But Where Can He Land? -“There is No Return to Elected Office for Him in the New York Democratic Party”
By Dan Murphy
Several days after District Attorneys in Albany County and Westchester County decided not to persue criminal charges against former NY Govenror Andrew Cuomo for sexual harrassment, the Cuomo political campaign team, led by spokesman Rich Azzopardi, responded with the following statement.
“From the very beginning we said this entire situation was a political manipulation and would be disproven when a non-corrupted legal review was conducted — and over the past several weeks, we were proven right.
“The legislature insisted that Tish James be given the authority to do the review even though she had a glaring conflict of interest in that she would not rule out running against Governor Cuomo. Any lawyer who understood their ethical obligation would never have recommended such a referral and certainly would not have accepted it. James’ appointment of Joon Kim and Anne Clark also violated the legal referral mandating “independent reviewers.” She told the press there were 11 violations of law without any credible basis whatsoever. The Assembly’s sham report, which relied on James’ conclusions in their own review, unsurprisingly mimicked her findings.
“Three district attorneys have now reviewed James’ report and evidence and have proven that what we said all along was correct — the law was not broken and not a single case has been brought.
“The James report was not a legal review, but a sham to generate a press frenzy and political firestorm to clear the way for her own run for higher office.
“James’ position that ‘we believe all women’ is not a legal determination made by a professional Attorney General’s office — particularly when there is an abundance of exculpatory evidence and suspect motivations. Tellingly, James did not even apply the actual legal statutory definition of sexual harassment to the evidence which applies only to conduct between an employer and employee and excludes any behavior that to a reasonable person is “a trivial inconvenience or petty slight”.
“Now three district attorneys have discredited James and her office’s conclusions. The Nassau and Westchester District Attorneys found that even if the allegations were credible, they did not violate the law.
“That is because, despite what Tish James said, kissing someone on the cheek, patting someone’s stomach as you walk by, putting your arm around an employee or a wedding guest while posing for a photo is not illegal — criminally or civilly. Plaintiff lawyers overplayed their hand, and we will not pay one penny in attempts at civil extortion.
“A fourth District Attorney in Manhattan found that the administration’s handling of nursing homes complied with the law disputing hysteria and false claims of James and members of the legislature. Facts matter – even in politics and even in Albany.
“For the last several weeks, we have remained silent while the process played itself out — do not confuse our respect for the justice system with acquiescence. Stay tuned. Thank you for your continued friendship and support, Team Cuomo.”
In Westchester, two victims have been idenfitied and were part of AG James’ report. Charlotte Bennett received a great deal of media attention and was in our view, a very credible witness against the former Governor.
The second incident in Westchester was with Susan Iannucci, whose interaction with Cuomo occurred at White Plains High School in 2018. “As he was mingling with the crowd after his speech, he hugged my friend and then he turned his attention to me. He looked me in the eye, grabbed my arm and pulled me toward him and kissed me on the cheek without asking me if I was OK with such a personal greeting.”
Iannucci’s attorney was Gloria Allred but no civil lawsuits were filed. But Iannucci was disturbed when Cuomo used her incident as evidence that his habit of hugging and kissing women was normal and OK. “I don’t appreciate him using my picture to spin a story,” said Iannucci.
Westchester District Attorney Mimi Rocah stated on Dec. 28, “Our investigation found credible evidence to conclude that the alleged conduct in both instances described above did occur. However, in both instances, my Office has determined that, although the allegations and witnesses were credible, and the conduct concerning, we cannot pursue criminal charges due to the statutory requirements of the criminal laws of New York.”
Cuomo attorney Rita Glavin stated on Jan. 8, “This case has now been shown to be a blatant political act by an astonishly unprofessional and rogue sherriff. No jury would have found Ms Commisso credible — that’s why this case was dismissed… Today, the rule of law prevailed, not politics, rhetoric, or mob mentality.”
One of Cuomo’s victims, Brittany Commisso said she was disappointed that no criminal charges will be filed against Cuomo. ‘My disappointing experience of re-victimization with the failure to prosecute a serial sexual abuser, no matter what degree the crime committed, yet again sadly highlights the reason victims are afraid to come forward, especially against people in power. When will our voices uniformly be accepted? Where do we go to have our rights vindicated?’
Those who received the Cuomo email, which had a photo of the front page of the Daily News proclaiming that Cuomo was “Not Done Yet,” if you click the link, you are led to a Cuomo political website which is still asking for, and collecting donations. Cuomo is said to have $18 Million remaining in his campaign coffers, but all of the Westchester democrats we spoke to said that under NO circumstances would they support or anticipate the democratic party of New York State to endorse of support Cuomo to run for any office.
Other Westchester Dems we spoke to said that the media hype and coverage of Andrew Cuomo is “lazy journalism” and is not a real story.
We also spoke to another one of the former Governor’s accusers. Her name is Karen Hinton, and she is the author of a book Penis Politics, which includes three chapters on Governor Andrew. More on her story next.
