Governor Cuomo sexually harassed Covid test doctor, report says
Governor Cuomo sexually harassed doctor WHILE she swabbed his nose for a Covid-19 test and later told her ‘you make that gown look good’, report says
- A female doctor carried out a Covid test on Cuomo in front of cameras last year
- He made a joke of a ‘sexual nature’ off camera about being ‘gentle but accurate’
- The governor then said ‘you make that gown look good’ at the press conference
Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed a doctor who swabbed his nose during a Covid test, the bombshell report into the scandal-hit governor claims.
The Department of Health doctor performed a live Covid test in front of TV cameras on the New York state governor in May last year.
Off camera while preparing for a press conference, Cuomo asked the woman, referred to as State Entity Employee number two by the report, to not put up the swab ‘so deep that you hit my brain’, it is alleged.
She replied that she would be ‘gentle but accurate’ in carrying out the test, to which Cuomo replied: ‘Gentle but accurate, I’ve heard that before.’
The doctor said she felt the Governor was trying to make a ‘joke of an implied sexual nature’.
Moments later at the press conference, Cuomo said to the doctor in front of the cameras: ‘Nice to see you, Doctor—you make that gown look good.’
Andrew Cuomo told the doctor who carried out his COVID-19 test last spring that she ‘made the gown look good’
The Department of Health doctor performed a live Covid test in front of TV cameras on the New York state governor in May last year
The attorney general’s report (pictured) said the woman ‘found the Governor’s comments offensive and that they would not have been made to an accomplished physician who was a man’
What next for Andrew Cuomo?
It looks like checkmate for Andrew Cuomo as pressure grows on him to step down despite his desperate attempts to cling on to power.
Senior Democrats including President Joe Biden are pushing for Cuomo to resign, with some looking to impeach the embattled politician.
New York state assembly speaker Carl Heastie, who launched an impeachment inquiry in March, said Cuomo has ‘lost the confidence of the Assembly Democratic majority’ and ‘can no longer remain in office’, according to CNN.
If Cuomo tries to cling on to power rather than step down, he will likely face an impeachment probe.
Impeachment would be carried out by the New York state assembly which is made up of 150 lawmakers.
Only a majority of votes is needed for impeachment for ‘misconduct of malversation’, according to the state constitution.
The assembly’s makeup is overwhelmingly Democrat, with 106 out of 150 seats, and a majority of 76 votes needed for impeachment.
If impeached, Cuomo would be succeeded by Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul.
A trial would then be held by the New York senate where Democrats hold 43 of 63 seats and a two-thirds majority is needed to convict.
If convicted, Cuomo would be removed from office, but if he is found not guilty, he could return to being governor.
An impeachment probe launched in March is still ongoing and are meeting to decide whether to proceed or draft articles in other areas of Cuomo’s leadership relating to the nursing homes Covid scandal, cover-up allegations over the Mario Cuomo Bridge, and claims of using state resources for personal gain.
So far, Cuomo has insisted he has done nothing wrong and has made no moves to step down as he tries to cling on to power.
The attorney general’s report said the woman ‘found the Governor’s comments offensive and that they would not have been made to an accomplished physician who was a man’.
Cuomo was first accused of sexual misconduct last year, but Tuesday’s press conference named several new victims, and also detailed Cuomo’s nine previous accusers – whose testimony investigators said they found compelling.
There are now a total of 11 woman that Cuomo allegedly sexually harassed, according to the bombshell report.
In one instance, an executive assistant says he groped her breast at the governor’s mansion in Albany in November 2020.
The governor has furiously denied impropriety and refused to resign, despite President Biden adding his voice to calls for Cuomo to go on Tuesday afternoon.
The governors of neighboring Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut, plus Rhode Island, all joined in the chorus of condemnation. All four are fellow Democrats.
Letitia James said all of the allegations are corroborated but she has not recommended any criminal charges against him, saying the scope of her work didn’t include prosecution.
There has since been an onslaught of calls for him to resign afterwards on both sides of the aisle, including from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who went as far as to call for him to be impeached.
In his address, Cuomo he said he is a ‘warm’ person who sometimes ‘slips’ and calls women who work for him ‘sweetheart and darling’, but insisting he has never been predatory or physical in his interactions with staffers.
His attorney has also released an 85-page rebuttal to the report which she says she will continue to update.
‘Even on a quick first review, it is clear that the report purposefully omits key evidence,’ said Cuomo’s attorney Rita M. Glavin.
In his televised address, Cuomo used a slideshow of images of him hugging and kissing people throughout his life to demonstrate what he described as an affectionate and tactile personality, that he says the women have confused for a sexual predator.
‘This has been a long and painful period for me and my family as others feed stories to the press,’ he said.
‘I never touched anyone inappropriately. The facts are much different to what has been portrayed.
‘I am 63 years old. I have lived my entire adult life in public service. That is just not who I am or who I ever have been.’
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