New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks to reporters during a press conference at an emerging COVID-19 vaccination site at the William Reid Apartments in Brooklyn, New York, USA, on January 23, 2021.
Mary Altaffer | Reuters
A former aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday accused the governor of kissing her without her consent while serving as deputy secretary of economic development in 2018.
Lindsey Boylan, now a Manhattan District presidential candidate, posted a more detailed account of her allegations against her former boss in a blog post. Boylan made public his allegations of harassment against the governor in December, although he did not go into details at the time.
The governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Cuomo said in December that Boylan’s initial allegations “were not true.”
New details emerged as Cuomo struggled with allegations of data abuse and nursing home policies at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in New York last year.
The U.S. Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into coronavirus-related deaths at the nursing home in the state. New York Attorney General Letitia James, a fellow Democrat from Cuomo, released a report last month saying the state had reported up to 50 percent of Covid-19 deaths in residences.
Cuomo’s behavior toward colleagues has seen renewed control after New York Assembly member Ron Kim accused the governor of promising to “destroy” him after Kim criticized Bromo’s handling of the allegations. nursing homes. Cuomo’s senior adviser denied that Kim’s allegation was true.
In his blog post on Wednesday, Boylan referred to Kim’s allegations and expanded on her own, including email screenshots of her time working for the governor.
Boylan said that after meeting the governor for the first time in 2016, her boss told her that Cuomo had her “in love.” He said he later complained to friends that “I would do my best to touch my lower back, arms and legs.”
He also alleged that Cuomo “made unflattering comments about the weight of the companions” and “ridiculed them about their romantic relationships and other significant people.”
“I tried to excuse his behavior,” Boylan wrote. “I said to myself, ‘It’s just words.’ But that changed after an individual briefing with the governor to inform him about the economic and infrastructure projects. We were at his New York City office. on Third Avenue. When I got up to go out and walk to an open door, he took a step in front of me and kissed me on the lips. He was shocked, but he was still walking. “
Boylan wrote that he feared a co-worker had seen the kiss and wrote, “The idea that someone thought I had my high-ranking position because of the governor’s ‘falling in love’ was more degrading than the kiss itself.” .
Boylan said he announced his resignation in September 2018.
He also shared a screenshot of a 2016 email that looked like Stephanie Benton, director of the governor’s offices, saying Cuomo suggested Boylan look for pictures of his rumored ex-girlfriend because “You could be sisters. Except that you are the most beautiful sister. “
He accused high-ranking women in Cuomo’s office of creating a culture that would “normalize” their boss’s behavior, and named her main aide Melissa DeRosa by name. She said two other women had contacted her about her own experiences with the governor after posting her original complaints online in December.
“One described how he lived in constant fear, frightened of what would happen to him if he rejected the governor’s advances,” Boylan wrote. “The other said the governor gave him instructions to warn staff members who were bothering him that their jobs could be in danger. They both told me they were too scared to talk.”
Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.
SEE: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo: “Covid was a trauma for this country”