<ul class="summary-list"><li>In December, Lindsey Boylan accused Gov. Cuomo of kissing her without her consent in 2018.</li><li>A new report from the NY AG has found that Cuomo's team worked to discredit her at the time.</li><li>Boylan's lawyer told The New York Times they are suing Cuomo and his advisors over those efforts.</li></ul>Lindsey Boylan, the first woman to publicly accuse New York Gov. <keyword id="196530" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Andrew-Cuomo">Andrew Cuomo</keyword> of sexual harassment, plans to sue him and his team for trying to smear her name, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/04/nyregion/andrew-cuomo.html">her lawyer has told The New York Times.</a>In December, Boylan, who worked as an aide to Cuomo between 2015 and 2018, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/former-cuomo-staffer-describes-sexual-harassment-in-new-essay-2021-2">accused the governor of kissing her without her consent</a>. Cuomo <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/former-cuomo-staffer-says-the-new-york-governor-sexually-harassed-her-2020-12">denies the allegation.</a>On Wednesday, Boylan's lawyer said they would be suing Cuomo and his close advisors following the release on Tuesday of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-attorney-general-james-investigation-cuomo-sexually-harassed-women-2021-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a report from the New York Attorney General</a> which found that Cuomo's office worked to discredit Boylan after she went public."Because Lindsey was first, the governor needed to send a message," Boylan's lawyer, Jill Basinger, told The Times. "He needed to send a message to every other survivor out there that this is what happens when you go against the machine of the governor's office."Cuomo's office did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.According to the Attorney General's report, Cuomo's staff "engaged in a series of responsive actions that were intended to discredit and disparage Ms. Boylan."In one case, Melissa DeRosa, Cuomo's top aide, asked Alphonso David, a lawyer who used to work for the governor, to provide her with Boylan's "full file," <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/andrew-cuomo-advisors-leaked-lindsey-boylan-documents-ag-report-2021-8">the report said.</a>David then passed the file to top Cuomo aide Rich Azzopardi, who then shared the file with journalists, the report said. "The complainants' fears of retaliation were justified," the Attorney General's office said.The Attorney General's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/andrew-cuomo-advisors-leaked-lindsey-boylan-documents-ag-report-2021-8">report</a> found that Cuomo had sexually harassed at least 11 women. Cuomo has since <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-gov-andrew-cuomo-responds-sexual-harassment-investigation-2021-8">hit back at the report</a>, saying: "The facts are much different than what has been portrayed. One of Cuomo's lawyers also called the report "inaccurate" and "utterly biased," The Times reported.According to the report, Boylan told investigators: "I've been sexually harassed throughout my career, but not in a way where the whole environment was set up to feed the predator and this and every interaction I had with the Governor and the culture felt like it was all to feed the predator.""I had worked my whole life to get to a point where I would be taken seriously and I wasn't being taken seriously and I worked so hard to be some little doll for the Governor of New York and that was deeply humiliating."Shortly after Boylan accused Cuomo of sexual assault, another former staffer, Charlotte Bennett, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/2nd-former-aide-accuses-andrew-cuomo-of-sexual-harassment-2021-2">accused Cuomo of making sexual advances on her. </a>"I understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me, and felt horribly uncomfortable and scared," Bennett told The Times. "And was wondering how I was going to get out of it and assumed it was the end of my job."

Lindsey Boylan, the first woman to accuse Gov. Cuomo of sexual harassment, plans to sue him and his advisors for retaliating against her, report says

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <keyword id="235836" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="New-York-Attorney-General">New York Attorney General</keyword>'s office investigation found that Gov. Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women. </li><li>It found Cuomo harassed multiple female members of his own staff, state employees, and a state trooper. </li><li>The independent investigators detailed their findings in a 165-page report released Tuesday. </li></ul>The office of New York State Attorney General <keyword id="1928332" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Letitia-James">Letitia James</keyword> announced on Tuesday that its independent investigators found that Gov. <keyword id="196530" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Andrew-Cuomo">Andrew Cuomo</keyword> sexually harassed multiple female members of his own staff, state employees, and a state trooper. "We find that the Governor sexually harassed a number of current and former New York State employees by, among other things, engaging in unwelcome and nonconsensual touching, as well as making numerous offensive comments of a suggestive and sexual nature that created a hostile work environment for women," the investigators wrote in their <a href="https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2021.08.03_nyag_-_investigative_report.pdf">165-page report</a>. James said she is "inspired by all the brave women who came forward, but more importantly I believe them." She said Cuomo's conduct "corrodes the very fabric and character of our state government and shines light on injustice that can be present at the highest levels of government." But she later added that the report has no "criminal consequences" and that it's "ultimately up to the governor" whether he resigns in response to the report. The report found that 11 women had "credible" allegations of misconduct. The investigation uncovered allegations from at least two women, including an unnamed state trooper and a National Grid employee, who had not previously gone public with their claims. Leading the five-month investigation into Cuomo were former acting US Attorney Joon Kim and employment lawyer Anne Clark. Kim led the prosecution against Joe Percoco, a former Cuomo aide who was sentenced to 6 years in prison on corruption charges in 2018. Clark previously worked for Legal Momentum, a defense fund for women."Our investigation revealed that these were not isolated incidents," Kim said. "They were part of a pattern."On Tuesday afternoon, Cuomo denied all allegations that he's sexually harassed or inappropriately touched anyone."I want you to know directly from me that I never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances," <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?513912-1/ny-governor-cuomo-denies-sexual-harassment-allegations-independent-report">Cuomo said</a> in a televised statement. The report detailed a "toxic, hostile, abusive" workplace fostered by the governor. One former state employee told investigators that the governor made women feel like "prey." The report also said that there was a sense among Cuomo's staff members that getting his personal attention was "not only normal, but to be valued."The investigators said their findings offer more than enough evidence that Cuomo committed gender-based workplace harassment. "Women also described to us having the governor seek them out, stare intently at them, look them up and down or gaze at their chest or butt," Clark said. "In some, the governor routinely interacted with women that focused on their gender, sometimes in explicitly sexualized manner in ways that women found deeply humiliating and offensive."The report has immediately intensified previous calls for Cuomo to resign and will likely reignite efforts to impeach Cuomo in the Democrat-controlled State Legislature. Cuomo, who's up for a fourth term next year, has rejected calls for his resignation, including from his state's two Democratic senators, Kirsten Gillibrand and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. In March, President Joe Biden <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/cuomo-resign-allegations-confirmed-biden-exclusive-abc-news/story?id=76499093">said Cuomo should resign</a> if the investigation found the misconduct allegations against him to be true. Cuomo was <a href="https://www.insider.com/gov-andrew-cuomo-questioned-over-sexual-harassment-misconduct-2021-8">questioned under oath</a> by the investigators for 11 hours on July 17, The New York Times reported on Monday. Clark told reporters on Tuesday that his responses were "a mixture of admitting to certain things, but putting a different spin on them, and denying others outlined in the report."The governor has repeatedly denied that he ever harassed or touched anyone inappropriately, but he apologized last March for making his accusers "feel uncomfortable." Cuomo and his staffers have since alleged that the investigation is unfair and biased against him. "I'm very eager to get the facts to the people of this state," Cuomo said. "I think when they hear the actual facts, what happened, how the situation has been handled, I think they're going to be shocked. Shocked."A top aide to Cuomo, Richard Azzopardi, told The Times that leaks to the press concerning the investigation "provide further evidence about the documented bias of these reviewers." The first allegation of sexual misconduct against Cuomo was made by Lindsay Boylan, a former aide to the governor, who said in a series of tweets last December that Cuomo "sexually harassed me for years." In a February <a href="https://lindseyboylan4ny.medium.com/my-story-of-working-with-governor-cuomo-e664d4814b4e">Medium post,</a> she detailed several instances in which the governor touched her inappropriately and kissed her on the lips without her consent in his Manhattan office. Cuomo denied Boylan's accusations. After Boylan went public with her story, six other women came forward with allegations against Cuomo. A former executive assistant to Cuomo, Charlotte Bennett, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/27/nyregion/cuomo-charlotte-bennett-sexual-harassment.html">publicly revealed</a> that she had filed a <keyword id="16048" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="sexual-harassment">sexual harassment</keyword> complaint against the governor last year after Cuomo repeatedly made sexual overtures towards her, including asking whether she had sex with older men. One current unnamed aide accused Cuomo of reaching under her blouse and <a href="https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Female-aide-said-Cuomo-aggressively-groped-her-at-16015863.php">groping her breast</a> while they were alone in the Executive Mansion after she was summoned to help him with a tech issue late last year.If you are a survivor of sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673) or visit <a href="https://hotline.rainn.org/online" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">their website</a> to receive confidential support.<iframe src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/players/AUBRihoj-gFnR6QwM.html" width="100%" height="100%" style="position:absolute;"></iframe>

New York Attorney General's office finds Gov. Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5ca10ebdffcb276f6a0ba922-1280/ap19057590037680.jpg" border="0" alt="Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez" data-mce-source="J. Scott Applewhite/AP Images" data-mce-caption="Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez" />J. Scott Applewhite/AP ImagesRep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Sitting Democratic lawmakers are likely to face an uptick in primary challengers in 2020, many of whom were encouraged by Reps. Ayanna Pressley and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's insurgent 2018 victories.</li><li>But some progressive Democrats are concerned the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's decision to no longer work with political vendors that support Democratic primary challengers will hurt their efforts. </li><li>Lindsey Boylan, a former aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, jumped into the primary race against New York Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler on Wednesday. She told INSIDER she's faced intimidation from party power brokers and the DCCC's rule has caused two staffers to leave her team. </li><li>Other Democrats say the criticism is overblown or disingenuous, and that the DCCC is trying to be more transparent about a long-established unofficial practice.</li><li>Some Democratic challengers told INSIDER they're unconcerned about the establishment's opposition to their insurgent bids.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.</a></li></ul>In late February, Lindsey Boylan, a former adviser to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, received a pointed email from a powerful acquaintance. The sender, a prominent Democratic party donor and activist, told Boylan that her plan to run for the Democratic nomination against incumbent Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York was a lost cause, and that she may have already "seriously impaired" her political future by simply considering the challenge. The message - a common one communicated by establishment figures to primary challengers, if not normally in writing - alarmed Boylan, but also hardened her resolve, she said. "That was really intended to be a veiled threat," Boylan told INSIDER. "And if that happens to someone like me who's had all these great advantages and is comparatively in a place of opportunity, it's hard to imagine what happens to other people and other women."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5cb645510abd880da364fd9a-960/img-0043.jpg" border="0" alt="Boylan email and response" data-mce-source="Screenshot/Lindsay Boylan" />Screenshot/Lindsay BoylanA late February email exchange between Boylan and a prominent Democratic donor.</div></div></div>Boylan, who had met with the donor a couple of months prior to discuss her political future, wrote back to make that case. The donor never responded. "Maybe he thought, 'Wow, I shouldn't be writing this message from my white shoe law firm that prizes diversity,'" Boylan said. A 35-year-old economic development expert, Boylan officially filed to run against Nadler, who's 71, on Wednesday morning - becoming the third primary challenger in the race. But Nadler, who's represented the state's deep blue 10th congressional district for 26 years, said he welcomes the challenges. "This is a democracy, that's what makes America great," Nadler said in a statement to INSIDER. "I'm proud to run on my record of achievements representing the people of Manhattan and Brooklyn."Nadler is one of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/14/nyregion/ny-congress-primaries-2020.html">at least seven Democratic incumbents</a> in New York alone who will likely face a primary challenge this cycle. One progressive New York consulting firm told INSIDER it's considering putting together a primary tracker because they've been contacted by so many potential candidates. There will likely be an uptick in Democratic primary challengers across the country after Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley managed to defeat sitting Democrats in New York and Massachusetts last year.But those efforts may face strong headwinds with a distracting presidential primary and new efforts by the Democratic party to protect its incumbent members. <h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c350869ad95711faa66ec72-1280/gettyimages-1044091890.jpg" border="0" alt="Reps.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley at a rally protesting Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's nomination." data-mce-source="Scott Eisen/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="Reps.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley at a rally protesting Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's nomination." />Scott Eisen/Getty ImagesReps.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley at a rally protesting Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's nomination.</div></div></div></h2><h2>A war over consultants </h2>The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the party's campaign arm, <a href="https://action.dccc.org/sign-up/political-vendors">announced</a> in late March that it will no longer work with political strategists and vendors that support candidates running against sitting Democrats. The DCCC's new policy applies to both swing districts, which paved the path to the Democrats' current House majority, and safe blue seats.The move - which many say simply formalized an unofficial practice - was met with fierce <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-slams-the-dccc-for-blackballing-challengers-2019-3">opposition largely from progressives</a>, who say it will hurt first-time candidates, particularly women and people of color. Ocasio-Cortez called the move "extremely divisive" and urged her supporters to "pause" their financial support of the DCCC.Pressley <a href="https://twitter.com/AyannaPressley/status/1112050768801136640">argued,</a> "We cannot credibly lay claim to prioritizing diversity &amp; inclusion when institutions like the DCCC implement policies that threaten to silence new voices and historically marginalized communities."Leaders of the House Progressive Caucus had a tense private meeting with DCCC chair Rep. Cheri Bustos and publicly slammed the new policy when Bustos made clear she wouldn't reverse it. Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-slams-the-dccc-for-blackballing-challengers-2019-3">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other progressives slam Democratic Party leaders for 'blackballing' candidates who want to challenge sitting Democrats</a>Justice Democrats, a grassroots group that powered Ocasio-Cortez's congressional run, set up <a href="https://dcccblacklist.com/">a website</a> listing consultants who've pledged to work for primary challengers. "The Democratic Party establishment is sending a signal that they are more afraid of people like Ayanna Pressley and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez winning primary challenges than conservatives like Henry Cuellar who vote with Trump nearly 70% of the time," Justice Democrats director Alexandra Rojas told INSIDER in a statement. Sean McElwee, a progressive activist and pollster, argued that the DCCC's policy hurts Democratic priorities by protecting conservative Democrats in safe seats. "Cheri Bustos believes protecting incumbents is more important than gay rights," McElwee told INSIDER. "She believes protecting incumbents is more important than electing women."Monica Klein, a New York-based Democratic strategist who's worked with several primary challengers, argued Democratic leadership doesn't care much about the quality of candidates in safe blue seats. She took issue with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's recent <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pelosi-a-glass-of-water-with-d-next-to-it-would-win-ocasio-cortezs-district">remark</a> that a "glass of water" with a "D" next to it would win those races. "We don't want any Democrat in Congress - we want bold, unapologetic progressive champions," Klein told INSIDER. "[The DCCC]'s purported mission is a strong Democratic majority, so we just have to think about what the word 'strong' means." Rebecca Katz, another progressive strategist and former adviser to Cynthia Nixon's insurgent New York gubernatorial bid, called Pelosi's comment a "let them eat cake" moment, telling INSIDER that it illustrated "open disdain for the left" among establishment Democrats. But the DCCC is standing its ground and many Democrats say the criticism is overblown and, in some cases, disingenuous. They point out that Democratic incumbents pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in dues to the group, which doesn't owe contracts to any consultants who support challengers. "The general outcry has been coming from people who probably weren't going to get access to a lot of swing district races from the Committee anyway," a Democratic strategist, who requested anonymity to speak candidly, told INSIDER, adding, "I'm delighted to hear that the progressive community holds campaign consultants in such high esteem." The DCCC also announced that it will require political vendors to report on the diversity of its business - specifically whether the vendor is owned or partially owned by a member of a marginalized group or minority, including people of color or women.And some point out that progressive groups don't always prioritize candidate diversity. "Justice Democrats, who Sean McElwee is aligning himself with, primaried [Rep.] Stephanie Murphy, who is a woman of color in Florida in a swing district, and they expect to be taken seriously spewing bulls--t like that - that's crazy," another national Democratic strategist, who also requested anonymity to speak candidly, told INSIDER. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5cb766ea5930d92ca251fdd3-1280/gettyimages-476544918.jpg" border="0" alt="Rep. Dan Lipinski" data-mce-source="Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="Rep. Dan Lipinski" />Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesRep. Dan Lipinski speaks on Capitol Hill.</div></div></div><h2>The challengers weigh in </h2>On Tuesday, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/2018-illinois-primary-elections-dan-lipinski-marie-newman-race-governor-2018-3">Democrat Marie Newman</a>, a former marketing executive, <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/marie-newman-officially-jumps-in-democratic-primary-against-rep-dan-lipinski/">announced</a> her primary challenge against Rep. Dan Lipinski of Illinois, a conservative Democrat in a safe blue seat who Newman <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/democratic-battle-illinois-dan-lipinski-newman-2018-3">came close to beating</a> in last year's primary. Newman called the DCCC's new rule "complete and utter overreach" in an interview with INSIDER, and said a few consultants have turned her down over the policy. Notably, one such consulting group, Mothership Strategies, worked for both <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/expends/vendor.php?year=2018&amp;vendor=MOTHERSHIP+STRATEGIES">Newman and Bustos</a> last cycle. "I thought about that long and hard because it does make it harder if consultants can't work with me," Newman said of the policy. Boylan said she lost two top staffers as a result of the DCCC's policy.Major Democratic groups, including the Human Rights Campaign and Planned Parenthood, <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/02/dan-lipinski-illinois-progressives-386090">supported Newman</a> in her 2018 primary, while the DCCC and Democratic leadership in the House <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/377660-dem-leaders-rally-behind-lipinski-in-tough-primary-contest">threw their support</a> behind Lipinski, who's opposed to abortion rights and voted against marriage equality and Obamacare.Emily's List, a powerful group that supports pro-choice women candidates, indicated to INSIDER that it may buck the DCCC and support Newman's 2020 bid again. "We're keeping a close eye on this race, and are really excited at the prospect of getting a woman in this seat who will be a strong pro-choice advocate for women and families," Benjamin Ray, a spokesman for Emily's List, said in a Wednesday statement to INSIDER. Lipinski defended his record in a statement to INSIDER on Wednesday. "I have been a commonsense Democratic leader who has brought people together to solve problems," the congressman said. "Voters in the Third District have continued to send me to Washington to be an effective legislator, not to be an ineffective show horse." But other Democrats considering primary challenges don't think the DCCC's new rule will hurt them. Robert Zimmerman, a Democratic National Committee member and longtime PR executive, is exploring a run against Rep. Tom Suozzi of New York, a centrist Democrat who represents part of Long Island. Zimmerman said he's not worried about finding consultants and argued that most strategists who work for challengers don't want to do business with the DCCC anyways. "There's a lot of talent out there and if you look at most challengers who won, they didn't rely upon the institutional consultants - they thought outside the box," he told INSIDER, adding that he thinks the DCCC's rule is "very foolish."Zimmerman said he was "stunned" at the amount of encouragement he's received from Democrats across the ideological spectrum who want him to challenge Suozzi.He added, "It's not consultants that are gonna win a primary, it's the candidates and the grassroots energy." <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/reporter-calls-out-claim-that-fbi-was-happy-comeys-firing-sarah-huckabee-sanders-white-house-press-briefing-2017-5">This video shows the moment Sarah Sanders lied to a room full of reporters about FBI agents telling her they were happy Trump fired Comey</a></h3> <div> <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/Rvx0nm9x-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script> </div> </div>

You Searched For "lindsay boylan" and got 3 results

Lindsey Boylan, the first woman to accuse Gov. Cuomo of sexual harassment, plans to sue him and his advisors for retaliating against her, report says

Bill Bostock

New York Attorney General's office finds Gov. Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women

Eliza Relman

The Democratic Party is cracking down on candidates who hope to be the next Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and progressives are fighting back

Eliza Relman