Albany Sheriff to Conduct Criminal Investigation on Cuomo
Published Date: 8/7/2021
Source: Bloomberg Quicktake: Now
Albany County’s sheriff said his office is starting a criminal investigation against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo after receiving a complaint against him. Sheriff Craig Apple said he’s also reached out to the New York Attorney General’s office for more information following its report earlier in the week accusing Cuomo of sexually harassing 11 women and creating a “climate of fear” in his offices. “We’re at very infant stages of this investigation,” Apple said at a press conference on Saturday. “We have a lot of fact finding to do. We have a lot of interviews to do. You know what? I’m not going to rush it because of who he is I’m not going to delay it because of who he is.” Read: Cuomo’s Lawyers Remain Defiant Against Sex-Harassment Claims Earlier Friday, the sheriff’s office said the complaint against Cuomo came from a former staffer included in the attorney general’s report. According to the report, Cuomo reached under the staffer’s blouse and grabbed her breast while at the Executive Mansion. Cuomo’s office didn’t respond to reports of the complaint on Friday but a spokesman said it had informed the state capital’s police department of the groping accusation in March after the aide made claims that surfaced in the Albany Times-Union. The sheriff declined to state a specific date the incident had occurred on, which has been a point of contention for Cuomo’s lawyers. “I had a female victim come forward, which was probably the hardest thing she’s ever done in her life,” Apple said, declining to give further details other than that the crime was sexual in nature. The Albany sheriff’s office has a couple of sex crime investigators but has the backing of the entire department, he added. Cuomo’s lawyers remained defiant in the face of intensifying pressure on the governor to resign, even as the three-term Democrat confronts possible criminal investigations in four New York counties and potential impeachment proceedings. Cuomo has denied the sexual harassment claims and remains hunkered down in the Governor’s Mansion in Albany. The attorney general’s investigation spanned five months and examined 74,000 pieces of evidence, including e-mails, text messages and photographs. “We will cooperate fully with the Albany sheriff and turn over all evidence related to this complainant,” the state attorney general’s office said in a statement following Apple’s briefing. “Similarly, we will cooperate with all law enforcement agencies, as appropriate.” Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm Subscribe to our newest channel Quicktake Explained: https://bit.ly/3iERrup Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world. To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app. Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake: https://cor.us/surveys/27AF30 Connect with us on… YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bloomberg Breaking News on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BloombergQuickTakeNews Twitter: https://twitter.com/quicktake Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quicktake Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quicktake