Disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) is under federal investigation over allegations of sexual harassment, the New York Post reported Thursday.
The newspaper said:
The stunning development is contained in a legal services contract signed in October and released by the state Comptroller’s Office on Thursday in response to a Freedom of Information Law request filed by The Post.
The contract notes previously revealed Department of Justice investigations into the Cuomo administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, its cover-up of nursing home deaths and Cuomo’s $5.1 coronavirus memoir.
But it adds, “DOJ has also undertaken an inquiry related to sexual harassment claims made against the then Governor.”
Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said of the Post’s report: “Our understanding is that the Civil Division opened an inquiry in August based upon the AG’s politically motivated sham report and we have heard nothing since.”
Cuomo resigned from the governorship in August after 11 women accused the Democrat of sexual harassment and unwanted touching. Nine of the women were current or former state staff members. New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) recently released the finding of an investigation on the allegations in which Cuomo and his staffers were accused of “violat[ing] multiple state and federal laws, as well as the Executive Chamber’s own written policies.” Cuomo has denied any wrongdoing.
In October, a misdemeanor complaint for a sex-crime related charge was filed against Cuomo in Albany City Court.
The one-page complaint, filed by an investigator with the Albany County Sheriff’s Office, accused Cuomo of putting his hand under a woman’s shirt on Dec. 7, 2020. The document didn’t name the woman but Cuomo had been publicly accused of groping an aide, Brittany Commisso, at the executive mansion in Albany last year around that date.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.