On Saturday, New York State lawmakers accused the governor Andrew CuomoThe legal team played down allegations of sexual harassment and “triggered” attack survivors by defending the governor.
Cuomo’s private attorneys Rita Glavin and Arnold and Porter LLP’s Paul Fishman defended at a press conference on Friday after New York’s Attorney General Letitia James issued a 165-page harsh report accusing the governor of violating 11 women. Sexual harassment and workplace bullying.
Yuh-Line Niou, a parliamentarian and a survivor of sexual assault, responded to his defense in an interview CNN Editorial department.
“When the lawyers show up and talk together, they must be talking about something I can tell you personally that is very exciting,” she said, referring to Gravin’s attack on the credibility of the plaintiff.
Gravin tried to refute a plaintiff’s account of how she ate cheese and biscuits in the administrative building by citing an email from a staff member. “She was joking when she was there. She was eating snacks and even asked to stay longer after her work,” the lawyer said.
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Niou sympathized with the plaintiff and described how she did the same after she was sexually assaulted by a teacher at the age of 13.
“when [Glavin] I’m talking about how aid is actually joking, eating biscuits and cheese. I think it’s a statement that survivors should behave in a certain way after being violated, otherwise they should not be believed, or they are not credible, which makes people unreliable. Nasty and mean,” she said.
Cuomo denied any wrongdoing and insisted that the report and allegations were politically motivated. “I never touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual provocations,” he said in a recording defense on Tuesday.But federal and state Democratic leaders, including the president Joe Biden, It is said that the governor should resign.
Niou said that after hearing Cuomo’s defense, many sexual assault survivors contacted her online to share their stories.
“A lot of people feel the same way as me. Because it is so important,” she said. “This reaction hurts a lot of us because they are basically saying that if you are a person who can work hard to survive-that is wrong to some extent.”
“Research shows that this is how our brain works to help us survive. Some of us go on to do the next thing, some of us read, some of us sleep, some of us eat cheese and Cookies. So I think it’s okay, I want people to know it’s okay,” Niou added.
The Democratic-controlled New York State Assembly has launched an impeachment investigation on the report.
Weekly newspaper Contacted Governor Cuomo’s office for comments.
