One of eleven women named in an independent investigation accusing New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment has filed a complaint against him, the first to come to light since the explosive report came out on Tuesday, AFP learned from the media and the authorities.
Read also: Sexual harassment: Joe Biden calls for the resignation of Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York
"
A complaint was filed yesterday
" (Thursday), a spokeswoman for the sheriff's office in Albany County, the state capital, confirmed to AFP on Friday, without further details.
According to several American media, the complaint comes from a woman, anonymized under the name "
executive assistant # 1
" in the report, in fact an assistant of her team who deplored several inappropriate and indecent gestures since the end of 2019 on the part of the governor.
The latter refuted the accusations.
This complaint paves the way for possible legal action for the governor, whom many Democratic allies, up to President Joe Biden, have called for to step down, and who is also the subject of proceedings in the State Parliament of New York may lead to his dismissal.
"
Close and intimate hugs
"
Governor of New York State since 2011, re-elected in 2014 and 2018, Andrew Cuomo, 63, had become a national star at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in the spring of 2020, thanks to his daily television spots, seen as rational and reassuring in the midst of a crisis.
According to the report released Tuesday, the assistant who lodged a complaint deplored "
close and intimate hugs
" from the governor but she also accuses him of having "
grabbed her buttocks
" several times, during hugs. or during a selfie, and, once again in November 2020, of having "put
her hand under her blouse and grabbed her breast
".
"
I have never touched someone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances
," Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday, in a statement filmed from his office.
Read also: In New York, the fall of Governor Andrew Cuomo
The report emanates from an investigation by the New York State Attorney's Office Letitia James. If this procedure was not intended to lead to an indictment of Andrew Cuomo, several prosecutors in the State of New York have since assured that they had opened investigations.