(NEW YORK) — Charlotte Bennett, a former aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and one of the 11 women accusing him of sexual misconduct, is calling for the governor’s immediate impeachment.
“September is not soon enough,” Bennett, 25, said Wednesday on Good Morning America. “This needs to happen now. He’s a danger.”
On Aug. 3, a months-long probe by New York State Attorney General Letitia James found that Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women, including current and former state employees. Following the announcement, Cuomo released a recorded video in which he denied any sexual misconduct and addressed Bennett directly.
“It wasn’t an apology and he didn’t take accountability for his actions,” Bennett said. “He blamed me and said that I simply misinterpreted what he had said.”
After working with the governor last year, Bennett lodged a harassment complaint, saying that the governor asked her inappropriate questions and made her feel uncomfortable.
“His line of questioning was not appropriate,” she said. “He was coming onto me and he insinuated that survivors of trauma and sexual assault can’t tell the difference between mentorship and leadership and sexual harassment itself — which is not only insulting to me but every survivor who listened to him yesterday.”
She added, “The victim blaming is not OK.”
Bennett’s complaint was the second of two sexual misconduct accusations against Cuomo at the time and it sparked the attorney general investigation. The first person to accuse Cuomo, Lindsey Boylan, tweeted her allegations in December 2020.
“I actually DM’ed her on Twitter and we had a private conversation in which I told her what I was experiencing and why I left public service earlier that same year,” Bennett said. “And, you know, when there are two women, there are more than two. We know from experience that it’s not just one person and that’s why we need to believe every woman who makes these allegations.”
After watching Cuomo’s response to the attorney general’s findings, Bennett said she felt “overwhelmed but mostly vindicated.”
“I had just listened to the New York State attorney general tell me and the 10 other women that we were believed … that was powerful and so much more important than anything the governor had to say,” she said.
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