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Gillibrand voices support for investigation into claims against Cuomo


Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand spoke about the controversy surrounding the governor Tuesday (Provided photo)
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand spoke about the controversy surrounding the governor Tuesday (Provided photo)
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Washington, D.C. – Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) continues to support an independent investigation into claims against Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The governor has denied any wrongdoing – this, as the Times Union reports a sixth accuser has come forward with claims against him.

During a press briefing Tuesday, Gillibrand did not comment on whether he should step aside. She did say, however, she supports Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and that she has a right to voice her opinions. Stewart-Cousins is among top Democrats who have called for the governor’s resignation.

“I admire Andrea Stewart-Cousins and I think she understands the serious nature of these allegations, and she has every right to give her judgement on this issue, as any other elected leader does,” said Gillibrand. “...I think she's absolutely in her right to do whatever she wants to do in this. She is also leader of the Senate, and as I said in my first response on this issue, it will be up to the legislature on how to deal with this.”

"These are very serious allegations," the senator said, "and that is why I called for a thorough independent professional investigation with subpoena power to get to the bottom of these allegations."

Gillibrand did speak on the topic of workplace harassment claims – and changes that had to be made in the halls of Congress.

“One of the challenges I had in the U.S. Senate, when these issues were very clear in my place of work, we had to change how we dealt with claims of sexual harassment in the U.S. Senate, and the processes we had were inadequate,” she said. “So, we actually had to rewrite the rules create a new process and put it in place.”

“I also realize for a lot of employers around New York state, they force employees to sign NDAs so that if they do come forward on sexual harassment charges or discrimination charges, they're unable to speak publicly about it because of these forced NDAs,” she added, “and so I've been working to change the laws there. So, this is something the legislature will look as to whether they have to change their rules of the road.”

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