The report finding New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo violated the law by sexually harassing as many as 11 women on his staff has ensnared Human Rights Campaign (HRC) President Alphonso David, The Washington Blade reported.
Although David has insisted that New York Attorney General Letitia James' report does not indicate any wrongdoing on his behalf, the findings indicate that after his tenure as counselor to Cuomo, he kept the personnel file for an employee within the office accusing the governor of sexual misconduct—and then allegedly assisted in efforts to leak that file to the media in an attempt to discredit her.
Furthermore, the report finds David allegedly said he would help find individuals to sign their names to a draft op-ed that sought to discredit the survivor, but went unpublished, although he wouldn't sign the document himself.
Nearly a dozen references are made in the report to David, who, before becoming president of the HRC, served as counsel for Cuomo.
Following the issuing of the report, David joined the chorus of high-profile individuals calling on Cuomo to resign as governor. David, responding to the report on Cuomo in an email to HRC board members and in a phone interview late Tuesday with the Blade, denied any wrongdoing. David also told the Blade he has no intention of stepping down from his position voluntarily.
In a tense all-staff meeting on Aug. 4, HRC employees laid into David for nearly an hour and a half—and asked him to resign several times, HuffPost reported.
The Blade article is at www.washingtonblade.com/2021/08/04/damning-n-y-ag-report-on-cuomo-ensnares-hrc-president/ .
