“The governor must be held accountable,” Brittany Commisso told CBS News. “What he did to me is a crime. He broke the law.”
The woman, who filed a criminal case against the politician last week in Albany, New York, detailed her allegations as Cuomo faces pressure to resign and potential court battles.
Comiso is one of eleven women named in the report released last week by New York state attorney general Letitia James, who accuse Cuomo of sexual harassment. In the document, she is anonymously identified as “Assistant Director #1”.
“I’m also Brittany Commisso. I’m a woman and I have a voice and I decided to use it,” she said in the interview. “For me, it was a dream job and unfortunately it turned into a nightmare,” he added.
In 25 minutes of interview excerpts released by CBS on Monday, the woman recounts how the governor went from “the bosom of farewell” to “increased hugs with kisses on the cheek.”
Finally, on one occasion, Cuomo “quickly turned his face to kiss me on the mouth,” he charged. Commisso also referred to two incidents in the report, first when the governor grabbed his butt while taking a selfie, and then in November 2020, at his official residence, when he reached under his blouse to touch your breasts.
Last Tuesday, the governor denied the accusations. “I want them to know directly from me that I have not inappropriately touched or sexually advanced anyone,” he said in a televised address in which he did not indicate that he was considering resigning from his position.
“Maybe he thought this was normal for him,” Commisso said. “But for me and the other woman he’s done these things with, it just wasn’t. It wasn’t welcome and certainly wasn’t consensual.”
The interview was broadcast days after Melissa DeRosa, described by New York media as one of the governor’s closest collaborators, announced her resignation.
De Rosa is identified in the New York attorney general’s report as part of a group seeking revenge against one of the women who accused the governor. In his resignation letter – which was published by several US media outlets on Sunday – DeRosa wrote that the past two years “have been emotionally and mentally difficult”.
Despite mounting pressure, Cuomo has rejected calls from President Joe Biden and other Democratic leaders to step down as state lawmakers rally to impeach him.
The governor faces a possible impeachment trial, which lawmakers say can go quickly.
“Members (of the state assembly) do not believe the governor can stay in office,” said House spokesman Karl Hesty, a Democrat. It’s a problem that will be resolved in a matter of weeks rather than months.
