The Democratic governor of New York State, Andrew Cuomo, is embroiled in a sexual harassment scandal against a young female subordinate. Another woman has accused Cuomo of not only touching her naked back but also asking for a kiss in public, which was captured on camera by a friend at the Time. This is the third woman to publicly accuse Cuomo of sexual harassment.
According to the New York Times on March 1, Anna Ruch, 33, worked on the White House campaign team. In an interview, she revealed that she met Cuomo in September 2019 while attending a wedding in New York City, having never met him before that. At the time, Cuomo gave a toast to the newlyweds, and Rucci thanked Cuomo for giving her friends his nuptial wishes.
According to Ruchi, while they were talking, Cuomo suddenly put his hand on her bare back, and she immediately used her hand to move Cuomo’s hand away. The governor then said she looked “aggressive” before cupping her cheeks with his hands and asking, “Can I kiss you?” His voice was so loud that his friend, who was standing next to him, could hear him.
Lucci said she was “so confused, shocked and embarrassed” that she turned her head away and didn’t say a word. When Cuomo leaned closer to her, she scrambled to get away, and a friend of Rucci’s captured Cuomo stroking Rucci’s cheek and asking her for a kiss. Some users who saw the photos commented that Ruchi looked really scared at the time.
A third woman alleged that she was touched on the naked back and kissed by Cuomo, whom she had first met. (Screenshot from CBS TV footage)
Previously, two of Cuomo’s former female subordinates have publicly alleged that Cuomo had sexually harassed himself. One of them, Lindsey Boylan, a former New York State economic affairs development official, alleged that Cuomo harassed her several times between 2016 and 2018 and once forcibly kissed her without her consent in his office in New York City.
Charlotte Bennett, 25, a former Cuomo aide, alleges that Cuomo had unreasonably questioned her about her sex Life and also asked her if she had ever had sex with an older man.
“I understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me and felt particularly uncomfortable and scared.” Bennett said in an interview with the New York Times, “and didn’t know how I could get rid of him and thought I would lose my job.”
Cuomo initially denied the sexual harassment allegations against the two young women, but on Sunday (Feb. 28) issued a statement saying he may have said “inappropriate” things to Bennett that could have been “misconstrued as unwanted flirtation. He explained that he sometimes “makes fun of people’s personal lives and relationships.
In a statement, Cuomo said, “I recognize that some of the things I said were misconstrued as unwanted flirting. In terms of creating that feeling for anyone, I am truly sorry for that.”
Now, New York State Attorney General Letitia James has announced an independent investigation into Cuomo’s alleged sexual harassment scandal.
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