Chuck Schumer calls for Andrew Cuomo to quit

New York Senator Chuck Schumer on Friday evening became the most senior Democrat to call for governor Andrew Cuomo’s resignation in the wake of multiple sexual harassment allegations.

In a joint statement with Kirsten Gillibrand, the state’s junior senator, they said: “Due to the multiple, credible sexual harassment and misconduct allegations, it is clear that Governor Cuomo has lost the confidence of his governing partners and the people of New York. Governor Cuomo should resign.”

The statement by Schumer, the Senate majority leader, and Gillibrand, who played a pivotal role in the ouster of former Senator Al Franken over sexual harassment allegations, capped an extraordinary day of political battle with Cuomo’s future hanging in the balance.

Hours earlier, the governor forcefully denied claims he sexually harassed women and said he would not resign. That came after the majority of the state’s Democratic Congressional delegation, including Jerrold Nadler and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, called for him to quit.

“I did not do what has been alleged. Period,” Cuomo said, referring to half-a-dozen complaints of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour lodged in recent weeks by former female aides.

There is a difference between formal investigations that may end in criminal charges and a question of confidence in our political leadership

The embattled governor questioned the motives of fellow Democrats who have joined calls for him to step down before the completion of formal investigations, saying their behaviour was “reckless and dangerous”.

He at one point blamed “cancel culture” for his predicament and said he was not part of the “political club” — despite being the son of a three-term New York governor and having spent much of his life in prominent political positions.

He did not immediately respond to the statement from Schumer and Gillibrand.

“It feels like the dam is slowly breaking,” one New York political adviser said on Friday afternoon. Another predicted that New Yorkers would turn on the governor for becoming a distraction at a vital moment. “This is not functional. We’re in a pandemic,” the person said.

Cuomo, a three-term Democratic governor, became a national political star for his commanding performance in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

But his standing has rapidly diminished amid questions over his handling of the state’s nursing homes during the pandemic. The New York attorney-general found in January that his administration had undercounted Covid-19 fatalities for nursing home residents by as much as 50 per cent.

This came after a controversial order by the governor in April last year requiring nursing homes to accept Covid-19 patients discharged from hospitals. The policy was intended to free up space in hospitals amid worries they would soon be overwhelmed by the pandemic, but has since been blamed by critics for spreading lethal infections among vulnerable nursing home residents.

The pressure on him has further increased due to a drum beat of accusations in recent weeks of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour toward female staffers. Cuomo has apologised for “whatever pain I caused” but insisted he never touched anyone appropriately.

The crisis entered a new phase on Thursday evening when the Speaker of the state assembly, Carl Heastie, said he would authorise the judicial committee to begin an investigation of the governor — a move that could lead to impeachment proceedings.

Opposition to Cuomo appeared to solidify after a report this week in the Albany Times Union alleging that the governor summoned a young staffer to his mansion late last year and groped her beneath her blouse. The matter has been referred to the Albany police.

Bill de Blasio, the New York City mayor, and longtime Cuomo rival, called Cuomo’s behaviour “disgusting” on Thursday, as he joined dozens of other Democrats demanding his ouster.

Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman, another New York representative, said it was “alarming” that the latest incident of alleged sexual assault against the governor took place just months ago, and expressed concern for the safety of his staff.

Cuomo has repeatedly urged the public to withhold judgment until an investigation of his conduct, overseen by the New York attorney-general, is complete. There is no timetable for that review.

On Friday, he addressed the Times Union report, saying:

“I want to make it clear that what is being alleged just didn’t happen. The last allegation is not true. And I have not had a sexual relationship that was inappropriate. Period.”

The battle to remove Cuomo, who has dominated the state’s politics for a decade, is raging as New York enters a critical juncture in its Covid-19 vaccination campaign.

The state is also in the middle of fraught budget negotiations, with many progressive Democrats determined to push through higher taxes on the wealthy as well as other priorities that the centrist governor has thwarted in the past.

In his statement, Nadler, one of the leaders of the impeachment trial of the former president former president Donald Trump, acknowledged that the investigations of the governor were not complete, but argued that it was time to act.

“There is a difference between formal investigations that may end in criminal charges and a question of confidence in our political leadership,” he said. “The question before us is squarely a political judgment. Governor Cuomo has lost the confidence of the people of New York. Governor Cuomo must resign.”