‘It was a crime’: Cuomo groping accuser outs herself

Brittany Commisso wants the New York governor ‘held accountable’ after he allegedly groped and kissed her on the lips.

“He cupped my breast”, alleged Brittany Commisso in a report which accused New York Governor Andrew Cuomo of sexually harassing 11 women. Picture: CBS

The aide who has accused New York Governor Andrew Cuomo of groping her and kissing her on the lips has revealed her identity, saying his alleged conduct was “a crime”.

Brittany Commisso, 32, told CBS on Sunday (Monday AEST) and the Albany Times Union that she filed a criminal complaint last week against Mr Cuomo, G63, because “it was the right thing to do”.

“The governor needs to be held accountable,” she said. “What he did to me was a crime. He broke the law.”

Ms Commisso, who worked for the governor from 2017 to 2019, described how Mr Cuomo’s alleged unwanted touching of her escalated over time.

“Then they started to be hugs with kisses on the cheek. And then there was at one point, a hug. And then when he went to go kiss me on the cheek, he quickly turned his head and he kissed me on the lips,” she said

EXCLUSIVE: "I believe he groped me," aide Brittany Commisso says of Gov. Cuomo in her first public comments since accusing him of sexual harassment. "He touched me, not only once, but twice." Cuomo denies the claim. More Monday at 7a, only on CBS. https://t.co/HjK34LMOAFpic.twitter.com/hMbskQkqHG

— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) August 8, 2021

The mother of one — who has also accused the governor of once reaching under her blouse to grope her breast in late 2019 — said she felt forced to endure Mr Cuomo’s alleged misconduct because of his powerful position and the protection it affords him.

“I didn’t say anything this whole time,” she said. “People don’t understand that this is the governor of the state of New York. There are troopers that are outside of the (Executive) Mansion …”Those troopers that are there, they’re not there to protect me. They are there to protect him.”

Andrew Cuomo, 63, has denied the allegations. Picture: AFP

Ms Commisso, identified as “Executive Assistant #1”, featured first among the complainants in a 168-page report released last week by state Attorney-General Letitia James that accused Mr Cuomo of sexually harassing 11 women, nine of whom are current or former state workers. Mr Cuomo, 63, has denied the allegations. Rita Glavin, his lawyer, has said investigators failed to properly examine “documentary evidence that refutes (the assistant’s) allegation”. She said emails and logs from the day in question contradicted parts of her story.

The report said Ms Commisso testified under oath that Mr Cuomo reached under her blouse and molested her during an incident at the Executive Mansion in Albany last year.

“I mean it was — he was like cupping my breast. He cupped my breast,” she told investigators. “I in no way, shape or form invited that nor did I ask for it. I didn’t want it. I feel like I was being taken advantage of.”

The report described the alleged groping as the culmination of a series of “offensive interactions” that also include Mr Cuomo’s alleged “touching and grabbing of (Commisso’s) butt during hugs and, on one occasion, while taking selfies with him.”

Mr Cuomo told investigators the assistant was “the initiator of hugs” and he did not want “to make anyone feel awkward”.

Mr Cuomo could face “a couple” of misdemeanour charges based on Ms Commisso’s allegations, Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple said at the weekend.

“At this point, I’m very comfortable and safe saying she is, in fact, a victim,” he said. Sheriff Apple’s office took Commisso’s complaint on Thursday.

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson — who last month succeeded Mr Cuomo as chairman of the National Governors Association — said his predecessor “needs to resign” over Ms Commisso’s allegations, which he said “could not be more serious.”

New York Post