Former Cuomo Aide Details Alleged Sexual Harassment, 'Bullying'

A former aide to Andrew Cuomo accused the New York governor of sexual harassment back in December. On Wednesday, she wrote about it.

"Governor Andrew Cuomo has created a culture within his administration where sexual harassment and bullying is so pervasive that it is not only condoned but expected,” Lindsey Boylan, the former aide wrote in a post for the website Medium. “His inappropriate behavior toward women was an affirmation that he liked you, that you must be doing something right. He used intimidation to silence his critics. And if you dared to speak up, you would face consequences.”

Boylan alleged Cuomo "sexually assaulted me for year" in a series of tweets in December. She added that "many saw" Cuomo's behavior toward her -- which she said included unwanted kissing and touching -- and simply did nothing.

Her post on Medium is the first time since making the accusations that she has gone into detail about them, saying that Cuomo once said to her, "Let's play strip poker." Boylan added that another former Cuomo aide confided that she, too, had experienced harassment from the governor.

"Last week, Assemblymember Ron Kim spoke out publicly about the intimidation and abuse he has faced from Governor Cuomo and his aides," Boylan wrote. "As Mayor (Bill) de Blasio remarked, 'The bullying is nothing new.' There are many more of us, but most are too afraid to speak up."

In one 2018 encounter, Boylan alleged, Cuomo kissed her without her consent while the two were alone in his New York City office.

“As I got up to leave and walk toward an open door, he stepped in front of me and kissed me on the lips. I was in shock, but I kept walking,” she wrote. “I left past the desk of Stephanie Benton. I was scared she had seen the kiss. The idea that someone might think I held my high-ranking position because of the Governor’s ‘crush’ on me was more demeaning than the kiss itself.”