Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office denied Wednesday that he kissed and harassed a former staffer.
Lindsey Boylan originally accused Cuomo of sexual harassment in a December tweet thread, then shared details of her allegations in a Medium post Wednesday. The former Cuomo staffer said that the governor kissed her without her consent during a one-on-one briefing.
Boylan worked for the Cuomo administration from March 2015 until October 2018, according to the New York Post. She is running for Manhattan borough president.
Cuomo’s office denied the allegations in a statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation. (RELATED: ‘I Want The Same Equal Treatment’: Biden Accuser Tara Reade Tears Into Media, Women’s Groups, Democratic Politicians)
“As we said before, Ms. Boylan’s claims of inappropriate behavior are quite simply false,” the governor’s press secretary, Caitlin Girouard, said in a statement.
Today I am telling my story. I never planned to share the details of my experience working in the Cuomo administration, but I am doing so now in hopes that it may make it easier for others to speak their own truth. https://t.co/n1Lcc6Ac66
— Lindsey Boylan (@LindseyBoylan) February 24, 2021
The governor’s office said that Boylan’s Wednesday Medium post mentioned an October 2017 flight wherein Cuomo allegedly suggested that they play strip poker, but said that no flight took place where Boylan was alone with the governor, a single press aide, and an NYS Trooper.
Boylan’s post said that Cuomo’s press aid and a state trooper were present but did not say they were the only people on the flight. Cuomo’s office has not responded to the DCNF’s request for clarification on this point.
In the post, Boylan said that Cuomo told her on an October 2017 flight home to New York, “Let’s play strip poker.”
“I should have been shocked by the Governor’s crude comment, but I wasn’t,” she said. “We were flying home from an October 2017 event in Western New York on his taxpayer-funded jet. He was seated facing me, so close our knees almost touched. His press aide was to my right and a state trooper behind us.”
The former Cuomo staffer said she responded “sarcastically and awkwardly” by saying, “That’s exactly what I was thinking.”
“I tried to play it cool,” she wrote. “But in that moment, I realized just how acquiescent I had become.”
Cuomo staffers John Maggiore, Dani Lever and Abbey Fashouer Collins as well as former President and CEO of Empire State Developments Howard Zemsky aid in a statement provided to the DCNF, “We were on each of these October flights and this conversation did not happen.”
The governor’s office provided the DCNF with information about Cuomo’s October 2017 flights. The governor traveled via plane on October 4, 6, 12, and 17 of 2007. Boylan flew with him on October 4, 12, and 17, according to the governor’s office.
Boylan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Editor’s Note: This piece has been updated to clarify claims about the content of Boylan’s Medium post.
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