Former aide says Gov. Cuomo kissed her with out consent

By Marina Villenueve | Related Press

ALBANY, N.Y. — A former member of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration who beforehand accused him of sexual harassment provided new particulars Wednesday, saying he as soon as kissed her on the lips with out consent after a non-public assembly.

Lindsey Boylan stated that in her greater than three years working as an financial adviser within the administration, Cuomo “would exit of his technique to contact me on my decrease again, legs and arms,” in contrast her to one in all his rumored ex-girlfriends and as soon as joked they need to play strip poker.

Boylan, a Democrat operating for Manhattan borough president, wrote in a publish on the web site Medium that the kiss occurred after she gave Cuomo a one-on-one briefing on financial and infrastructure initiatives in his New York Metropolis workplace.

“As I obtained as much as depart and stroll towards an open door, he stepped in entrance of me and kissed me on the lips. I used to be in shock, however I saved strolling,” she stated. “The concept that somebody would possibly suppose I held my high-ranking place due to the Governor’s ‘crush’ on me was extra demeaning than the kiss itself.”

She confirmed that she had posted the weblog, however didn’t reply to a request for additional remark.

Boylan, a former deputy secretary for financial growth and particular advisor to the governor, tweeted in December that Cuomo sexually harassed her, however she didn’t reveal particulars and declined interview requests.

On the time, Cuomo denied that he did something inappropriate.

“Look, I fought for and I imagine a girl has the proper to return ahead and specific her opinion and specific points and considerations that she has,” Cuomo informed reporters. “But it surely’s simply not true.”

Cuomo’s spokesperson Caitlin Girouard stated Wednesday that every one of Boylan’s “claims of inappropriate conduct are fairly merely false.”

Boylan stated she initially spoke up about her experiences due to stories Cuomo was being thought-about as President Joe Biden’s choose for legal professional basic.

She determined to elaborate, she wrote, as a result of she hoped it will empower different girls to return ahead. The extra detailed account of her allegations towards Cuomo comes amid mounting criticism in regards to the work tradition across the three-term governor and the way he wields his energy.

The Legislature’s two prime leaders criticized Cuomo’s conduct Wednesday as calls grew for an investigation into Cuomo’s office conduct.

“I’ve learn the stories,” Meeting Speaker Carl Heastie stated. “These are severe allegations. Harassment within the office of any variety shouldn’t be tolerated.”

Senate Chief Andrea Stewart Cousins, a Democrat, who’s pushing to extend legislative oversight over Cuomo’s emergency powers, stated Boylan’s account disturbed her. “That is deeply disturbing,” Stewart Cousins stated. “Clearly, there isn’t a place for any such conduct within the office or wherever else.”

The Sexual Harassment Working Group, an advocacy group launched by former state legislative workers who skilled sexual harassment, known as for an instantaneous and unbiased investigation into Cuomo’s office conduct. “That is one other reckoning level,” the group stated in a press release. “We refuse to just accept a definition of management that depends upon denigrating and abusing others in service to 1 highly effective man.”

Boylan joined the administration within the spring of 2015 at Empire State Improvement, which runs the state’s financial growth packages.

She stated she first met Cuomo in individual at an occasion at a Madison Sq. Backyard in January of 2016.

“My boss quickly knowledgeable me that the Governor had a ‘crush’ on me,” Boylan stated. “It was an uncomfortable however all-too-familiar feeling: the wrestle to be taken significantly by a strong man who tied my value to my physique and my look.”

In her Medium publish, Boylan included a screenshot of Nov. 4, 2016, textual content message trade together with her mom, wherein Boylan stated the governor was being “creepy” and “has a crush on me.” She additionally stated the governor’s employees needlessly inquired about whether or not she deliberate to go to occasions he was attending.

She additionally posted a screenshot of a Dec. 14, 2016, e mail wherein an aide informed Boylan the governor advised she lookup photos of a girl he was rumored to have dated. “You possibly can be sisters. Besides you’re the higher wanting sister,” the aide wrote.

She stated that after a December 2016 vacation social gathering for senior state workers in Albany, the governor had an aide summon her to his workplace, the place he confirmed her a cigar field from former President Invoice Clinton, beneath whom Cuomo served as U.S. housing secretary.

Cuomo “didn’t contact me,” Boylan wrote, however she stated the encounter made her deeply uncomfortable.

Throughout an October 2017 jet flight, she stated Cuomo quipped “let’s play strip poker” as they sat with a press aide and a state trooper. She stated she brushed it off with a joke, sarcastically saying, “That’s precisely what I used to be considering,” however privately discovered the remark upsetting.

The governor’s workplace confirmed that Boylan flew with the governor on 4 events in October 2017, however launched a press release from 4 individuals who have been on these flights who stated the joke about strip poker by no means occurred.

“We have been on every of those October flights and this dialog didn’t occur,” stated a press release attributed to former senior advisor John Maggiore, former Empire State Improvement CEO Howard Zemsky, Cuomo’s former press secretary Dani Lever and former first deputy press secretary Abbey Fashouer Collins.

Boylan stated when she was provided a promotion in 2018, she initially turned the job down as a result of she didn’t wish to work extra intently with Cuomo. She stated she agreed to take the place after the administration agreed to let her preserve her previous workplace on a separate ground.

Boylan claimed that in addition to her personal experiences, the governor created a tradition of pervasive sexual harassment, together with making unflattering feedback in regards to the weight of feminine colleagues, ridiculing them about their romantic relationships and having roses delivered to feminine employees on Valentine’s Day.

“His inappropriate conduct towards girls was an affirmation that he appreciated you, that you just have to be doing one thing proper,” Boylan stated. “He used intimidation to silence his critics. And in case you dared to talk up, you’d face penalties.”

Cuomo was in a long-term relationship with Meals Community star Sandra Lee all through the timeframe specified by Boylan’s accusations. Cuomo introduced his break up from Lee in September 2019.