Melissa DeRosa, the top aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), says she has resigned as the governor is facing calls for his resignation following a report that found he sexually harassed several women.
In a statement on Sunday, DeRosa said, “It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve the people of New York for the past 10 years. New Yorkers’ resilience, strength, and optimism through the most difficult times has inspired me every day.”
“I am forever grateful for the opportunity to have worked with such talented and committed colleagues on behalf of our state,” she continued.
She added that the past two years “have been emotionally and mentally trying.”
Read the statement below:
NEW: @melissadderosa resigns as Secretary for @NYGovCuomo.
— Zack Fink (@ZackFinkNews) August 9, 2021
Her statement: pic.twitter.com/ierDKCzzZY
DeRosa served as secretary to the governor since 2017 and started working in the administration as communications director in 2013.
Her resignation comes days after New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) released a report that found Cuomo “sexually harassed a number of State employees through unwelcome and unwanted touching, as well as by making numerous offensive and sexually suggestive comments.”
The investigation was civil in nature, and Cuomo has not been charged with a crime. He has denied that he “touched anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances.”
Still, the report triggered renewed bipartisan calls for his resignation.
As The Washington Post notes, DeRosa was “mentioned by name 187 times — as much as Cuomo” in the report and “portrayed as a constant force, taking part in an alleged effort to discredit one of his accusers, lining up women and elected officials to defend him and even confronting and chastising the governor about his behavior at one point.”
The Post also reports, “She was known for her bare-knuckle and profane style and was disliked by many of her colleagues. In the past year, she has come under scrutiny both for the tactics she had used to defend him and her role in a number of controversies, including the administration’s handling of deaths in nursing homes linked to covid-19.”
DeRosa is the first member of Cuomo’s inner circle to resign following the report.