Cuomo's 1st accuser details new sexual harassment allegations in Ronan Farrow interview
NEW YORK -- New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's first accuser, Lindsey Boylan, detailed her claims of sexual harassment in a new interview with celebrity #MeToo journalist Ronan Farrow.
In the interview, published in The New Yorker, the governor's former adviser provides new anecdotes of the embattled governor's alleged harassment, bullying, and intimidation tactics.
Boylan, 36, first came forward with allegations in December and fleshed them out in a late February blog post amid scrutiny of Cuomo for the pandemic's death toll among residents in state nursing homes. At least seven women total have come forward with claims since.
In her interview with Farrow, Boylan recounted a 2018 incident in which a dog jumped on her in the governor's mansion and Cuomo "joked that if he were a dog, he would try to 'mount' her as well."
"I remember being grossed out but also ... what a dumb third-grade thing to say," Boylan said in the interview.
She had previously alleged that Cuomo tried to kiss her during a meeting in his New York City office in 2018.
Farrow appeared on "Good Morning America" in an exclusive interview Friday morning. He explained why Boylan wanted to do the interview with the New Yorker.
"We unearthed emails, texts, both internal communications in the governor's office that talked about her looks, and alluded to an elevated level of interest from the governor, and also private communications with her mother, with friends, where she seemed to be fearful of the governor ... Each of those individual incidents comes against a backdrop of what she really did perceive to be serial harassment."
A spokesperson for Cuomo declined to comment to the magazine on this claim but reiterated Cuomo's denial that he behaved inappropriately with Boylan.
The article also details newly reported plans by Cuomo advisors to discredit Boylan, by reportedly leaking Boylan's personnel records and releasing a letter attacking her credibility. They allegedly wanted to use the press to turn the tables on her and accuse her of bullying female colleagues, including Black women.
Boylan said, "My life was...for a period, destroyed."
"I think this is one of the most significant revelations here, this matches more of the emerging data in multiple stories that show a pattern of the governor weaponizing any available information from his aides and through intermediaries in New York politics and getting them into the press," Ronan told "GMA."
The governor has repeatedly denied allegations of inappropriate behavior.
"I never harassed anyone. I never abused anyone. I never assaulted anyone now, and I never would, right?" Cuomo previously told the press.
Cuomo has, however, admitted he may have made people feel uncomfortable.
"I acted in a way that made people feel uncomfortable. It was unintentional, and I truly and deeply apologize for it," Cuomo said.
He's also facing two investigations from lawmakers and the state's attorney general.
Most recently, former policy and operations aide Ana Liss met with investigators from the state attorney general's office Thursday via Zoom.
"I don't think the average person in New York State would like to know that their governor is an absolute monster," Liss said.
RELATED: Schumer, Gillibrand, join Dems in calling for Cuomo's resignation
President Joe Biden told "GMA's" George Stephanopoulos that if the investigations show wrongdoing, the governor should step aside.
"That's what I think happens, and by the way, it very well may be that there's a criminal prosecution that's attached to it," Biden said.
