New York: US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the latest allegations accusing New York Governor Andrew Cuomo of sexual misconduct “nauseating”, amid growing calls for the latter to resign.
“The allegations of these women are serious. They’re deeply troubling. Last night’s was nauseating,” Xinhua news agency quoted Schumer as saying during a radio interview on Thursday.
He was referring to an account from an anonymous former aide of Cuomo’s that he had groped her last year when she was asked to come to the Executive Mansion to help the Governor with a cellphone issue.
Cuomo has adamantly denied the allegation, the sixth so far involving sexual harassment.
The Governor remained defiant amid calls from New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio and nearly 60 Democratic members of the state’s legislature for him to resign.
He urged people to hold their judgment until an investigation is concluded.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, also a Democrat, opened an investigation into the allegations, appointing former US attorney Joon Kim and Anne Clark, who specializes in employment discrimination law, on Monday to lead the probe.
“I believe she will pursue every lead… And I also believe that she will not let any outside or political interference stop her from getting all the facts out,” Schumer said of James during the radio interview.
Other leading Democrats in New York State, including state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, also asked Cuomo to quit.
Those who demanded Cuomo’s resignation also cited his cover-up of the state’s Covid-19 deaths data.
