Cuomo May Have Joined Effort To Discredit 1st Accuser, Report Says

A new report alleges that aides to New York Democrat Governor Andrew Cuomo created a letter attacking the credibility of the first woman to publicly accuse him of sexual harassment, even going so far as attempting to link her to former President Trump, and that Cuomo himself may have been part of the effort, which was designed to get former staff members to sign on to the letter.

The letter was reportedly circulated only days after Lindsey Boylan went public on Twitter with her accusations against Cuomo. The Daily Wire reported at the time:

The woman, Lindsey Boylan, tweeted that Cuomo “sexually harassed me for years,” adding that “many saw it, and watched” and that she “could never anticipate what to expect: would I be grilled on my work (which was very good) or harassed about my looks.”

“Not knowing what to expect what’s the most upsetting part aside from knowing that no one would do a damn thing even when they saw it. No one. And I *know* I am not the only woman,” she continued. “I’m angry to be put in this situation at all. That because I am a woman, I can work hard my whole life to better myself and help others and yet still fall victim as countless women over generations have. Mostly silently. I hate that some men, like @NYGovCuomo abuse their power.”

The New York Times, which examined the letter attacking Boylan’s credibility, reported that it stated, “Weaponizing a claim of sexual harassment for personal political gain or to achieve notoriety cannot be tolerated. False claims demean the veracity of credible claims.”

“The initial idea, according to three people with direct knowledge of the events, was to have former Cuomo aides — especially women — sign their names to the letter and circulate it fairly widely,” the Times reported, adding, “Multiple drafts were created, and Mr. Cuomo was involved in creating the letter, one of the people said.”

The Times reports that current aides to Cuomo “emailed at least one draft to a group of former advisers,” and it made its way to both former and current top aides to Cuomo from there. The Times noted:

At least one version of the letter included Ms. Boylan’s text exchanges with some of Mr. Cuomo’s senior advisers last year, in an effort to suggest that she was malicious. … The draft extensively disparaged Ms. Boylan and accused her of using her claims for “political retribution.” The letter pointed out that Ms. Boylan’s campaign consultant also represented a political adversary of the governor’s, and that Ms. Boylan was “supported by lawyers and financial backers of Donald Trump: an active opponent of the governor.”

Boylan’s attorney, Jill Basinger, told the Times, “Once again, a victim of sexual harassment who has the courage to tell her story is put in the position of not only having to relive the trauma of a toxic work environment but defend herself against the malicious leaking of supposed personnel files, character assassinations and a whisper campaign of retaliation. This page needs to be ripped out of the governor’s harassment handbook.”

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