Theresa Sari, left, and her daughter Leila Ali look at a memorial wall for nursing home residents who have died of COVID-19, including Maria Sachse, Sari’s mother, March 21, 2021, in New York. A state congressional committee investigation found that the administration of former Governor Andrew Cuomo made a political decision by misrepresenting the number of nursing home residents who have died from COVID-19.
Seth Wenig / AP
hide captions
switch captions
Seth Wenig / AP
Theresa Sari, left, and her daughter Leila Ali look at a memorial wall for nursing home residents who have died of COVID-19, including Maria Sachse, Sari’s mother, March 21, 2021, in New York. A state congressional committee investigation found that the administration of former Governor Andrew Cuomo made a political decision by misrepresenting the number of nursing home residents who have died of COVID-19.
Seth Wenig / AP
ALBANY, NY – A legislative investigation released Monday found “overwhelming evidence” that former Governor Andrew Cuomo engaged in sexual harassment and ordered state workers to help publish books. yours during business hours.
The report also found that Cuomo’s operating room “fundamentally revised” a state report to exclude nursing home deaths in hospitals in order to improve Cuomo’s reputation.
In March, the Congressional Judiciary Committee hired a Manhattan law firm, Davis Polk & Wardwell, to investigate whether there were grounds to impeach Cuomo.
Cuomo, a Democrat, resigned in August to avoid a potential impeachment trial after another investigation found he sexually harassed at least 11 women. That investigation was led by two independent attorneys selected by State Attorney General Letitia James, also a Democrat.
Council investigators said they looked at that sexual harassment investigation, as well as the approximately 60,000 pages of documents Davis Polk collected, ranging from photographs, emails, phone call recordings to recordings. minus.
Davis Polk investigators did not interview Cuomo, who provided written submissions instead.
Cuomo spokeswoman Richard Azzopardi and attorney, Rita Glavin, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the legislative investigation.
Cuomo has denied that he ever intended to inappropriately touch anyone and said he never intended to upset anyone with his sexual remarks.
Cuomo has flatly denied a number of allegations, including an executive aide’s claim that he groped her breasts at the governor’s official residence, Executive Mansion, last winter.
Cuomo has asked Council investigators to turn over all evidence against him, but Judiciary Committee members say Cuomo has no right to that evidence.
“Faced with an impeachment trial, the former Governor chose to resign, not contest the available evidence and confront witnesses in that legal forum,” the report released Monday said. . “Having passed that opportunity, he has no right to provide any further evidence from this Commission.”
Cuomo often makes statements pledging to cooperate with the Council’s investigation, but investigators say he has released only a limited amount of documents over the course of nearly six months.
“However, at no time did the former Governor meaningfully comply with the Commission’s requests or cooperate with its investigation,” the report reads.
