ANDREW CUOMO SUES ACCUSER CHARLOTTE BENNETT FOR DEFAMATION
FORMER NEW YORK STATE GOVERNOR ALLEGES BENNETT LIED
Dec. 19, 2024
Former New York State governor Andrew Cuomo is suing one of the women who accused him of sexual harassment for defamation. A copy of the legal complaint is embedded below
Charlotte Bennett accused Cuomo of sexually harassing her while he was governor, but dropped her federal civil rights lawsuit against him on Dec. 6 because she refused to answer questions under oath about her claims.
Bennett did the same thing to a fellow student at Hamilton college, the Washington Post reported.
Bennett was the second woman to accuse Cuomo of sexual harassment in 2021—after Lyndsay Boylan, who was running for New York City mayor at the time.
Jimmy Vielkind of The Wall Street Journal and Gwynne Hogan, formerly of Gothamist news blog now of The City news blog, both falsely reported that a third woman accused Cuomo of sexual harassment, Ana Liss. But Liss testified under oath in 2023 that “the media lied for clicks and eyeballs.”
11 women allegedly claimed Cuomo sexually harassed them with talk or unwanted touches, an indictment-like 165-page report by Attorney General Letitia James published Aug. 3, 2021 claimed. But James allowed the women to testify without swearing an oath to testify truthfully and neither Cuomo nor his lawyers were allowed to question them—both fundamental flaws that throw its credibility into doubt as a matter of law. Cuomo resigned Aug. 10.
Of the 11 women, only Bennett and State Trooper Jeanette Heimerle sued Cuomo. Part of Heimerle’s suit was dismissed in July. Bennett, Heimerle, another alleged Cuomo accuser Kaitlin Moody and even former State Senator Alessandra Biaggi all fought Cuomo’s efforts to clear his name.
In announcing her decision to drop her lawsuit against Cuomo on Dec. 8, Bennett and her lawyers issued a statement accusing the former governor of abusing the federal legal system to "harass," "humiliate" and "retaliate" against her—even though it was Bennett who brought the lawsuit against Cuomo.
Bennett's lawyers also repeated her allegation that Cuomo "sexually harassed" her in a Dec. 8 Tweet on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Bennett re-Tweeted her lawyers' Tweet, which read:
"Debra Katz and Charlotte Bennett issued statements on news that Bennett voluntarily dismissed her lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of the SDNY against Andrew Cuomo, who sexually harassed her."
According to the lawsuit Cuomo filed against Bennett in New York State Supreme Court on Thursday, "Governor Cuomo did not make any sexual advances toward Bennett and did not sexually harass her."
Cuomo seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive cash damages.
“This case has no merit,” is how Katz, Bennett’s lead lawyer, responded to Cuomo’s lawsuit.
“There is a long history of using defamation lawsuits to silence and punish accusers of sexual harassment,” Katz added. ”It is shameful that Mr. Cuomo has apparently now chosen to go down that path.”
Rich Azzopardi, Cuomo’s long-time spokesperson, said the suit speaks for itself. Rita Glavin, Cuomo’s lawyer, did not respond to an invitation to comment.
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