Written by Brandon Romo
Andrew Cuomo, current governor of New York, continues to have allegations pushed against him as a former employee of his recently explained he had a long “pattern” of disorderly conduct.
Karen Hinton, former press secretary for Cuomo during his term as secretary of Housing and Urban Development under the Clinton administration, continued with her sexual harassment claims through a Daily Mail op-ed titled “The Andrew Cuomo I have known: A long pattern of harassing staffers, especially women”. Cuomo denied the sexual harassment allegations made by Hinton in March, but the latest op-ed includes specific instances regarding staffers at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
In the op-ed Hinton wrote “Cuomo refused to hire a highly qualified woman for a HUD position because she was ‘not attractive enough’ for him, he told me…He hired a white guy.” She also wrote that Cuomo has sexually abused and harassed “at least 10 women, former and current staff in his office,” including instances of bullying and public humiliation.
Hinton also explained a story in the op-ed in which Cuomo flirted with a young staffer at the HUD in order to get back at her then-boyfriend: “As a result, she and her boyfriend, who had worked for Cuomo, broke up. Cuomo’s flirt had been a payback move because the boyfriend had left his job without Cuomo’s permission. A few years later, the woman staffer reappeared in New York looking for a job, and Cuomo did nothing to help her,” Hinton wrote. Hinton explained that this situation was “more about power and control than a sexual overture,” but it obviously was a combination of both.
Hinton has since stated that she refuses to publicly name the other women involved, as she feels it is their own story to tell.
Regardless, these separate and detailed explanations of sexual abuse/harassment experiences by Cuomo are beyond concerning. With Cuomo serving as governor of New York since 2011, he is in a position to continue taking advantage of his employees.
The sexual harassment allegations made by 10 different women against Cuomo have to lead to an independent investigation by the state attorney general, Letitia James, and an impeachment trial through the State Assembly. If the State Assembly continues with the impeachment proceedings, Cuomo would be just the second governor in the history of the state of New York to be impeached.
