Cuomo accuser meets with state investigators for more than 4 hours

Charlotte Bennett, a former aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) who recently accused him of sexual harassment, met with investigators from the state attorney general’s office for more than four hours on Monday.

During the virtual meeting with investigators, Bennett detailed her allegations and provided more than 120 pages of contemporaneous records while offering other pieces of evidence to corroborate her claims against the governor and his senior staff, according to a statement from her attorney Debra Katz.

Bennett, 25, served as an executive assistant and health policy adviser in the Cuomo administration until she left in November. She has said the governor asked her questions about her sex life, if she was monogamous in her relationships and if she had ever had sex with older men.

Cuomo, in a statement to The New York Times last month, said he believed he was acting as a mentor and had “never made advances toward Ms. Bennett, nor did I ever intend to act in any way that was inappropriate.”

During Monday’s meeting with investigators, Bennett’s lawyer said her client “provided detailed information about the sexually hostile work environment the Governor fostered in both his Manhattan and Albany offices and his deliberate effort to create rivalries and tension among female staffers on whom he bestowed attention.”

One piece of new information that was revealed on Monday, according to Katz, was “the Governor’s preoccupation with his hand size and what the large size of his hands indicated to Charlotte and other members of his staff.”

The Hill has reached out to Cuomo’s office for comment.

On March 1, New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) announced she had received a referral letter to move forward with an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment against Cuomo made by two former aides, Lindsey Boylan and Bennett.

On March 8, James said two veteran lawyers would lead the investigation.

Since the initial launch of the probe, five more women have come forward with accusations of inappropriate sexual conduct against the governor.

It is unclear if any of the other accusers have met with investigators.

The most severe allegation came to light on Thursday, when the Times Union in Albany reported that Cuomo had “aggressively groped” a female aide at the executive mansion late last year. The accusation was referred to police.

That same day, the New York Assembly authorized the Assembly Judiciary Committee to begin an impeachment investigation into Cuomo.

The chorus of voices calling for the governor’s resignation grew louder after details of the groping allegation. On Friday, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) joined in calling for Cuomo to resign.

“Due to the multiple, credible sexual harassment and misconduct allegations, it is clear that Governor Cuomo has lost the confidence of his governing partners and the people of New York. Governor Cuomo should resign,” the two senators said in a joint statement.

Cuomo has signaled that he has no intention to resign, saying on Friday that he would not leave office and succumb to “cancel culture.”