Cuomo isolated as accuser Brittany Commisso is set to speak in first TV interview
ALBANY, N.Y. – A former executive assistant who accused Gov. Andrew Cuomo of groping her at the Governor's Mansion last year said she believes the incident "was a crime. He broke the law."
Brittany Commisso, listed as “Executive Assistant #1” in the state attorney general's investigation into alleged sexual harassment by Cuomo in the workplace, came forward in an interview Monday, saying the Democratic governor needs to be held accountable.
"I believe that he groped me, he touched me, not only once, but twice. And I don't think that that had happened to any of the other women," Commisso said in an interview with "CBS This Morning" and the Times Union of Albany.
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The woman testified to investigators that she was subjected to regular sexual harassment and touching by the Democratic governor, culminating in an incident at the Governor's Mansion last November.
According to the report, Cuomo "reached under her blouse and grabbed her breast."
The incident is under investigation by the Albany County District Attorney's Office for potential criminal charges.
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Commisso is one of 11 women, nine of them state workers, who were interviewed in the report claiming Cuomo inappropriately touched them or made inappropriate comments.
The report has led to calls for Cuomo to resign, including from President Joe Biden, and the state Assembly plans impeachment proceedings if he doesn't leave.
Sunday night, Cuomo took another hit: His top aide, Melissa DeRosa, quit.
Cuomo's attorney dispute's Commisso's claim
Cuomo has repeatedly denied that he inappropriately touched anyone, and his attorney, Rita Glavin, said Friday that Commisso's timeline of events doesn't match his office's records.
"The governor has repeatedly denied that ever took place, and quite frankly, when she first raised this in early March, he was stunned," Glavin said.
Glavin said that when the incident allegedly took place, Commisso "was at the mansion that day for several hours. She wasn't just working with the governor. She was working with other staffers. Emails that she sent while she was at the mansion reflect that she was joking while she was there, she was eating snacks and she even offered to stay longer at the mansion when her work was done."
The attorney general's report says that for more than three months, Commisso kept the incident to herself, planning to take it “to the grave.”
She became emotional, which was visible to colleagues, when Cuomo publicly denied other sexual harassment allegations from former aides, investigators said.
Impeachment discussion at Assembly
The state Assembly's judiciary committee planned to meet Monday to discuss how to wrap up an investigation into whether there are grounds to impeach Cuomo.
About two-thirds of state Assembly members have said they favor an impeachment trial if Cuomo refuses to resign. Only a simple majority vote is needed to begin an impeachment trial.
Contributing: The Associated Press
Joseph Spector is the Government and Politics Editor for the USA TODAY Network's Atlantic Group, overseeing coverage in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware. He can be reached at JSPECTOR@Gannett.com or followed on Twitter: @GannettAlbany
This article originally appeared on New York State Team: Brittany Commisso: Cuomo accuser tells her story amid impeachment talk
