Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced his return to public life with an 8-minute long video message that made no mention of the sexual harassment scandal that he resigned over.
In the video posted to Vimeo by his longtime political ally Rich Azzopardi, Cuomo, 64, announced he would be creating a political action committee (PAC), starting a campaign to pass gun control measures, and hosting an informal weekly podcast.
Cuomo resigned from office in disgrace in August 2021, weeks after New York Attorney General Letitia James released a report detailing sexual harassment complaints from 11 women during his tenure as governor.
After working 24/7 in public service for many years, I’ve recently spent time engaging in something called life,’ Cuomo said.
Cuomo said he spent the past year spending time with his daughters, mother, sister, and brother Chris, who was fired from his job at CNN when his role in advising the governor through his scandal came to light.
Cuomo announced that he was forming a PAC to ‘elect the right people to office.’
‘I want to move forward and focus on what is really important,’ Cuomo said. ‘I have fought the good fight in government and politics all my life, and I am not done fighting yet.’
Cuomo said the PAC would focus on electing candidates with a proven track record of achieving legislative results, and condemned politicians who he said ‘pander’ to voices on social media, which he called ‘a political Roman coliseum.’
‘No one talks, everyone yells, and no one believes anyone… It’s all about partisan and personal politics rather than sound and smart policy,’ he said.
Cuomo also announced he was founding the Gun Safe America Project to tackle gun violence.
‘I do not believe our federal government has the courage or capacity to make real progress.’
He pointed to the 1994 assault weapon ban, which expired in 2004 and hasn’t been renewed since. The house passed a similar ban in 2013, but the measure was defeated in the Senate by a vote of 40 – 60.
‘Now, we can’t even get that done,’ Cuomo said.
Cuomo seemed to condemn a bill signed by President Joe Biden in June, which left out a complete ban on assault weapons or magazine capacity limits.
‘Democrats wouldn’t even put the bill banning assault rifles on the floor, with Democrats united in support to show that the Republicans are stopping passage,’ he said. ‘At least then we could frame the issue for the American people… We need a new approach, and I have some ideas.’
Cuomo also announced that he would be hosting a weekly podcast ‘to have a conversation with you.’
Cuomo was unclear on how that would work in podcast form, and only mentioned that the show would have ‘different formats’ and have a more informal character.
‘My intention is to speak the full truth, unvarnished from the inside-out, frank and candid,’ he said. Adding that he ‘knows these people and knows their games’ and described himself as ‘a person who actually did the job.’
Wednesday’s message marks the ex-governor’s clearest attempt to rehabilitate his image since resigning in disgrace one year ago.
Cuomo was cleared of criminal wrongdoing in January 2022, when the Oswego County district attorney dropped the county’s sexual harassment case against him due to lack of evidence.
However, the district attorneys investigating his criminal cases emphasized that they found his accusers to be credible and truthful in the accusations detailed in the Attorney General’s report.
‘I found her to be reliable and reasonable, seemingly motivated only by an earnest desire to do the right thing, and she was plainly upset by her interaction with then Governor Cuomo,’ Oswego County District Attorney Gregory Oakes said after concluding his investigation.
‘This investigation makes clear what victims, their advocates, police, and prosecutors have said for years: The current sex offense statutes in New York fail to properly hold offenders accountable and fail to adequately protect victims,’ Oakes said.
Cuomo still faces two civil lawsuits from two women he allegedly sexually harassed, including a state trooper who served on his protection detail and Charlotte Bennett, his former staffer.
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