The sheriff of New York’s Albany County said Saturday he refused to be “intimidated” regarding the criminal probe of an allegation Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) sexually harassed a former executive assistant.
The woman, identified as “Executive Assistant #1,” filed a criminal complaint against Cuomo at the sheriff’s office Thursday, alleging several incidents of sexual harassment, Newsweek reported.
“The former aide to the three-term governor was one of the 11 women included in a blistering 165-page report released by New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) on Tuesday, alleging numerous instances of sexual harassment by Cuomo,” the outlet said.
At a press conference Saturday regarding the complaint, Sheriff Craig Apple told reporters the investigation was in the early stages and he would not rush or delay the probe because the claims were against the governor.
Apple continued:
This is obviously a very high profile investigation. There’s a lot of information out there. We have a lot of fact-finding to do, we have a lot of interviews to do. And you know what, I’m not going to rush it because of who he is and I’m not going to delay it because of who he is. We’re going to conduct a very comprehensive investigation as my investigators and my staff always do. And when the data and the facts are compiled, we’ll make a decision at that point.
When asked if there was a chance the Cuomo administration would retaliate against the sheriff’s office, Apple said, “I’m the county sheriff. I’m not going to be intimidated; I’m not going to be coerced. That would not play out well for anybody.”
During an interview Wednesday on Fox Business Network’s Varney & Company, gubernatorial candidate Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) voiced his opinion about James’ announcement that Cuomo allegedly sexually harassed current and former state employees.
“We have been running against Andrew Cuomo since we announced on April 8. We’re still running against Andrew Cuomo today. I do believe that he should resign,” Zeldin commented.
“I actually thought that he should resign for the deadly nursing home order and cover-up before we even saw this AG’s report,” he added.
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