A woman who currently works in the office of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says he looked down her shirt and made suggestive remarks to her and another aide, according to a newspaper report.
Alyssa McGrath told The New York Times that Mr Cuomo called her beautiful in Italian, referred to her and her female colleague as “mingle mamas”, asked why she was not wearing a wedding ring, and inquired about her divorce.
Ms McGrath is the first current aide to come forward publicly on the mounting allegations of sexual misconduct against Mr Cuomo, who is the subject of an impeachment investigation by the New York Assembly over those accusations and questions about the governor’s handling of data about Covid-19 nursing home deaths.
Ms McGrath told The New York Times that her female colleague was the same woman the governor is accused of groping in the Executive Mansion, an allegation that was revealed in a report last week in the Times Union of Albany.
That aide has not been identified publicly.
Ms McGrath did not accuse the governor of inappropriate touching.
Mr Cuomo, a Democrat, has repeatedly denied allegations of sexual misconduct.
A lawyer for him told The New York Times that Mr Cuomo has indeed used Italian phrases like “ciao bella”, which means “hello beautiful” in Italian, and greeted both men and women alike with hugs and a kiss.
“None of this is remarkable, although it may be old-fashioned,” lawyer Rita Glavin said. “He has made clear that he has never made inappropriate advances or inappropriately touched anyone.”
