A judge rejected former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's attempt to prolong a taxpayer-funded court battle with an ex-aide who accused him of sexual assault. The judge wrote that Cuomo failed to show why taxpayers should continue to pay for civil discovery that he is using to try to resurrect his public image while running for mayor. New York agreed to pay $450,000 to settle a lawsuit from Brittany Commisso, who alleged Cuomo sexually harassed and groped her. Cuomo opposed Commisso's request to discontinue the suit and sought to publicize discovery texts he says refute her claims. The judge allowed Commisso to drop the civil suit and denied Cuomo's motion to make the texts public.
Cuomo, a co-defendant with the state, opposed Commisso's request to discontinue the lawsuit. Relatedly, he sought to make public text messages produced under discovery he claims refute Commisso's allegations. Cuomo attorney Rita Glavin had told a judge that potentially ending the case is a matter of "enormous public interest" as Cuomo runs for mayor. Hartman allowed Commisso to drop the civil suit and denied Cuomo's motion on the texts.
The decision comes more than a month after New York agreed to pay $450,000 to settle a lawsuit from Brittany Commisso, an ex-aide who alleged Cuomo sexually harassed and groped her while he was in office. Cuomo, who has denied the allegations, resigned as governor in 2021 after a report from the state attorney general determined that he had sexually harassed at least 11 women.
Collection
[
|
...
]