NEW YORK — A thicket of court cases and a legal strategy that silences critics will follow Andrew Cuomo into City Hall if he’s elected mayor of the nation’s largest city.
Playing out against the backdrop of the heated New York City Democratic primary that Cuomo has dominated for months is his aggressive legal maneuvering as he continues to deny any wrongdoing in the scandals that pushed him from office.
The frontrunner and former New York governor is embroiled in several lawsuits, including two filed by women — a former member of his State Police security detail and an ex-aide — who accused him of sexual harassment. Cuomo signaled his intention to file a defamation suit against a third woman, former aide and accuser Charlotte Bennett. The move came as Cuomo was preparing to enter the mayoral race last year; Bennett described it as effectively muzzling her from talking about her experience.
Cuomo’s legal tactics have included seeking Bennett’s gynecological and therapist records, which his attorney Rita Glavin called a “pro forma request” made at the direction of a psychiatric expert due to the damages being sought. Glavin said she’d have offered a fulsome response, but is limited by a confidentiality order enforced by Bennett’s attorneys.
In a separate case filed by former aide Brittany Commisso, Cuomo’s attorneys subpoenaed communications with her ex-husband, an Albany politician, that her attorney argued have nothing to do with the case. The ex-governor's legal team has insisted these demands are routine and necessary to mount a robust defense.
Complicating matters further for Cuomo, he is reportedly under investigation by the Trump administration after House Republicans referred him for prosecution after accusing him of lying to a Congressional panel investigating his Covid-era policies, a claim he's denied. Cuomo says he’s yet to be contacted by the DOJ and has called the probe politically motivated, even though Democrats also raised concerns about his testimony.
Taken together, the legal cases surrounding the former governor paint a picture of someone acclimating to the job of running New York City while defending himself in two lawsuits, pursuing a third and potentially responding to a federal investigation. It all comes as he seeks to turn the page on the scandals that led to his political downfall four years ago, with an electoral comeback that would belie the ongoing legal machinations that blossomed following his resignation.
The dynamic calls to mind the legal woes of Mayor Eric Adams, whose corruption charges were dismissed after the Democrat cozied up to President Donald Trump. Adams’ closeness to the Republican president further tarnished his standing with voters, leading him to forgo seeking the Democratic nomination and run as an independent in November. Cuomo critics assert the legal dramas would hinder his management of the city and create a dynamic similar to the one that has dogged Adams.
“It would take away Cuomo’s ability to govern,” Assemblymember Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas said. “It’s why Eric Adams is deeply compromised. We don't need one scandal-ridden mayor replaced with another.”
The ex-governor’s attorneys have pounced on criticism of him as he attempts his political comeback. Lawyers have admonished their counterparts in harassment lawsuits from publicizing that Cuomo has leveraged a state law to have taxpayers cover his attorneys’ fees in some cases, warning that such criticism is “prejudicing Governor Cuomo’s right to a fair trial.” Taxpayers spent $20.3 million to defend Cuomo and several former advisors in three sexual harassment lawsuits, according to a recent tally by the state comptroller’s office.
Efforts to suppress criticism have crossed into his mayoral bid. His campaign attorney in May sent a “cease-and-desist” notice to a union backing one of Cuomo’s rivals for making inaccurate claims in a political flyer. Some of the notice’s concerns — an accusation that the ex-governor is no “friend” of working people — are standard campaign rhetoric.
Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi pointed to efforts by the Trump administration to investigate or arrest prominent Democrats, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer while opening an investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James. State lawmakers approved a $10 million pot of money for James’ legal bills, he noted.
“Pretending like this nonsense is somehow a different situation is silly and disingenuous,” Azzopardi said. “Trump will try this with anyone who — unlike Mayor Adams — refuses to bend the knee. These are serious times and New Yorkers know Andrew Cuomo is the only candidate who has the experience and the record of results to fix what’s broken and put the city back on the right track.”
The former governor has insisted as mayor he would not be beholden to Trump and is best suited to negotiate with the mercurial president given their decades of shared history. He said the allegations against him — sexually harassing 11 women as determined by the state attorney general’s report — were “all political.” The former governor during a televised debate said the allegations never translated to criminal cases, rather “political fodder for my opponents.”
“Four years later, we’ve had five district attorneys — Democrat, Republicans, upstate, downstate — nothing has come of them whatsoever,” Cuomo said during the debate.
“There has been one civil case that’s been resolved,” he added in reference to Bennett withdrawing her lawsuit last year. “I was dropped from the case.”
Cuomo’s scandals have not dented his mayoral prospects, and his rivals have failed to capitalize on the controversies. He entered the race on March 1 and instantly became the leading candidate for the party’s nomination after weeks of privately sewing the perception that his victory would be inevitable. But there is some sense his scandals are not far from voters’ minds, given his otherwise high negatives, even as most polls show him winning the race. Candidate Zohran Mamdani, however, is gaining on Cuomo in polls, and early voting returns show an increase in participation from younger voters likely to back the 33-year-old democratic socialist Mamdani over the former governor.
On Saturday, Cuomo foe Brad Lander appeared with Bennett and several others who accused the ex-governor of harassment, along with a man whose father, a nursing home resident, died of Covid.
At least two sexual harassment lawsuits stand to follow Cuomo into City Hall. Commisso sued him in November 2023 after she alleged Cuomo groped her at the governor’s mansion. Court papers show Cuomo would sit for a deposition as late as December — weeks before the inauguration of the city's next mayor. Another suit filed by a woman known as Trooper 1 is not expected to conclude this year.
As he prepared to run, Cuomo’s attorneys moved to sue Bennett, a former administration aide who first accused him of sexual harassment in 2021, claiming she defamed him when making her claims public. Bennett only days earlier dropped her own sexual harassment lawsuit against the ex-governor. Going on the offensive, Cuomo’s legal team asserted Bennett’s allegations were a key factor in his eventual downfall.
“Bennett’s false allegations materially contributed to a cascade of harm to Governor Cuomo,” attorneys for the former governor wrote in an initial court filing. “Among other things, the false accusations she publicized in the national media were a significant factor in calls for an investigation into Governor Cuomo’s conduct.”
Cuomo last week did not answer a reporter’s questions over whether he would pursue a defamation case against Bennett if elected mayor. Bennett responded on X: “There have been a lot of discussions about my gynecological records and yet barely any mention of the fact that I STILL am not safe to discuss this personal experience publicly.”
Her attorney did not return messages seeking comment.
The defamation maneuver stunned advocates for survivors and reinvigorated a push by state lawmakers to pass a law that would make it harder for people accused of sexual harassment to file such cases. The effect of a defamation suit, though, could be far-reaching for Cuomo’s potential tenure in City Hall.
“It sets a highly concerning tone for what New York stands for. Imagine how terrifying that would be with him coming back — what does that do to an ordinary person who may come forward?” said Victoria Burke, a California-based privacy attorney who crafted legislation meant to limit defamation suits like the one Cuomo filed against Bennett. “It would have a chilling effect on anyone who comes forward. He’s powerful, he’s back, he’s not remorseful.”
Glavin, the Cuomo attorney, said: “Everyone is entitled to due process and has the right to defend themself, particularly against demonstrably false allegations.”
The Bennett lawsuit, she said, “fell apart” due to requests for text and video messages “that disproved her claims” which investigators did not obtain.
“Bennett's claims were virtually worthless, which is why the state eventually agreed to a nuisance settlement. Commisso’s lawsuit is headed in the exact same direction — like Bennett, Commisso also withheld from investigators dozens of texts that gut her allegations, which is why her lawyers are now engaged in legal maneuvering to avoid Commisso having to sit for a deposition,” Glavin said.
She continued: “Trooper 1’s case — which the New York State Police are also defending against — is likewise in tatters. What you cite are nothing more than routine, pro forma discovery requests that any defendant would make. Moreover, none of these cases involve an order preventing any complainant from talking publicly. If anyone is worried about a defamation claim, it must be because they know their allegations are false. “
Cuomo initially expressed regret when Bennett first came forward in 2021 to describe how the then-governor would ask questions about her personal relationships and sex life while telling her he was lonely. Looking directly into the camera during one of his Covid briefings that shot him to national stardom, Cuomo apologized if he made anyone feel uncomfortable.
Out of office, Cuomo has denied any wrongdoing. In legal filings, his attorneys are taking a forceful posture, which extends to lawyers representing the women.
Less than a week after Cuomo announced his mayoral campaign, in a letter to the court, Glavin blasted Commisso lawyer Mariann Wang for calling the ex-governor “an unrepentant sexual harasser” as “defamatory.” Criticizing Cuomo for receiving taxpayer assistance to defend himself would hurt his chances for a fair trial, Glavin wrote.
“There is nothing improper about Governor Cuomo receiving the state funded defense to which he is entitled to under the law,” Glavin wrote. “Yet, Ms. Wang seeks to weaponize that fact and taint public opinion by calling Governor Cuomo’s appropriate and routine discovery efforts ‘vindictive.’”
Wang responded that Cuomo would “surely like” to prevent accusers from speaking about him but “unfortunately for him, the First Amendment does not allow for such prior restraints on core political speech.”
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