NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A seventh woman has accused Gov. Andrew Cuomo of misconduct, claiming he sexually harassed her while she was working as a statehouse reporter in Albany.
Jessica Bakeman was working as a statehouse reporter for Politico in 2014 when she approached Cuomo at a holiday party he was hosting at the executive mansion in Albany, she wrote in a first-person piece published by New York Magazine on Friday.
After she approached Cuomo, the governor "took my hand, as if to shake it, then refused to let go," she claimed in the piece.
"He put his other arm around my back, his hand on my waist and held me firmly in place while indicating to a photographer he wanted us to pose for a photo," she wrote. "I didn't want a photo of him with his hands on my body and a smile on my face. But I made the reflexive assessment that most women and marginalized people know instinctively, the calculation about risk and power and self-preservation."
Still holding her hand, the governor "turned to me with a mischievous smile on his face, in front of all of my colleagues, and said: 'I'm sorry. Am I making you uncomfortable? I thought we were going steady,'" Bakeman went on to allege.
"It's not that Cuomo spares men in his orbit from his trademark bullying and demeaning behavior. But the way he bullies and demeans women is different," she wrote. "He uses touching and sexual innuendo to stoke fear in us. That is the textbook definition of sexual harassment."
Six other women have also accused the governor of sexual harassment or misconduct. At a news briefing Friday afternoon, Cuomo continued to maintain he "never harassed anyone."
"Look, it's very simple. I never harassed anyone. I never abused anyone. I never assaulted anyone. And I never would, right?" he said.
"Now, is it possible that I have taken a picture with a person who after the fact says they were uncomfortable with the pose in the picture? Yes. And that's what you're hearing about," he went on to say. "I have taken thousands of pictures. I never meant to make anyone feel awkward."
"I never took a picture with a person who said, 'I'm uncomfortable,' and then did it anyway, but yes, I apologized for people who I have taken pictures with and who after the fact said they were uncomfortable with that picture," he added.
