Cuomo’s Office Told to Preserve Documents Related to Sexual Harassment Investigation

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo attends a briefing at the Office of the Governor of the State of New York on June 12, 2020. Jeenah Moon/Getty Images

New York Attorney General Letitia James’s office has ordered Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office to preserve any documents that may be related to the sexual harassment investigation her office is conducting.

A spokesperson for James, a Democrat, told news outlets that the preservation notice was sent on Friday.

James’s office did not return a request for comment, nor did Cuomo’s office.

The request came on the same day Debra Katz, who is representing one of Cuomo’s accusers, asked James to order Cuomo to preserve documents.

Katz said in a letter to James that she was concerned “about the maintenance of documentary evidence and potential spoliation by the Cuomo administration.”

That concern was heightened by a report that Cuomo aides pressured state health officials to remove COVID-19 death data from a report published in the middle of 2020, Katz added, urging James to ensure that Cuomo aides “maintain, without alteration, all documents pertaining to Ms. Bennett in any way.”

Cuomo has been accused by Charlotte Bennett, 25, and Lindsey Boylan, 36, both former aides, of harassment. A third woman, 33-year-old Ann Ruch, has also alleged Cuomo harassed her.

Cuomo has said interactions detailed by the women “may have been insensitive or too personal” but denied inappropriately touching anybody or propositioning them. He apologized for his conduct.

Cuomo has also refused to resign, saying it’s up to voters to decide who governs the state.

New York State Attorney General Letitia James speaks at a news conference in Rochester, New York, on Sept. 20, 2020. Joshua Rashaad McFadden/Getty Images

Because of the scandal and the withholding of nursing home death data, the Democrat-controlled legislature on Friday voted to repeal the emergency powers he was granted in March 2020 to deal with the pandemic.

James is overseeing the probe into the harassment claims. She plans on appointing an attorney to lead the investigation.

That attorney will have subpoena power.

“We will hire a law firm, deputize them as attorneys of our office, and oversee a rigorous and independent investigation,” James said in a statement this week.

Bennett, who has detailed her claims the most, told CBS in a recent interview that Cuomo “implied to me that I was old enough for him and he was lonely.”

Cuomo is nearly three decades older than Bennett, who was 22 at the time.

She has also called Cuomo’s apology insufficient, calling it “an issue of his actions.”

“The fact is that he was sexually harassing me and he has not apologized for sexually harassing me. And he can’t even use my name,” she added.