Not only did New York’s attorney general conclude that Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed at least 11 women; the governor also tried to punish them for speaking out. And he solicited help from one of the leading feminist organizations in the country to do it.
The Washington Post reported this week that attorney Roberta Kaplan, a co-founder of the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund, helped the Democratic governor’s office draft a letter that smeared the credibility of Lindsey Boylan, one of the first victims to come forward about Cuomo’s inappropriate behavior toward her. Kaplan, along with Time’s Up President Tina Tchen, reviewed the letter at the request of Melissa DeRosa, a top Cuomo adviser. DeRosa reportedly said Kaplan was “fine” with the letter, which attacked Boylan as being politically motivated and dismissed her allegations as illegitimate.
This relevation is even more damning considering Time’s Up was an organization launched a few years ago during the peak of the #MeToo movement with the explicit goal of fighting sexual harassment in the workplace. Its website states, “We insist upon a world where everyone is safe and respected at work. A world where women have an equal shot at success and security. A world where no one lives in fear of sexual harassment or assault.”
Everyone, that is, except for Lindsey Boylan.
Kaplan claimed she tried to give advice to Cuomo’s team that was in line with Time’s Up’s mission and now says she agrees Cuomo should resign.
“While it turns out the response was never published, I made it very clear that any response should never shame an accuser,” Kaplan said in a statement. “Given the revelations in the New York Attorney General report, I support and agree with Time’s Up that Governor Cuomo should resign.”
Tchen also denied that she or Kaplan were aware that Cuomo’s office would try to smear Boylan as a liar.
“You cannot make any attempt to attack or discredit a person who has come forward with allegations,” Tchen said. “Had those parts existed in what was read to me, I would have said, ‘Do not say that.’”
But it’s telling that Kaplan and Tchen agreed to advise Cuomo’s office in the first place. They knew that he had been accused of acting egregiously toward a female subordinate, and they surely knew that Cuomo’s decision to seek their help was deliberate. He had just been accused of sexual harassment. Why wouldn’t he want one of the most influential anti-sexual harassment groups on his side?
Whether they will admit it or not, Kaplan and Tchen enabled Cuomo to degrade Boylan and dismiss her allegations. They accepted DeRosa’s request for help when they could have said no, (which they almost certainly would have done if it had been, say, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis under the spotlight). And in doing so, they undermined Time’s Up’s stated purpose and proved that its commitment to ending sexual harassment isn’t much of a commitment at all, especially when it involves Democratic politicians.
