Former aide says Cuomo kissed her, suggested strip poker

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By MARINA VILLENEUVE

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A former member of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration who previously accused him of sexual harassment offered new details Wednesday, saying he once kissed her on the lips without consent after a private meeting.

Lindsey Boylan said that during her more than three years working as an economic adviser in the administration, Cuomo “would go out of his way to touch me on my lower back, arms and legs,” compared her to one of his rumored ex-girlfriends and once joked they should play strip poker.

Boylan, a Democrat running for Manhattan borough president, wrote in a post on the website Medium that the kiss happened after she gave Cuomo a one-on-one briefing on economic and infrastructure projects in his New York City office.

“As I got up to leave and walk toward an open door, he stepped in front of me and kissed me on the lips. I was in shock, but I kept walking,” she said. “The idea that someone might think I held my high-ranking position because of the Governor’s ‘crush’ on me was more demeaning than the kiss itself.”



Read more: https://apnews.com/article/albany-andrew-cuomo-daf35ae2ab9d3b0739c5fd4b802b9e44

[ForgoTheConsequence]

1. I believe her.

[OnDoutside]

3. After Al Franken, the correct step is to let the matter be properly

investigated. Take the allegation seriously, investigate properly, but no more of destroying people based on public lynch mobs.

[MustLoveBeagles]

30. This

[caber09]

4. This is the 2nd or 3rd time she has said this in the last year...

Let the process play out, lets not Al Franken another Dem...she is also running for Manhattan Borough President right now..I would think that after all this time...again she has already come forward with this 1-2x prior....at this point why doesn't she press charges?

[ForgoTheConsequence]

5. I don't know, that's her prerogative.

But I believe victims when they speak up. We shouldn't make people afraid to speak out.

[caber09]

8. Did you believe Tara Reade too..

Of course believe the victims...but similar to Tara Reade, she keeps making accusations, disappearing and then coming out with them again..she is running for Manhattan Boro President, there were also several allegations lobbied at her which led to her leaving in the first place...like i said lets see how it plays out...DO NOT Al Franken another Dem.

As someone earlier said: Take the allegation seriously, investigate properly, but no more of destroying people based on public lynch mobs.

Girouard also released a joint statement from four current and former aides –John Maggiore, Howard Zemsky, Dani Lever and Abbey Fashouer Collins — who she said joined Cuomo for the Oct. 2017 flights on which Boylan was also a passenger.
“We were on each of these October flights and this conversation did not happen,” the statement said.

[Jedi Guy]

51. "Of course believe the victims..."

You know, when you say something like that and then follow it up with a "but", you're pretty much invalidating everything that came before it. What you're saying here is "Of course believe the victims... as long as they accuse someone I don't like. If it's someone I like, then we shouldn't just believe it right away."

[ADK]

12. What charges?

There is no felony alleged, so any criminal charges would be time-barred. Nor can she file a civil sexual discrimination complaint under Title VII because she didn’t file a claim of harassment with the EEOC or NYS Division of Human Rights with 300 days.

[Grasswire2]

46. I may be poorly informed...

....but is it actually a crime to kiss someone without permission? Or was he her boss? I can see it being a matter for HR and discpline, but a crime?

[ADK]

47. Probably not.

Physical injury is a necessary element of the crime of Assault in New York — even misdemeanor Assault 3rd.

[SouthBayDem]

38. Boylan didn't provide details the last time around in December

Back then, Boylan issued this vague statement:

Link to tweet

Yes, @NYGovCuomo sexually harassed me for years. Many saw it, and watched.

I could never anticipate what to expect: would I be grilled on my work (which was very good) or harassed about my looks. Or would it be both in the same conversation? This was the way for years.

She literally tweeted at the time: "I have no interest in talking to journalists."

Link to tweet

The new details about Cuomo inappropriately touching her technically do fit in "sexual harassment" yes. Keep in mind what she said earlier about "many" people witnessing it. Yet no one came forward to corroborate Boylan's claims back then...I doubt any do now.

It seems that this Boylan fellow is someone who failed at her job in the governor's office and thus has a personal vendetta. Back in December, media reports at least raised the fact that Boylan was the TARGET of harassment complaints!

[former9thward]

43. Private citizens can't "press charges".

They have no authority. Only a District Attorney can.

[Escurumbele]

21. Why do you believe her? And why didn't she quit the first time this happened? Why didn't she talk

directly to Cuomo to stop it with the ultimatum that she would, either quit or make a formal complain?

I have a problem when things like this happen, and I am not trying to defend Cuomo, but people, whether they are men or women have to have more self-respect, they must love themselves more than a job, so if someone intends to bully you, it is your duty to yourself to stop them, to not do so it acceptance or too much love for a job and not oneself.

Now, after all this time she wants to come out and say all these things? Now, at this time when Cuomo is going through some political fire? The timing is always interesting.

I wont believe any of it until investigations take place, at this time it is a lot of publicity for her and against Cuomo.

But you have the freedom to believe her without knowing the facts, it is your prerogative.

[machoneman]

35. I only ask: why now?

[Sapient Donkey]

22. I don't "not believe" her.

As in, I don't have any reason to believe she's lying. But if Cuomo comes out to deny it (which he has), I don't have any reason to not believe him either. At least no valid reasons that I find acceptable. To me, Cuomo looks like someone who say and do that. But that's based on my own prejudices which are not fair or valid reasons to think he did it.

But not knowing either of them personally, it's hard to gauge who is speaking the truth.

The only approach I feel comfortable with is to let an investigation play out. If it turns out that others have had similar experiences, then that's a strike against him. On the other hand, if it turns out no one else had those issues, that doesn't necessarily means she's lying, but what do we do? Doesn't seem right to assume he's guilty and treat him as such. After all, however rare as fake accusations may be, women can be flawed humans too.

[Funtatlaguy]

2. Oh boy. Here we go again. Guess it's back to this stuff. Hope it's not true.

[soothsayer]

6. Who's going after him and why?

I’m guessing drumpf’s camp expressing displeasure at the ny lawsuits coming.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

7. I think everyone's pissed at him for lying about the nursing home casualties nt

[soothsayer]

9. I think that's part 1 of the smear job

Not defending the lying, just wondering what’s up with the dogpile. Though I guess that’s what we do: build someone up then glory on their fall. But we also love when they pick themselves up again, so both sides. Heh.

So maybe it’s just the cycle of fame.

[ADK]

11. She's a Dem who worked for him.

She’s running for NYC Council. She previously lost an election for a Congress seat. https://ballotpedia.org/Lindsey_Boylan

[George II]

15. She lost to Jerry Nadler in last year's primary by a 3-1 margin. I didn't hear that she's planning..

...to run for a seat on the NYC Council though.

[ADK]

16. Borough President

https://www.newyorkcountypolitics.com/2020/12/11/boylan-enters-manhattan-b-p-race/

[George II]

18. Thanks.

[George II]

14. She's a Democrat - she ran in the 2020 primary against Jerry Nadler and got crushed....

Maybe she's thinking about running in the primary against him next year?

Interesting that she resigned her position in Cuomo's administration about a month before his last election after working for him for three years.

[Sapient Donkey]

23. It's always possible that he's just a creep

Not saying that's the case, but I don't get the rush to outright dismiss it. Let things play out.

[Polybius]

50. It's certainly possible

I thought that last summer when I posted about the story that he has nipple rings, and everyone told me to delete the post.

[UGADawg]

10. The last time I did that to a girl, she married me and......

we are going strong after 40 years.

[flibbitygiblets]

25. I hope you weren't her boss at the time

although 40 years ago, this wasn't frowned on so much.

[UGADawg]

32. So if I am her boss we Can't get Married?

/

[wryter2000]

13. I usually wait a while before forming an opinion

Usually, with predators, other people will come forward with similar stories. That's where we get the phrase "me, too."

Even if that doesn't happen, she could be telling the truth, and the accusations should be investigated.

[RazBerryBeret]

17. this is something I've never understood...

one of my friends years ago, said a guy friend kissed her on the lips in a bar... she was kind of mad about it, but I never understood how that could happen. You can receive a kiss on the cheek in a surprise move; but a full on kiss on the lips? I think I would see that coming, especially when you are walking towards them. I'm not discounting her story, but I've often wondered about this.

[flibbitygiblets]

24. Well let me just help you out

There are a host of reasons this can happen.

-The victim is caught off-guard or surprised. S/he may have been thinking "wow, it LOOKS like this person is going to kiss me on the lips, but they wouldn't do that..."
-The perpetrator is someone the victim had trusted. A boss, coworker or say, your spouse's best friend. The victim may have thought the perpetrator was going for a cheek kiss, then what do you say after it's too late? Do you think it's easy to put someone in their place whom you trusted, or who is your boss, or a close family friend you've known for years?
-Women are conditioned from birth to "be nice", and just as often, not to "overreact". The older a woman is, the more true this is. Saying, "hey, that's inappropriate" is something most women, especially of a certain age, were actively discouraged from doing most of our lives.
-The victim may have been victimized previously. This causes a "freeze" reaction, where you kind of go blank for a second or two, and can't think clearly because you can't fucking believe what is happening.

I've been in every one of the above situations, and usually I end up more mad at myself for not being more assertive IN THE MOMENT. This is not to say that I in any way encouraged or wanted this behavior. Men occasionally act quickly and in a predatory way that catches us off-guard. If we see it coming, it's easier to have your guard up and be ready to defend yourself. If you don't, you end up thinking "WTF just happened?" and somewhat blaming yourself, which is due to the bullshit that society does to us.

[raccoon]

41. Thank you. Nt

[RazBerryBeret]

48. thank you for that explanation

makes sense, I guess I have never encountered that so it's harder to visualize. I've had a surprise kiss on the cheek or neck occasionally and I've never made a scene about it. I guess it would be the same WTF reaction.

[torius]

26. That happened to me

You see them coming but you don’t know what they’re going to do, just talk to you or what.

[SunSeeker]

36. It happens ALL.THE.TIME.

Virtually every woman I know has gotten a surprise kiss, namely a forced uninvited kiss. Guys who do this come at you like a cobra; you can flinch back but they invariably land their strike. They tend to do that when the woman's hands are occupied holding a drink or carrying books, so you can't react quickly to push them off. But regardless, they swoop in so fast you usually don't have time to react; you're just stunned.

There's a certain kind of guy that does that shit. Trump exemplifies the type: full of themselves assholes who don't care about other people's feelings.

Cuomo doesn't seem like that kind of guy. I would be more uncertain about that if his accuser didn't have major credibility issues. As HuffPo reported today:

HuffPost’s Nina Golgowski obtained internal documents in December that indicated that Boylan resigned from her position with Empire State Development in 2018 after multiple colleagues accused her of abusive behavior ― not because of any alleged misconduct from Cuomo. In complaints filed to human resources, Boylan was accused of bullying and treating staff “like children.” Two employees asked to file their complaints anonymously because they had “a significant fear of retaliation,” the report states.

[Polybius]

56. It happened to me once, by a woman in a bar

I knew she had liked me, but I wasn't interested. I went anyway because it was a group of about 5 or 6 of us. Anyway, I drank way too much (and probably we all did), and I just remember turning my head and her kissing me.

It wasn't a big deal to me (other than feeling a little repulsed), but it is to many others.

[Jarqui]

19. I need more concrete, substantiated facts

I will not convict people on unsubstantiated allegations.
I won't exonerate so easily either.
The allegations are duly noted.
A gang of women coming forward with allegations and evidence like they did for Bill Cosby could sway me.
I hope what she has alleged gets fair consideration or investigation.

[Joinfortmill]

20. Investigate first.

[Initech]

27. The PTB are trying to take down Cuomo by any way possible.

And I suspect that they'll attempt to pull the same shit on Newsom. Sigh... this never ends.

[MustLoveBeagles]

31. I suspect your right

After the allegations against Al Franken situations like this make me wary. Still it's a good idea to take the allegation seriously and have a proper investigation done.

[kimbutgar]

28. Cuomo really has a bullseye target on him

It’s coming from all directions towards him.

I still think he was a great voice to us in the beginning of the pandemic since we had no leadership in the White House.

[C Moon]

33. They're going after Newsom in California, and now Cuomo in New York.

And could this have anything to do with Trump's taxes?

[Initech]

37. Newsom is a political power grab.

And the people who are behind this power grab are the exact people you'd expect - Trump's people. The alt right are behind this and if they succeed they'd run the former mayor of San Diego - and he's exactly what you would expect from a Trump friendly candidate. These people pride themselves on being assholes and it would show if they actually won.

[C Moon]

42. A Newsom sexual harassment lawsuit will appear in 3-2-1...

[Initech]

44. Well if the recall doesn't work, you can bet that will be the next strategy in their playbook.

God forbid an elected official have a "D" next to their name.

[C Moon]

45. I think they'll use it, or something similar, before the recall.

[Historic NY]

34. This is a rerun of the same stuff from 2019-2020

she's running again. Meanwhile there is a group still out hosting Tara Reed too.

[SouthBayDem]

39. Yes, these details ARE gross, but...

Keep in mind what Boylan tweeted back in December in that Twitter thread.

She said: "...[Cuomo] sexually harassed me for years. Many saw it, and watched."

Link to tweet

Yet since then, no one has come forward to corroborate such a claim.

Back then, she also tweeted: "I have no interest in talking to journalists."

Link to tweet

I wonder why two months later she'd suddenly come out with more explicit details.

Furthermore, this AP story suggests that Boylan is full of shit:

During an October 2017 flight, she said Cuomo said, “Let’s play strip poker” as they sat with a press aide and a state trooper. She said she brushed it off by sarcastically saying, “That’s exactly what I was thinking,” but privately found the comment upsetting.

The governor’s office confirmed that Boylan flew with Cuomo on four occasions that month, but that other aides present disputed the account.

“We were on each of these October flights and this conversation did not happen,” said a statement attributed to former senior adviser John Maggiore, former Empire State Development CEO Howard Zemsky, former Cuomo press secretary Dani Lever and former first deputy press secretary Abbey Fashouer Collins.

And good thing the AP also brought up this inconvenient fact about Boylan:

Personnel memos written in 2018, obtained by the AP, indicate Boylan resigned after she was confronted about complaints she belittled and yelled at her staff.

The Albany Times-Union reported back in December:

The Times Union interviewed three women who worked in the executive chamber for Cuomo for more than 15 years combined, but have each since left. They were reached out to independently by the newspaper; they spoke on the condition of anonymity as they weren’t familiar with Boylan’s specific claims of being personally harassed, but they said the culture described by Boylan did not match their own experiences working for Cuomo.

“I never once saw him berate or treat a staffer in a way that was unbecoming. I just never saw it. And to me … there’s a lot of things that could be said about the governor, but sexual harassment, it just boggles my mind,” said the first, who worked in a manager-level role for a number of years.

Meanwhile, WCBS television in NYC also reported a former Cuomo staffer (from his time as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under Bill Clinton) made accusations not about sexual misconduct but simply about Cuomo being a bully:

One salvo came from Karen Hinton, de Blasio’s former press secretary, who wrote of working for Cuomo in 1995 when he was the federal housing secretary.

“He made me feel as if I were no good at my job and thus totally dependent on him to keep it,” Hinton wrote, adding, “… working for him is like a 1950s version of marriage. He always, always, always comes first. Everyone and everything else — your actual spouse, your children, your own career goals — is secondary. Your focus 24 hours a day is on him.”

So I do find it credible - based on what I've seen from Cuomo in his press conferences - that the guy could be a jerk or pushy. But Boylan, to me, seems to be someone with a vendetta against Cuomo based on the way she lost her job with the governor's office, her background as a failed congressional candidate, and her ever changing story.

[Yeehah]

40. Wow, what a coincidence

Cuomo becomes a lightning rod for fascist republican hate and all of a sudden, someone comes up with accusations.

[brooklynite]

49. So, you're saying that Republicans got Cuomo to hire aides who could turn on him when needed?

[Yeehah]

52. Do you think republicans are above paying someone to make false allegations?

That's funny.

[brooklynite]

54. Do you think that Democratic aides would accept a bribe to commit perjury?

And do you have any evidence that this has happened?

[Yeehah]

55. Do you believe a Democratic aide is above accepting a bribe?

The passage of many years before an accusation is made is circumstantial evidence of bad faith. Boils down to a "he said - she said" situation, in which it seems the accused is always presumed guilty.

[wnylib]

53. Update on this. Cuomo himself has requested

an independent 3rd party investigation.