“New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo faced mounting pressure Tuesday to resign, including from President Joe Biden and other onetime Democratic allies, after an investigation found he sexually harassed nearly a dozen women and worked to retaliate against one of his accusers.” AP News

Here’s our recent coverage of Cuomo. The Flip Side

Both sides condemn Cuomo and his administration, and call for his resignation or impeachment:

“Cuomo reached under his executive assistant’s blouse and cupped her breast, she told investigators. On another occasion, he asked to take a selfie with her — then grabbed her butt cheek and began to rub it. He made sexualized comments (‘If you were single, the things I would do to you’) and demanded hugs, ‘pushing my body against his,’ when she left the governor’s mansion. And still, the executive assistant said, ‘I was going to take this to the grave.’ There was nothing to gain — ‘at the end of the day . . . nothing was going to happen to him’ — and a job at stake she had dreamed of since childhood…

“Cuomo is done, whether he recognizes it or not. But his departure, if or when it comes, does not mean the problem is solved. Because the problem, as painfully expounded in the report, is a culture that allowed this behavior to fester unaddressed. Every entity, but especially political offices in which an elected official can enjoy seeming impunity from the rules and laws that govern mere mortals, must consider: Whether it can happen here and what changes must be implemented to prevent that.”
Ruth Marcus, Washington Post

“Perhaps the most telling and dismaying detail in the voluminous report appears on the very first page. In a footnote, the investigators explain that many of the people they interviewed, including several of the accusers, ‘expressed concern and fear over retaliation and requested that, to the extent possible, their identities not be disclosed.’ The investigators honored that request. That the Governor of the State of New York has created an atmosphere in which citizens are afraid to speak openly with the state’s top law-enforcement office is an intolerable political situation and a scandal in its own right. The fears of those who requested anonymity are understandable—before the probe was over, no one in New York politics could say for sure that Cuomo would suffer any consequences as a result of it.”
Eric Lach, New Yorker

“Most of the incidents in the report took place in the past five years of Cuomo’s tenure as governor, so judging Cuomo’s behavior involves neither reliance upon long-faded memories nor the evaluation of acts decades in the past when social standards were different or the offender was very young. The conduct detailed in the report goes well beyond anything that could plausibly be deemed in bounds — regardless of the era…  

“Moreover, Cuomo is a professional politician. Keeping up with how the world is changing around him is part of his job. His public statements and initiatives over the years very clearly show that he knows full well what is considered inappropriate in the world of the 2010s and 2020s. He just didn’t care. Cuomo was not alone in this venture. He was enabled by those around him in creating a culture of fear and intimidation, and the next governor should clean house.”
The Editors, National Review

“Let’s face it: It’s going to be impossible for the governor to continue running New York government — especially at such a crucial moment — following James’ report alone. Yet as bad as the findings are, they don’t even touch on his numerous other scandals — most notably, his order for nursing homes to accept COVID-contagious patients, and then his coverup of the actual number of residents of those homes who died of the disease. New Yorkers need a governor they can look up to, someone they can trust as honorable, honest and decent. Cuomo has shown he’s not up to it. It’s long past time for him to go.”
Editorial Board, New York Post

“The damning 165-page report paints a sickening portrait of an arrogant governor who forced himself on nearly a dozen women with ‘unwanted groping, kissing, and hugging,’ as well as highly sexualized comments.  The proof, according to the investigators, is both ‘credible and very well corroborated.’  A total of 179 interviews were conducted and 47 thousand pieces of evidence were examined… there are more than sufficient grounds for Cuomo to be criminally charged… police and prosecutors must now review the accumulated evidence gathered by the attorney general and take aggressive action to hold the governor strictly accountable under the law.”
Gregg Jarrett, Fox News

“People close to the governor believe that he can fight it out in the Assembly chamber, convince enough Democrats and maybe even a few Republicans that he is better than whatever option could come behind him. The longer the Assembly waits — its own investigation is now entering its fifth month — the longer Cuomo can argue that his fate is something that the voters of New York should decide next June in the Democratic primary and then in a November general election…

“Cuomo thinks that if he can make it that far, that if he can get out of another tough spot, he can prevail before the voters next year. His staff have monitored poll numbers closely, and until this latest round of news, they showed that he remained popular, especially among older voters… And so once again, we remain in the place we ever have been, a chorus of voices calling on the governor to resign, a set of facts that it looks impossible for him to get out of, a legislature sounding more and more like it is ready to move. And yet.”
David Freedlander, New York Magazine

“If Democrats have the courage of their convictions, they’ll call on the Legislature to start impeachment proceedings. Make the case for why the verdict of voters should be short-circuited with specific charges and evidence. This would give Mr. Cuomo’s lawyers the chance to defend him against the allegations and to cross-examine his accusers. Anything less will mean giving Mr. Cuomo—and themselves—a pass.”
Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal