NEW YORK -- Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said Tuesday afternoon that the New York legislature will "move expeditiously and look to conclude" its impeachment investigation "as quickly as possible" after state Attorney General Letitia James on Tuesday released a 168-page report documenting the findings of a five-month investigation which found Gov. Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed several women.
"The independent investigation has concluded that Gov. Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women and in doing so violated federal and state law," James said at a press conference Tuesday.
Cuomo "created a hostile environment for women," she added.
Cuomo has always denied touching anyone inappropriately and remained defiant following the report's release.
The governor responded to the findings saying, "The facts are much different than what has been portrayed... I never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances ... that is just not who I am and that's not who I have ever been."
Cuomo's attorney has written a response to each allegation, which has been posted online.
READ THE FULL REPORT
James' office launched its investigation in March, after current and former female staffers in the governor's office claimed they were sexually harassed by the 63-year-old lawmaker.
James said there were 11 accusers and their claims were credible and/or corroborated.
"The investigation found Cuomo sexually harassed current and former New York State employees by engaging in unwelcome and non-consensual touching and making numerous offensive comments of a suggestive and sexual nature that created a hostile work environment for women," James said.
"The investigators independently corroborated and substantiated these facts through interviews and evidence, including contemporaneous notes and communications," James said.
James said the investigation wouldn’t have been possible without the “heroic women who came forward.”
Two outside lawyers were hired to conduct the probe: former acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon Kim and employment discrimination expert Anne Clark.
The investigators reviewed more than 74,000 pieces of evidence, including documents, emails, text messages, audio files and pictures, and spoke to 179 individuals, including complainants, current and former members of the executive chamber, state troopers, additional state employees and others who interacted with regularly with the governor.
The investigation found Cuomo's pattern of harassment took place both inside and outside of the employment setting. It also concluded that his team retaliated against a former employee for coming forward with her story.
The report also found the executive chamber was "rife with fear and intimidation and a hostile work environment."
“Some suffered through unwanted touching, and grabbing of their most intimate body parts. Others suffered through repeated offensive, sexually suggestive, or gender-based comments," Joon Kim, one of the lawyers leading the investigation, said at the press conference. "A number of them endured both. None of them welcomed it. And all of them found it disturbing, humiliating, uncomfortable and inappropriate.”
Cuomo's CNN anchor brother Chris Cuomo was part of "the Governor's team of advisors from within and outside the Chamber [who] had ongoing and regular discussions about how to respond to the allegations publicly," according to the probe.
The report also detailed, for the first time, allegations that Cuomo sexually harassed a female state trooper on his security detail. It said that the governor ran his hand or fingers across her stomach and her back, kissed her on the cheek, asked for her help in finding a girlfriend and asked why she didn't wear a dress.
"She was standing opening the door for the governor. As he passed, he took his open hand and ran it across her stomach, across her belly button to the part on her hip where she keeps her gun," Clark said, adding that the trooper felt violated.
James said her investigation has concluded. "The matter is civil in nature and does not have any criminal consequences," James said.
There were no referrals to criminal prosecutors, though that wouldn't preclude local authorities from using the evidence and findings of the report to mount their own cases. In March, a groping allegation made against Cuomo was reported to the Albany Police Department, but a criminal investigation was not opened.
Cuomo specifically addressed that allegation in a pre-recorded video statement and denied the groping claim.
"Let me be clear, that never happened. She wants anonymity and I respect that so I am limited by what I can say but her lawyer has suggested that she will file a legal claim for damages," Cuomo said. "That will be decided in a court of law. Trial by newspaper or biased reviews are not the way to find the facts in this matter. I welcome the opportunity for a full and fair review before a judge and a jury because this just did not happen."
Cuomo also lashed out against those who he said sought to "unfairly characterize and weaponize everyday interactions" that he has had.
"The New York Times published a front page picture of me touching a woman's face at a wedding and then kissing her on the cheek," Cuomo said. "That is not front page news. I've been making the same gesture in public all my life. I actually learned that from my mother and from my father. It is meant to convey warmth, nothing more... After the event, the woman told the press that she took offense at the gesture, and for that I apologize."
The attorney general's report is expected to play an important role in an ongoing inquiry in the state Assembly into whether there are grounds for Cuomo to be impeached.
The Assembly hired its own legal team to investigate Cuomo's conduct, plus other allegations of wrongdoing. The legislature is looking into the help Cuomo got from senior aides to write a book about the pandemic, special access that Cuomo relatives got to COVID-19 testing last year, and the administration's decision to withhold some data on nursing home deaths from the public for several months.
Some members of the judiciary committee have said they expect James' report to be "critical'' for the impeachment investigation.
"We have received the Attorney General's 168 page report containing findings of sexual harassment and misconduct committed by Governor Cuomo," Speaker Carl Heastie said in a statement. "The findings contained in the report are disturbing. The details provided by the victims are gut-wrenching. Our hearts go out to all the individuals who have had to endure this horrible experience. The conduct by the Governor outlined in this report would indicate someone who is not fit for office."
"The report has been forwarded to the members of the Judiciary Committee as well as all members of the Assembly. We will now undertake an in-depth examination of the report and its corresponding exhibits with our Assembly counsels as well the legal firm we have retained to assist us," Heastie added. "We will have more to say in the very near future."
Heastie released a statement later Tuesday afternoon saying, "After our conference this afternoon to discuss the Attorney General's report concerning sexual harassment allegations against Governor Cuomo, it is abundantly clear to me that the Governor has lost the confidence of the Assembly Democratic majority and that he can no longer remain in office. Once we receive all relevant documents and evidence from the Attorney General, we will move expeditiously and look to conclude our impeachment investigation as quickly as possible."
When the accusations first surfaced last winter there was a chorus of calls for the governor's resignation. At the time, the governor resisted those calls saying there should be an investigation first.
The governor said he has brought in an expert to design a new sexual harassment policy in state government to train employees, including himself. "I accept responsibility and we are making changes," Cuomo said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.