Second ex-aide accuses Cuomo of sexual harassment
Fox News contributor Leslie Marshall and Independent Women's Forum analyst Kelsey Bolar weigh in on ‘America’s News HQ.’
Lindsey Boylan, a former aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo who first came forward with sexual harassment allegations against the Democrat, is now calling for his resignation or removal from office.
Boylan, who published a damning essay on Wednesday outlining accusations of inappropriate comments, unwanted touching, and a forced kiss on the lips, took to Twitter over the weekend after The New York Times ran its bombshell report revealing Charlotte Bennett, another former aide, also leveling accusations of sexually-charged conversations.
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"Like a true abuser, @NYGovCuomo continues to work behind the scenes to undermine the truth and to harm his many victims," Boylan tweeted on Sunday. "His abuse of power never ends. He does not get to choose his judge and jury. We do. And what is abundantly clear to me is the governor should resign."
She continued, "And if he does not resign, he should be removed from office. Not one more victim. Not one more life destroyed."
Cuomo's team appears to have backed away from its selection of former Federal Judge Barbara Jones to lead an "independent review" of the allegations, leaving that decision to New York Attorney General Letitia James.
After the Times broke its story on Saturday evening, Boylan expressed her support for Bennett.
"I am with you Charlotte. We are with you. Always," Boylan wrote. "I am so proud of you Charlotte."
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Boylan, the former deputy secretary for economic development and a special adviser to Cuomo, accused the governor of going "out of his way to touch me on my lower back, arms and legs," forcibly kissing her on the lips during a one-on-one briefing, and suggesting that they "play strip poker" during a plane ride.
Cuomo's office denied Boylan's harassment claims, calling them "simply false" and insisting the strip poker comment "did not happen."
Meanwhile, Bennett, who is described by the Times as "an executive assistant and health policy adviser in the Cuomo administration until she left in November," alleged that Cuomo "asked her questions about her sex life, whether she was monogamous in her relationships and if she had ever had sex with older men."
"I understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me, and felt horribly uncomfortable and scared," Bennett told the Times. "And was wondering how I was going to get out of it and assumed it was the end of my job."
In a press release on Saturday, Cuomo called Bennett a "hardworking and valued member of our team during COVID" who has "every right to speak out."
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"When she came to me and opened up about being a sexual assault survivor and how it shaped her and her ongoing efforts to create an organization that empowered her voice to help other survivors, I tried to be supportive and helpful," Cuomo said in a statement, which was issued to the Times. "Ms. Bennett's initial impression was right: I was trying to be a mentor to her. I never made advances toward Ms. Bennett nor did I ever intend to act in any way that was inappropriate. The last thing I would ever have wanted was to make her feel any of the things that are being reported."
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