New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declined challenging petitions for his resignation as more women come forward with allegations of sexual harassment against him, saying Sunday there is “no way” to leave office. But shortly after his press conference, New York State Senate leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, a Democrat, said he “must resign.”
“Every day there is another account moving away from government business,” Stewart-Cousins said in a statement Sunday afternoon. “We have allegations of sexual harassment, a toxic work environment, the loss of credibility surrounding data from COVID-19 nursing homes and questions about building a major infrastructure project. New York is still in the midst of this pandemic and continues to face its social, health and economic impacts. We must govern without daily distraction. For the good of the state, Governor Cuomo must resign. ”
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, also a Democrat, frankly said Cuomo should resign, but said in a statement that Cuomo should be “seriously considered” if he can run the state. “I also share the sentiment of Senate Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins about the governor’s ability to continue to lead that state,” Heastie said.
Cuomo insisted earlier Sunday that he would continue to focus on the COVID-19 response and the state’s vaccination effort, and said he would not be “distracted” by the allegations.
“I was elected by the people of the state, not by politicians,” Cuomo told reporters Sunday. “I’m not going to resign because of allegations. The premise of resigning because of allegations is actually undemocratic.”
Cuomo has spent the weekend approaching state leaders and lawmakers telling them he will not resign, two people familiar with the talks told CBS News. In phone calls, the governor repeats what he has said publicly: be patient and allow an investigation overseen by New York Attorney General Letitia James to take place.
In these conversations, Cuomo calls for due process, saying other people who have faced similar complaints have been given the opportunity to investigate before possible accountability, according to one of the people familiar with the case. diffusion.
Another person told CBS News that Cuomo has statewide support: “But you never know how wide or deep it is.”
It was unclear who exactly the governor spoke to or how many calls he made, but the list includes Stewart-Cousins and other lawmakers, the two said.
Two more women filed charges on Saturday that Cuomo acted inappropriately, turning them into five women who have charged him. While Cuomo said last week he was “embarrassed” and apologized for “any pain it caused him,” set a more challenging tone Sunday. He said an alleged incident with a woman, Lindsey Boylan, “did not happen,” and said allegations by a former aide, Karen Hinton, “are not true” Sunday.
One of Cuomo’s accusers, Charlotte Bennett, described him as a “textbook abuser” in an exclusive interview with CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell. Bennett alleges that on June 5, during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis in New York, the hard-hit Cuomo asked him if he had ever been intimate with an older man and said he was comfortable dating women for decades. younger than him.
Text messages sent by Bennett to a friend and reviewed by CBS News recalled his meeting with Cuomo immediately after the alleged conversation. In the messages, Bennett told a friend that Cuomo was “talking about age differences in relationships.”
His friend, who checked the messages, asked, “Wait what” and “Did something.”
“No,” Bennett replied. “But it was like the most explicit it could be.”
Sunday, when CBS News asked him if he had been informed Bennett’s complaint at the time, Cuomo said he was not. He again insisted that he would be awaiting the results of an investigation by Attorney General Letitia James.
“This is not about me or accusations about me: the attorney general can handle it. It’s about doing people’s business,” Cuomo said. “These next six months will determine the future trajectory of New York State.”
On Sunday, the editorial board of the Albany Times Union, a newspaper that endorsed Cuomo’s three campaigns to govern, said Sunday he should step down.
But the newspaper focused on the other scandal surrounding the governor: the deaths of thousands of state residents in residences during the pandemic and the alleged attempts by his administration to cover up the full scope of the problem.
“New York can’t overcome this public health crisis if New Yorkers don’t know if the governor and health officials are honest with them overnight,” the editorial board wrote.
“Today has been a bodily blow, for sure,” said a state official, who granted anonymity to speak frankly about the governor’s political position amid concerns about possible pay. “It’s not over until it’s over, but it was a bad time for him.”
Cuomo said he has focused on getting state budgets approved. The New York State constitution requires the budget to be approved on April 1, and Cuomo presented his budget in mid-January. According to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, New York will get $ 12.5 billion in stimulus money in the recently approved the federal aid package, even though Cuomo had sought $ 15 billion.
“That doesn’t mean it’s an easy budget, but now it will be a possible budget,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo also announced Sunday that, with the exception of New York City, restaurants in New York State will now be able to open with 75% capacity.
Norah O’Donnell, Michael Kaplan, Julie Morse, Adam Verdugo and Caitlin Yilek contributed to this report.