Washington – President Joe Biden on Tuesday called for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign after an investigation by New York’s attorney general concluded the governor sexually harassed current and former staffers over a period of years.
Biden becomes the highest-ranking elected Democrat to ask Cuomo to step aside.
The president made his comments at a White House news conference where he was asked if he stood by his comments in March that Cuomo should resign if investigators found his accusers to be credible.
“I stand by that statement,” Biden said. The president added that he had not spoken with Cuomo since the investigation was made public Tuesday.
When asked if he thought Cuomo should be prosecuted if he refuses to resign, Biden said it’s too soon for him to pass judgment.
“I have not read the report,” Biden said of the investigation. “I don’t know the detail of it. All I know is the end result.”
Minutes before Biden spoke, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi became the latest in a string of prominent Democrats to call for Cuomo to resign.
“Under Attorney General Letitia James, a comprehensive and independent investigation into the allegations against Governor Cuomo has been completed,” Pelosi said in a statement.
“As always, I commend the women who came forward to speak their truth,” Pelosi said. “Recognizing his love of New York and the respect for the office he holds, I call upon the governor to resign.”
Earlier in the day, New York lawmakers from both parties said Cuomo should resign or face impeachment after an independent investigation found he sexually harassed women in the workplace, violating state and federal law.
Among those calling for Cuomo to step down are New York’s two Democratic U.S. senators – Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand – and state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, D-N.Y., and Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay, R-Pulaski.
Before Biden’s comment, White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked earlier Tuesday about the five-month investigation into Cuomo that included interviews with 179 people.
“I don’t know how anyone could have watched this morning and not found the allegations to be abhorrent,” Psaki said. “I know that I certainly did.”
Cuomo flatly refused to heed calls for his resignation and suggested that the investigation was biased.
“My job is not about me, my job is about you,” Cuomo said in a video statement. “What matters to me at the end of the day is getting the most done I can for you. I will not be distracted from that job.”
Cuomo posted a response online from his lawyer, who claimed the attorney general’s investigators conducted an “utterly biased investigation” and ignored evidence that didn’t match up with the narrative they wanted to advance.
Biden said in March that Cuomo should resign if an independent investigation confirmed allegations of sexual harassment against the governor.
In a March interview with ABC News, Biden said if the claims about Cuomo are confirmed that, “I think he’d probably end up being prosecuted, too.”
Cuomo was among the first Democratic governors to endorse Biden in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.
Biden and Cuomo have been personal friends and political allies for years. The governor was among those considered earlier this year for a cabinet post in Biden’s White House, possibly attorney general, according to several reports.
Lindsey Boylan, a former Cuomo adviser who is among the women who accused him of sexual harassment, said she was motivated to come forward after she saw Cuomo “being floated for attorney general, the highest law enforcement position in the U.S.”
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