MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Biden says New York Governor Cuomo needs to resign amid sexual harassment scandal

“The attorney general has decided that there are things that were not” quite innocent, said Biden

US President Joseph Biden has called for the resignation of New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is under heavy criticism for his alleged involvement in a sexual harassment scandal.

The New York State Attorney's Office has produced a bulky report according to which the Cuomo, of Biden's own Democratic Party, sexually harassed several female members of his staff.

“I think he should resign,” Biden said Tuesday during a news conference at the White House.

The US president had so far dodged the issue but the 169-page document signed by New York Attorney General Letitia James seems to have made him take a clear stance.

However, Biden was reluctant to comment on whether Cuomo should face impeachment if he refuses to resign, although he admitted it is “a possibility” that the governor risks.

Cuomo has flatly denied the allegations, insisting that he “never” touched “any woman inappropriately” or made any “sexual advances.” During an appearance before the press Tuesday, Cuomo displayed a video with several photographs of his displays of affection over the years to public figures, including Biden.

When asked if it bothered him that Cuomo had used a picture of the two of them hugging as a part of his defense strategy, Biden replied that “I'm sure some of the hugs were totally innocent, but apparently, the attorney general has decided that there are things that were not.”

Biden admitted he had not read the full New York prosecutor's report -only its conclusions- and recalled that in March he already said that, if James's investigation concluded that Cuomo was responsible for harassment, he would request his resignation.

James' report is the result of five months of investigation into various allegations of harassment against Cuomo, after interviewing 179 people and obtaining 74,000 pieces of evidence, including documents, emails, messages and photos, it was reported.

The prosecutor noted that the governor violated “state and federal laws” by “sexually harassing multiple women, many of them young, with unwanted touching, kissing, hugging and inappropriate comments” between 2013 and 2020.

The document also features eleven complainants whose allegations are described in great detail, nine of them current or former state employees, and “all of them found the governor's behavior disturbing, humiliating, uncomfortable and inappropriate.”