GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy says Republicans won’t win if they keep putting Trump ‘on a pedestal’
The Telegraph
Joe Biden calls for investigation after second woman accuses New York governor Cuomo of sexual misconduct
A second ex-employee of highly effective New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo has accused him of sexual harassment, prices the governor denied on Saturday. This time the allegations got here from 25-year-old former well being adviser Charlotte Bennett, who advised The New York Times that the governor sexually harassed her within the spring of 2020. According to Ms Bennett, the 63-year-old politician mentioned in June that he was open to courting girls of their 20s, and requested her if she thought age made a distinction in romantic relationships, the Times reported. While Mr Cuomo by no means tried to the touch her, “I understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me, and felt horribly uncomfortable and scared,” Ms Bennett advised the paper. Ms Bennett mentioned that she spoke to Mr Cuomo’s chief of employees and authorized counsel after the alleged incident, who transferred her to a different put up in one other constructing. Ms Bennett was pleased with the brand new job and determined to not insist on an investigation. Joe Biden, the US president, helps an impartial investigation into the allegations in opposition to Mr Cuomo, mentioned his press secretary, Jen Psaki, after New York mayor Bill de Blasio referred to as for one. “There should be an independent review looking into these allegations, and that’s certainly something he supports and we believe should move forward as quickly as possible,” Ms. Psaki mentioned on CNN’s State of the Union. Mr Cuomo turned a nationwide star final spring together with his straight-talking but empathetic coronavirus briefings that contrasted sharply with then-president Donald Trump’s dismissive strategy to the pandemic. But the harassment allegations come as he faces a rising storm over his dealing with of the coronavirus in nursing properties in his state. In a assertion Saturday, Mr Cuomo mentioned he “never made advances toward Ms Bennett nor did I ever intend to act in any way that was inappropriate.” He mentioned he needed as an alternative to help Ms Bennett, who had advised him that she was a sexual assault survivor. Mr Cuomo, who seems to have agreed to permit New York’s Attorney General Leticia James order an impartial inquiry, apologised for being “insensitive or too personal.” New York’s governor mentioned he by no means supposed to offend, however conceded that his actions may have been misinterpreted as flirtation. “At work sometimes I think I am being playful and make jokes good-natured are funny. I do, on occasion, tease people in what I think is a good natured way,” he mentioned. “I do it in public and in private. You have seen me do it at briefings hundreds of times. I have teased people about their personal lives, their relationships, about getting married or not getting married. I mean no offence and only attempt to add some levity and banter to what is a very serious business.” The governor, whose third time period expires on the finish of 2022, referred to as for “a full and thorough outside review” of those prices, led by a former federal decide. “I ask all New Yorkers to await the findings of the review so that they know the facts before making any judgments,” he added. This is the second time in a week that the Democratic governor, who has led New York state for 10 years, has been accused of sexual harassment. On Wednesday, one other ex-adviser, Lindsey Boylan, mentioned in a weblog that he had harassed her when she was working for his administration, from 2015 to 2018. Ms Boylan, 36, alleged that the governor had given her an unsolicited kiss on the lips, prompt that she play strip poker with him and went “out of his way to touch me on my lower back, arms and legs”. “For those wondering what it’s like to work for the Cuomo admin, read @LindseyBoylan’s story,” Ms Bennett wrote in a re-tweet of Ms Boylan’s put up. Mr Cuomo’s workplace mentioned in a assertion that Ms Boylan’s “claims of inappropriate behaviour are quite simply false”.
