Gov. Cuomo addresses harassment claims, vows to stay in office

Besieged by sexual harassment allegations, a somber New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo apologized Wednesday, saying he “learned an important lesson” about his own behavior around women, but he said he intended to remain in office.

News 12 Staff

Mar 4, 2021, 12:33 PM

Updated 1,373 days ago

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 Gov. Andrew Cuomo talked openly Wednesday about harassment allegations against him in what marked his first public appearance since Feb. 22.
Three women, including two former aides, have come forward and accused him of sexual harassment.
“I'm sorry for any pain that I caused anyone,” Cuomo said at his briefing. “I never intended it and I will be better for this experience.”
Even though Cuomo acknowledged that he made the women feel uncomfortable, he says he wants New Yorkers to wait for the facts to come out in public before forming an opinion. Cuomo said he will “fully cooperate” with an investigation into the allegations being overseen by the state's independently elected attorney general, who is also a Democrat.
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The governor also said he is not going to resign.
“I'm going to do the job the people of the state elected me to do,” he said.
Victim advocates on Long Island say Cuomo's apology wasn't convincing.
“There's a difference of an apology and an explanation,” says Keith Scott, of Safe House, a victim's service agency that deals with abuse and treatment.
He says it's important for these accusations to be looked into and for a full investigation to be done.
“There are so many innuendos, so many behaviors, so many gestures that can be perceived as sexual harassment and are sexual harassment that we should all know by now – especially for those of us in positions of power and authority,” says Scott.
Scott says whatever the outcome of the report is, it will set a precedent for people in power facing sexual harassment allegations.
One of his accusers, Lindsey Boylan, took to Twitter to respond to the governor's apology.
Jesse McKinley, of the New York Times, reported that Charlotte Bennett's attorney, Debra Katz, said the governor's news conference "was full of falsehoods and inaccurate information."