Did Andrew Cuomo and Melissa DeRosa have an affair? NY trooper makes major allegations
Despite having been booted out of office, the bad news keeps on coming for former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. In early November, Attorney General Letitia James released the transcript of an interview with a female trooper who served on Cuomo's security detail, which has brought to light more scandalous allegations against Cuomo. Among the many revelations, the unidentified trooper reportedly alleges that the then-governor was having an affair with his aide, Melissa DeRosa.
As we previously reported, DeRosa was Cuomo's staunch ally, who in the early days of the scandal attempted to discredit the accusers. But, as impeachment seemed more and more likely, she turned her back on Cuomo and resigned from office in early August. The scandal also put a spotlight on DeRosa's husband Matthew Wing, to whom the aide was married for five years.
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Despite that, reports claim that DeRosa had a thing for her boss. The trooper doesn't directly allege the duo had an affair, but she seems to indicate it in her testimony. Since names are redacted from the transcript, we can't be sure if DeRosa is the person mentioned, but, The New York Post, which first got their hands on the transcript believes it is.
Did DeRosa and Cuomo have an affair?
The allegations spilled out after an outside lawyer hired by James asked the trooper if she "observed anything between the Governor" and his subordinates. To that, the trooper replied, "I had heard from Senior Investigator #1 that he once witnessed the Governor and Senior Staffer #1 like making out on the sidewalk like they were high schoolers. Again, he told me this. I didn’t witness this. I wasn’t even here at the time. But that’s what I had heard."
She then added, "I heard a rumor that before Senior Staffer #1 (redacted) that the Governor and her were in a hotel room by themselves for like an hour. And then one of the two left the room." It's unclear what the full context is because a lot of the text appears to be redacted. The trooper also claims another person "saw Senior Staffer #1 and the Governor like making out. He (Cuomo) was in the front seat. And Senior Staffer #1 was like sitting on the console kissing him."
In another part of the interview, the trooper also came forward to say "During COVID, Senior Staffer #1 and Senior Staffer #2 were basically living at the mansion." She went on, "Again, could they had had their own bedrooms? Of course. But no one knows what’s going on behind closed doors... I know that they would be up at the pool house in bikinis and bathing suits. I don’t really know anyone who stays at their boss’ house like that."
It appears DeRosa stayed at the Albany mansion till the Post exposed the story of one of Cuomo's bodyguards, Dane Pfeiffer, dating Cuomo's daughter Cara Kennedy-Cuomo. Once that story came out though, the trooper said "I think they were worried that people were going to start documenting or noticing who’s coming in and out." Throughout all this, DeRosa was married to Wing while Cuomo was famously single after breaking up with longtime girlfriend Sandra Lee in September 2019.
Both DeRosa and Cuomo have hit back at the report, slamming the allegations. "Multiple people have testified under oath that the Governor did not have a romantic relationship with any staffer and the AG’s continued weaponization of this report for her own political gain is even more evidence of prosecutorial misconduct," said Cuomo's spokesperson. DeRosa said, "Am I Senior Staffer #1? I have no idea — you’d have to ask the AG’s office, but the things this person says is flat-out false."