New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo reiterated Sunday afternoon that he will not resign until New York Attorney General Letitia James completes her investigation into multiple accusations of sexual misconduct against him.
“I was elected by the people of the state. … I’m not going to resign because of allegations,” Cuomo said during a conference call. “There is no way I resign.”
Cuomo urged his critics to “let the attorney general do her job” and said calls to resign before the investigation is complete is “anti-democratic.” He appeared to dismiss the calls for him to resign as pure politics.
“In the meantime I’m not going to get distracted by this,” Cuomo said. “What is determinative is what the attorney general finds.”
In this image taken from video, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during a news conference Friday, Feb. 19, 2021, in Albany, N.Y. (Office of the Governor of New York via AP)
((Office of the Governor of New York via AP))
Two more women made accusations against Cuomo over the weekend, bringing the total to five. A former press aide, Karen Hinton, said Cuomo asked her to his “dimly lit” hotel room in 2000 after a work event and embraced her, according to The Washington Post.
When she tried to pull away, she claimed he pulled her back into the embrace before she left the room.
Ana Liss, another former aide, said that when she worked for Cuomo as a policy and operations aide from 2013 to 2015, the governor at different times asked her if she had a boyfriend, touched her on her lower back and kissed her hand as she rose from her desk.
“Every woman has a right to come forward, that’s true, but the truth also matters. What she said is not true,” Cuomo said of Hinton on Sunday. “She has been a longtime political adversary of mine, highly critical for many, many years, and has made many, many accusations.”
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However, Cuomo said he was not accusing any of the women of lying when pressed by a reporter.
Regarding Liss, Cuomo said he had many employees at the time and would engage in “friendly banter” asking them about their weekend plans and dating lives.
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“If customs change, then I’ll change the customs and the behaviors, but I never meant to make anybody feel uncomfortable,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo also said Sunday that he would sign the bill limiting his emergency powers that lawmakers passed just days ago.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., criticized Cuomo after his press briefing on Sunday.
“The Worst Governor in America proves more [and] more each day why he has earned this title. This press briefing threatening elected officials is textbook Cuomo. He is a criminal sexual predator [and] a corrupt official who needs to be removed from office. Don’t let him get away with it,” she wrote on Twitter.
Fox News’ Brie Stimson contributed to this report.
