After months of deliberation regarding the accusations made against former Governor Andrew Cuomo, the NYS Assembly Judiciary Committee on Monday released its final report. The Judiciary Committee was tasked with determining “whether evidence existed to support a finding that the governor had engaged in acts that constituted serious and corrupt conduct in office that may have justified articles of impeachment.”

But this investigation did not just cover the sexual harassment and misconduct allegations that inspired Cuomo’s resignation. The Judiciary Committee also scrutinized practically every major scandal Cuomo’s been steeped in for the last few years, including the publication of his October 2020 book, his COVID-19 policy effects on nursing home residents, and information regarding the safety concerns of the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, a bridge named after his late father and former governor.

NYS Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said of the report, “This has been a profoundly sad chapter in New York’s history. I commend Chairman Charles Lavine, the members of the Judiciary Committee and the team at Davis Polk [the lawyer whose firm reviewed the report] for their hard work and diligence in completing this investigation. I also want to acknowledge everyone who participated in all of the investigations for their cooperation, particularly the brave women who stepped forward. As we have throughout this process, we will continue to cooperate with all relevant investigative bodies to provide them with the evidence we have uncovered.”

The report found that Cuomo “engaged in multiple instances of sexual harassment, including by creating a hostile work environment and engaging in sexual misconduct; utilized state resources and property, including work by Executive Chamber staff, to write, publish and promote his book – a project for which he was guaranteed at least $5.2 million in personal profit; and at the same time the former governor was not fully transparent regarding the number of nursing home residents who died as a result of COVID-19.”

As part of its determination, the Judiciary Committee reviewed hundreds of thousands of pages of paper and electronic documents, including photos and text messages and social media accounts, and interviewed or reviewed the deposition materials for more than 200 people involved. Cuomo’s legal counsel also provided additional documentation and materials, which was reviewed as well.

Upon the report’s release, NYS Assemblymember Brian Miller (R-101) said, “While it has taken some time to get this report finished, I commend all those involved for their hard work and dedication to detail, as I know it was not an easy task. Now that it is clear the former governor’s behavior was unacceptable, inappropriate and grounds for impeachment, I hope that things can move forward to hold him legally accountable for his actions in regard to sexual harassment, his cover-up of the number of deaths in nursing homes due to COVID-19, and the use of state resources to work on his book.”

Assemblymember Kevin A. Cahill (D-103) said Monday, “The report released today by the Assembly Judiciary Committee establishes that former Governor Andrew M. Cuomo serially engaged in sexual harassment, was responsible for a hostile work environment, misused public resources and, on multiple occasions, placed his public image above full disclosure and the safety of New Yorkers.

Cahill continued, “While legal experts and historians indicate that impeachment proceedings may only be pursued against sitting officials, the public is not without recourse. This report provides an ample basis to commence or continue full criminal investigations of the activities of former Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and those individuals who importuned, affirmatively acted or sought to cover up illegal and other inappropriate activities by or on behalf of former Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. […] “While law enforcement and prosecutors may be obligated to continue to investigate and ultimately prosecute former Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and those around him who conspired and acted illegally themselves, we in the state legislature are now in a position to close this sad chapter and move forward to best represent and restore the faith of the people we serve.”

Report Highlights

As mentioned, the report detailed the investigations of four incidents: the sexual harassment claims; the publication of Cuomo’s book, American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic; the disclosure of nursing home information relating to COVID infections and deaths; and safety concerns regarding the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge.

Sexual Harassment

For the sexual harassment investigation, the Judiciary Committee reviewed the allegations made by 12 women, seven of which were state employees, including a NYS Trooper. Summaries of each of the complaints are in the report.

For example, Charlotte Bennett, who served as an executive assistant and senior briefer to Cuomo from January 2019 to June 2020, said Cuomo made “numerous inappropriate and sexually suggestive comments to her,” and even allegedly asked her to memorize song lyrics, which she says he required her to sing to him. He also sang songs to her, and gave her a recording of one of his renditions. Bennett claimed Cuomo also made “inappropriate comments” about her experience as a sexual assault survivor.

Other former employees, like Lindsey Boylan and Brittany Commisso, described incidents of Cuomo touching and kissing them without consent, and making sexually explicit comments toward them as well. In fact, many of the complaints involved kissing, touching and sexually suggestive language that made the workers feel uncomfortable or that Cuomo was suggesting they should have sex.

Additional examples can be found in the criminal complaint against Cuomo, here.

Book Deal

Regarding Cuomo’s book, Heastie tasked the Judiciary Committee with probing whether Cuomo’s “use of his own time and that of state employees served to further his personal financial gain during a global pandemic…” The Judiciary Committee noted that the Joint Committee on Public Ethics (JCOPE) had given Cuomo permission to write the book, but stipulated that “[n]o State property, personnel or other resources may be utilized for activities associated with the book.”

The report said that the Judiciary Committee had received evidence suggesting that junior members of the Executive Chamber had involuntarily worked on the book. Those staffers reportedly were asked to perform tasks related to the book as part of their regular duties. The tasks described in the report included attending meetings with agents and publishers, transcribing and drafting portions of the book, coordinating the production and promotion of the book, and participating in working sessions to review and finalize the book. One senior official reportedly sent or received over 1,000 emails between July and December 2020 regarding Cuomo’s book, while another senior official sent or received over 300 emails regarding the book in the same time frame, per the report.

The Judiciary Committee noted that the time spent on the book diverted employee attention away from their state duties “during the intense period when the then governor, Executive Chamber employees and other state officials were continuously engaged in the pandemic response.”

Cuomo also reportedly downplayed the money he earned from the book. According to the report, the book contract guaranteed payment to him of $5.2 million in royalty advances, $3.12 million of which was paid to Cuomo by the time of publication. But in interviews Cuomo said his earnings on the book would depend on book sales, even though such sales would be in addition to the multi-million-dollar advance.

Nursing Home Information

The nursing home portion of this extensive investigation focused on the work that went into a July 6, 2020, report by the NYS Department of Health titled, “Factors Associated with Nursing Home Infections and Fatalities in New York State During the COVID-19 Global Health Crisis.” The goal was to see if Cuomo or his staff was directed to “inappropriately withhold or misrepresent information regarding the effects of COVID-19 on New Yorkers, particularly with respect to nursing homes in New York State.”

But for this portion of the investigation, the end result was not as damning as the Judiciary Committee’s other findings. In fact, the main misdeed involved a lack of transparency rather than direct malfeasance.

“The evidence obtained in our investigation establishes that while the DOH Report was accurate in its disclosures, it was not fully transparent regarding the total number of nursing home residents who died as a result of COVID-19. The Executive Chamber also delayed providing information requested by the Legislature, contrary to the advice of a senior DOH official and another senior state official. We note that our investigation did not uncover evidence to suggest that the March 25, 2020 directive, which addressed the admission or readmission of nursing home residents who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 (the “March 25 Directive”), increased the number of COVID-19 fatalities in nursing homes. Similarly, based on our investigation — which did not involve an independent medical assessment — we are not aware of any evidence that undermines the central conclusion of the DOH Report that COVID-19 was likely introduced into nursing homes by infected staff,” the report read.

The “March 25 Directive” stipulated that no nursing home resident could be denied admission or readmission to a nursing home facility based on their COVID-19 status, and that nursing homes could not require a hospitalized resident who was “determined medically stable” to be tested for COVID prior to admission. In May of that year the directive was amended to add that hospitals could not discharge a patient to a nursing home unless the facility had certified that it could care for such patients, and that hospitals had to test for COVID and obtain a negative result before discharging them.

The Judiciary Committee found that the DOH had left out two weeks of data between April and May 2020 on nursing home deaths, particularly nursing home deaths that occurred after 5 p.m. each day, which made the data incomplete. The report gave a vague attribution for this error: “…it appears that the underreporting was the result of difficulty in utilizing a new data collection process amidst a pandemic…”

The governor’s staff also appeared to be reluctant to admit fault when the discrepancy was discovered, according to the report. Other problems with the data collection process included the reporting of in-facility deaths versus out-of-facility deaths, with the latter being left out of the DOH’s initial report. The Judiciary Committee noted that while the DOH’s report was accurate, because it only mentioned in-facility deaths, it could have been more transparent as to why the other deaths were left out.

Mario Cuomo Bridge

The final controversy the Judiciary Committee investigated involved safety concerns about New York State bridges and whether Cuomo “directed or had knowledge of executive personnel or others attempting to suppress or obstruct related investigations.”

This investigation actually stemmed from a 2016 whistleblower complaint about certain bolts used in the construction of the Mario Cuomo Bridge, formerly the Tappan Zee Bridge. The whistleblower alleged that employees with Tappan Zee Constructors (TZC), where the whistleblower also worked, made secret bolt repairs to conceal broken bolts from inspectors at the bridge construction site. The bolts had physical defects that allegedly caused them to break prematurely, per the report.

The whistleblower’s complaint has also been investigated by the New York Thruway Authority, the state Inspector General’s Office, and the NYS Attorney General’s Office. The AG’s office ultimately settled the case with the whistleblower in December 2020 for $2 million and a one-year extension by TZC of the warranty on the bridge.

After charging the legal team of Davis Polk to investigate these claims, the committee did not find anything to indicate that the Executive Chamber hid data from the public regarding unsafe bridge conditions, and the Thruway Authority repeatedly attested to the bridge’s safety. However, the Judiciary Committee did note that they halted this investigation since Cuomo resigned, adding that the Committee will “make all evidence that it has gathered available to appropriate authorities.”

The full, 63-page report can be found at the following link.