August 10, 2021

Andrew Cuomo Resigns as Governor After Explosive Sexual Harassment Report

AP/Mary Altaffer

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo resigned on Tuesday after a damning, wide-ranging report issued by the state’s attorney general last week found that he sexually harassed multiple women, violating state and federal law.

Cuomo said that his resignation will go into effect in 14 days. He will be replaced by Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who will become the first woman to govern the state, and will serve until the next gubernatorial elections scheduled for late next year.

In a press conference, the embattled governor remained defiant against the allegations of sexual harassment, claiming that the investigation was biased. “My instinct is to fight through this controversy,” he said, “because I truly believe it is politically motivated.”

But while he denied any wrongdoing, Cuomo acknowledged that the fallout from the scandal left him without any choice but to step down. “Given the circumstances, the best way I can help now is to step aside and let government get back to governing,” he said.

The powerful third-term Democrat had spent the last week railing against the investigation and preparing for a protracted legal fight, sending out his personal attorney to defend his actions, even as evidence emerged that he had used his office to retaliate against his victims. In a recorded video, Cuomo also attempted to characterize himself as an advocate for women, and in Trumpian form, claimed that his actions had been repeatedly misunderstood by his accusers. 

Since the report was released exactly one week ago, Cuomo quickly found himself facing the threat of impeachment after virtually all Democrats in the state, not to mention  President Joe Biden himself, called for his resignation. The White House on Tuesday said that they had not received a heads up on Cuomo’s decision before his televised announcement.

“Our view is that this is a story about these courageous women who came forward, told their stories, shared their stories,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.

Watch a clip from Cuomo’s announcement:

This is a breaking news post. We’ll update as more information becomes available.

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate