A criminal investigation into allegations that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo groped an aide is underway, according to Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple.
Apple on Saturday said his investigation is in the “infant stages,” according to Fox News.
“I cannot get into the nature of her specific allegations at this time, obviously. We’re at the very infant stages of this investigation,” Apple said.
“We have a lot of fact-finding to do. We have a lot of interviews to conduct. And it would be totally premature for me to comment on any of that.”
Apple said his investigation was launched on Tuesday, the same day that New York Attorney General Letitia James released a 160-plus-page report that said Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women.
According to Fox News, Apple said he “received a call from a local attorney” who “indicated that he had a female client who wished to come forward and file an allegation of criminal conduct against the governor.”
The investigation will include an interview with the woman — who in interviews Sunday revealed her name as Brittany Commisso — and a discussion with Albany County District Attorney David Soares once the evidence is all in and they decide whether “to move forward with a criminal charge,” Apple said.
“I’m not going to rush it because of who he is, and I’m not going to delay it because of who he is,” Apple said, according to the Gothamist.
Cuomo has denied any misconduct.
Apple referred to the aide and others named in the report as “victims.”
“They’ve been through a rough period of time. The last thing I want to do is continue to re-victimize. Every time their faces pop up on TV, or their names are mentioned on TV or on radio, it does in fact put more stressors on them,” Apple said, per the Gothamist.
Apple said he is unsure what charges might result.
“What I have read so far I can say that, you know, we’re floating around a misdemeanor, but again, that’s just from the attorney general’s report,” he said, according to CBS News.
CBS THIS MORNING EXCLUSIVE: The aide who accused NY Gov. Cuomo of groping her speaks publicly for the first time: “What he did to me was a crime,” Brittany Commisso tells @CBSThisMorning & @timesunion. “He broke the law.” Watch Monday at 7a, only on CBS. https://t.co/W9SGPNSf1S pic.twitter.com/kRulD0ViUD
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) August 8, 2021
Meanwhile, Commisso said during an interview with CBS This Morning and the Times Union of Albany that “what he did to me was a crime. He broke the law.”
The New York Post said her full interview about the allegation will air Monday at 7 a.m. on CBS This Morning.
Note the graphic of the new, New York Post, “Days The Creep has refused to resign” count up meter: https://t.co/obXO3GXWts via @nypost
— Fredric U. Dicker (@fud31) August 4, 2021
The attorney general’s report said that during 2020 and 2019 that Cuomo “engaged in close and intimate hugs” on multiple occasions, including one incident when he “reached under her blouse and grabbed her breast.” In another instance, she said in the report that as they took a selfie together, Cuomo “put his hand on and then rubbed and grabbed her butt.”
Selfie shows Andrew Cuomo SMIRK moments after he ‘grabbed and rubbed trembling assistant’s butt’https://t.co/wkTvqj9MdM
— NewsfeedsMedia (@NewsfeedsMedia) August 4, 2021
The report said “the Governor engaged in a pattern of inappropriate conduct with (the) executive assistant.”
In addition to the groping complaint, the report said the aide endured “close and intimate hugs,” “kisses on the cheeks, forehead, and at least one kiss on the lips,” and “touching and grabbing of Executive Assistant #1’s butt during hugs and, on one occasion, while taking selfies with him.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.