ALBANY, N.Y. — Andrew Cuomo’s legal team once again assailed his accusers and the state attorney general over the bombshell sexual harassment report that led to the disgraced Democrat’s resignation.
Attorney Rita Glavinon Thursday ripped into Attorney General Letitia James and investigators who ran the probe into the ex-governor, alleging that their public report “disregarded evidence that undermined the conclusions and allegations that were made.”
Touting recently acquired evidence used by investigators, Glavin took aim at several of Cuomo’s accusers, questioning their credibility and labeling the work done to corroborate their allegations as “shoddy and one-sided.”
“You can’t start a case by saying you believe all women. You can’t, if you’re a lawyer. What you can say is everybody has a right to come forward, men, women,” Glavin said during a two-hour-long virtual press briefing. “And they have a right to have their allegations scrutinized, evidence collected, and then you make a determination.”
Last week, an Albany judge dismissed a misdemeanor forcible touching charge against Cuomo after a former aid alleged he groped her at the Executive Mansion in late 2020.
It was the only criminal charge brought against Cuomo after the AG report detailed allegations made by 11 women. Prosecutors in several counties have declined to move forward with criminal cases despite finding Cuomo’s accusers to be credible.
The 64-year-old has maintained his innocence and denies ever touching anyone inappropriately.
Glavin is again calling on James to amend the initial report and wants a “new, truly independent and unbiased” review of the process.
During the briefing, Glavin targeted former Cuomo adviser Lindsey Boylan, the first woman to go public with claims of sexual misconduct against Cuomo, stating that new evidence supports her past allegation that Boylan engaged in “witness tampering.”
Glavin said that Howard Zemsky, former CEO of the Empire State Development Corporation, testified Lindsay Boylan threatened him and told him to back up part of her claim because they had a “more than professional” relationship.
“The AG had evidence that Miss Boylan was tampering with the witness trying to get him to corroborate her and threatened to destroy his life if he didn’t, and they never asked her about it, and they didn’t tell you about it. And they didn’t put it in the report,” she said.
Glavin also ripped into the media for not probing Cuomo’s accusers more thoroughly, specifically pointing to Charlotte Bennett, a former Cuomo aide who accused him of “grooming” her for sex and asking her if she’d be open to dating older men.
Cuomo’s team has repeatedly questioned Bennett’s credibility and past involvement in sexual misconduct claims from her time as a student at Hamilton College.
On Thursday, however, Glavin took a different approach, showing a clip of Bennett telling investigators how Cuomo made her upset and uncomfortable when he commented on her hair and asked why she had it in a bun.
“Petty slights and trivial inconveniences are not sexual harassment,’ Glavin said.
A spokesperson for the AG’s office stood by the report and its conclusions.
“Another day, another attempt by the former governor to attack the brave women who called out his abuse,” the spokesman said. “Thousands of pages of transcripts, exhibits, videos, and other evidence have already been publicly released, but these lies continue in an effort to mask the truth: Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women.”
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