County sheriff filed a criminal complaint against Cuomo this fall accusing him of groping a female aide at the governor's mansion in late 2020. His arraignment on the charge has been postponed until at least January while the county district attorney investigates the allegations.
According
to report, the U.S. Department of Justice began a civil inquiry in August into
sexual harassment claims made against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo New York
officials disclosed.
The exact
nature of the inquiry and its current status was unclear.
The office
of Gov. Kathy Hochul who took office when Cuomo resigned in August, said it
hired a law firm in October to handle “matters relating to ongoing
investigations inherited from the previous administration,” and that one of
those matters was an investigation by the Justice Department's civil rights
division and the U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn.
"As
this is an ongoing investigation, we will not comment further at this time,”
said Hochul's press secretary, Hazel Crampton-Hays.
The law
firm's hiring was initially disclosed in a contract made public Thursday as a
result of public records requests by several news organizations.
The
contract said the firm, Willkie Farr and Gallagher, is representing the
governor's office in several investigations related to the previous
administration, including a Justice Department inquiry “related to sexual
harassment claims made against the then-governor.”
Cuomo
announced he would resign Aug. 10, one week after an investigative report
commissioned by New York Attorney General Letitia James concluded he had
sexually harassed 11 women. His last day in office was Aug. 23.
Cuomo’s
spokesperson, Rich Azzopardi, said the former governor had been made aware of
the inquiry.
“Our
understanding is that the civil division opened an inquiry in August based upon
the AG’s politically motivated sham report and we have heard nothing since,” he
said.
Justice
Department spokespeople declined to comment.
The
department's civil rights division has some enforcement powers under federal
anti-discrimination law. It launched an initiative in 2018 to fight sexual
harassment of government employees and handles complaints made under the U.S.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Cuomo has
acknowledged making comments to some women that made them uncomfortable,
including jokes interpreted as unwanted flirtation, but he has denied sexually
harassing anyone or touching anyone inappropriately.
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