JUST IN: A Second Former Aide Accuses Gov. Cuomo of Sexual Harassment

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) is now being accused of sexual harassment by a second former aide, according to a report by the New York Times.

Earlier this week, Lindsey Boylan published a lengthy post on Medium describing her tenure as the chief of staff for the state’s economic development agency, and accusing Cuomo of multiple incidents of sexual harassment, including telling her he had a “crush” on her, suggesting they play strip poker during a flight, giving her an uninvited kiss on the lips, and other inappropriate comments and actions.

Cuomo denied Boylan’s allegations.

Saturday, the Times published an interview with Charlotte Bennett, who served as an executive assistant and health policy adviser in the Cuomo administration until she left in November, in which she too alleged multiple instances where the governor had sexually harassed her:

Ms. Bennett, 25, said the most unsettling episode occurred on June 5, when she was alone with Mr. Cuomo in his State Capitol office. In a series of interviews this week, she said the governor had asked her numerous questions about her personal life, including whether she thought age made a difference in romantic relationships, and had said that he was open to relationships with women in their 20s — comments she interpreted as clear overtures to a sexual relationship.

Bennett also said that Cuomo had complained about being “lonely” during the pandemic, since he “can’t even hug anyone,” and then asked Bennett who was the last person she hugged. Bennett  demurred, saying that she missed hugging her parents, but Cuomo kept pressing. He never actually tried to touch her, she was careful to note, but his intentions were unmistakable.

“I understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me, and felt horribly uncomfortable and scared,” Bennett told the Times. “And was wondering how I was going to get out of it and assumed it was the end of my job.”

Bennett described other interactions with Cuomo as what she now felt was “grooming” her, including asking repeated personal questions like “whether she was romantically involved, whether she was monogamous in her relationships and whether she had ever had sex with older men.”

Cuomo has denied anything inappropriate happened with Bennett.

Read the full article at the New York Times.