A lawyer for Andrew Cuomo says the disgraced former New York governor will take legal action if the Attorney General doesn’t re-evaluate claims that accuser Lindsey Boylan had an affair with another top state official.
Attorney Rita Glavin said recent evidence turned over to her by Attorney General Letitia James reveals that Boylan – the first woman to publicly accuse Cuomo of sexual harassment – was ‘more than professional’ with Empire State Development CEO Howard Zemsky in 2017.
Zemsky is married to his wife, Leslie, and has three children, according to the University of Buffalo, where he delivered a commencement speech in 2015.
Glavin said that both Boylan and Zemsky denied having a relationship and that both of them spoke to James’ investigators, but that ‘my read of the testimony is that they’re not consistent with each other.’
The new allegations were made in a nearly two-hour virtual press conference on Thursday.
Glavin also charged that Boylan used the encrypted messaging app Confide to threaten Zemsky after he and others disputed her claim that Cuomo asked her to play strip poker while they were on his official jet.
‘I can’t wait to destroy your life, your [sic] s–t follower,’ Boylan allegedly told Zemsky.
‘And I presume Ms. Boylan is referring to herself and knowing something about Mr. Zemsky,’ Glavin said.
Glavin says that Zemsky ‘changed his story’ after getting the text, but that Boylan was never questioned about the message.
Cuomo attorney Rita Glavin presented a slew of new accusations against Lindsey Boylan and Attorney General Letitia James in a nearly two-hour virtual press conference Thursday
Glavin said that Boylan (left) also had a relationship with economic development czar Howard Zemsky (right)
Glavin accused Lindsey of having a relationship with Zemsky and said that their testimonies when questioned about it were ‘not consistent’
Glavin said Cuomo would take legal action if Attorney General Letitia James (above) doesn’t take hire ‘truly independent investigators’ to evaluate the claims
‘The former governor and his attorney are continuing their smear campaign of Ms. Boylan to punish her for being the first of multiple women to expose the governor’s misconduct,’ said Boylan’s attorney Julie Gerchik, according to the New York Post.
A spokesperson for AG James also dismissed Glavin’s claims: ‘Another day, another attempt by the former governor to attack the brave women who called out his abuse.’
Boylan worked as an aide to Gov. Cuomo from 2015 to 2018.
Regarding Boylan and Zemsky’s alleged relationship, Glavin said ‘there had been some rumors and concerns about their relationship within ESD’ that came from employees ‘having witnessed some conduct that gave them concern.’
The Empire State Development is a public benefit corporation that promotes the state’s economy and job creation.
Glavin said Alphonso David, then a lawyer with the ESD, ‘had them both in and questioned them, and they both denied having ever had some type of improper relationship.’
But she said their testimonies to James’ investigators were ‘not consistent.’
In August, AG James released a report accusing Cuomo of sexually harassing 11 women, including nine current or former state employees. Cuomo resigned days later.
Cuomo resigned in August days after a report by James’ office claimed he sexually harassed 11 women, including nine current and former state employees
Glavin, Cuomo’s attorney, says she got evidence from James’ office that Boylan, Cuomo’s first public accuser, and Zemsky, another state official, were ‘more than professional’
Glavin claims that Boylen told Zemsky, ‘I can’t wait to destroy your life,’ via an encrypted messaging app after Zemsky and others questioned her claims that Cuomo made her play strip poker
A spokesperson for James dismissed Glavin’s claims: ‘Another day, another attempt by the former governor to attack the brave women who called out his abuse.’
‘The AG had evidence that Ms. Boylan was tampering with a witness, trying to get him to corroborate her and threatened to destroy his life if he didn’t,’ she added.
Glavin, a former Department of Justice official, also James of not following up on claims that accuser Charlotte Bennett was named in court papers as having falsely accused a fellow student at Hamilton College of sexual misconduct.
Bennett’s attorney Debra Katz called Glavin’s claims ‘baseless.’
‘And she also knows that the conclusions reached by the AG and the NY State Assembly are unassailable. This is just the latest desperate act by the Governor,’ Katz said in a statement to the Post.
‘In addition to the Attorney General’s findings, the New York State Assembly hired one of New York’s top law firms to conduct an independent investigation and they concluded that there was “overwhelming support that the former Governor engaged in multiple instances of misconduct.” The facts and two independent investigative reports speak for themselves.’
On Thursday, Glavin said that her client, Cuomo, would take legal action if James didn’t hire ‘truly independent investigators’ to take another look at the claims against him.
‘I implore the attorney general to do the right thing,’ Glavin said.
A spokesperson for James responded: ‘Thousands of pages of transcripts, exhibits, videos, and other evidence have already been publicly released, but these lies continue in an effort to mask the truth: Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women.’
‘There is a mountain of evidence to support these findings, which were corroborated by the Assembly’s report and deemed credible by multiple DAs. New Yorkers are tired of these excuses.’
James announced she was running for governor to replace Cuomo on October 29, but she dropped out and said she would run for re-election instead.
Cuomo is also asking the state’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics to save all communications related to his doomed $5.1 millionbook deal as he prepares to sue the body.
The ousted politician was ordered last month to turn over the proceeds from ‘American Crisis: Leadership from the COVID-19 Pandemic’ following a probe by a state ethics panel.
Cuomo is demanding that the state’s ethics commission preserves all evidence related to communications about his Covid book as he plans to sue them for revoking its approval
Cuomo’s memoir became the subject of an investigation from the New York attorney general’s office and JCOPE last year
‘The Governor will seek the intercession of the court to protect his rights and prevent further abuses by JCOPE of its authority,’ James McGuire said in the letter to commission chair Jose L. Nieves.
Cuomo made a virtual court appearance with his attorneys as a criminal groping charge against him was dismissed last week
‘I therefore put JCOPE’s commissioners and its staff on notice that they must preserve all records, including emails, texts, and all other written communications, and take all necessary steps to ensure such records are preserved, related to [the decision to rescind book profits.]’
The preservation of records request also hints at legal troubles for the committee, which McGuire said violated Cuomo’s privacy and right to due process.
Last week, the only criminal charge against former Cuomo was dismissed by a New York judge.
Judge Holly Trexler agreed to a joint request from prosecutors and defense attorneys to drop the charge.
The misdemeanor complaint was filed by the Albany sheriff in October, accusing Cuomo of groping an aide in the executive mansion in December 2020, eight months before he resigned.
Albany County District Attorney David Soares told Judge Trexler that although the aide was credible, and some evidence supported her account, he believed he couldn’t win a conviction in court.
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