New York Governor Andrew Cuomo released a statement in 2018 which called for the resignation of then-Attorney General Eric Schneiderman over a magazine article's claims — a demand now resurfacing amid his own sexual misconduct allegations.
The New Yorker magazine published a scathing article in May 2018 which laid out four women's claims of sexual abuse at the hands of Schneiderman, a report which led to his resignation within hours. The Cuomo administration responded to the story about the self-proclaimed champion of women's rights by immediately calling for his resignation from office. Citing a "damning patter of facts and corroboration laid out in the article," Cuomo joined several state leaders in pushing for Schneiderman to resign.
But now, almost three years later, Cuomo himself is accused of sexual misconduct by four women as he faces growing demands to resign as governor.
The seemingly hypocritical stance of the embattled governor resurfaced this week on social media as Cuomo twice rejected calls to resign from office. The third-term governor is facing impeachment by New York state lawmakers who have also called out his administration's underreporting of COVID-19-related nursing home deaths.
Cuomo's office issued the following statement in May 2018 which called for Schneiderman's resignation:
"The New Yorker has published an article on Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, which reports multiple women making serious allegations of assault. No one is above the law, including New York's top legal officer. I will be asking an appropriate New York District Attorney to commence an immediate investigation, and proceed as the facts merit. My personal opinion is that, given the damning pattern of facts and corroboration laid out in the article, I do not believe it is possible for Eric Schneiderman to continue to serve as Attorney General, and for the good of the office, he should resign."
A follow-up New Yorker piece published Sunday highlights the parallels of the accusations against both Cuomo and Schneiderman in the upper echelon of New York State politics.
Tanya Selvaratnam, who detailed her abusive relationship with Schneiderman when he was attorney general, noted to the magazine that "if Schneiderman were still the state's attorney general he would likely be tasked with investigating the accusations against Cuomo."
Instead, current New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday announced the names of the two lead attorneys who will lead the investigation of sexual harassment claims made against Cuomo. Joon H. Kim, former acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and Anne Clark, an employment discrimination lawyer, will lead the probe into the Cuomo allegations.
Newsweek reached out to Cuomo's office for a response Monday afternoon.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Benjamin Fearnow is a reporter based out of Newsweek's New York City offices. He was previously at CBS and Mediaite ... Read more
