Andrew Cuomo’s criminal sexual assault charges dropped by Albany DA
ALBANY — Andrew Cuomo appears to be spending his winter skating — at least when it comes to legal charges.
The criminal sexual assault case against the disgraced former governor was dropped Tuesday by the Albany County district attorney.
“Albany County District Attorney David Soares announced today that a thorough and independent review of the investigation into the allegations against former Governor Andrew Cuomo has concluded,” the DA’s office said in a statement.
“While many have an opinion regarding the allegations against the former Governor, the Albany County DA’s Office is the only one who has a burden to prove the elements of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. While we found the complainant in this case cooperative and credible, after review of all the available evidence we have concluded that we cannot meet our burden at trial,” Soares’ statement said.
“As such we have notified the Court that we are declining to prosecute this matter and requesting the charges filed by the Albany County Sheriff be dismissed.”
It’s the latest in a series of fortunate breaks for the run-out-of-office Cuomo.
On Monday, it was revealed that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office had dropped its probe into Cuomo over allegations he mishandled nursing homes during the initial coronavirus outbreak.
And last week, Cuomo was let off the hook by the Westchester County district attorney for inappropriately touching a female state trooper and kissing a random woman during separate incidents while he was in office.
Sources confirmed Brittany Commisso — the former Cuomo staffer and current state worker who filed the criminal complaint against Cuomo with the Albany Sheriff’s Office for groping her in the Executive Mansion in Albany — met with the Albany DA’s office on Monday and was told the office would not prosecute the case.
“I, like most New Yorkers, remain deeply troubled by allegations like the ones at issue here. Such conduct has no place in government or in any workplace. Although avenues for criminal prosecution in these cases are sometimes limited, I encourage victims of workplace harassment and abuse to continue to come forward and bring these issues to light so that these important discussions can continue,” said Soares.
“The decision to discontinue criminal prosecution is unrelated to any possible civil liability, which is beyond the scope of a District Attorney’s jurisdiction.”
Cuomo was due to be arraigned in court at 1:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 7.
“In this case my client had no control over the filing or prosecution of criminal charges. She had no authority or voice in those decisions. The only thing she has any power over is her resolution to continue to speak the truth and seek justice in an appropriate civil action, which she will do in due course,” said Commisso’s lawyer Brian Premo in a text message to The Post.
Facing threat of impeachment, Cuomo resigned in August — a week after state Attorney General Letitia James released a 168-page bombshell report accusing him of harassing 11 women, including nine current or former state employees
Commisso’s claims against the governor were included in the report, though the timing of the alleged grope was left hazy, as it said in one section that it happened on Nov. 16, but also included a footnote saying that Commisso couldn’t remember the exact date.
Cuomo’s personal attorney, Rita Glavin, has tried to dismiss Commisso’s allegations by attacking the discrepancy in the timeline included in the James’ report.
However, data obtained by the Assembly Judiciary Committee, which investigated the claims against Cuomo, clarified the timeline, specifically with a December text that Commisso had helped the governor send to another aide around the time of the alleged incident.
Multiple requests for comment made to the Albany County Sheriff’s Office were not returned to The Post.
A representative for Cuomo could not be reached for immediate comment.
