Andrew Cuomo Charged With Forcible Touching — After Criminal Summons Goes Through Chaotic Saga

Spencer Platt/Getty Images.

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) has been charged with forcible touching related to his alleged groping of a former aide, multiple media outlets reported on Thursday.

We often write “This is a breaking news story and may be updated” at the end of breaking news stories, for obvious reasons. But Thursday afternoon has featured an absolute bizarro saga involving the criminal charges apparently being filed against Cuomo, leaked to the press, revealed to have been erroneously (or perhaps prematurely) filed, and then somehow re-filed or properly filed in the first place or who even knows what’s happening anymore.

The headline to this post has changed at least half a dozen times as your friendly neighborhood Mediaite contributing editor has attempted to write it up and it’s entirely possible that by the time we hit “publish,” the whole story will have twisted around in an entirely new direction.

OK, deep breath. Here’s how it all unfolded.

Cuomo resigned earlier this year after being accused of sexual misconduct and harassment by multiple women, including former aide Brittany Commisso, whose allegations that Cuomo groped and harassed her apparently form the basis of this Schrödinger’s Cat of a criminal complaint that spent Thursday afternoon existing and then not existing and then existing again.

Twitter was briefly abuzz when New York Focus, an upstart nonprofit news outlet, reported that criminal charges had been filed against Cuomo for forcible touching, a Class A misdemeanor. However, the story rapidly collapsed as it turned out that the criminal summons was erroneously issued, done without the consent of the victim, and immediately leaked to the media.

Here’s an earlier version of the New York Focus article, which originally said that a clerk at the Albany Criminal Court had confirmed the story.

Screenshot via New York Focus.

The (Albany) Times-Union contradicted the New York Focus’ account, posting an article shortly thereafter saying that the criminal summons had been “erroneously issued by Albany City Court on Thursday after a sheriff’s investigator shared paperwork with the court summarizing their investigation.”

From the Times-Union:

The summons was issued without the consent of the alleged victim, Brittany Commisso, or her attorney, Brian D. Premo, according to sources familiar with the matter.

A sheriff’s investigator who had been a lead investigator in the case, in which the governor was accused of groping a female aide at the Executive Mansion last year, had met with a City Court official on Thursday to receive “guidance” if the department were to file a complaint. It’s unclear what happened after that, but a person briefed on the matter and not authorized to comment publicly said that someone in City Court issued the summons.

The issuance of the summons was leaked almost immediately to a news organization.

The “news organization” that was the recipient of the leak is presumably the New York Focus.

The story then twisted around again, with media outlets updating their articles. The Times-Union article now says that the summons was “prematurely issued,” and offers this explanation:

It’s unclear what happened after that, but a person briefed on the matter and not authorized to comment publicly said that someone in City Court issued the summons after determining the paperwork submitted by the investigator was sufficient to do so. The investigator had apparently filed the paperwork in anticipation of obtaining a summons next week, if the victim agreed to go forward with any charges, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The New York Focus has also updated their site, adding more details and reaffirming their reporting that the summons had been issued.

Lucian Chalfen, a spokesman for the New York State courts, issued a statement to the Washington Post confirming that the complaint had been issued. Washington Post investigative reporter Josh Dawsey tweeted Chalfen’s statement, along with a screenshot of the first page of the complaint.

Statement from Lucian Chalfen, a spokesman for New York State courts: “A Misdemeanor Complaint against former Governor Andrew Cuomo has been filed in Albany City Court. As this is a sex crime, a redacted complaint will be available shortly.”

— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) October 28, 2021

Here is the complaint. pic.twitter.com/ecKo9zUNog

— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) October 28, 2021

“There was some confusion on Thursday afternoon surrounding the complaint,” noted the New York Times in their coverage of the whole kerfuffle. Quite the understatement.

The New York Post additionally reported that Cuomo “is expected to be arrested next week.”

Stay tuned…

UPDATE 5:25 PM ET: Mediaite sister site Law & Crime has published a full copy of the redacted complaint, details on the criminal procedural issues, and additional information about how this story unfolded.

This story is breaking and may be updated.