Eying Comeback, Cuomo to Sue Accuser for Defamation

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, said to be planning a political comeback despite findings that he sexually harassed more than a dozen employees, now intends to sue one of his accusers. Cuomo lays out his plan to sue former aide Charlotte Bennett for defamation in a court document submitted Thursday, reports the Wall Street Journal. On Dec. 9, Bennett reposted a statement from her lawyer, which said Cuomo "sexually harassed her" but that Bennett was dropping a 2022 federal lawsuit against him. The lawsuit accused Cuomo of making an unwanted sexual advance. Bennett said she dropped it after "abusive filings and invasive subpoenas" that were "meant to humiliate and retaliate against me."

A week before his 2021 resignation, a report by New York Attorney General Letitia James said Cuomo had sexually harassed 11 women and created a hostile work environment. A Justice Department report published in January said he sexually harassed 13 female employees between 2013 and 2021, discriminated against female employees based on sex, and also retaliated against the women. A former executive assistant and health-policy adviser in Cuomo's administration, Bennett said Cuomo asked questions about her sex life when they were alone together, claimed he was "lonely," told her he was open to dating women in their 20s (Bennett was then 25), and asked if she was open to sex with an older man, per CBS News and the Journal.

Cuomo has denied the allegations. Thursday's notice says he plans to sue "to recover compensatory and punitive damages for the serious injuries and losses" suffered as a result of the "false statement ... that Governor Cuomo 'sexually harassed' Bennett." Bennett's lawyer, Debra Katz, says there's no merit to Cuomo's case and suggests he's using it "to silence and punish" his accuser. Katz's prior statement said he'd "used every opportunity to harass our client with an astonishing number of invasive discovery requests," including for gynecologist records and medical records from when Bennett was a minor, per Fox News. A sexual harassment lawsuit Bennett brought against New York state, her former employer, continues. (More Andrew Cuomo stories.)