NEW YORK — Rita Glavin, attorney for former governor Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday that a formal submission application has been submitted in response to Attorney General Letitia James' report on August 3, 2021.
Attorney General James' report was the result of an investigation into alleged sexual harassment involving Cuomo and 11 women.
Glavin said during the news conference the report on the investigation was 'not fair, not right and biased.' She is asking that James recuse her report, that it be amended, corrected, and transferred to a local attorney.
Glavin said that her 150-page submission outlines several exhibits that made the report materially misleading, flawed and unreliable.
“With this submission, it is clear that the AG's report was designed to do nothing more than inflict maximum political damage to Governor Cuomo for the benefit of the Attorney General and her political future,” Rich Azzopardi, Spokesman for the 56th Governor said. “The AG claims that politics stop at her door, but any objective reading of this report and Ms. Glavin’s submission will conclude that the truth and due process were thrown out the window. In a stump speech three weeks ago the Attorney General announced she was breaking her silence, yet she and her office have refused to answer any specific questions, instead of hiding behind platitudes. It's time for AG James to answer for the inexplicable inconsistencies, errors, omissions, and distortions throughout her report: New Yorkers deserve to know the truth,” Glavin said.
The attorney said that James viewed the allegations through a biased lens due to her own political ambitions, including the potential of her being a Democratic primary opponent against Cuomo in 2022’s gubernatorial election, as well as the current Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Glavin said that James didn't live up to her promise about making the evidence available to the public and the AG's office should terminate its pending investigation.
“When you ask why now? This is about getting to the truth, this is about the law and this is about what’s right and process,” said Rita Glavin. “I cannot stay quiet given what I have learned and given what’s in today’s 150-page submission with what I saw happen to the Governor. When I’m aware of questions that were asked and that weren’t asked, witnesses that were and were not interviewed, records that were and were not collected. This man’s reputation was destroyed on August 3rd at the most prejudicial and unprecedented press conference I have ever seen in my career, and I have seen lots of press conferences by prosecutors and public officials. And what happened there was not meant to be independent, it was meant to be an ambush. That’s why I’m here today. This needs to be addressed. Tish James cannot make these allegations and disavow having to defend them in a forum and then refuse to give the evidence. Its’ not right. It’s not fair. And as a New Yorker, I’m outraged by it.”
Cuomo resigned in August following the release of the AG's report.
The Office of the Attorney General released the following statement Wednesday afternoon:
“Another day, another baseless attack by the former governor who resigned so he didn’t have to participate in an impeachment hearing. The most concerning part of today’s charade was the former governor’s attempt to stifle a legal criminal investigation into allegations that he used state resources for a book deal and personal profit. This is not the Moreland Commission, and we will not be bullied into shutting down this investigation like the former governor did with that commission.”
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