The ‘Democratic Party’s Personal Donald Trump’ Is Getting One other Probability

A little bit over every week after Ana Liss publicly accused then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) of inappropriate habits within the office in March 2021, she acquired a name from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. The Democratic senator from New York wished to supply her help.

Liss was combating the quantity of public consideration she was getting; she was the third girl to accuse Cuomo of office sexual misconduct. “That was very significant and meaningful to me,” Liss stated of the decision. “She alluded to her own negative experiences with Cuomo when they worked together at HUD [the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development] many years ago.”

By August 2021, 12 ladies had come ahead with their very own tales about Cuomo. An investigation by the New York state legal professional basic concluded that Cuomo did sexually harass a number of feminine staff and create a “hostile work environment for women.” Gillibrand, a number one ladies’s advocate, known as on Cuomo to resign 4 months earlier than the AG’s investigation substantiated the harassment claims. She was a key voice that helped drive a reluctant Cuomo to step down.

Three years after Cuomo resigned as governor of New York, he’s now the front-runner within the Democratic major for New York Metropolis mayor. And Gillibrand has modified her tune: “This is a country that believes in second chances. So it’s up to New York voters to decide if he should get a second chance to serve,” she just lately advised NY1. (Gillibrand’s workplace didn’t reply to follow-up questions on her name to Liss.)

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Liss by no means anticipated issues to reverse course so dramatically. “I took for granted that she would continue to be on the side of women who struggled in a toxic workplace environment cultivated by Andrew Cuomo,” Liss advised HuffPost. “I feel ashamed because I felt that I was doing something important. I put a lot on the line.”

HuffPost spoke with Liss and two different ladies who publicly accused Cuomo of sexual harassment, in addition to attorneys who characterize 4 different accusers. The three ladies who spoke with HuffPost stated they’re deeply disillusioned by Cuomo’s return to politics and really feel betrayed by the Democrats who as soon as publicly supported them.

Gillibrand and different highly effective progressives have given a collective shrug to Cuomo’s marketing campaign — a pointy flip from the celebration that was fast to sentence the quite a few sexual misconduct allegations towards President Donald Trump.

A lot of Cuomo’s accusers advised HuffPost they’re heartbroken that voters have seemingly forgotten their tales or just don’t care anymore. Most are nonetheless coping with the fallout from publicly sharing their experiences, and a few are nonetheless wrapped up in costly and emotionally draining litigation.

“It’s disturbing beyond belief. It’s incredibly bleak to me that he’s back at all,” Lindsey Boylan, the primary girl to accuse Cuomo of sexual harassment, advised HuffPost. “He has no shame. But, of course, we live in a time and place that so few bad men in power have shame. Shamelessness seems to be their unique superpower.”

Among the ladies likened Cuomo’s well-known bullying and style for revenge to that of the present president. Karen Hinton, who accused Cuomo in 2021 of creating undesirable sexual advances towards her in 2000, described the previous governor as “the Democratic Party’s own Donald Trump.”

“I think Cuomo, in another timeline, is probably super jealous of Trump,” Liss stated. “They use the same playbook.”

Though Cuomo denies the entire allegations towards him, he initially apologized that a few of his feedback to at least one feminine worker have been “misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation.”

Rita Glavin, Cuomo’s legal professional, responded to HuffPost’s request for remark in a prolonged electronic mail assertion. “This is America, and anyone sued is entitled to due process and the right to defend themselves, particularly against demonstrably false allegations,” she wrote.

“The Attorney General bears direct responsibility for this entire mess. She spent $8 million on a shoddy investigation and inaccurate report to pave the way for her own political campaign for Governor,” Glavin continued. “The Assembly followed suit and spent $6 million on its own equally flawed tag-along report. These $14 million now-discredited political reports spawned civil lawsuits because plaintiffs hoped to use the reports to force quick seven-figure settlements.”

Cuomo was the one who initially requested that state Lawyer Normal Letitia James’ workplace examine sexual harassment allegations towards him. When the investigation substantiated 11 of these claims, Cuomo known as it a “sham report” and requested the state Supreme Courtroom to analyze James, claiming she manipulated the investigation to pursue a run for governor. (A spokesperson for the legal professional basic advised HuffPost: “The former Governor bears responsibility for his own actions, full stop. We stand behind this investigation and its findings.”)

Cuomo is at the moment main the opposite eight Democratic candidates with 37% of Democratic major voters probably voting for him, in keeping with latest polling. New York State Meeting member Zohran Mamdani is in second with 18%, and the remaining candidates are within the single digits. Cuomo’s commanding lead is probably going due, at the very least partly, to call recognition.

However the ladies who spoke with HuffPost are nonetheless petrified of what’s to come back if Cuomo triumphs. The previous governor is broadly recognized for his cutthroat techniques, together with late-night offended cellphone calls to anybody who goes towards him.

Cuomo’s prime aide stated his workforce operates on two speeds: “Get along, and kill,” the Connecticut Submit first reported in 2011 and Politico corroborated once more in 2021. Lots of the ladies say they’re intimately accustomed to Cuomo’s potential to weaponize the authorized system towards his detractors — they usually’re anxious about what Cuomo may do to them if he turns into mayor.

Mariann Wang has seen how time-consuming and expensive these subpoenas might be for her shoppers. Wang represents Brittany Commisso, Virginia Limmiatis and Alyssa McGrath, all of whom have stated Cuomo sexually harassed them after they labored within the governor’s mansion. “Our clients still feel the harm from Cuomo’s abuse of power and harassment, even as he attempts a comeback by minimizing his wrongdoing and punishing the women who came forward, using taxpayer money,” Wang advised HuffPost.

Liss advised HuffPost her authorized payments have been upwards of $30,000 and have almost crippled her household; one other girl stated she’s spent near $2 million in two lawsuits, neither of which she’s a celebration to. (The second girl requested to stay nameless so she may communicate candidly about her private funds.) Cuomo isn’t on the hook for any of his payments; as an alternative, New York taxpayers have footed the almost $60 million in authorized charges which have gone towards his protection.

“I had never been in a legal case as a witness or anything before … I never would have known how these things work,” Boylan stated. “But bills accumulate very quickly, particularly if you’re up against a defendant whose bills are being covered by someone else.”

Glavin advised HuffPost that it was fully applicable for the state to cowl Cuomo’s authorized prices. “State law dictates that legal fees to defend a lawsuit brought in the context of an official’s state employment are covered by the state. A judge ruled that the law applies to these cases and requires the state to pay defense costs.”

Glavin added that the $60 million determine launched by the Workplace of New York State Comptroller is “misleading to the point of being willfully deceitful.” She stated a number of the prices don’t have anything to do with Cuomo’s protection, together with the $14 million the New York legal professional basic’s workplace and the state meeting spent on investigations into sexual harassment claims towards the previous governor.

A number of lawsuits have been filed towards Cuomo over the sexual harassment claims. One is a civil go well with filed by a state trooper who labored on Cuomo’s safety element and stated Cuomo sexually harassed and groped her. The state trooper, whose identification has not been revealed in court docket paperwork, is suing Cuomo and the state of New York within the ongoing case.

All three ladies HuffPost spoke with, and the three represented by Wang, have been subpoenaed by Cuomo on this case. Because of this the ladies could have to be deposed, which might quantity to quite a lot of billable legal professional hours. Cuomo’s spokesperson Wealthy Azzopardi stated Cuomo’s authorized workforce subpoenaed the ladies as a result of the state trooper cited the AG investigation, which names the entire ladies, in her authentic criticism. Two of the ladies who spoke to HuffPost, together with Liss, have been already deposed for the AG’s investigation, they usually argue that testimony may have been used once more within the state trooper case.

“A real tragedy in this case is how New York state has abandoned the victims,” Valdi Licul, the state trooper’s legal professional, advised HuffPost.

“There’s been finding after finding that these women were sexually harassed,” he stated. “Rather than make the victims whole, the state has spent tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to defend against their claims. It’s morally indefensible.”

Brittany Commisso sued Cuomo and some of his prime advisers for sexual harassment in 2023 below New York state’s Grownup Survivors Act. Commisso accused Cuomo of groping her in 2020 when she labored as an govt assistant. She filed a legal criticism towards Cuomo in 2021, however prosecutors dismissed the fees. She’s at the moment suing Cuomo and New York state below the state’s anti-discrimination regulation.

One other case facilities on former Cuomo aide Charlotte Bennett, who stated Cuomo sexually harassed her when she labored for him in 2020. Bennett filed the lawsuit in 2023 towards New York state, claiming the state, as her employer, was chargeable for Cuomo’s alleged sexual harassment. The go well with was settled in April. Cuomo now says he’s planning to sue Bennett for defamation.

Bennett withdrew a separate federal lawsuit towards Cuomo in December, citing invasive discovery requests meant to “embarrass and humiliate her,” in keeping with Bennett’s legal professional. Cuomo’s authorized workforce used subpoenas to request medical paperwork starting from gynecological information to eye exams, together with some that dated again to when she was a minor.

“Throughout this extraordinarily painful two year case, I’ve many times believed that I’d be better off dead than endure more of his litigation abuse,” Bennett stated on the time she dropped the lawsuit.

Hinton, who accused Cuomo in 2021 of creating undesirable sexual advances, labored for him for years, as did her husband, Howard Glaser. In Cuomo’s 2014 memoir, he described Hinton as a part of “my extended team, my second family.”

“Most people who know Andrew know that this is how he behaves when you disagree with him. When you don’t show him loyalty, when you don’t lie for him — this is the way he treats people,” Hinton stated, referring to the best way she says Cuomo has used the authorized system towards most of the ladies who got here ahead.

The litigation has additionally had a chilling impact: The ladies are scared to talk with each other for concern of extra authorized repercussions from Cuomo’s workforce.

Hinton is 66 years previous and not anxious about Cuomo going after her now that she lives out of state. “One of the reasons we left New York was to get away from him,” she advised HuffPost. However she’s anxious for the opposite ladies — lots of whom are younger and nonetheless reside within the space.

If Cuomo wins the Democratic major and goes on to change into the mayor of New York Metropolis, Hinton worries that authorized assaults gained’t cease. He’ll merely proceed with extra energy and assets.

“This is what I fear, that if he becomes governor again or he becomes mayor, he will take some time to go after them,” she stated. “And he’s already doing it in so many ways.”

Three years in the past, it could have baffled many to know that Cuomo would quickly be again on a political ticket. Along with the dozen or so sexual misconduct allegations, Cuomo was the topic of a congressional investigation into allegations that his administration had intentionally obscured the total scope of nursing dwelling deaths in New York when he was governor through the COVID-19 pandemic. An investigation from the Workplace of the New York State Lawyer Normal discovered that Cuomo undercounted the demise toll of nursing dwelling sufferers through the pandemic. This week, the Division of Justice opened a legal investigation into Cuomo for allegedly mendacity to Congress through the congressional investigation.

If Cuomo hadn’t resigned in 2021, he probably would’ve confronted an impeachment investigation.

Since then, investigations into the sexual misconduct allegations carried out by the New York State Meeting and the Division of Justice have corroborated nearly all of findings within the preliminary New York legal professional basic probe. The DOJ discovered that Cuomo “subjected female employees to a sexually hostile work environment” and “retaliated against employees who spoke out about the harassment.” (Azzopardi, Cuomo’s spokesperson, referred to the DOJ report as a “glorified press release” and claimed that the division didn’t attain out to the previous governor through the investigation.)

Cuomo has tried to discredit these findings in a number of methods, together with by noting he was by no means prosecuted for any crime. However sexual harassment is a civil violation, not a legal offense. The state-level investigation discovered that he broke a number of state and federal civil legal guidelines.

It’s tough to unsee the entire proof towards Cuomo, and but so many highly effective Democrats have seemingly determined to look the opposite means. Some could not care about Cuomo’s latest previous, whereas others reportedly know his notoriously vengeful aspect and don’t wish to make an enemy of him if he turns into mayor.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), who changed Cuomo when he resigned, stated when Cuomo joined the mayoral race: “I will work with whomever the really smart voters of New York City decide they want to be their mayor. That is not up for me to decide.”

Home Minority Chief Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D), who known as for Cuomo’s resignation in 2021, stated earlier this yr that he wouldn’t endorse a candidate till after the June 24 major. Former President Joe Biden, California Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and different distinguished Democrats who have been as soon as vocal about Cuomo stepping down have been silent on his return to New York politics.

Hochul, Jeffries and Schumer didn’t reply to HuffPost’s request for remark.

“Honestly, it’s embarrassing for them,” Erica Vladimer, a victims’ advocate, advised HuffPost. Vladimer is a former New York state Senate staffer who co-founded the Sexual Harassment Working Group after she accused then-state Sen. Jeff Klein (D) of forcibly kissing her in 2018. A state ethics fee opened an investigation in 2019, however the probe has been regularly delayed. Klein misplaced his reelection the next fall.

“It just proves that they never really stood with survivors, that they were trying to put themselves in the spotlight at a moment when standing with survivors was in vogue,” she added. “Now, we really know what their positions are.”

Gillibrand has confronted the most criticism from the media, given her years of advocacy preventing for sexual assault survivors. When HuffPost approached her on Capitol Hill, the senator responded: “I don’t want to expand on it now, but I do think it’s up to the voters, and we can have a longer conversation later.”

Hinton was sad with Gillibrand’s comment that “this is a country that believes in second chances.”

“Everyone should be given a second chance once they have been held accountable, but he has not been held accountable,” she stated. “He’s called all of them liars. How, in anyone’s mind, can you believe that 12 women decided to go public with their stories, but all of them lied?”

A spokesperson for Gillibrand declined to remark however referred HuffPost to the senator’s more moderen remarks on Cuomo in an April interview on “The Brian Lehrer Present.”

Requested why she’s being “so soft” on Cuomo, Gillibrand stated that Cuomo accepted his punishment when he resigned. “I did my part in standing with survivors and saying this behavior is unacceptable and that a resignation was needed at the time,” she stated, including that many of those questions could be finest directed towards Cuomo himself.

“Again, asking all women to be the judge, jury and advocate of every bad behavior of man is in and of itself harmful,” she advised Lehrer. “I would ask [that] you ask these questions of Governor Cuomo … You shouldn’t be asking the women.”

When a girl accuses a strong man of sexual misconduct, the media goes right into a type of frenzy. The girl’s identify is throughout nationwide information headlines, speaking heads dissect her story, and other people on social media — supporters and trolls alike — weigh her credibility. Liss, who bought that decision from Gillibrand, was not prepared for the onslaught of public consideration she acquired when she spoke out.

Liss fielded questions from associates, co-workers and kin. Folks she hadn’t spoken to in years reached out to her. It was an extremely nerve-racking time for her and her household, she stated. She mourns the transformation of her digital footprint, which is now all about her expertise with Cuomo.

“I didn’t realize that this is maybe going to be in my obituary some day, and that kind of sucks,” she advised HuffPost.

Over time, colleagues began treating her in a different way. “I could feel, among certain people, folks were taking a different tone,” Liss stated of her work in politics. “There was a sense of, ‘Well, Ana, you made your bed, and now you have to sleep in it,’” she stated. “Like, ‘You know that this man is cruel and will stop at nothing to get back at people. He’s known to be vengeful, so why are you surprised that he’s coming after you?’”

Liss, who has two younger kids, says she lastly paid off her authorized payments after being dragged into the state trooper case by Cuomo’s authorized workforce. She’s terrified to talk with any of the opposite ladies as a result of she fears Cuomo will subpoena her once more, and she or he merely doesn’t have the cash for extra authorized bills.

After the whole lot she’s been by, it’s a intestine punch to suppose that New Yorkers have both forgotten or just don’t care about her story. “We’re willing to look the other way because there’s a bigger boogey monster, there’s larger evils in the world,” Liss stated, referring to the Trump administration. “So we’re willing to take, I guess, the lesser of two evils … I’m scared. I’m sad.”

“But looking back — I’ve thought a lot about this — would I have done it again?” she mused. “I think I would have done it again because it was the right thing to do.”

New York Metropolis’s Democratic mayoral major election is on June 24. Early voting begins June 14. The final election for New York Metropolis mayor will likely be held on Nov. 4, 2025.

Igor Bobic contributed reporting from Washington, D.C.

CORRECTION: An earlier model of this text misstated what number of present lawsuits are ongoing towards Cuomo.