Cuomo's lawyer calls for NY attorney general to recuse herself
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[November 19, 2021]
By Tyler Clifford and Brendan O'Brien
NEW YORK (Reuters) -A lawyer for Andrew
Cuomo on Thursday called on New York state Attorney General Letitia
James to recuse herself from any decisions regarding the sexual
harassment case against the former governor, saying her gubernatorial
campaign created a conflict of interest.
"Her office must recuse as she is campaigning for governor," said Rita
Galvin, a lawyer for Cuomo, calling attention to James' campaign
announcement a day after the Albany County Sheriff's Office charged
Cuomo with a misdemeanor sex offense.
"Her judgment in those months was absolutely compromised by her
political motivations," Galvin said, referring to the weeks before
James' office issued a report that found Cuomo had sexually harassed 11
women.
Cuomo has denied wrongdoing. He said in August he accepted "full
responsibility" for what he characterized as ill-conceived attempts to
be affectionate or humorous, but said he would resign for the good of
the state.[nL1N2PH1JI]
James' office says it is standing by the sexual misconduct report and
the women who came forward with allegations against the former governor.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2021/Nov/19/images/ads/current/Applegate_exc_daily_sda_030314.png)
In a statement, the office characterized Cuomo's tactics as "school yard
bullying" and a way for the former governor to keep his name in the
spotlight.
"Today’s embarrassing press conference was simply dramatics and faux
outrage," the statement said. "If Andrew Cuomo didn’t want to be accused
of sexual harassment, he shouldn’t have sexually harassed multiple women
in the first place.”
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![](../images/111921pics/news_h15.jpg)
New York State Attorney General, Letitia James, speaks during a news
conference, to announce criminal justice reform in New York City,
U.S., May 21, 2021. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
![](../images/ads/current/centraldirect_lda_SPONSOR_2021.png)
James, 63, announced on Oct. 29 that she would
challenge fellow Democrat Kathy Hochul, the former lieutenant
governor, who replaced Cuomo when he stepped down on Aug. 24 after
more than 10 years in office. The gubernatorial election is to be
held next November.
James said the five-month independent investigation concluded that
Cuomo had engaged in conduct that violated multiple federal and
state laws.
Galvin called the report's contents into question, saying that James
had personal motivations to redact certain parts of transcripts and
evidence.
The redactions had motivations to cause less damage to some and more
damage to others, she said. Galvin also requested that tens of
thousands of documents used in the investigation be released.
A criminal complaint charging Cuomo with a misdemeanor sex offense
was filed on Oct. 29 in a court in Albany, the state capital.
Galvin also called for James to recuse herself from any
investigation that is looking into whether Cuomo and his
administration misused state resources to write and promote a book
he published last October about his leadership during the early
months of the pandemic.
(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Leslie
Adler)
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