08/10/2021 1:21 PM
Clarín.com
World
Updated 08/10/2021 1:39 PM
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo resigned Tuesday amid a spate of allegations of sexual harassment.
"
I take full responsibility for my actions,
" said the now former governor, who was in his third term.
Cuomo's decision, which will take effect in two weeks, was announced as momentum grew in the Legislature to
impeach him
.
Despite having resigned, Andrew Cuomo may still face criminal prosecution.
Photo: EFE
The outcome of Cuomo's career as governor comes after the New York attorney general released the results of an investigation that revealed that Cuomo had sexually harassed at least 11 women.
Investigators claimed that he
subjected the women to unwanted kisses
, inappropriately groped and touched them, made suggestive comments about their appearance and sex life, and created a work environment
"riddled with fear and intimidation
.
"
Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul, a 62-year-old Democrat and former member of Congress from the Buffalo area, will become the 57th governor of the state and the first woman to hold the office.
The scandal of the #MeToo era cut short not just a career but a dynasty.
Cuomo's former assistant, Brittany Commisso, appeared in a television interview recounting what she had experienced.
Photo: AP
Cuomo's father, Mario Cuomo,
was governor in the 1980s and 1990s
.
Andrew Cuomo also once flirted with a possible run for president, a position his father also aspired to.
Even as the scandal grew,
Cuomo planned to run for reelection in 2022.
Cuomo is still facing the
possibility of criminal charges
, and multiple prosecutors from across the state have been on the scene to investigate him.
Chronicle of a fall
The chain of accusations that
led to the fall of the governor
began to be revealed in the news last December and lasted for months.
Cuomo called some of the allegations false and strongly denied that he touched anyone inappropriately.
But he acknowledged making some attendees uncomfortable with comments that he said were intended to be playful, and he apologized for some of their behavior.
He described some of the encounters as misunderstandings attributable to
"generational or cultural" differences
, a reference in part to his upbringing in a loving Italian-American family.
As a defiant Cuomo clung to office, state lawmakers
launched an impeachment investigation
, and nearly the entire New York Democratic establishment walked out on him, not only because of the allegations, but also because of the discovery that his administration had concealed thousands of COVID-19 deaths among nursing home patients.
The investigation into the harassment ordered by the attorney general and carried out by two outside attorneys corroborated the women's accounts and
added new and lurid ones
.
The release of the report
left the governor more isolated than ever
: many of his most loyal supporters abandoned him, and President Joe Biden joined the chorus calling for his resignation.
Among the accusers is an aide who said Cuomo touched her breast at the governor's mansion.
Investigators have also discovered that the governor's staff retaliated against one of his accusers by leaking confidential personal files about her.
As governor, Cuomo touted himself as an example of a "progressive Democrat" who also
knew how to run
: since taking office in 2011, he helped push through legislation that legalized same-sex marriage,
began raising the minimum wage. to $ 15
and expanded the benefits of paid family leave.
He also
supported major infrastructure projects
, including the overhaul of airports and the construction of a new bridge over the Hudson River named after his father.
With information from the AP agency
AFG
Look also
Andrew Cuomo clings to Donald Trump's handbook on sexual harassment allegations
A former assistant to Andrew Cuomo who accused him of sexual harassment stated that she feared retaliation if he reported it
