ALBANY, New York – The US Department of Justice opened a civil investigation into allegations of sexual harassment against former Governor Andrew Cuomo in August, announced on Thursday.
The exact nature of the investigation and its current status were unclear.
The office of Governor Kathy Hochul, who took office after Cuomo resigned in August, said it hired a law firm in October to “handle matters related to an ongoing investigation taken over by the previous administration” and that one of those matters was an investigation by the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Department and the US Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn.
“As this is an ongoing investigation, we will not comment at the moment,” said Hochul’s spokeswoman, Hazel Crampton-Hays.
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The law firm’s cessation was originally announced in a contract released Thursday in response to requests for public records from several news organizations.
The contract states that Willkie Farr and Gallagher is representing the governor’s office on a number of investigations into the previous administration, including a Justice Department investigation “into allegations of sexual harassment made against the then-governor.”
Cuomo announced his resignation on August 10, a week after an investigative report commissioned by New York Attorney General Letitia James concluded that he had sexually molested 11 women. His last day in office was August 23rd.
Cuomo’s spokesman Rich Azzopardi said the former governor had been made aware of the investigation.
“We understand that the civil department opened an investigation based on the politically motivated bogus report of the AG in August and we haven’t heard anything since,” he said.
Justice Department spokesman declined to comment.
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The civil rights division of the ministry has some enforcement powers under the Federal Anti-Discrimination Act. In 2018, she launched an initiative to combat the sexual harassment of government employees and handle complaints submitted to the U.S. Equal Opportunities Commission.
Cuomo has admitted that some women have made comments that they were uncomfortable with, including jokes that were interpreted as undesirable flirtation, but he has denied sexually harassing anyone or touching someone inappropriately.
The Albany County Sheriff filed a criminal complaint against Cuomo this fall, accusing him of groping a female adviser at the governor’s mansion in late 2020. His indictment on the charges has been postponed until at least January while the district attorney is investigating the allegations.
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