A former press aide of Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has added her voice to the growing number calling for him to resign, claiming the politician invited her to his hotel room and embraced her after a work event in 2000, when Cuomo led the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and she was a consultant for the agency.
The woman, Karen Hinton, says she pulled away from Cuomo, but he pulled her back toward his body, holding her before she backed away and left the room, according to the report.
This comes amid multiple other allegations by females who say the governor sexually harassed them.
Cuomo held his first press conference on Wednesday since giving New York Attorney General Letitia James a referral to investigate claims that he sexually harassed at least two women in his administration.
“I never touched anyone inappropriately. I never touched anyone inappropriately,” Cuomo claimed.
Cuomo then urged New Yorkers to wait for the facts to be made public prior to judging the situation.
“I ask the people of this state to wait for the facts of the attorney general’s report before forming an opinion, get the facts please before forming an opinion,” Cuomo urged.
Cuomo made clear he will not resign from his post, saying: “I’m going to do the job the people of the state elected me to do” and apologized for making anyone feel uncomfortable, calling the allegations an “important lesson.”
“I also want you to know that I have learned from what has been an incredible, difficult situation for me as well as other people, and I’ve learned an important lesson. I’m sorry, I’m sorry for whatever pain I caused anyone, I never intended it, and I will be the better for this experience,” the governor said.
Meanwhile, the Times Union on Saturday became the second Editorial Board call on Cuomo to resign after news broke of the nursing home deaths coverup, and multiple women accused the governor of sexual harassment.
As Breitbart News reported, the newspaper’s editorial board wrote an op-ed titled, “Resign, Mr. Cuomo”.
The Democrat and Chronicle‘s Editorial Board has also called for him to depart.
The Democratic leader of New York’s Senate called for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign Sunday amid mounting allegations of sexual harassment and undercounting COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes.
(Update 3:48 P.M. EST) —
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins added her voice to a growing number of Cuomo’s foes and allies who believe the three-term Democrat should step down.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, also a Democrat, stopped short of echoing Stewart-Cousins but said in a statement that “it is time for the Governor to seriously consider whether he can effectively meet the needs of the people of New York.”
On Saturday, another woman who worked for Cuomo publicly accused him of inappropriate behavior, on the heels of other allegations in recent weeks.