Schumer Backs Probe of ‘Troubling’ Accusations Against Cuomo

(Bloomberg) -- Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the allegations of sexual harassment against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo “very troubling” and said he trusts New York Attorney General Letitia James to investigate the issue.

“I know the attorney general will conduct a thorough investigation that will be totally independent,” Schumer, a New York Democrat, told reporters Tuesday.

Earlier this week, Schumer joined New York's other Democratic senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, in calling for James to investigate allegations of sexual harassment against the governor by two former aides.

On Monday, the New York Times reported an additional allegation from Anna Ruch, who said she didn't know Cuomo, but he put his hand on her bare lower back, then her cheeks, and asked if he could kiss her at a wedding in 2019, the first time she had met him.

Schumer's comments come as Cuomo faces mounting calls from fellow Democrats in his state that he resign amid sexual harassment claims and a controversy over an alleged coverup of nursing-home deaths during the coronavirus pandemic.

Six socialist members of the New York legislature called on Cuomo to step down Tuesday, joining Long Island Representative Kathleen Rice, the first Democratic member of Congress to do so late Monday after a third woman publicly accused the governor of inappropriate behavior.

Cuomo, 63, now in his third term as governor, has been avoiding the spotlight for more than a week as the scandals grow. James issued a report that said more residents died from Covid-19 in nursing homes than the state Department of Health reported. A top Cuomo aide admitted on a private call with lawmakers that the state withheld data because it was afraid of a federal investigation.

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