The district attorney of Albany County, New York, said Tuesday that his office is criminally investigating Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has been accused of sexually harassing multiple women.
DA David Soares also said his office would “welcome any victim to contact our office with additional information” about Cuomo.
And Soares said he plans to request investigative materials from the state attorney general’s probe of his alleged harassment of 11 women, most of whom work or had worked for state government or related entities.
News of the criminal investigation came hours after Attorney General Letitia James detailed a report substantiating the women’s claims that Cuomo has subjected them to unwanted touching and remarks that make them uncomfortable.
James said the probe concluded that Cuomo “sexually harassed multiple women and in doing so violated federal and state law.”
But the attorney general said that the investigation is done and that her office would not be filing any criminal charges or civil legal action.
One of those accusers, who worked as an aide to Cuomo, has said that he groped her in his office at the governor’s mansion in Albany, the state’s capital city, after summoning her there in late 2020.
That woman’s allegation was reported by someone other than the aide to the Albany Police Department in March, after the first claims of sexual harassment against Cuomo started becoming public
A police spokesman at the time said the alleged incident may have risen “to the level of a crime,” The New York Times has previously reported.
The Albany DA’s office is responsible for prosecuting people for alleged crimes committed in Albany County.
“Along with the public, today we have been made aware of the final independent report from AG Letitia James’ office regarding Governor Cuomo’s conduct as they relate to violations of civil harassment statutes,” Soares said in a statement.
“We will be formally requesting investigative materials obtained by the AG’s Office, and we welcome any victim to contact our office with additional information,” Soares said.
“As this matter is developing we are reviewing the document from the Attorney General today, we will refrain from any additional public comment at this time regarding the status of the ongoing criminal investigation by our office.”
Cuomo strongly denied the allegations Tuesday, and claimed the probe was biased and infected by politics.
James’ report has sparked new and renewed calls for Cuomo to resign.
President Joe Biden is expected to speak about the report later Tuesday.
Biden’s press secretary, Jen Psaki said that the White House’s message to Cuomo’s accusers is that all women who have “lived through this type of experience … deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.”
“I don’t know that anyone could have watched [James’ news conference] this morning and not found the allegations to be abhorrent— I know I certainly did,” Psaki said.
— Additional reporting by CNBC’s Christina Wilkie.