New York governor Andrew Cuomo resigns in wake of sexual harassment allegations

Completing a dramatic fall from grace New York’s governor Andrew Cuomo has resigned suddenly in the wake of sexual harassment allegations.

Andrew Cuomo after announcing his resignation as New York Governor in Manhattan on Wednesday. Picture: Reuters

Completing a dramatic fall from grace New York’s governor Andrew Cuomo has resigned suddenly in the wake of sexual harassment allegations, paving the way for the state’s first female governor.

Speaking immediately after his private attorney had slammed the claims – suggesting the embattled governor would fight them, including possible impeachment – the Governor said his resignation would take effect in 14 days.

“My instinct is to fight through this controversy because I truly believe it is politically motivated, unfair and untruthful,” he said in a live televised address.

“I love New York and I love you, and I wouldn’t ever want to be unhelpful … given the circumstances the best way I can help now is if I step aside and let government get back to governing,” he added.

In remarks that swung seamlessly from defiance to contrition, Cuomo, who had already been under pressure for his handling of coronavirus, said the claims of the women, who included former staff, had “no credible factual basis”.

“Don’t get more wrong, this is not to say there aren’t 11 women whom I truly offended,” the governor said, apologising for causing offence inadvertently.

“I thought a hug and putting my arm around someone while taking a picture was friendly … I have called people honey, sweetheart and darling, but I meant it to be endearing,” he added.

A week ago the state’s attorney general Letitia James released a 168-page report cataloguing cases of unwanted comments, kissing, touching by the governor from 2013 onwards, which it concluded breached federal and state laws, some of which, in 2019, the governor had signed into law himself.

Lieutenant governor Kathy Hochul, who will succeed Mr Cuomo, said it was the “right thing to do and in the best interest of New York”, sentiments echoed by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio.

“It was past time for Andrew Cuomo to resign and it’s for the good of all New York,” the Mayor said.

Cuomo, a Democrat elected in 2011 after a previous failed attempt to become governor in 2002, vehemently denied the allegations, releasing his own 85-page report that included 26 pages of pictures of him, kissing and embracing men and women at political and social events.

“I hug and kiss people casually, women and men, I have done it all my life,” Mr Cuomo said in his address on Tuesday, blaming the allegations on “generational and cultural shifts” that he “didn’t fully appreciate”.

“It is still in many ways a man’s world. Sexism is culturalised and institutionalised. My daughters have more talent and natural gifts than I ever had,” said Cuomo who didn’t remarry after divorcing in 2005.

His father, Mario, served three terms as governor from 1983 to 1994.

Despite initial indications he intended to dig in, the governor faced an avalanche of pressure to resign, including from President Joe Bidden, a former political ally, and Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.

Ramping up the pressure one of the complainants, Brittany Commisso, the governor’s former executive assistant, on Monday said the governor’s behaviour toward her had been “a crime”. “He broke the law,” she said.

The surprise resignation came the same day the White House was celebrating a major legislative victory in Congress in Washington DC, the passage of a bipartisan infrastructure bill worth over US$1 trillion.

The governor, who was arguably the most powerful Democrat in the United States until the election of President Biden in November, won an Emmy last year for his daily Covid-19 press conferences.

His political fortunes came unstuck following allegations his administration covered up – and contributed to – potentially thousands of unnecessary deaths in nursing homes.

A US$5 million book deal to chronicle his leadership during the pandemic, which killed almost 53,000 in the state, also drew criticism.

The governor used his address to spruik some of his administration’s achievements: a $15 minimum wage, a more diverse federal bureaucracy, legalising gay marriage and banning assault weapons.

The governor could still face charges and possible impeachment by the state legislature later this year, which would prevent him from running for state office again.