A first complaint for sexual harassment was filed with the office of the sheriff of Albany, capital of the state of New York, against the governor of the state Andrew Cuomo.
It comes from one of the eleven women cited in the explosive report released Tuesday by State Attorney Letitia James, after she had commissioned - at the governor's request - a group of independent investigators to substantiate or not the accusations by some former employees.
"A complaint was filed yesterday," Thursday, a spokeswoman for the sheriff's office for Albany County, the state capital, confirmed Friday, without any further details immediately.
According to several American media, the complaint comes from a woman whose name is replaced by "executive assistant # 1" in the report.
Assistant in Andrew Cuomo's team, she accuses the government - which refutes the accusations - of having called him to his residence on November 16, 2020, taken to a room where he closed the door, then slipped his hand under her blouse and touched her chest.
She also accuses him of having "grabbed the buttocks" several times since the end of 2019, during hugs or photos.
Calls for resignation
"I have never touched someone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances," Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday, in a statement filmed from his office.
Read also United States: five minutes to understand the accusations against Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York
Letitia James' report says the Albany Police Department was alerted to the alleged facts on November 16, 2020. In response to Friday's complaint, governor's spokesman Richard Azzopardi said in a statement: “ As we said before, we made a proactive report almost four months ago, in accordance with state policies ”.
Hours after the complaint was announced, Cuomo's attorney Rita Glavin told a press conference that the New York attorney's report omitted important facts. "The investigation was conducted to support a predetermined narrative," she criticized, "there was no open investigation into the facts here." She particularly regretted that the governor did not have access before its release to the 168-page report to give his official version of the facts, nor to the full transcripts of the testimonies. Andrew Cuomo had been heard at length by investigators in July. She assured that the exchanges of the accuser of Cuomo, this November 16, with other collaborators of the governor, had been made in a light tone.
The complaint paves the way for possible lawsuits 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. The parliament's judicial committee is due to meet Monday morning to discuss the investigation.