New York governor has acknowledged that his behavior in the workplace might have been insensitive or too personal on Sunday.
Governor Andrew Cuomo said he is truly sorry to those who might have misinterpreted.
The acknowledgment comes after an escalating backlash due to allegations of sexual harassment in the past two weeks.
The New York Governor has, however, maintained that he never intended to inappropriately touch or behaved with anyone. He has also denied allegations of kissing a former aide on the lips.
The Democrat Governor on his third term had been praised as a hero due to his coronavirus response and efficient control in his city.
However, two back-to-back accusations of sexual harassment have made people think of him as, ‘sexual predator.’
Letitia James, the state’s Attorney general said that her office has requested an official referral that would provide subpoena power for the investigation. She rejected Cuomo’s proposal that James and NY chief judge jointly select an independent attorney to review the case thoroughly. She said that the process should be free from any perception of interference by the governor or his allies. The investigation would be handled by outside law firms.
Cuomo had released a statement on Saturday.
I now understand that my interactions may have been insensitive or too personal and that some of my comments, given my position, made others feel in ways I never intended. I acknowledge some of the things I have said have been misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation. To the extent anyone felt that way, I am truly sorry about that.
To be clear I never inappropriately touched anybody and I never propositioned anybody and I never intended to make anyone feel uncomfortable, but these are allegations that New Yorkers deserve answers to.
That’s why I have asked for an outside, independent review that looks at these allegations.
Separately, my office has heard anecdotally that some people have reached out to Ms. Bennett to express displeasure about her coming forward. My message to anyone doing that is you have misjudged what matters to me and my administration and you should stop now — period.
However, Cuomo still denies Lindsay Boylan's accusations of kissing her on the lips. She accused Cuomo of inviting her to play strip poker in 2017 and kissing on her lips in 2018 after a one-on-one briefing on economic and infrastructure projects in his New York City office.
