New York Attorney General Letitia James fired back at Andrew Cuomo‘s claim that James’ sexual harassment investigation against him was a politically motivated move to launch her bid for governor.
James, who announced
her run for Governor late last week, defended her August report, which led to Cuomo’s resignation as New York governor.“Listen, we completed our investigation. Our investigation included thousands and thousands of pieces of evidence and substantiated and corroborated all of the allegations,” James said according to the New York Post. “The Sheriff of Albany County has engaged in an independent investigation and my work is done. But I believe the women.”
On Sunday Cuomo’s representatives released a statement saying James and Albany Sheriff Craig Apple ‘have epitomized the worst combination of politics, incompetence and abuse of the law.’
Apple responded calling Cuomo’s claim “ridiculous.”
“We have an overwhelming amount of evidence, we have a victim who has been cooperating fully every day, every step of
the way. As far as conviction, that’s going to be down to the jury, the judge… I feel very confident that the DA is going to prosecute this. We met our burden as far as probable cause and we have filed,” Apple said, according to the Daily Mail.The former governor was charged last Friday in Albany with forceable touching, a misdemeanor sex crime, related to an incident at the governor’s mansion last December.
According to CNN, the complaint states Cuomo “did intentionally, and for no legitimate purpose, forcibly place his h
and under the blouse shirt of the victim (redacted) and onto her intimate body part” and that he touched the victim’s left breast “for the purposes of degrading and gratifying his sexual desires.”The one-page complaint did not name the woman, but, Brittany Commisso has come forward as the woman who made it. Commisso worked as an executive assistant for Cuomo until he resigned.
James also investigated Cuomo for hiding and undercounting thousands of COVID-19 related deaths of nursing home residents. James also investigated Cuomo’s $5 million book deal on his handling of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the New York race for governor heated up last week with James and Public Advocate Jumanne Williams announcing their intent to run against former Lt. Gov. Kath Hochul, who took over the post after Cuomo resigned this summer. Current New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has also filed paperwork to run.