Andrew Cuomo and his aides drafted letter attacking Lindsey Boylan right after she accused NY guv: Report
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and his close associates reportedly sprung into action as soon as the first woman came forward with her accusations against him, immediately drafting a letter attacking the former aide's credibility.
A copy of the letter was reviewed by The New York Times, which reported how the letter disparaged Lindsey Boylan and alleged she was coming forward for "political retribution."
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Boylan is one of seven women to level allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment against Cuomo. She first came forward with her claims in a series of posts on Twitter and later revealed more details in a post to the blogging website Medium, thereby sparking a sexual harassment scandal against the governor.
Sources told NYT how at least one draft of the letter began circulating among friends of the governor's current and former aides in the days after Boylan's tweets. The report stated that the original intention was to get former top statehouse staffers — especially women — to sign onto the letter. As revealed by the letter, one campaign consultant to Boylan, who is running for Manhattan borough president, had also worked for a political enemy of Cuomo.
According to NYT, the letter stated that Boylan was “supported by lawyers and financial backers of Donald Trump: an active opponent of the governor." It added, “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." Boylan, 36, had alleged that Cuomo had kissed her "on the lips" without warning when they were alone in his Manhattan office in 2018. She further claimed that the governor had also asked her to play strip poker with him a year earlier. Cuomo has strongly denied the allegations and maintained that he never touched anyone inappropriately.
Jill Basinger, Boylan's lawyer, slammed the letter in a statement to NYT. “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,” Basinger said. “This page needs to be ripped out of the governor’s harassment handbook.”
Earlier, MEAWW reported how Karen Hinton, an ex-aide of Cuomo, said that the governor was physically “aroused” when he allegedly hugged her in an "inappropriate" and "unethical" embrace at a California hotel room 21 years ago. Speaking to WNYC radio on Monday, March 15, Hinton said, “He approached me, embraced too tightly, too long and was aroused. I felt extremely uncomfortable and actually shocked. Nothing had ever happened that way between the two of us.”
A spokesman for Cuomo denied Hinton's claim when she first went public with it on March 6. "This did not happen," they said. "Karen Hinton is a known antagonist of the governor's who is attempting to take advantage of this moment to score cheap points with made-up allegations from 21 years ago. All women have the right to come forward and tell their story — however, it's also the responsibility of the press to consider self-motivation. This is reckless."
