Cuomo told aide to ‘show some leg’ and staff dreaded meeting him, transcripts of depositions reveal

Brittany Commisso says she was also asked if she had sex with anyone other than her husband

Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo told an aide that it was “about time” she “showed some leg,” revealed transcripts of his 11-hour deposition earlier this year.

The transcripts were released by New York Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday and include depositions by Mr Cuomo and 10 of his accusers, reported the Associated Press.

The women detailed a range of allegations against the former governor, including the more serious allegations made by his former aide Brittany Commisso, who said Mr Cuomo groped her at the executive mansion last year.

In her deposition, Ms Commisso said he would often ask her questions including whether she had sex with anyone apart from her husband.

“He would make comments about if I wore a particular thing, how thin I looked,” Ms Commisso said. “That I looked good for my age and being a mother.”

“When I wore a dress, he would comment about how it’s about time that you showed some leg,” she added.

Mr Cuomo, in the deposition conducted in August, denied charges of sexual harassment against him and sparred with the investigators.

The depositions were conducted by two independent investigators – Joon Kim, former acting US attorney general for Manhattan and employment lawyer Anne Clark – after which Mr Cuomo resigned as governor.

In their depositions, the women detailed a “toxic workplace” and said Mr Cuomo came across as creepy and asked questions about their sex lives.

Mr Cuomo however, said that he does not regret what he said to the women who worked with him.

“You know, one time in my life, ‘honey’ was a fine thing to say, ‘darling’ was a fine thing to say,” he said. “It’s not anymore.”

The former governor also admitted that he had authorised Stephanie Benton, his office director, to sign papers on his behalf, including official documents and cheques. She would either use an autopen to replicate his signature or scrawl his handwriting herself.

He acknowledged that he had not taken the mandatory sexual harassment training as he was busy with the pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

He said that it may have been Ms Benton who signed a form which stated that he took the mandatory training.

His comments during the deposition also contradicted an earlier statement in May when he said he had undergone the training programme.

He also admitted that he used the nickname “the mean girls” around the office for his top aides, including his hard-driving top adviser Melissa DeRosa.

Mr Cuomo said he knew about the nickname but dismissed it as “silly.” Employees, however, said it was his way to instil division among them.

Former aide Charlotte Bennett described a toxic workplace where staff would often be in distress due to his anger management issues.

“It was controlled largely by his temper, and he was surrounded by people who enabled his behaviour, like surrounded by yes men — I’ll use that term — of this is what he wants, this is what he gets, and that mood and that anger or that fear of him suddenly becoming angry definitely ruled the office and then trickled down,” Ms Bennett said.

She added that he even told an employee once that he was lucky that he didn’t throw him out of the window.

Mr Cuomo sparred with the lawyers who were questioning him in the deposition, particularly with Mr Kim, who he accused of being biased and of owing allegiance to Preet Bharara, his predecessor in the attorney general’s office.

“Preet Bharara has political aspirations, may have political aspirations against me. His rabbi, your rabbi, Senator Schumer called for my resignation,” he said.

He also argued with the lawyers over four pages of deposition, on the definition of a girlfriend.

Mr Cuomo was asked whether he had compared the appearance of one of his accusers, Lindsey Boylan, to that of an ex-girlfriend. He then continued to argue about different people understanding the term girlfriend differently.

After the papers were made public, Mr Cuomo’s spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said on Wednesday evening that Ms James was pursuing a political vendetta against the former governor, reported CNN.

Mr Azzopardi also accused the attorney general of overseeing a “slanted process.”