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New York Gov. Cuomo faces fresh misconduct allegations from former aides

07 March 2021
Dan Ackermann

The office of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) was on Saturday facing fresh accusations of misconduct against his staff, including further allegations of inappropriate behavior against two more women. His office denies the claims.

Driving the news: The Washington Post reported Cuomo allegedly embraced an aide when he led the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and that two male aides who worked for him in the governor's office accused him of routinely berating them "with explicit language."

  • The former aide in the WashPost report, Karen Hinton, alleges the incident took place in a hotel room and that she "pulled away from Cuomo, but he pulled her back toward his body, holding her before she backed away and left the room."
  • Meanwhile, Ana Liss, a former policy and operations aide to Cuomo alleged to the Wall Street Journal that he asked "her if she had a boyfriend, called her sweetheart, touched her on her lower back at a reception and once kissed her hand when she rose from her desk."

The big picture: Cuomo has faced mounting criticism over the sexual harassment allegations, with three other women leveling complaints against him, and for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in nursing homes.

What they're saying: Peter Ajemian, Cuomo's director of communications, said in an emailed statement that Hinton's claims "did not happen" and that she is a "known antagonist of the Governor's who is attempting to take advantage of this moment to score cheap points with made up allegations from 21 years ago."

  • Asked to respond to Liss's allegation, Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said in an emailed statement, "Reporters and photographers have covered the governor for 14 years watching him kiss men and women and posing for pictures. At the public open house  mansion‎ reception there are hundreds of people and he poses for hundreds of pictures. That's what people in politics do."
  • In regards to the male staffers' allegations, Cuomo's office said in an email that New Yorkers had elected him four times during the past 14 years and that there's "no secret these are tough jobs, and the work is demanding."
  • "But we have a top tier team with many employees who have been here for years, and many others who have left and returned," the statement added. "The Governor is direct with employees if their work is sub-par because the people of New York deserve nothing short of excellence." 

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.