Andrew Cuomo says he will not resign over the sexual harassment scandal: "I never touched anyone inappropriately"

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, pictured Feb. 22 Seth Wenig / AP

At the end of a press conference scheduled to assess the coronavirus crisis and announce the gradual reopening of New York from April, Governor Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday referred to allegations of harassment made against him in the last week for three women, and that they will be the subject of an investigation by the State Attorney General, assuring that she does not intend to resign.

Cuomo assured that he will "fully cooperate" with the ongoing investigation, of which, he said, he could not offer further details.

As he did this Sunday through a statement, the Democratic politician reiterated his apologies for having acted in a way that "could have been misinterpreted."

“I understand that I acted in a way that could have been misinterpreted, and for that I apologize again.

I am deeply sorry, I did it unintentionally and I feel ashamed.

I have never touched anyone in an inappropriate way, and if that has been the feeling that I have caused, I sincerely and absolutely apologize, ”said the governor with a broken voice.

“I have to say that I never knew of anyone who felt uncomfortable, because I never wanted to offend or annoy anyone, nothing further from my intention.

I ask the people of the State to await the result of the investigation before forming an opinion ”on the case, a message to the citizens, but above all addressed to his co-religionists from the most progressive faction of the party, who threaten to subject him to a

and they have already taken steps to deprive it of the emergency powers that were granted to it a year ago to manage the pandemic.

"I am not going to resign," Cuomo stressed in the round of questions - none of them about the coronavirus crisis, which occupied most of the appearance - despite the expectations that the

governor's

call had generated

"to make an ad".

This consisted solely of an update of the coronavirus crisis in the State, the progress of the vaccination process and the “smart reopening” measures of New York as of April.

Flanked by his collaborators -one of them, asked about the opinion of the women who work with him, showed his full support for the politician-, the governor took advantage of the journalists' questions to reiterate: “I feel terrible, very ashamed of what happened. ”.

Cuomo has been in the eye of the political hurricane for weeks, first as a result of the scandal of the concealment of data by the State about deaths from covid-19 in nursing homes.

Forced by events, Cuomo himself had to admit that the death toll is around 15,000, instead of the 8,000 recognized for months.

Under investigation by the FBI and a New York district attorney, the case was only the prologue to the scandal of the alleged sexual abuse committed by the Democrat against two of his collaborators and against a third woman, during a wedding banquet.

The two issues have given ammunition to the most progressive Democratic faction - including many lawmakers in the State Assembly - to launch a campaign for the politician's resignation.