Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigns, faces civil suits and criminal charges [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has decided to step down in office following his sexual harassment allegations.
• Cuomo would likely end up facing criminal lawsuits.
• He is also involved in other probing cases due to his COVID-19 handling.

While his tenure as New York Governor would soon end, Andrew Cuomo’s legal battles are just about to start.

On Tuesday, Cuomo said that he would resign after two weeks, following the investigative report of New York Attorney General Letitia James that probed the sexual harassment allegations from 11 women. Nine of them were state workers.

With these issues, the embattled governor could eventually be confronted with lawsuits and other criminal charges.

“He faces potential civil liability, assuming statutes of limitations have not expired,” NBC News legal analyst Danny Cevallos said. He also noted that Cuomo would “face potential criminal liability.”

Each of the women who claimed to have been sexually assaulted by Cuomo, or anybody who had something against him, could come forward and file a civil suit.

Following James’ report, five district attorneys from the following areas have requested details about it: Albany, Nassau, Oswego and Westchester counties, and in Manhattan borough. These officials are currently probing if the governor made any unlawful acts.

NBC News correspondent Tom Winter reported on Tuesday that the most serious inquiry was in Albany County, over a claim that an executive assistant had been groped by the governor. A representative from the county sheriff office told NBC News that they already received the criminal suit of the female assistant against Cuomo.

On the other hand, Cevallos said that James’ report was not subjected to the “crucible of cross-examination.” This meant that the report was not a formal criminal investigation, which is a higher level of probing that was essential in any legal proceeding.

“You may believe every word in the report… [But] once it goes through the adversarial process and witnesses are cross-examined, that’s where you find out if this is a case prosecutors can prove beyond a reasonable doubt,” he said.

Despite all the sexual allegations he’s confronted with, Cuomo has continuously rebuked them all.

Aside from his sexual misconduct scandals, Cuomo could also face other investigations like his underreported COVID-19 death toll in the state’s nursing homes and his alleged use of state resources in publishing a book about how he championed the pandemic response.

Early this year, James’s office reported that the state health department did not disclose the actual COVID-19 fatalities, noting that the figures were underreported by over 50 percent. The FBI and the US attorney in Brooklyn launched an initial investigation about this situation.

The governor was also accused last February of threatening to “destroy” a Democratic lawmaker who said that his office had ‘covered-up’ the deaths. Cuomo also denied the allegation.

Then in April, another investigation was made to determine he had utilized state workers and resources while writing the book entitled “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons From the COVID-19 Pandemic.”

Source: NBC News