What is society to do with someone who has been investigated and found to have broken both federal and state laws by sexually harassing at least 11 different women?
Well, in the case of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the subject of a five-months-long investigation by the state’s attorney general, apparently the answer is: nothing.
Attorney General Letitia James directed the inquiry, dramatically revealed the findings and spoke of the disturbing “toxic culture” in Cuomo’s office but failed to seek a grand jury indictment or file charges against him.
James kicked the prosecutorial can down the road to local district attorneys’ offices where the alleged offenses occurred.
Cuomo is a fierce and feared three-term governor, widely known for his political acumen and vindictive response to critics. He has refused calls from several major newspapers and his own Democratic Party’s top members, including President Joe Biden, to resign.
No one is publicly urging him to fight on.
In March, the New York Assembly launched an impeachment inquiry against Cuomo on wide-ranging allegations, including that he had sexually harassed one female staffer and that, to protect his image, he had directed his staff to lie about the number of older citizens who died in nursing homes after he ordered those facilities to take COVID-19 patients.
That was a death sentence for such a vulnerable population. Nearly 16,000 older adults died in state care facilities. The Assembly’s impeachment proceeding is now on a much faster track.
Interestingly, the Justice Department recently announced it dropped its anticipated civil rights investigation into New York’s nursing-home scandal.
Cuomo has proven to be a master at political survival. By sheer force of will he finds ways to make problems go away.
In 2013, when the Moreland Commission’s probe of political corruption in the state got too close for comfort, Cuomo simply used his power to disband the panel. The feds showed interest in investigating but didn’t.
A few years later, one of Cuomo’s most trusted aides and best friends, Joseph Percoco, was convicted of accepting more than $300,000 in bribes from fat cats doing business with the state.
Cuomo righteously and very publicly distanced himself, saying Percoco “is paying the price for violating the public trust.” Privately, The New York Times reported, the Cuomo family spent years raising money for Percoco’s appeal.
Now that the sexual harassment allegations against Cuomo have exploded, and the tawdry and downright creepy details have been made public, Cuomo is again a target.
He denies the women’s very specific accusations of groping, hugging, kissing, butt-grabbing and breast-fondling, and says his affectionate behavior was misunderstood.
“That is just not who I am, and that is not who I have ever been,” Cuomo said in a prerecorded video that, weirdly, included photos of him hugging and kissing other people.
And, predictably, because James is reported to be a possible gubernatorial candidate, Cuomo blames the investigation on politics and foes determined to thwart his run for a fourth term.
Ah, he who lives by the political sword can also die by that same sword.
Cuomo once tweeted, “There should be a zero tolerance policy when it comes to sexual harassment & (we) must send a clear message that this behavior is not tolerated.” Hypocritically, he now implores us to ignore his accusers.
During congressional hearings on U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Cuomo again took the high-and-mighty road to oppose the nomination writing, “We owe it to the American people to #BelieveSurvivors.”
The Cuomo posts came at a time when other prominent men like journalists Charlie Rose, Matt Lauer and Bill O’Reilly; former Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn.; comedian Louis C.K.; and actors Kevin Spacey and Dustin Hoffman had faced their own sexual misconduct allegations and were promptly erased from polite society.
With due process apparently a thing of the past, shouldn’t Cuomo get the same treatment?
Something tells me Cuomo will not win that coveted fourth term. He may never face charges, because serial sexual harassers rarely do, and he will surely survive.
He’ll call on cronies for business opportunities and, as usual, they will respond.
His mighty arrogance will convince him that enemies were his downfall, because it couldn’t possibly have been something he did.
Move on, Mr. Megalomaniac. You’ve lost the public’s trust.
— Diane Dimond is the author of three books, including her latest, Thinking Outside the Crime and Justice Box. Contact her at diane@dianedimond.com, or click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are her own.