ALBANY — Sure, he may have been found to have sexually harassed three or four women — but not 11.
That’s the unusual argument put forward by disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo‘s lawyer in a brash Friday filing that attacked both his many accusers and state Attorney General Letitia James, whose office led an investigation that found Cuomo broke state and federal harassment laws.
In a 10-page missive to state Assembly Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Lavine (D-Glen Cove) and committee lawyers, Cuomo attorney Rita Glavin sought to prevent the panel from adopting James’ findings in their own soon-to-be-released impeachment probe report.
Stunningly, Glavin insisted that the Judiciary Committee report “must clarify that the Governor did not sexually harass 11 women in violation of the law, and the Report did not find this.
“Indeed,” Glavin continued, “even if you were to accept every complaint as fact (which we do not), more than half of the complainant’s allegations do not meet the standard of sexual harassment set forth in law.”
“Each time the press repeats the false statement that the Report found that my client sexually harassed eleven women, my client is further prejudiced,” she added before warning: “If the Assembly is to go along with this false narrative, you will be creating a new standard for sexual harassment that every member of the legislature must be prepared to be judged by.”
Friday’s letter was the second that Glavin has fired off to Lavine and the four lawyers from Davis Polk & Wardwell retained by the committee that notifies them of her request to “amend, correct and supplement” what she described as a “flawed, unreliable and misleading” report released by James Aug. 3, which corroborated claims by 11 women who alleged Cuomo sexually harassed them.
“They’re setting up to undermine the Assembly report just like they did with the Attorney General’s report,” one state government source told The Post upon review of the letter, noting Cuomo aides repeatedly made public statements that James had political aspirations and wanted to run for governor, and that was the motivation behind her report’s results.
James — who has not announced a gubernatorial bid ahead of the 2022 Democratic primary — has forcefully defended her office’s analysis, addressing Cuomo and his exiled allies’ attempts to undermine her report in recent weeks during campaign-style speeches at various events.
A law enforcement source who wished to remain anonymous suggested to The Post that Glavin was “creating a broader strategy to create a record for possible use in a lawsuit later on.”
Dr. Vin Bonventre, distinguished professor of law at Albany Law School, said he was skeptical of the idea that James’ potential ambitions for higher office undermined the report’s conclusions.
“If the attorney general was someone who had her eyes on [becoming] governor, that does not at all mean she was not accurate in her report,” he told The Post.
Bonventre added that Glavin’s claim Cuomo had been “prejudiced” by media coverage of the report “could be said every single time there is a public official who has become notorious and faces litigation or every time there is a crime the public is interested in and the press reports on. Judges and defense lawyers have their tools to make sure their jury is not prejudiced.”
In Friday’s letter Glavin argued that state law defined sexual harassment as “workplace discrimination for employees and covers gender-based harassment and is unlawful when ‘it subjects an individual to inferior terms, conditions, or privileges of employment’.”
By contrast, Glavin suggested, actions by the former governor that the James report considered sexual harassment were, in fact, “‘petty slights’ or ‘trivial inconveniences’.”
She also attacked Brittany Commisso — the state aide who accused Cuomo of groping her in the Executive Mansion during the work day — claiming her story had “evolved over time” and that she had been “materially inconsistent in her various descriptions of what occurred.”
Commisso filed a criminal complaint with the Albany County Sheriff’s office shortly after the report’s public release. That complaint is now being investigated in conjunction with the Albany County District Attorney’s Office.
A source close to the probe told The Post Commisso’s story “has not deviated” following several interviews, and subpoenas have been sent to the state Capitol and Executive Mansion in Albany in attempt to gather further evidence. Four other district attorneys’ offices are engaged in ongoing criminal probes following the report’s release.
A second anonymous source suggested that the former governor could “absolutely” file a civil suit if the district attorney investigations lead to criminal charges.
“If there is an arrest, they will say [investigators] were prejudicial,” the source told The Post.
Bonventre again threw cold water on that assertion, telling The Post that the former governor’s team could file a civil suit, but “who are they going to sue?”
Glavin also reiterated earlier attacks on Cuomo accusers Lindsey Boylan and Charlotte Bennett and targeted the account of an unnamed female state trooper whose allegations against the now-former governor were among the most shocking detailed in the report.
According to the trooper, Cuomo ran his open hand over her abdomen as she held open door in a way that left her feeling “completely violated.” She also said he ran his hand or fingers across her stomach and her back, kissed her on the cheek, asked for her help in finding a girlfriend and asked why she didn’t wear a dress.
Glavin argued that Cuomo’s conversations with the trooper “were not gender-based,” but she failed to mention the alleged interactions the trooper described in her interview with investigators.
“Indeed,” the attorney wrote, “the Governor had similar conversations with male Troopers on his detail, would joke with them, and regularly patted them on the arm, stomach or back when he would greet them or as he left them.”
Sources say the Judiciary Committee is slated to release its impeachment probe report sometime this month and lawmakers will soon be called to Albany to review draft documents before a final copy is issued.
Speaker Carl Heastie (D-The Bronx) and Lavine announced shortly after Cuomo decided to step down as governor in August that they would no longer pursue writing up articles of impeachment, but would assemble the findings of their months-long investigation in a separate report.
Requests for comment from James and Lavine were not immediately returned to The Post.
