MINEOLA, N.Y. (WCBS 880) — The Nassau County District Attorney’s Office on Thursday said it will not prosecute former Gov. Andrew Cuomo over allegations that he touched a female state trooper inappropriately at Belmont Park in 2019.
While acting Nassau County DA Joyce Smith said her office “found the allegations credible” and “deeply troubling,” she said that the actions alleged by the state trooper were “not criminal under New York law.”
“It is important to note that our investigation was limited to alleged conduct at Belmont Racetrack, and prosecutors in other jurisdictions continue to review other allegations of misconduct by Mr. Cuomo,” Smith said in a statement.
“We thank the brave individuals who came forward and cooperated with our office during this investigation, and gratefully acknowledge our colleagues, Attorney General [Letitia] James and the New York State Assembly, for their diligence and collaboration,” she added.
The allegation was one of the many that AG James reported on during her investigation into multiple sexual harassment allegations against Cuomo.
Cuomo resigned in August after James’ office published the report, which said there were multiple credible instances that the then-governor sexually harassed multiple women – including the trooper – and violated state and federal laws.
Despite his resignation, Cuomo has continued to deny any wrongdoing and is adamant that he never touched anyone inappropriately.
In her report, James detailed the allegations from the trooper, saying Cuomo immediately began flirting with her after the two met, and pushed to have her moved to his security detail.
The report said Cuomo sexually harassed her multiple times while she worked for him.
In particular, during the 2019 incident, Cuomo allegedly ran the palm of his left hand across her stomach, from her belly button to her hip, as she held the door for him.
The trooper said the alleged actions made her feel “completely violated because to me, like that's between my chest and my privates.”
The trooper added that she felt she could not say anything about the incident at the time, despite being asked about by a senior official.
“I'm a trooper, newly assigned to the travel team. Do I want to make waves? No,” she told James, according to the report. “I've heard horror stories about people getting kicked off the detail or transferred over like little things.”
“I had no plans to report it,” the trooper said.
James’ report also detailed another incident in which Cuomo made “sexually suggestive and gender-based comments, including asking her to help him find a girlfriend and describing his criteria for a girlfriend as someone who ‘[c]an handle pain.’”
On Thursday, Rich Azzopardi, a spokesman for Cuomo, released a statement on the former governor’s behalf, once again slamming AG James’ report as bias.
“With each passing day it becomes more and more clear that the Attorney General’s report was the intersection of gross prosecutorial misconduct and an abuse of government power for political purposes. Her press conference proclaimed ‘11 cases of violations of federal and state laws,’ ignited the cancel culture mentality and started a media and political stampede against Governor Cuomo,” Azzopardi said.
“James never presented the evidence to support such claims, her report omitted important exculpatory facts, she admitted her personal interference in preparing the report and had still refused to answer any questions from the press,” he continued. “It was obviously a political springboard to remove Governor Cuomo so she could run for office, however it was so poorly done and obviously it backfired and James’ run for governor lasted only 5 weeks.”
While the Nassau DA has decided not to prosecute the former governor, the U.S. Department of Justice is still investigating the allegations and other state district attorneys are also investigating claims in their jurisdictions.
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