On Sunday, President Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) stopped calling New York City Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) to resign after dozens of senior Democrats had urged him to withdraw allegations of sexual harassment.
Pelosi told ABC News that Cuomo was “credible” and “serious,” but suggested waiting to see the results of the investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
“What I said when such revelations came out, I said that what these women said must be respected,” said Pelosi, adding that she was “confident” about the James investigation.
“Overall, people have to look at themselves and say – and so does Gov. Cuomo – how effective their leadership is in leading the state under the conditions,” she said. “But I believe that women, like the governor, deserve to hear the results of these investigations. But again… no tolerance of sexual harassment. Let the world know this.”
When she pressed Cuomo to give up, Pelosi said, “I think we should see the results.”
“This outcome will hopefully come soon,” she said. “And what I say is that the governor should look within his heart—he loves New York—to see if he can rule effectively. And that might be one of the things he’s got.”
At least seven women have publicly charged Cuomo with sexual harassment or improper contact, including a former assistant who says the governor kissed her forcibly in his office in 2018. Cuomo denied the allegations of harassment and apologised to anyone for being “uncomfortable.”
He also has allegations of harassment and reports that his office has made available data on the number of homeless deaths during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Friday, New York Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, along with many prominent New York House Democrats, including Jerry Nadler and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, invited Cuomo to retire. But Cuomo has refused to do so to date, claiming that he is a victim of the “Cancel Culture” and suggesting that some women are lying.
Pelosi, who quickly called for Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.resignation) in 2017 when he faced sexual misconduct charges, called Cuomo’s allegations “credible” earlier this month, but did not address this issue as most of the New York Congressional delegation requested his departure.
On Sunday, Gov. Larry Hogan (R-Md.) also refused to urge Cuomo to withdraw. Hogan was president of the Association of National Governors until last August, and Cuomo was its deputy. After Hogan’s one-year term was over, Cuomo took over as head of the NGA.
“These are obviously serious allegations that need to be investigated and investigated,” Hogan said to CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“I don’t think it’s up to me to talk about the people of New York,” he said. “Obviously, I think the investigations are still ongoing. And hopefully, because they’re pretty serious allegations and they’re growing every day, we’ll get to the bottom of it.”
Later on Sunday, the Washington Post reported that Larry Schwartz, Cuomo COVID-19 vaccine czar and long-term governor counsel, had called on several county officials to measure their loyalty to Cuomo.
One Democratic county leader was so disturbed by the call that he reportedly submitted an imminent ethical complaint to the Public Integrity Unit of the State Attorney General’s Office.
Schwartz refused to do anything “false” and told the post that he was not discussing vaccines during those conversations.
“I have always conducted myself in a way that corresponds to a high standard of ethics,” Schwartz said.
