“We have blindly trusted the authorities… When the press bows down to the authorities, the authorities will mistreat the citizens. This happens worldwide and it has happened to us.”

Former New York Gov. Andrew  Free Hands Cuomo has been charged with a misdemeanor complaint in Albany City Court for a sex-crime related charge, a spokesperson for New York State courts tells NBC News.

According to the Times Union, however, the criminal summons for forcible touching was 'erroneously issued' by the Court, after a sheriff's investigator shared paperwork with the court which included a summary of their investigation.

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. -Times Union

Following calls on both sides of the aisle to step down, embattled New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has resigned following sexual harassment allegations.

CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Tuesday completely ignored a scandal involving his brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Chris Cuomo said nothing about how New York Attorney General Letitia James earlier in the day released a report substantiating sexual harassment and assault claims against the governor.

Chris Cuomo’s “Cuomo Prime Time” airs for an hour at 9 p.m.

Chris Cuomo was deeply involved in the scandal. Investigators found he was part of a team that advised Gov. Cuomo on how to respond earlier this year to a growing number of sexual harassment allegations.

Rich Azzopardi, one of Gov. Cuomo’s top advisers, described the group, none of whom were compensated, as “people who have been with us for a long time who we could trust.”

“When you feel like you’re in battle, you turn to those you trust...

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Friday called for a “full accounting” of whether Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration withheld information about deaths from the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus in nursing homes across the state.

The alleged cover-up of New York’s nursing home deaths was first reported by the New York Post. In an audio recording obtained by the Post, Melissa DeRosa, Cuomo’s chief of staff, told a small group of Democratic lawmakers that the governor’s office “basically froze” when they were asked by the U.S. Department of Justice to turn in the data, because they worried that then-President Donald Trump would use the information as a “giant political football” against them.

“[President Trump] starts tweeting that we killed everyone in nursing homes,” DeRosa said during the private call, according to the NY Post. “He starts going after [New Jersey Gov. Phil] Murphy, starts going after [California Gov. Gavin] Newsom, starts going after [Michigan Gov.] Gretchen Whitmer.”

In August 2020, the Justice Department requested governors of states which had “issued COVID-19 orders that may have resulted in deaths of elderly nursing home residents,” namely Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, to turn over data on deaths in those long-term care facilities. Cuomo, joined by Whitmer, pushed back against those inquiries, arguing in a joint statement that they were but a “nakedly partisan deflection” targeting states run by Democrats.

Former aide Lindsey Boylan wrote in a Medium post that she resigned as an aide to Cuomo after he forcibly kissed her during a meeting, and would frequently go out of his way to touch her "on my lower back, arms and legs."

Responding to the accusation, Cuomo wrote on Sunday that he never "touched anybody" and never "propositioned anybody."

*  *  *

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has been accused of sexual harassment by a second former aide, according to the New York Times.

Charlotte Bennett, a former executive assistant and health policy adviser to the Cuomo administration up until November of last year, told the Times that Cuomo had asked her sever questions about her sex life - including whether she ever had sex with older men, and whether she was monogamous in her relationships.

He also allegedly told her during a June, 2020 encounter that the 63-year-old governor complained about being 'lonely during the pandemic,' and that he "can't even hug anyone."

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. -New York Times

Cuomo told The Times on Saturday that he thought he was acting as a mentor, and "never made advances toward Ms. Bennett, nor did I ever intend to act in any way that was inappropriate, before asking for an independent review of the matter - and imploring New Yorkers to await the results "before making any judgements."

Bennett related an exchange in which she felt Cuomo made clear he wanted to sleep with her.

Ms. Bennett said that during the June encounter, the governor, 63, also complained to her about being lonely during the pandemic, mentioning that he “can’t even hug anyone,” before turning the focus to Ms. Bennett. She said that Mr. Cuomo asked her, “Who did I last hug?”

Ms. Bennett said she had tried to dodge the question by responding that she missed hugging her parents. “And he was, like, ‘No, I mean like really hugged somebody?’” she said.

Mr. Cuomo never tried to touch her, Ms. Bennett said, but the message of the entire episode was unmistakable to her. -New York Times

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

Bennett says she reported the interaction to Cuomo's chief-of-staff, Jill DesRosiers, less than a week later - and was subsequently transferred to another job as a health policy adviser, where her office was located on the other side of the Capitol. Bennett also says she reported the incident to a special counsel to the governor, Judith Mogul, towards the end of last June - after which she chose not to insist on an investigation because she "wanted to move on" with her new job.

Cuomo, in his statement, called Bennett a "hard-working and valued member" of his staff who had "every right to speak out," revealing that she had opened up to him about being a survivor of sexual assault.

"The last thing I would ever have wanted was to make her feel any of the things that are being reported," said Cuomo, who did not deny asking Bennett personal questions.

Bennett's accusation comes less than a week after a woman accused Cuomo of sexually harassing her several times between 2016 and 2018, at one point allegedly giving her an unsolicited kiss on the lips at his Manhattan office.

Cuomo says Boylan is lying.

Today I am telling my story. I never planned to share the details of my experience working in the Cuomo administration, but I am doing so now in hopes that it may make it easier for others to speak their own truth. https://t.co/n1Lcc6Ac66

— Lindsey Boylan (@LindseyBoylan) February 24, 2021

In response to the allegations against Cuomo - and in light of recent revelations that he withheld nursing home death data in order to avoid prosecution by the Trump DOJ, a top New York state lawmaker, Tim Kennedy (D), said that there's a 'need to get more information," adding "And I believe we're going to be looking for that in the coming days."

The assistant has identified herself as Brittany Commisso. She told investigators that Cuomo groped her under her blouse and grabbed her buttocks.

“What he did to me was a crime,” Commisso said on “CBS This Morning.” “He broke the law.”

Cuomo has repeatedly denied touching anyone inappropriately and defied calls to resign.

Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa listens as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks to reporters during a news conference, in New York on Sept. 14, 2018. (Mary Altaffer/AP Photo)

The Democrat-controlled New York Legislature is considering impeaching him, but is conducting its own investigation first.

Rita Glavin, one of Cuomo’s attorneys, told reporters in a briefing on Friday that, as a former federal prosecutor, she knows “the difference between putting a case together against a target, versus doing independent fact-finding with an open mind.”

“And there has been no open-minded fact-finding in this case. The investigation was conducted to support a predetermined narrative and in our legal system, both sides are heard and given access to the evidence, but here, instead of acting as independent fact-finders, the investigators acted as prosecutors, judge, and jury,” she added.

Glavin was describing a team that included Joon Kim, another former federal prosecutor, and convened by James, a Democrat.

Glavin also took aim at Commisso, alleging there is no documentary evidence to support what she has alleged.

Fabien Levy, James’s press secretary, later decried those comments.

“After multiple women made accusations that Gov. Cuomo sexually harassed them, the governor himself requested that Attorney General James oversee an independent investigation. The independent investigators selected are widely respected professionals, recognized for their legal and investigatory ability. To attack this investigation and attempt to undermine and politicize this process takes away from the bravery displayed by these women,” Levy said. “There are 11 women whose accounts have been corroborated by a mountain of evidence. Any suggestion that attempts to undermine the credibility of these women or this investigation is unfortunate.”

9th Woman Accuses Cuomo Of Sexual Harassment, Unwanted Kiss

Another woman has accused NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual improprieties, including a forcible kiss on the lips, marking the second woman who has accused Cuomo of such a transgression. And what's more, the accuser, named Sherry Vill, has proof.

The 55-year-old accuser said Cuomo grabbed her face and kissed her on the cheek in front of her home in 2017. She described the kiss as an "inappropriate sexual gesture."

"I know the difference between an innocent gesture and a sexual one," Vill said during a virtual press conference. "I never felt as uncomfortable as I did the day Governor Cuomo came to my house. His actions were very overly sexual, highly inappropriate and disrespectful to me and my family."

She said Cuomo told her she was beautiful and acted in a "highly flirtatious and inappropriate manner."

Vill, who was married at the time of the alleged incident, said Cuomo visited her home in Greece, NY, to survey flood damage, according to her attorney, noted feminist #MeToo champion Gloria Allred.

Allred said during a press conference that she would be contacting the state AG's office to volunteer her client's cooperation with the investigation into allegations of sexual harassment by Cuomo.

Afterward, Cuomo tried to brush off the inappropriate contact as something that was normal. "He said that’s what Italians do, kiss both cheeks," Vill said.

Vill's daughter apparently took a photo of the incident and shared it on social media at the time. That marks the second photo of Cuomo delivering an ungainly kiss to an unsuspecting woman.

The governor has insisted that he never forcibly touched a woman who didn't want to be touched.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported new details yesterday of Cuomo's abuse of office by using state resources to fast-track COVID testing for friends and family members. Sometimes, the governor would go as far as to ask state workers to personally travel to the homes of family members and test them.

One such example of this was when Chris Cuomo, the governor's CNN anchor brother, was sick with the virus last spring. Cuomo reportedly received several hours-long visits from a state public health official and doctor, according to WaPo.

And a top state physician whose pandemic portfolio involved coordinating testing in nursing homes was dispatched multiple times to the Hamptons home of CNN host Chris Cuomo, the governor’s brother, in testing visits that sometimes stretched hours, according to two people with knowledge of the consultations.

No fewer than seven anonymous sources told WaPo that insiders including fashion designer Kenneth Cole (the governor's brother in law) were allowed to cut the line for scarce tests. They told WaPo that they were heavily pressured to meet Cuomo's demands, and even developed a special designation for priority individuals demanded by the governor.

One of Satan’s Most Trusted Soldier New York Gov. Cumgo Has Repeatedly said God didn’t do that I DID…

The WSJ was incorrect in claiming Abramowitz was representing Cuomo’s office for his sexual harassment scandal, telling Bloomberg that he’s only representing the nursing home scandal.

“My firm and I are representing the Executive Chamber on the Nursing Home matter. We have not been retained on the sexual harassment matter,” he said in an email.

*  *  *

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration has retained a prominent white-collar defense attorney following allegations of sexual harassment and Justice Department inquiries over COVID-19 nursing home deaths, according to the Wall Street Journal.