Andrew Cuomo, Ex-Aide Melissa DeRosa Sued by Trooper Who Said He Groped Her

Andrew Cuomo, Ex-Aide Melissa DeRosa Sued by Trooper Who Said He Groped Her

The New York Post reported that the New York State trooper who claimed ex-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo groped her filed a lawsuit against him and his former aide Melissa DeRosa:

The woman named in the suit as “Trooper 1” is seeking damages from the duo and a declaratory judgment that they both “violated federal, state, and civil laws.”

The suit, filed in the Eastern District of New York, also names the New York State Police as a defendant.

The woman claims DeRosa was active in protecting Cuomo, who has consistently denied all claims of illegal activity.

The trooper served as one of Cuomo’s bodyguards in his Protective Service Unit (PSU).

The lawsuit declares that Cuomo requested the trooper join his Protective Service Unit even though she “did not have the necessary tenure to join PSU.” He wanted her to join after talking and seeing “her for only a few minutes while she was standing next to her patrol car on a bridge.”

Supposedly Cuomo “arranged for the service requirements to be changed so that Trooper 1 could be close to him.”

The trooper served as a bodyguard for Cuomo at a racetrack in 2019. She claims, “Cuomo ran the palm of his left hand across her stomach, to her belly button and then to her right hip, where she kept her gun, while she held a door open for him.”

The complaint lists other times Cuomo allegedly harassed her:

• Appearance: “Why don’t you wear a dress?”
• Kissing: “[c]an I kiss you?”
• Asked Trooper to find him a girlfriend who could “handle pain”
• Talked about sex: “[w]hy would you want to get married?…your sex drive goes down.”

The trooper told Attorney General Letitia James’s investigators that Cuomo made her feel “completely violated.”

The victim accuses DeRosa of hiding Cuomo’s harassment, specifically concerning The Times Union, the paper in Albany (page 11 of the complaint):

Specifically, a reporter from The Times Union asked the NYSP about the circumstances of Trooper 1’s transfer to the PSU. The reporter wanted to know how Trooper 1 was “picked” for the detail, as he understood that the requirements had been altered from “four years on the job . . . to three.”

To conceal the Governor’s unlawful conduct, the Governor and his cohorts responded with a false and misleading statement, making no mention that the Governor requested that Trooper 1 be transferred to the PSU and that, at the time, she did not have the requisite seniority for the position. Moreover, the statement purported to take offense that the question had even been asked.

DeRosa was specifically involved in hiding the Governor’s behavior. DeRosa yelled at the editor of The Times Union and accused him of being sexist for even making the inquiry.

As a result, The Times Union decided not to write on the subject, clearing the way for the Governor to continue to harass Trooper 1.

Acting Nassau County District Attorney Joyce Smith announced Cuomo wouldn’t face charges for the incident because the actions are “not criminal under New York law.”

Trooper Complaint by New York Post

Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.