ALBANY, NY (AP) – An aide who accused New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of beating her at her official residence told a newspaper in her first public interview that it was a terrifying physical encounter in that the Democrat closed a door and said, “I don’t care,” when he warned that someone could see what he was doing.
“It was almost as if I felt like a piece of rubbish for him. I felt degraded, ”he said.
The interview published Wednesday by Albany’s Times Union, adds new details to the more serious indictment against Cuomo, a Democrat investigated after a number of women accused him of sexual harassment and other inappropriate behavior.
The woman, who still works in the governor’s office, spoke to the newspaper on condition of anonymity to protect her privacy, even though her identity is known within the governor’s circle.
Governor’s attorney Rita Glavin said in a statement that Cuomo “has repeatedly made it clear that he never made inappropriate advances or touched anyone inappropriately.”
The woman told the Times Union she had been summoned to the mansion on a weekday in November to help Cuomo with a problem with his iPhone. When she reached her office on the second floor of the mansion, she said, she got up from her desk and began to feel it.
“It wasn’t just a hug,” he said. “He went to get it and I said,‘ Oh, the door is here. ’… I was mortified that a woman working here will come in to see me …. I was scared that it would happen, because I’m not who I am and that is why I am not here. ”
“I said to him, I said, ‘You’re going to get us out of trouble,'” he recalled. “I didn’t know what else to say. … It was almost like, ‘What are you doing?’ say, “I don’t care.”
Then he turned to her.
“He came back right away and approached me and all I remember was seeing his hand, his big hand,” the woman said.
The governess had reached under her blouse and grabbed one of her breasts over her bra, the woman told the Times Union.
“I don’t remember saying the word‘ Stop. ’I think I said,‘ You’re crazy, ’” he told the newspaper. “I remember saying that, and that’s when he finally stopped. … Me saying “You’re crazy,” which was definitely not something he wanted to hear. It was definitely a hit for his ego. … And then it was almost like the instant it ended. … He turned and went back to his desk. He said nothing. I went out to the front door and nothing was said.
A month later, the woman said, she was taking the dictation for the governor in her Capitol office when she spoke about what had happened at the mansion.
“Towards the end, he looked me up and said, ‘You know, by the way, you know people talk in the office and you can never tell anyone anything we’re talking about or, you know, anything, right?’ she said. “I said, ‘I get it.’ He said, “Well, you know, I could have big problems, you know.” I said, “I get it, Governor.” And he said, “Okay.”
The woman said she interpreted the governor’s comments as a threat.
“I was a passive, and he knew it,” he said.
Cuomo has rejected widespread petitions for his resignation and called for people to wait for the results of an investigation overseen by state Attorney General Letitia James, a fellow Democrat. The State Assembly is conducting an independent investigation into whether there are grounds to charge the governor.
New interview details kicked off a new round of calls for Cuomo’s withdrawal, with Democratic State Sen. Gustavo Rivera of New York asking his fellow lawmakers on Twitter: “How many more terrible details do you need?” to say clearly that @NYGovCuomo needs to resign or be accused imminently? “
Glavin said the attorney general’s review of this claim and others “must be thorough, fair and provide the truth.”
The woman, a mother of a young child, told the Times Union she had lost significant weight, was emotionally fragile and was worried about her job security.
The woman believes Cuomo had been preparing her for nearly two years with inappropriate behavior that began with hugs and kisses on the cheek, she told the newspaper. She asked unexplored and inappropriate questions, once saying to her, “Oh, if you were single, the things I would do to you,” she said.
On New Year’s Eve 2019, he said, she was sent to the mansion to help the governor and he suggested taking a selfie.
“I was picking up the phone. I was nervous. When the phone is taken off, I feel it as if I not only slipped my hands, but as if I were rubbing my cheek, but not saying anything, ”he said. “That was the first brazen move.”
Several other women whoever worked for Cuomo has accused him of hitting them, of subjecting them to inappropriate comments about their appearance or questions about their life as a couple.