Timeline: Cuomo's fall from grace began with accusation that arose in December 2020

[August 04, 2021]  (Reuters) - Governor Andrew Cuomo, accused of sexually harassing multiple women in a New York attorney general's report issued on Tuesday, has had a U.S. political career spanning four decades. Here is a chronology of key life events.

Dec. 6, 1957 - Andrew Cuomo born in New York City to parents Mario Cuomo and Matilda Raffa Cuomo.

November 1982 - With Andrew, his son, as a top campaign adviser, Democrat Mario Cuomo is elected to the first of three terms as New York governor.

January 1997 - Andrew Cuomo becomes U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Bill Clinton.

September 2002 - Trailing in the polls to Carl McCall, Cuomo withdraws from Democratic primary for New York state governor a week before the election.

November 2006 - Elected attorney general of New York.

November 2010 - Elected to first term as governor.

November 2014 - Elected to second term as governor.

November 2018 - Elected to third term as governor.

Mid-2020 - Emerges as national leader on issues related to the coronavirus pandemic, holding detailed news conferences at a time when President Donald Trump was playing down the pandemic.

Dec. 13, 2020 - Former aide Lindsey Boylan accuses Cuomo with a thread on Twitter. "Yes, @NYGovCuomo sexually harassed me for years. Many saw it, and watched," she tweets. The tweets receive some media coverage but do not become a major national story. The investigation later concludes that senior Cuomo aides unlawfully retaliated against Boylan by leaking confidential files about her to the press and drafting an op-ed attacking her that was shared among senior staff.

February 2021 - Cuomo's fall from grace gains momentum when Boylan and another former aide accuse the governor of sexually harassing them. Boylan publishes an essay in web platform Medium accusing Cuomo of several inappropriate gestures toward her when she worked for the state government from 2015 to 2018. A second former aide, Charlotte Bennett, tells the New York Times Cuomo asked her inappropriate questions about her sex life.

Feb. 27 - Cuomo calls for a "full and thorough review" led by a former federal judge of his choosing.

Feb. 28 - After Cuomo's office accedes, New York Attorney General Letitia James announces her office will hire and deputize outside lawyers to investigate.

March 1 - A third woman comes forward with accusations of inappropriate behavior in a New York Times interview.

Andrew Cuomo Governor of New York appears at the opening ceremony for the Tribeca Festival in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., June 9, 2021. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/Pool

March 2 - Cuomo's support among senior party leaders begins to crack when U.S. Senator Charles Schumer of New York calls the allegations against Cuomo "serious, very troubling."

March 3 - Cuomo pledges to cooperate with the investigation and apologizes for his behavior but says he never touched anyone inappropriately and "I'm not going to resign."

March 6 - Two more women accuse Cuomo of inappropriate behavior in interviews published in the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal. Other accusations follow.

March 11 - More than 55 Democratic New York legislators sign a letter calling on Cuomo to resign and the Assembly speaker approves an impeachment investigation.

March 12 - More New York Democrats including U.S. Senators Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez call on Cuomo to resign.

March 16 - President Joe Biden says Cuomo should resign if the allegations against him are confirmed by the investigation.

July 17 - Cuomo sits for a combative, 11-hour deposition in which he is questioned under oath by the two lead investigators, the New York Times reports.

Aug. 3 - James announces the independent investigators, former prosecutor Joon Kim and employment lawyer Anne Clark, concluded that Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women, including former and current state employees, by engaging in unwanted groping, kissing and hugging, and making inappropriate comments. The investigation also finds Cuomo's office fostered a "toxic" workplace that enabled "harassment to occur and created a hostile work environment." The investigators interview 179 people and review more than 74,000 documents, emails, texts, and pictures, James says.
 

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Howard Goller)

[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.