A New York State trooper has launched legal proceedings asking a federal court to declare Andrew Cuomo, a top aide and state police violated her civil rights.
The trooper’s name was not disclosed in the lawsuit, filed in Manhattan against Cuomo on Thursday. New York State Police and Cuomo’s former top aide Melissa DeRosa were also cited in the claim.
AP reports the suit seeks attorney fees, damages for “severe mental anguish and emotional distress,” and a declaratory judgment that Cuomo, DeRosa and state police violated civil laws on the federal, state and city level prohibiting sexual harassment.
As Breitbart News reported, last August the then governor Cuomo (D-NY) announced his resignation after an investigation found he sexually harassed multiple women.
The third-term governor’s decision was announced as momentum built in the Legislature to remove him by impeachment and after nearly the entire Democratic establishment had turned against him, with President Joe Biden joining those calling on him to resign.
His accusers included the unnamed state trooper on his security detail, who said he allegedly subjected her to sexual remarks and on occasion ran his hand or fingers across her stomach and her back.
“As with his other victims, the governor used his physical proximity to Trooper 1 to touch her inappropriately,” the lawsuit alleges.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo prepares to board a helicopter after announcing his resignation, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021, in New York. Cuomo resigned over a barrage of sexual harassment allegations. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
“He commented on her appearance (‘why don’t you wear a dress?); wanted to kiss her (‘(c)an I kiss you?’); asked her to find him a girlfriend who could ‘handle pain;’ and steered their conversations towards sex (‘(w)hy would you want to get married? … your sex drive goes down’),” the suit said.
Several district attorneys in New York said they found Cuomo’s accusers “credible,” but said the available evidence wasn’t strong enough to press criminal charges against him.
Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi blasted the trooper’s lawsuit.
“Gov. Cuomo will fight every attempt at cheap cash extortions and is anxious to have the dirty politics stop — we look forward to justice in a court of law,“ Azzopardi said Thursday.
New York has seen a string of high-level political figures brought down in disgrace in recent years.
Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned in 2008 in a prostitution scandal. Rep. Anthony Weiner went to prison for sexting with a 15-year-old girl. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman stepped down in 2018 after four women accused him of abuse. And the top two leaders in the Legislature were convicted of corruption.
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