pressure to resign mounted, including a call from then-President Joe Biden.
The threat of impeachment proceedings loomed.
Resign he did.
Criminal charges ultimately were never pursued — the Albany County District Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute.
Since the governor’s resignation, he has been sued by three of his accusers. The complaints re-litigate the scandal and have led to multi-million-dollar court battles between Cuomo and the women who said he sexually harassed them.
“He’s continued to torment all of us even if we’re not pursuing legal recourse,” Lindsay Boylan said. “Why is he doing that? Because he’s an abuser and a monster. And he knows the only way forward for him is to destroy the women who can prove what a monster he is.”
Boylan accused Cuomo of sexual harassment in 2021 and became one of the most vocal women cited in the attorney general’s report.
She has not personally sued Cuomo, but has been asked for documents, correspondence and testimony as part of the other women’s lawsuits.
“I’ve still spent a million and a half dollars simply because this man continues to harass me,” Boylan said. “He’s subpoenaed over a dozen people in my life.”
Since resigning, Cuomo has been fighting to clear his name in court. His accusers say his tactics, which include deposing some of the women, have been malicious.
One accuser, Charlotte Bennett, sued Cuomo in federal court and after years of what she called harassment by his attorneys, she dropped her case. She had been slated to be deposed days later.
At one point during that now-dismissed litigation, Cuomo’s legal team requested her gynecological records. His attorney, who attended his campaign kickoff, says a confidentiality agreement blocks her from fully explaining why.
"I am happy to explain in detail why they were absolutely necessary, given what she was claiming was trauma and what we saw in other records that demanded it,” Rita Glavin said. “It is absolutely pertinent and relevant and if we get released from the confidentiality order, we can give you more details."
In a statement to NY1, Glavin said, “This pro forma request for Ms. Bennett’s medical records, which included a range of doctors with prescribing capabilities, was made at the direction of a psychiatric expert and was related to the massive monetary damages Ms. Bennett was claiming. Notably, Ms. Bennett did not raise a dispute with the Court about this request. We would be happy to respond in further detail, if Ms. Bennett agrees to release us from the confidentiality order her lawyers are enforcing after abruptly dropping her years-long litigation."
As part of the case, the Cuomo team obtained videos Bennett recorded at the time, describing her time in Cuomo’s office. Cuomo’s lawyers claim they show she changed her story.
Bennett is still suing the state for damages. That case continues. Her attorney would not comment for this story.
In December, Cuomo filed a notice of claim with the state, announcing his intention to sue Bennett for defamation.
All the while, state taxpayers have been paying for Cuomo’s legal fees, private attorneys to defend the former governor for his conduct in office.
According to a review from the state comptroller’s office obtained by NY1, the direct legal fees have climbed to at least $29.6 million – which includes representation for Cuomo and his staff related to the sexual harassment claims. A small portion of that also covers his defense for the investigations into COVID-19 and his controversial book deal.
According to that analysis, the total cost to state taxpayers, including outside lawyers hired by state agencies to respond to these Cuomo investigations, is a staggering $57.6 million.
It’s a fact that’s now fuel on the campaign trail.
Separate from the attorney general’s report, the Department of Justice last year issued its own findings, saying Cuomo subjected at least 13 women to a sexually hostile work environment.
The federal government reached a settlement with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office on a number of reforms in an attempt to prevent similar alleged behavior in the future.
In a statement for this story, Rich Azzopardi, a spokesperson for Cuomo, sent NY1 the following statement, "Three years, five district attorney reviews that resulted in zero cases and civil cases that were either dropped or are dying on the vine due to a mountain of exculpatory evidence uncovered during discovery is a clarifying dose of due process. The city is in crisis and New Yorkers know Andrew Cuomo has the experience, the record and the skill to help save it.”
