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For weeks at the beginning of last year, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo highlighted how to quickly address the situation created by the lawsuit, while shutting down non-core businesses to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Also special was the daily appearance at press conferences for the American media as he attacked the federal government’s response to the situation.
With three terms as governor, the 63-year-old Democrat was seen as a model for direct leadership in the midst of the crisis. By the middle of last year, as the virus spread rapidly across the United States, he would declare that New York, the fourth largest U.S. state with a population of 19 million, “went through the worst situation in the country or in world, in a dramatic reduction of infections ”.
But currently, Governor Cuomo is facing two crises created by himself. He is being accused of minimizing the pandemic situation in nursing homes in New York and of sexually harassing two young women on his team. A heavy blow to his image and seriousness as he calls for his resignation from running the state of New York.
He is accused of significantly reducing the number of deaths from coronavirus in nursing homes in New York State in public statements. This figure is currently 15,000 compared to 8,500 previously reported.
A senior aide to Mr. Cuomo told New York State lawmakers that officials feared the data would be “used against them” by possible federal investigations by the Department of Justice under President Donald Trump, a longtime opponent of Democrat Cuomo. Currently, numerous media reports speak of investigations by the Department of Justice into the number of deaths in nursing homes in New York, even though Democrat Joe Biden, a political ally of Mr. Cuomo, has come to power.
In the other case, Democrat Cuomo faces charges of sexual harassment by two women working in the governor’s office. Lawmakers in that state, including some of Mr. Cuomo’s fellow Democrats, have called for his resignation and investigation, following the staging of large numbers of deaths in nursing homes and his unwanted comments about women. One of the women, Lindsey Boylan, a former economic development officer, claims that he had harassed her on several occasions from 2016 to 2018, and involuntarily kissed her on the lips in his office in the city of New York, a claim denied by Mr. Cuomo.
The other accuser, Charlotte Bennett, a 25-year-old former assistant governor, alleges sexual harassment last year. She told the New York Times that the governor had asked her about her sex life and whether she had had intercourse with elderly men. “I realized that the governor wanted to sleep with me and I felt terribly bad and scared,” Bennett told the newspaper. “I wondered how I would get out of the situation and I assumed it was the end of my job there.” In November she quit her job.
Asked about allegations of sexual harassment against Mr Cuomo, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Mr Biden believed “every woman who accuses him should be treated with dignity and respect”. Ms. Psaki added, “This applies to Charlotte and Lindsey,” referring to Governor Cuomo’s two accusers. On Sunday, Cuomo acknowledged that he might have made inappropriate comments in a conversation with Ms Bennett that could have been “misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation”.
The governor said his comments were part of his working life, where in some cases he “teases people about their personal lives and relationships”. “I now realize that my actions may have been non-sensitive or very personal and that some of my comments, given the post, made others feel in ways that were not my intention,” Cuomo said. a statement. “I admit that some things I said were misinterpreted as unwanted flirtations. I apologize to those who felt that way. “
Governor Cuomo said he would allow Attorney General Letitia James to appoint whoever she wanted to investigate allegations of sexual harassment./VOA
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