BY JACK PHILLIPS | The Epoch Times
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo prepares to board a helicopter
after announcing his resignation, in New York on Aug. 10, 2021. (Seth Wenig/AP
Photo)
New York Gov. Andrew
Cuomo, a Democrat, announced Tuesday he will resign effective
in 14 days after allegations of sexual harassment that were detailed in a state
attorney general’s report last week.
Cuomo’s resignation came as the New York Assembly started
deliberations Monday on an impeachment inquiry into his conduct and as top
Democrat officials, including President Joe Biden, called on him to resign.
“The best way I can help now is if I step aside and let
government get back to government,” Cuomo said in a televised
speech.
But Cuomo said that he did not intentionally show
disrespect toward any female staffers or women, asserting that the claims
against him were “politically motivated.” An impeachment, however, would thrust
New York into a state of turmoil for months, the three-term governor said,
explaining that’s why he’s resigning.
“It is a matter of life and death. Government operations
and wasting energy on distraction is the last thing government should be,”
Cuomo also remarked. “I cannot be the cause. New York tough means New York
loving. And I love New York and I love you. Everything I have ever done has
been motivated by that love and I would never want to be unhelpful in any way.”
And speaking to his three daughters, Cuomo told them, “I
want them to know from the bottom of my heart that I never did and I never
would intentionally disrespect a woman, treat any woman differently than I
would want them treated and that is the God’s honest truth.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James presents the
findings of an independent investigation into accusations by multiple women
that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed them in New York City on
Aug. 3, 2021. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)
It came about a week after New York Attorney General
Letitia James, also a Democrat, wrote in a lengthy report that he engaged in
sexual harassment and his chamber mishandled allegations against him. She did
not charge the governor with a crime, although several sheriff’s offices
and prosecutors have announced they’re
investigating.
“Specifically, we find that the Governor sexually
harassed a number of current and former New
York State employees by, among other things, engaging in
unwelcome and nonconsensual touching, as well as making numerous offensive
comments of a suggestive and sexual nature that created a hostile work
environment for women,” her report said, adding that Cuomo’s office was filled
with “fear and intimidation.”
James’s office received criticism for how she handled the
case, with even some Republicans saying she failed to issue criminal referrals
against the governor.
“Letitia James dropped the ball by not making immediate
criminal referrals when her investigation described numerous criminal acts
against women,” said New York attorney general candidate Michael Henry, a
Republican, in a statement.
Cuomo, separately, is also accused of mishandling the
state’s response to the pandemic, namely that his administration concealed
thousands of COVID-19 deaths among nursing home patients.
That comes in stark contrast to how he was praised during
the early stages of the pandemic in 2020, with some pundits lauding his daily
press conferences as being a counter to former President Donald Trump’s daily
pandemic updates. Cuomo’s briefings won him an international Emmy Award,
and he went on to write a book on leadership during the crisis.
_________
Jack Phillips is a reporter at The Epoch Times based in
New York.
