New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo is facing allegations of sexual harassment from six women, all of whom had worked with him. 

Lindsey Boylan was a top staffer for Cuomo. According to The Washington Post, her uncomfortable experience with Cuomo dated as far back as 2016. In December of 2016, her boss had informed her that Cuomo had a “crush” on her, and Cuomo gave her a cigar. The cigar alluded to Former President Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky, which had also involved the use of a cigar. In October of 2017, she said that the governor suggested they play strip poker. In 2018,  Cuomo gave her an unwanted kiss on the lips. Cuomo’s office denies any allegations made but have called for an investigation.

Charlotte Bennet worked as an entry-level assistant from Governor Cuomo in January of 2019. When asked how she would describe Cuomo, she described him as a “textbook abuser.” In an interview with the CBS Evening News, she told managing editor Norah O’Donnell that Cuomo “lets his temper and his anger rule the office” but he was “very sweet” to me in hopes of one day coming “onto me and I would think we were just friends and that it was appropriate.”

Bennet says her relationship with Cuomo took a turn for the worse when he became fixated on her past as a sexual assault survivor. According to the Washington Post, Bennet, who is 25, was asked multiple times by Cuomo in June if she had been in an “intimate relationship with older men.” Later on, Cuomo openly talked about being in a relationship with a woman in her 20’s. When confronted, Cuomo suggested that he may have made “jokes” with “poor taste.” He also said “Sometimes I think I am being playful and make jokes I think are funny.” 

Anna Ruch came forward in a New York Times article where she had said she never met Cuomo. But, in a wedding in 2019, he had placed his hand on her bare lower back. After she attempted to remove him, he placed both of his hands on her cheeks and asked if he could kiss her. Cuomo’s office referred to Cuomo’s previous comment where he might have been “misinterpreted” as an “unwanted flirtation.” 

Anna Liss was a policy and operations aide to Cuomo from 2013 to 2015. She had told the Wall Street Journal that Cuomo had “repeatedly inquired about her personal life, touched her, and had kissed her hand on one occasion.” Liss’ allegations were backed by several anonymous staff members. 

Karen Hilton was a former Cuomo aide who had also worked with Cuomo as a consultant to the New York Department of Housing and Urban Development. She told the Washington Post that Cuomo had invited her to his hotel and asked her personal questions about “her marriage.” She also said that Cuomo repeatedly hugged her in a manner that was “very long, too long, too tight, too intimate.”

The sixth woman accused Cuomo just this Tuesday, but did not name herself. She said that Cuomo “touched her during an encounter last year at the Executive Mansion” according to NY Daily News.  

Cuomo answered the reporters in an afternoon call repeating “as I said last week” and adding on in a quick manner that “no one had told him at the time” that they were uncomfortable. The Albany Times Union reported that the governor’s office was aware of the claims and had sent “a probe” to “oversee the governor’s behavior.”