Cuomo sues NY attorney general over sexual harassment records

(The Center Square) – Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is suing fellow Attorney General Letitia James in an effort to pry open details from her sexual misconduct investigation that led to his resignation.

In a lawsuit filed Thursday in state Superior Court, Cuomo's lawyers said he needs access to transcripts of witnesses' interviews and other investigative documents "to defend himself in two sexual harassment lawsuits" that stemmed directly from the attorney general's investigation and report into the allegations.

The lawsuit says "the public has a right and interest in knowing the work" of James and her "full basis in making the significant and impactful decisions in issuing the consequential report and causing the resignation of their democratically elected governor."

Cuomo's lawyers ripped the investigative report issued by James' office as a "one-sided deeply flawed ambush" and reiterated the former governor's denials of wrongdoing. They wrote that James "brusquely deflected legitimate concerns and criticisms" about the investigation and report, "dismissing those concerns as attacks, lies and conspiracy theories."

Once considered a rising star in the Democratic Party, Curomo resigned in 2021 following a report by the attorney general's office which concluded that he sexually harassed nearly a dozen women.

In the lawsuit, Cuomo's lawyers pointed out that he filed a public records request seeking the documents but was denied. A federal judge denied a similar request to turn over the investigative documents to Cuomo and his lawyers.

Cuomo, rumored to be considering a run for New York City mayor, faces several sexual harassment lawsuits. One was filed by a New York state trooper in February 2022, who said Cuomo also discriminated against her on the basis of sex and retaliation. Another lawsuit was filed by Charlotte Bennett, a former aide, who accuses Cuomo of groping her twice.

Commisso filed a criminal complaint against Cuomo but it was rejected by the courts because there wasn't enough evidence to proceed. She filed a new claim under New York's Adult Survivor's Act, which allowed those who claim they were sexually assaulted when they were over the age of 18 to file lawsuits, regardless of when the abuse occurred. That law expired in November.

Several news organizations, including New York Daily News and New York Post, have filed public records requests to get the sexual harassment records from the James' office. So far, they've been denied.