Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is suing the state’s Attorney General Letitia James seeking documents related to her investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct that forced him out of office in 2021.
On Thursday, the disgraced Democrat strongman filed a lawsuit in New York state court claiming that he needs the approximately 180 documents including witness statements from her probe that led to his resignation, an investigation that Cuomo has contended was a witch hunt.
The ex-governor claims that he needs the witness statements to defend himself in two sexual harassment lawsuits and says that the public has a right to know the attorney general’s “full basis in making the significant and impactful decisions in issuing the consequential report and causing the resignation of their democratically elected governor.”
In a Friday statement, Cuomo said that “every single piece of information that has come out over the last two years has done nothing but undermine Tish James’ sham report and – after publicly stating that ‘evidence will be made available to the public’, she’s done everything she can to hide these documents from taxpayers,” according to CBS News.
Once a rising Democrat star whose heavy-handed rule during the height of the COVID pandemic made him a left-wing hero, including being given an Emmy Award for his coronavirus briefings, Cuomo’s political career was derailed by a parade of women who accused him of sexual improprieties.
The investigators working on behalf of the politically ambitious James released the findings on August 3, 2021, of her investigation that the governor had sexually harassed at least 11 women.
“What these witnesses — and many others — described is not just old-fashioned, affectionate behavior, it was sexual harassment,” the report stated.
“This is a sad day for New York because independent investigators have concluded that Governor Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women and, in doing so, broke the law,” James, said at the time. “I am grateful to all the women who came forward to tell their stories in painstaking detail, enabling investigators to get to the truth. No man — no matter how powerful — can be allowed to harass women or violate our human rights laws, period.”
The report sparked Democrat calls for the governor’s resignation, including from President Joe Biden. “I think he should resign. I understand that the state legislature may decide to impeach. I don’t know that for a fact,” Biden said in response to a question from CNN’s Kaitlan Collins after the findings were released.
A week later, Cuomo quit, a stunning fall from grace for a man who had been mentioned as a potential future presidential candidate.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) addresses damning and credible sexual harassment allegations during resignation speech:
“I do hug and kiss people casually … In my mind I’ve never crossed the line with anyone, but I didn’t realize the extent to which the line has been redrawn.” pic.twitter.com/oQWqlbmR9s
— The Recount (@therecount) August 10, 2021
Saying that he was “deeply” sorry for any inappropriate behavior, Cuomo denied the findings of sexual harassment.
“I have slipped and called people ‘honey, ’sweetheart’ and ‘darling.’ I mean it to be endearing but women found it dated and offensive,” he said. “I take full responsibility for my actions. I have been too familiar with people. My sense of humor can be insensitive and off-putting.”
So complete was his humiliation that the Emmys even took back their award. Cuomo was replaced by current Governor Kathy Hochul who has ruled as even more of an authoritarian than he did.
“This was a political hit job from the beginning to pave the way for Tish’s failed campaign for governor and it’s sad that the courts are needed to step in and order the state’s top lawyer to stop violating the law,” Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi told the Daily Mail.
James is currently spearheading one of the multiple lawfare trials of Republican frontrunner Donald J. Trump, a high-profile political persecution that would seem to bolster Cuomo’s case that he was the victim of a “political hit job.”
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