ALBANY – Disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo is demanding that a federal judge order former staffer Lindsey Boylan to release documents detailing sexual harassment allegations against him.
Boylan in December 2020 accused Cuomo of a range of misbehavior that included kissing her on the lips without consent and challenging her to a game of strip poker.
Such allegations were cited in a federal lawsuit against Cuomo brought by an unnamed state trooper who also alleges sexual misconduct during his time as governor.
“The documents Governor Cuomo seeks are plainly relevant,” states the motion, which seeks communication records between Boylan and other women who have accused Cuomo of wrongdoing.
“Governor Cuomo seeks materials relevant to Ms. Boylan’s credibility and motive in making her allegations.”
The legal filing, which follows other requests for docs from Cuomo accusers, is the latest twist in the evolving saga involving the former governor, who insists that he never sexually harassed anyone despite a litany of allegations and evidence to the contrary.
Cuomo has blamed his downfall on political enemies that include Boylan, who once advised him on economic development, and state Attorney Letitia James, who released a blockbuster 2021 detailing allegations from 11 women.
One of those women – known by the monicker “Trooper 1” – sued Cuomo last year charging that he violated her rights when he allegedly groped her in 2019.
The Trooper suit filed last year in the Eastern District of New York seeks damages from Cuomo along with former Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa and spokesman Richard Azzopardi as well as a finding that Cuomo broke state and federal law.
Cuomo’s attorneys argue in the new filing, first reported by the Albany Times Union, that getting Boylan to release documents could reveal whether the timing of her accusations had anything to do with her unsuccessful 2021 campaign for Manhattan borough president.
A Boylan attorney is expected to fire back at the request, filed by the office of Cuomo attorney Rita Glavin, sometime this month while the case drags on in the courts.
The three-term governor resigned in August 2021 as he face impeachment by the Assembly over accusations of sexual misconduct as well as a documented effort to cover up data showing more nursing home residents had died of COVID-19 than previously reported by his administration.
He continued to assert in late May that he has no regrets about his handling of the pandemic or his interactions with staff despite expressing contrition in 2021 after women came forward.
Boylan attorney Julie Gerchick told The Post that the latest motion demanding documents amounts to intimidation.
“The harassing nature of Mr. Cuomo’s subpoena to Ms. Boylan and his subsequent filings demonstrates that he has no qualms about continuing his campaign of harassment while, once again, relying on smear tactics,” said Gerchick, from the Los Angeles-based Glaser Weil Fink Howard Jordan and Shapiro.
“We will make this clear in our forthcoming response to his motions.”