New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he questioned the neutrality and had "concerns as to the independence of the reviewers," hired by state Attorney General Letitia James to investigate the sexual harassment claims.
James appointed Joon Kim, the former acting U.S. attorney for Manhattan, and Anne Clark, a discrimination attorney, to conduct the investigations. They have both spent months talking to women who claimed Cuomo touched them inappropriately or made sexual remarks. One woman even said he had groped her breasts.
He ultimately believes he will be exonerated of allegations of sexual harassment.
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.
"Do a little history. Go to Google," Cuomo told reporters at a press conference at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. "Google the independent investigators."
He didn't elaborate, but his comments appeared to be a reference to Kim's work as a top federal prosecutor. In that role, Kim helped direct an anti-corruption investigation that sent one of Cuomo's top aides and close friends, Joseph Percoco, to prison. Percoco was convicted of accepting more than $300,000 from companies that wanted influence with Cuomo's administration.
Kim also was a senior figure in the U.S. attorney's office during its investigation of corruption in Cuomo's "Buffalo Billion" economic development program. A Cuomo ally, the former head of the State University of New York's Polytechnic Institute was convicted.
The chair of the New York Assembly's judiciary committee, Charles Lavine, wrote a letter to Cuomo last week warning his office to stop disparaging the investigators, saying it had the potential to send a "chilling signal to any potential witnesses."
Cuomo was said to have been scheduled to meet two weekends ago with James' investigators. His spokesperson, Rich Azzopardi, has declined to say whether that meeting took place.
Cuomo, who has denied allegations he inappropriately touched female aides and other women, said he is "eager" for New Yorkers to get the facts of what happened.
"And I think when they hear the actual facts of what happened and how the situation has been handled, I think they're going to be shocked, shocked," he said.
Separately, another team of lawyers working for the state Assembly is investigating whether there are grounds to impeach Cuomo. James' report is expected to play a critical role in the Assembly's impeachment inquiry.
Cuomo, James and Lavine are all Democrats.
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