Former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s past assistant, Brittany Commisso, is suing him for alleged sexual assault, TMZ reported Friday.
Commisso claims Cuomo made repeated sexual advances and comments that made her uncomfortable, including “humiliating and demeaning tasks, hugs, kisses, sexual touching of the buttocks and forcible touching of the breast,” according to TMZ.
The former governor has strongly denied the accusations, claiming in an October appearance on HBO’s “Real Time With Bill Maher” they were a result of “cancel culture on steroids.”
A 2021 report by New York’s Attorney General Letitia James said investigators found the former governor “did sexually harass multiple women — including former and current state employees — by engaging in unwanted groping, kissing, and hugging, and making inappropriate comments.” (RELATED: Andrew Cuomo Stuns Reporter By Breaking Down Why Americans Believe Trump Indictments Are ‘Political’)
Commisso was one of ten women or state employees who filed complaints against the former governor in the AG’s report.
New York’s State Assembly Judiciary Committee also released a report that found there was “overwhelming evidence that the former governor engaged in sexual harassment.”
Commisso had previously accused the governor of forcible touching, leading to a criminal complaint in Albany criminal court in 2022, according to TMZ. However, that claim was dismissed, the New York Post reported.
Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021 after James (who briefly tried running for governor herself) released her report, has been mulling a run for mayor of New York City.
The city’s current mayor, Democrat Eric Adams, has also been facing scandals. First, the FBI opened an investigation into alleged campaign corruption, looking into whether Adams received illicit donations from the Turkish government. In November, he was accused of sexual assault, with an anonymous plaintiff claiming he sexually assaulted her in 1993, according to the summons.