Democrats call on Cuomo to resign
Washington — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined Democratic lawmakers from New York’s congressional delegation in calling on Governor Andrew Cuomo to resign, after New York Attorney General Letitia James released a report Tuesday substantiating allegations of sexual harassment from 11 women. James said Cuomo sexually harassed multiple current and former staffers, as well as women outside his administration.
“Recognizing his love of New York and the respect for the office he holds, I call upon the governor to resign,” Pelosi said in a statement Tuesday afternoon.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York issued a joint statement calling on Cuomo to resign. The influential senators had already called for Cuomo’s resignation in March, when allegations of sexual harassment against the New York governor came to light.
“As we have said before, the reported actions of the governor were profoundly disturbing, inappropriate and completely unacceptable. Today’s report from the New York State Attorney General substantiated and corroborated the allegations of the brave women who came forward to share their stories — and we commend the women for doing so,” the senators said. “No elected official is above the law. The people of New York deserve better leadership in the governor’s office. We continue to believe that the governor should resign.”
Democratic Congressman Tom Suozzi, Hakeem Jeffries and Gregory Meeks also called for Cuomo to step down. The congressmen said the “time has come” for Cuomo to “do the right thing” and resign.
“The office of Attorney General Tish James conducted a complete, thorough and professional investigation of the disturbing allegations against Governor Andrew Cuomo,” the congressmen said in a joint statement. “The investigation has found that the Governor engaged in abusive behavior toward women, including subordinates, created a hostile work environment and violated state and federal law. We commend the brave women who came forward and spoke truth to power. The time has come for Governor Andrew Cuomo to do the right thing for the people of New York State and resign.”
President Biden in March said that the governor should resign if James’ investigation substantiated the women’s allegations against him. The president said Cuomo might even be prosecuted.
Early Tuesday afternoon, asked if Cuomo should resign, the president responded: “I’m going to be speaking on COVID at 4 o’clock and will take questions on COVID and other issues after that.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki called the allegations “abhorrent.”
“I don’t know that anyone could have watched this morning and not found the allegations to be abhorrent,” she told reporters. “I know I certainly did. And again, the president will speak to this later this afternoon.”
Cuomo on Tuesday said he “never touched anyone inappropriately” or “made inappropriate sexual advances,” following Jones’ explosive investigation findings. He made no indication that he intends to step down.
Graham Kates contributed to this report.