A woman accusing Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment claims the New York governor was “aroused” when he hugged her.
Karen Hinton, a 62-year-old former press staffer, and fellow accuser Ana Liss, a former Cuomo policy adviser, expanded on their allegations against the governor during an interview with WNYC radio on Monday, offering an account that disputes denials from the Democratic governor that he ever engaged in inappropriate touching.
“He approached me and embraced me too tightly, too long, and was aroused,” Hinton said. “I felt extremely uncomfortable and actually shocked. Nothing had ever happened that way between the two of us.”
Liss described a very “interesting and strange workplace environment” that involved a lot of “vitriolic screaming, shouting, [and] name-calling,” adding that she decided not to pursue a career in Albany due to the office hostility.
The women’s claims follow reports that Cuomo’s second accuser, Charlotte Bennett, told investigators from Attorney General Letitia James’s office that Cuomo has a “preoccupation with his hand size.”
“[Bennett] provided detailed information about the sexually hostile work environment the Governor fostered in both his Manhattan and Albany offices and his deliberate effort to create rivalries and tension among female staffers on whom he bestowed attention,” Debra Katz, Bennett’s attorney, said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “One piece of new information that came to light today was the Governor’s preoccupation with his hand size and what the large size of his hands indicated to Charlotte and other members of his staff.”
Lindsey Boylan, the first woman to accuse Cuomo of sexual harassment publicly, reportedly met with investigators last weekend.
“Ms. Boylan was interviewed last weekend by investigators assigned by the Attorney General’s office,” Boylan’s attorney, Jill Basinger, said in a statement. “It is clear from the interview that the investigators are moving expeditiously and taking their work seriously. We are pleased with the scope of the investigation and the thoughtfulness and thoroughness of their questioning.”
Seven women, many of them former aides to Cuomo, have accused the governor of sexual harassment. Boylan, Bennett, Liss, and Hinton are joined by Anna Ruch, an unnamed sixth woman, and Jessica Bakeman in alleging Cuomo engaged in sexual impropriety.
The mounting allegations have resulted in calls for Cuomo’s resignation, with Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand joining the majority of the state’s congressional delegation in urging the governor to step down.
Alongside James’s inquiry at the state level, a second investigation, which lawmakers in the New York state Assembly are terming an “impeachment inquiry,” was initiated in the Assembly at the behest of Speaker Carl Heastie, a Democrat.
Cuomo, who apologized for making anyone uncomfortable while denying charges of impropriety, has repeatedly refused to resign, vowing to reporters that he would not step down during a conference call on Friday.
“I’m not going to resign,” he said, adding that he was not “elected by the politicians but by the people.”
President Biden, who was notably silent as members of his party turned on Cuomo, declined to call for the governor’s resignation before the investigations’ findings are released when asked for comment Sunday evening.
“I think the investigation is underway and we should see what it brings us,” he said from the South Lawn of the White House.
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Cuomo is separately under federal investigation for his handling of nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Representatives for Cuomo and Basinger did not immediately reply to the Washington Examiner’s requests for comment.
