BUFFALO, N.Y. — Did New York’s embattled governor help engineer an effort intended to deflect calls for him to resign?
After a fourth former state government employee accused Gov. Andrew Cuomo of improper behavior, State Senate President Andrea Stewart-Cousins called for the governor to step down.
Then on Monday morning, on International Women's Day, Josefa Velasquez of the non-profit news outlet The City tweeted, "Gov. Andrew Cuomo is making calls to state lawmakers asking them to say they cannot support calls for his resignation because it may stymie Attorney General Tish James' independent investigation, according to several sources."
By Monday afternoon, 2 On Your Side received a letter signed by 20 women, all Democratic members of the Assembly. The letter made no mention of the calls for Cuomo’s resignation, but did say, “We request that (Attorney General Letitia James) be allowed the appropriate time to complete her investigation rather than undermine her role and responsibility as the chief law enforcement officer of the state of New York.”
The signers include Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes and Assembly Member Karen McMahon of Williamsville.
Governor Cuomo has previously said people should reserve judgment on the allegations against him under the attorney general’s investigation is complete.
2 On Your Side asked on Monday if the governor had encouraged female Assembly members to support the attorney general’s investigation. At the time of this report, there has been no reply to the question from the governor’s office.
In a live interview Monday with the Washington Post, former US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was asked about Cuomo and the accusations against him.
Clinton said, “I’m very confident that the attorney general will conduct an independent, comprehensive investigations and I think we should all wait to see what those results are.”
Earlier in the day Attorney General James announced the attorneys who will lead the probe into the sexual harassment claims against the governor. They include Joon H. Kim, former acting US Attorney for the Southern District of New York and Anne L. Clark, a partner at Vladeck, Raskin & Clark, where she has represented plaintiffs in numerous sexual harassment claims.