The former executive assistant for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo spoke on camera for the first time since revealing allegations, saying, “He was sexually harassing me, and he has not apologized for sexually harassing me.”
Charlotte Bennett, 25, said the governor asked her intimate and inappropriate questions about her personal life in an attempt to sleep with her. Cuomo’s office did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment on the allegations.
She alleged that the 63-year-old governor questioned her sex life, including if she was in a monogamous relationship, and if she had sex with older men.
Cuomo apologized during a COVID-19 press conference Wednesday, saying it was not his intention to make Bennett or two other women accusing him of sexual harassment “uncomfortable,” saying it was “unintentional” and denying he ever touched anyone inappropriately.
“I fully support a woman’s right to come forward,” Cuomo said, later adding, “I truly apologize for how I feel awful about it. And frankly, I am embarrassed by it.”
Bennett does not accept the governor’s apology.
ANDREW CUOMO APOLOGIZES TO ACCUSERS BUT DENIES INAPPROPRIATE TOUCHING
“It’s not an apology. It’s not an issue of my feelings. It’s an issue of his actions,” Bennett told CBS News. “The fact is that he was sexually harassing me, and he has not apologized for sexually harassing me, and he can’t even use my name.”
She did not come forward with her allegations until another former aide accusing the governor of sexual harassment, Lindsey Boylan, came forward with her statement in late February.
Since the two aides have come forward, former journalist Lindsay Nielsen alleged this week the Cuomo administration attempted to “harass and manipulate” her to the point of quitting her job.
The governor, who is already facing an investigation by the New York attorney general into claims his administration manipulated COVID-19 fatality-related data, will also face an investigation into sexual harassment allegations levied on him.
Bennett described a conversation she and the governor had on May 15, 2020, saying Cuomo fixated on the topic of her past sexual assault.
“So he goes, ‘You were raped. You were raped. You were raped and abused and assaulted,'” Cuomo allegedly repeated to the former aide after she informed him of past encounters and trauma she experienced.
Nearly one month later, on June 5, Bennett came into Cuomo’s office for dictation and was told to turn off the tape recorder at one point, she said.
“And then, he explains at that point that he is looking for a girlfriend, he’s lonely, he’s tired,” Bennett said.
“He asked if I had trouble enjoying being with someone. Because of my trauma. The governor asked me if I was sensitive to intimacy in his office. During the workday,” she added.
Cuomo allegedly asked her if she had ever been with an older man, further asking her “if age difference mattered” and saying, “he was fine with anyone over 22,” Bennett added.
The former assistant said she responded honestly to the questions and did not immediately leave his office because the governor was her boss.
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“I feel like people put the onus on the woman to shut that conversation down. And by answering, I was somehow engaging in that or enabling it, when, in fact, I was just terrified,” Bennett said.
