McGrath advised the Times that Cuomo appeared down her shirt throughout a one-on-one assembly, stared at her physique, commented on her look and made suggestive feedback to her and one other government aide. Additionally, Cuomo labeled her and a co-worker “mingle mamas,” requested about her divorce proceedings and lack of a marriage ring, and advised her that she was stunning in Italian, she advised the paper. She didn’t accuse Cuomo of constructing sexual contact, however characterised his actions as sexual harassment.

McGrath’s allegations echo these of different accusers — together with former staffer Ana Liss, who says she met with investigators from the New York Attorney General’s Office on Thursday. The investigation into the a number of sexual harassment allegations dealing with the embattled governor has been ramping up in latest days, with Liss, Charlotte Bennett and Lindsey Boylan — all former staffers who’ve additionally accused Cuomo of sexual harassment — all assembly with investigators this week, CNN has reported.

During a number of interviews with the Times this week, McGrath asserted that Cuomo habitually interspersed private dialog with flirtation and inspired competitors amongst feminine co-workers — a development normalized and exacerbated by calls for for secrecy.

“He has a way of making you feel very comfortable around him, almost like you’re his friend,” McGrath advised the Times. “But then you walk away from the encounter or conversation, in your head going, ‘I can’t believe I just had that interaction with the governor of New York.’ “

Later reflecting on the interactions as problematic, McGrath grew to become extra disconcerted as allegations continued to mount against Cuomo, which he constantly denied.

Cuomo’s legal professional Rita Glavin responded to McGrath’s allegations, telling the Times that “the governor has greeted men and women with hugs and a kiss on the cheek, forehead, or hand. Yes, he has posed for photographs with his arm around them. Yes, he uses Italian phrases like ‘ciao bella.’ “

Glavin added, “None of this is remarkable, although it may be old-fashioned. He has made clear that he has never made inappropriate advances or inappropriately touched anyone.”

In a press release Friday night, McGrath’s legal professional Mariann Wang mentioned that “the governor’s deflections are not credible.”

“This was not just friendly banter. Ms. McGrath understands the common phrase ‘ciao Bella,’ ” Wang continued.

McGrath, who doesn’t report on to the governor, advised the Times that she and her co-worker had been typically chosen from the cohort of government chamber assistants to work on weekends and on the governor’s mansion. Many of the chamber’s assistants are ladies a long time youthful than Cuomo who make between $40,000 and $60,000 a 12 months, per the Times.

The Times reviewed and described emails during which high-ranking Cuomo associates made such requests.

“Hi gals,” learn one electronic mail from a prime scheduling official in Cuomo’s workplace to the 2 ladies on Feb. 29, 2020, per the Times. “Who can spend a little while with him when he gets back on the book signing project?”

That day McGrath and her co-worker labored alone within the state Capitol with the governor, who requested if McGrath’s co-worker was going to attempt to meet males and “mingle” on the 2 ladies’s upcoming journey to Florida and “called us ‘mingle mamas’ for the rest of the day,” McGrath advised the paper.

McGrath additionally recalled an incident in early 2019, when whereas making ready for work on the governor’s mansion, Cuomo requested if she spoke Italian. When McGrath mentioned she didn’t, he made a remark in Italian, the which means of which she later requested her mother and father.

“It was commenting on how beautiful I was,” McGrath recalled to the paper being advised, an account confirmed to the Times by her mom.

McGrath advised the Times that not lengthy after that encounter, she sat for a one-on-one dictation session with the governor.

“I put my head down waiting for him to start speaking, and he didn’t start speaking,” she advised the paper. “So I looked up to see what was going on. And he was blatantly looking down my shirt.”

Becoming conscious of her gaze, Cuomo “made a reference, a subtle reference, saying, ‘What’s on your necklace?’ Which was in my shirt,” she advised the Times, including that “my face turned really hot” as she continued to work, embarrassed. McGrath mentioned the incident on the time along with her co-worker, per the Times.

The investigation into the sexual harassment allegations is being led by attorneys Joon Kim, a former prosecutor with the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and Anne Clark, an employment discrimination legal professional. The duo was chosen by New York Attorney General Letitia James to guide the probe.

McGrath advised the Times that she noticed Cuomo’s preliminary information convention earlier this month after Bennett shared her accusations against him, and felt indignant at his assertion that he by no means “touched anyone inappropriately.”

“It makes me really upset to hear him speak about this and completely deny all allegations,” she advised the paper, including that she was incredulous at his remarks. “And I have no doubt in my mind that all of these accusers are telling the truth.”

CNN’s Brynn Gingras contributed to this report.



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