Disgraced Former NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo Files Ethics Complaint Against AG Letitia James
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo filed an ethics complaint against NY Attorney General Letitia James, accusing her of “professional misconduct” during the investigation into numerous sexual harassment accusations against him.
The complaint includes Joon Kim, Esq., and Anne Clark, Esq., the two independent investigators appointed by James.
- Former Cuomo Aide Accuses Him of Sexual Harassment, Alleges His Female Staffers Normalized His Behavior
- Second Andrew Cuomo Accuser Alleges Sexual Harassment: Have You Ever “Been With An Older Man?”
- ‘Can I Kiss You?’: Third Woman Accuses Cuomo of Sexual Harassment
- It’s Now Five: Two More Cuomo Accusers Step Forward, Calls for His Resignation Intensify
- Cuomo Staff Member Becomes Sixth Woman to Accuse Him of Sexual Harassment
- Report: Cuomo’s Aide Claimed He ‘Aggressively Groped’ Her at Governor’s Mansion
- Ninth Accuser: New York Woman Says Cuomo Forcibly Kissed, ‘Manhandled’ Her
Cuomo says the 48-page complaint will prove James “cynically manipulated a legal process for personal, political gain.” He also alleges she “purposefully inserted herself in an investigation which posed a clear conflict of interest and then misled the public to create a political situation forcing my resignation, in violation of the relevant rules.”
The listed rules:
Cuomo resigned in August 2021 after James released the findings of the investigation.
James ran for governor after Cuomo resigned but withdrew to re-run for attorney general. Cuomo mentions her run for governor in his complaint:
I stated to AG James directly, as well as to state legislators, that she had a clear conflict of interest because she would not publicly disavow running for governor. For that reason, I said that an investigation should be undertaken by a qualified independent investigator and recommended alternatives including former federal judge Barbara S. Jones-who was recently proposed by the U.S. Departmenrt of Justice to serve as Special master in the Trump/Mar-a-Lago search case. The legislative leaders insisted, however, that AG James conduct the investigation and threatened me with impeachment if I did not refer the matter to the Attorney General. I directly communicated the conflict to AG James and expressed my opinion that it would be unethical for her to engage in the matter given her personal interest. AG James refused to acknowledge the conflict, persisted in creating political pressure to have the matter referred to her, and refused any alternative to cooperate with any other party to conduct the investigation. I structured a referral that sought to ensure an independent investigation and cure the apparent conflict by only providing AG James with the authority to select an independent law firm to conduct the investigation and deliberately did not grant the Attorney General such authority to investigate on her own. Thereafter, AG James appointed Mr. [Joon] Kim and Ms. [Anne] Clark as deputized investigators, but, for the reasons discussed below, they lacked any semblance of independence -in contravention of my referral. Flouting ethical strictures, AG James evidently intended for the Report, the prejudicial press conference at which she announced the Report but then refused to release all the evidence for scrutiny, and the public narrative that followed to exact maximum political damage and compel other elected officials to call for my immediate resignation. Such damage was done, and I resigned on August 10, 2021, effective August 24, 2021.
Cuomo writes that James “assured” him “she would not appoint a plaintiff’s attorney to conduct the review.” Despite that assurance, Cuomo accuses James of not selecting “‘independent’ investigators.” James picked “a plaintiff’s employment attorney whose practice is focused on representing employees in discrimination lawsuits, and a former prosecutor with whom I had a negative history.”
Cuomo also alleges James knew he has a history with Kim:
Indeed, it was well-known that, during his tenure as Chief Counsel, Chief of the Criminal Division and eventually as Acting U.S. Attorney, Mr. Kim played major roles in the Southern District’s grand jury investigations of my disbanding of the Moreland Commission and in the subsequent grand jury investigation and prosecution of Joseph Percoco, a member of my administration, and that he personally interviewed me during those investigation.
“The Attorney General proceeded with an intolerable personal and political conflict of interest when she selected the investigators, conducted this investigation and issued the misleading and inaccurate Report, announced the Report at a prejudicial press conference without releasing all the evidence for scrutiny, and then how she chose to selectively release some evidence in a manner to advance her political campaign and deeply prejudice me while investigations were pending,” concludes Cuomo. “She engaged in a terrible and quite obvious manipulation of facts, evidence and the law, furthered a false narrative about me, and hid evidence that undermined the Report from the media and the public.”
Cuomo is trying to rehabilitate his image because we all know these people cannot stand not being in the spotlight or holding some position of power.
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