“New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday rebuffed fresh calls for his resignation from Democratic lawmakers in Congress despite mounting allegations of sexual harassment and assault made against him,” AOL News reported on Friday, March 12, 2021.
He defended himself by saying, “Women have a right to come forward and be heard. But there is still a question of the truth. I did not do what has been alleged, period,” according to the AOL News report. “I never harassed anyone. I never abused anyone. I never assaulted anyone,” the governor added.
AOL News noted that “Cuomo has been accused of sexual harassment by at least six women,” the latest complaining of groping.
Earlier this week, ever-hypocritical GOP legislators moved to impeach Cuomo, and on Thursday, 55 Democratic state lawmakers called on him to resign (read that story here). As of Friday, CNN reported, 16 of New York’s 19 congressmen have joined those calls, and so have both U.S. senators, making clear he’s lost his party’s support.
He complained, “Politicians who don’t know a single fact but yet form a conclusion and then an option are, in my opinion, reckless and dangerous,” he said. “The people of New York should not have confidence in a politician who takes a position without knowing any facts or substance. That, my friends, is politics at its worst.” If that was directed at his Democratic critics, and not just the Republicans, he’s now reduced to attacking his own party.
So let’s examine this. Being elected to public office confers no inalienable rights. While the winner of an election has a legal right to the office, serving is a privilege subject to (a) Congress’ or a legislature’s refusal to seat the person, (b) impeachment, (c) recall. Thus a person, although elected, can lose the office before the end of the statutory term.
A person accused of a crime has a right to full due process, which includes a presumption of innocence, a right to trial, and numerous procedural rights. But this isn’t about sending someone to jail or branding them a felon. It’s about entrusting someone with a public office, and removing them from office on suspicion of misconduct, once the bond of trust is broken.
It’s important not to turn bare accusations into presumptions of guilt. That would lead to chaos in our political system. If merely accusing could force people from office, that would be used as a tactic to overturn elections, and there would be an endless parade of lying accusers.
But at some point short of formal trial and conviction, after accusations accrue substance and confidence in the office holder has eroded to where he can no longer effectively lead or do the public’s business, it’s time to leave. Cuomo should not be thinking about whether he deserves to leave office, but whether he best serves the public by doing so.
It appears that time has come. With two scandals hanging over him, not only this one but also the nursing home data-rigging mess, it’s hard to see how he can retain the public support he needs to govern.