Cuomo rejects calls to resign from multiple Democrats in N.Y. congressional delegation
By Michael Scherer,
Salwan Georges The Washington Post
An increasingly isolated New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo defiantly refused to resign Friday after a majority of his state’s congressional delegation joined calls from most state legislators for him to step down amid a growing sexual harassment scandal.
Cuomo instead attacked the colleagues who had turned against him as “reckless and dangerous” for using news reports and the public testimonials of women as a basis for pushing him from office without an independent investigation.
“The people of New York should not have confidence in a politician who takes a position without knowing any facts or substance,” he said. “Do I think it is responsible to take a position on a serious allegation before you have any facts? No, I don’t think it is responsible.”
Cuomo has so far held onto office by arguing that a full investigation of the claims against him will vindicate his behavior, even as he has been evasive about some of the particulars of what happened with the women. He avoided a direct question Friday about whether he had what he understood to be a consensual sexual relationship with any of his accusers, saying only that he had “not had a sexual relationship that was inappropriate, period.”
The calls for a full fact-finding continues to draw significant support from Democratic leaders, who are once again publicly wrestling with the tension between swift accountability for abusive behavior and due process.
In a barrage of statements Friday morning, a dozen of the state’s House Democrats said New Yorkers had lost faith in the three-term governor and she should step aside as the state grapples with the twin crises of the coronavirus pandemic and economic downturn. Several of the Democrats cited the sexual harassment allegations while others also mentioned reports that Cuomo’s top aides changed the data to hide a higher number of deaths in state nursing homes due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Six women have alleged Cuomo harassed or touched them inappropriately. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement that the accusations and the governor’s response to them have “made it impossible for him to continue to govern at this point.”
“Governor Cuomo has lost the confidence of the people of New York,” Nadler said. “Governor Cuomo must resign.”
Cuomo has repeatedly said he will not resign. In a conference call with reporters Friday, he insisted he will remain in office while delivering a broadside against fellow Democrats, accusing those who demanded his resignation of only being concerned with political expediency.
“People know the difference between playing politics, bowing to cancel culture and the truth,” Cuomo said, adopting a popular term used by conservatives against liberals.
[A timeline of the sexual harassment allegations against Gov. Cuomo]
In a statement, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Sean Patrick Maloney, a member of the party’s leadership in the House, joined the calls for Cuomo to step down.
“The victims of sexual assault concern me more than politics or other narrow considerations, and I believe Governor Cuomo must step aside,” Maloney said.
Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney said she supports the women who came forward and that Cuomo resigning is “in the best interest of all New Yorkers.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in a joint statement with freshman Rep. Jamaal Bowman, said they believe the women’s accounts and agree with those who say Cuomo “can no longer effectively lead in the face of so many challenges.”
New York Democratic Reps. Mondaire Jones, Antonio Delgado, Grace Meng, Yvette D. Clarke, Nydia M. Velázquez, Adriano Espaillat, Brian Higgins also said in tweets and statements put out within minutes of each other that he should resign.
Several of the Democrats said that while Cuomo should resign, the investigation by the state attorney general, Letitia James, into the allegations should continue,
Since the accusations first came to light, most Democrats in Washington have resisted asking Cuomo to step down and have instead encouraged the independent investigation by the New York attorney general into Cuomo’s conduct.
But with more women coming forward with allegations of harassment, intimidation and assault by the governor, a number of New York Democrats in Congress came out simultaneously Friday morning urging Cuomo to resign.
Before now, Rep. Kathleen Rice was the lone New York Democrat in Congress to call for Cuomo’s resignation. Almost two weeks ago she tweeted after a third accuser came forward: “The time has come. The Governor must resign.”
New York’s two U.S. senators, Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, did not immediately respond to the news of their colleagues’ en masse calls for Cuomo’s resignation.
Josh Dawsey contributed to this report.
