ALBANY, N.Y. — Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday denied a report that said he groped a woman in the governor's mansion late last year, calling the report "gut-wrenching."
The Albany Times Union first reported a sixth woman had come forward on Tuesday, alleging sexual harassment against Cuomo.
The article said the woman alleged Cuomo inappropriately touched her during an encounter at the governor's mansion late last year. The article did not identify the woman but did state she is a member of the Executive Chamber staff.
"As I said yesterday, I have never done anything like this. The details of this report are gut-wrenching," Cuomo said in a statement to the Times Union. "I am not going to speak to the specifics of this or any other allegation given the ongoing review, but I am confident in the result of the attorney general’s report.”
The governor had said on Tuesday, "I'm not aware of any other claim," when asked about the allegations.
Cuomo reiterated his previous remarks about the accusations against him.
"This is very simple. I never touched anyone inappropriately," he said. "As I said last week, I never made any inappropriate advances. As I said last week, no one ever told me at the time that I made them feel uncomfortable."
A vocal group of mostly progressive Democrats has called for the governor to resign or be impeached.
An Associated Press tally found that at least 28 members of the state Assembly, from both parties, have said publicly that they want to impeach Cuomo. That’s still well short of the 76 votes that would be needed to to send the case to an impeachment court.
New York State Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt is along those who are calling for Cuomo's removal from office.
"The Governor is no longer capable of leading New York at a time when we need leadership," Ortt said in a statement Wednesday. "New York State is still fighting this deadly pandemic and we are days away from beginning state budget negotiations. With so much at stake, he and his closest aides continue to plunge Albany into a morass of scandal, the scale and scope of which are truly unprecedented.
"These are dark and shameful days for our state government. Despite all the swirling scandals, all the investigations, all the damning media reports, and all the victims of his destructive behavior coming forward, Governor Cuomo remains arrogantly defiant. The era of this Governor’s misdeeds must come to an end. We as state legislators must bring it to an end. I support my colleague Assembly Leader Barclay’s call for the Assembly to begin the impeachment process immediately."