NEW YORK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th March, 2021) New York Governor Andrew Cuomo vowed on Friday not to bow to political pressure and step down over allegations that he sexually harassed and assaulted women who worked under him, saying he was confident a state investigation would clear him.
"I'm not going to resign," the governor told reporters during a phone briefing held to discuss the state's coronavirus statistics and response. "I was not elected by the politicians. I was elected by the people. Part of this is that I am not part of the political club. Politicians who don't know a single fact but yet form a conclusion and then [an] opinion are, in my opinion, reckless and dangerous. That, my friends, is politics at its worst. People know the difference between playing politics, bowing to cancel culture, and the truth."
Cuomo's response came as some 60 members of the 213-member New York State legislature demanded he resign, prompting the Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie to authorize on Thursday the start of what he called an "impeachment investigation" against the governor.
Five women have accused the 63-year-old Cuomo of harassment, with one claiming that he forcibly tried to kiss her, and another saying that he effectively propositioned another for sex. The most explosive allegation is that he put his hand uninvitingly under the shirt of a female colleague and groped.
New York Attorney General Letitia James has opened an independent investigation into the allegations. James is leading another probe that Cuomo covered up the deaths of people who originally contracted the COVID-19 in state nursing homes that did not get due care under his watch.
Cuomo said he was confident the investigations will clear him and said he was focused on getting New York back on its feet from its worst financial crisis ever.
"I am confident in the decision based on the facts," he said. "In the meantime, I'm going to avoid distractions and I'm going to focus on my job. We have a budget due in two weeks for a state that is in a fiscal crisis. It will be the most difficult budget we have done. We have to perform 15 million vaccinations and we have to be ready on May 1 for eligibility for the entire state [for vaccinations]."
As a former attorney-general himself before becoming governor, he knew of the importance of "waiting for the facts" and how "irresponsible it is to form opinions without facts," he added.
