Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo submitted a notice Thursday that he intended to file a defamation lawsuit against one of the first women to accuse him of sexual harassment while he was in office.
The notice of claim, which was filed in New York State Supreme Court, seeks compensatory damages from a former aide, Charlotte Bennett, for false and defamatory statements that “have harmed and will continue to harm Governor Cuomo, both personally and professionally.”
In 2021, Ms. Bennett publicly accused of Mr. Cuomo of sexual harassment, claiming he inquired about her sex life, questioning whether she had monogamous relationships and if she liked older men. The following year, she sued him in state and federal court.
Mr. Cuomo forcefully denied her accusations in court, and last week Ms. Bennett dropped her federal lawsuit against him, shortly before she was slated to be deposed. In a statement, Ms. Bennett wrote the case was dropped in part so that Mr. Cuomo “can no longer use this lawsuit to harass me and my family.”
The firm of Ms. Bennett’s lawyer, Debra Katz, released Ms. Bennett’s statement on X and noted Mr. Cuomo “sexually harassed her,” which Ms. Bennett reposted.
Mr. Cuomo’s lawyers, Rita Glavin and Theresa Trzaskoma, wrote in Thursday’s filing that the “statement — which was intended to be and was widely disseminated and which was made in the wake of Bennett and her agents’ numerous prior public accusations against Governor Cuomo — was false and defamatory.”
“Bennett made it knowing full well that it was false and intending to cause harm to Governor Cuomo,” the lawyers continued, noting that Ms. Bennett’s post “garnered more than 90,000 views.”
In a statement Thursday, Ms. Katz said the defamation claim had “no merit.”
“There is a long history of using defamation lawsuits to silence and punish accusers of sexual harassment,” she added. “It is shameful that Mr. Cuomo has apparently now chosen to go down that path.”
In the days following Ms. Bennett’s public accusation in 2021, Mr. Cuomo acknowledged that he could have said things that were “misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation” and subsequently apologized for acting “in a way that made people feel uncomfortable.”
Even in his resignation speech, Mr. Cuomo acknowledged that there were “11 women who I truly offended” and that there were “generational and cultural shifts that I just didn’t fully appreciate and I should have. No excuses.”
Since then, Mr. Cuomo and his allies have sought to rehabilitate the ex-governor’s image and challenge the allegations, especially from Ms. Bennett. Mr. Cuomo’s sister secretly directed a network of supporters in how to menace Ms. Bennett and other accusers on social media — and indicated she was consulting the former governor on strategy, The New York Times reported in 2023.
Ms. Bennett is one of three women who have sued Mr. Cuomo and several of his top aides for sexual harassment. Since the claims in the lawsuits relate to Mr. Cuomo and his aides’ conduct while they were in office, taxpayers have been footing the bill for much of their legal defense.
The state has spent about $28 million as of earlier this month representing their legal interests in these civil complaints, criminal investigations and inquiries from the State Legislature. Defending Mr. Cuomo in Ms. Bennett’s case has cost taxpayers about $8.1 million, according to the office of Thomas P. DiNapoli, the state comptroller.
In their notice of claims, Mr. Cuomo’s lawyers said that Ms. Bennett was trying to drum up outrage about the case by reminding the public of its cost. Mr. Cuomo has previously sought an order from the judge overseeing the case to stop Ms. Bennett’s lawyers from talking about the public cost.
“Governor Cuomo’s defense costs in Bennett’s case and in another federal lawsuit were the inevitable result of persistent efforts by his accusers and by the O.A.G. to prevent him from obtaining access to exculpatory materials,” Ms. Glavin and Ms. Trzaskoma wrote, referring to the office of the attorney general, Letitia James, who published a report that found Mr. Cuomo had sexually harassed at least 11 women.
Mr. Cuomo has denied the allegations and his lawyers have called it “biased, flawed, and misleading with respect to Governor Cuomo’s conduct while he was governor.”
This legal maneuver comes as Mr. Cuomo plots a political comeback and is widely viewed as a serious candidate in next year’s New York City mayoral contest.
Mayor Eric Adams, who was indicted by a federal grand jury on five counts of bribery and corruption, seems far more vulnerable than a typical incumbent, and several Democrats have already entered the race.
Mr. Cuomo has not yet declared his interest, but whatever he decides, addressing these scandals will be important to his political future.
“Despite Bennett’s gamesmanship in withdrawing her federal lawsuit before she was required to admit under oath that she had lied about her interactions with Governor Cuomo,” Ms. Glavin wrote. “Governor Cuomo fully intends to clear his name and to ensure that Bennett and her agents never again repeat the falsehood that he sexually harassed Bennett.”
The post Andrew Cuomo Plans to Sue Harassment Accuser for Defamation appeared first on New York Times.
