Politics

‘Past The Point Of No Return’: De Blasio Torches Cuomo, Says The ‘Profoundly Broken’ Governor Has To Go

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Virginia Kruta Associate Editor
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Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday that Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was “past the point of no return.”

De Blasio joined CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer to discuss Cuomo and the sexual harassment investigation that concluded earlier in the day. Democratic New York Attorney Gen. Letitia James announced the investigation’s findings, saying that Cuomo had sexually harassed multiple women and had violated both state and federal law. (RELATED: ‘I Do Not Want An Apology’: Cuomo Accuser Charlotte Bennett Calls For Impeachment)

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“What’s your reaction to the findings laid out by the state Attorney General Letitia James today, and the governor’s vehement denial?” Blitzer asked.

“Wolf, it’s disgusting. You read the pages of that report and what we heard in the press conference,” de Blasio replied. “My heart goes out to these women, first of all. They were put through hell by a powerful man who held their career in his hands.”

De Blasio went to describe Cuomo’s actions as “textbook sexual harassment” and argued that in some of the cases it had crossed the line into assault. “Disgusting and troubling and unacceptable and he needs to leave office immediately,” he added.

Blitzer noted that de Blasio had already called for Cuomo to resign and asked what the next steps would be if he did not do so.

“Look, his statement was laughable. His attempt to show pictures of him with family members as a defense was an insult to these women and the notion that a public servant is held to a high standard,” de Blasio said. “He should be impeached as quickly as possible by the legislature. He can’t govern.”

De Blasio then pointed out that the sexual harassment investigation was only one of several investigations dogging Cuomo, adding, “This guy is past the point of no return. He can’t govern. He just has to go.”

“If he doesn’t go and if he isn’t impeached, should he face criminal charges?” Blitzer pressed, and de Blasio said it seemed plausible.

“An assault on a women, any assault on a women you should face criminal charges, but if you, on top of that, used your power and position to think you could cover up the assault, well, that sounds criminal to me,” he said.

“And what do you say to his charge that those who led this investigation were politically biased against him?” Blitzer asked.

De Blasio noted that a number of the people accusing him of misconduct had worked for Cuomo because they chose to and the claims were coming from them, not the lawyers or the attorney general.

“It came from the people who worked for the governor and were disgusted by his behavior. The investigators did their job,” de Blasio concluded. “So I go back to the original sin here. He did this to these women, 11 women came forward. How much more evidence do we need before it’s obvious that something is just profoundly broken?”