Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is suing to compel the state to foot some of his legal bills.
In a complaint filed June 11 at a state court, the former Democrat governor argued that New York should cover expenses related to collecting evidence to defend himself in two federal lawsuits, both involving former state employees accusing him of sexual misconduct.
The first suit was brought in February 2022 by a state trooper seeking unspecified damages for “severe mental anguish and emotional distress.” The woman, only identified as “Trooper 1” in court filings, alleged that Mr. Cuomo sexually harassed her by touching her inappropriately, commenting on her appearance, and steering “their conversations towards sex.”
A second accuser, Charlotte Bennett, was a former aide to Mr. Cuomo when he was in office. She sued in September 2022, alleging that Cuomo repeatedly subjected her to “sexualized comments” about her appearance as well as “invasive and unwanted questions about her personal life, romantic and sexual relationships, and history as a survivor of sexual assault.”
Mr. Cuomo, 66, has consistently denied having sexually harassed anyone. He resigned in August 2021, a week after New York Attorney General Letitia James released a report that accused him of behaving inappropriately with Ms. Bennett and at least 10 other women, many of them his former aides.
The state is obliged to cover legal fees for employees in actions arising out of their public duties. In his farewell speech, Mr. Cuomo said he decided not to fight a legal battle to remain in office, because that would “cost the taxpayers millions of dollars” and “brutalize people.”
As his latest legal challenges evolve into an increasingly complicated web of litigations, Mr. Cuomo argued the state is responsible for covering some of the expenses.
According to his complaint, Ms. James’ office hired independent investigators to conduct several interviews and review scores of documents when compiling the report that ultimately led to Mr. Cuomo’s resignation.
To prepare for their defense, Mr. Cuomo’s legal team issued a subpoena seeking memos and unredacted transcripts of those interviews that “go to the heart of the allegations in both Trooper 1 and Bennett.” But Ms. James’ office refused to provide those materials, claiming “sovereign immunity” from federal case subpoena as a state entity.
To obtain those materials, Mr. Cuomo’s team invoked New York’s Freedom of Information Law, popularly called FOIL. Ms. James’ office told them last August it would take seven months to fulfill the FOIL request.
That prompted Mr. Cuomo’s lawyers, who saw the response as a tactic to undermine their defense, to sue Ms. James. The FOIL lawsuit sparked further litigation, against New York Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, who refused to reimburse Mr. Cuomo’s team for the legal costs of their case against Ms. James over the FOIL request.
In June 11 lawsuit, Mr. Cuomo’s lawyers argued that the state should pay for the FOIL lawsuit with tax money, because Ms. James is blocking their only route to obtaining the evidence they seek.
“Gov. Cuomo is therefore entitled to a judgment directing [Mr. DiNapoli’s office] to comply with their statutory and court-ordered obligations to pay his defense costs in connection with the federal actions, which includes litigation he had to institute in order to obtain important evidence to his defense because [Ms. James’ office] claims that they have sovereign immunity from subpoenas in the federal actions,” they wrote.
Mr. DiNapoli’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
