ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Lindsey Boylan, the first woman to accuse Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual misconduct, is now saying several Rochester-area politicians bore the alleged brunt of the governor.
In a series of tweets Tuesday morning, Boylan named Cuomo’s former lieutenant governor and current Rochester Chamber of Commerce CEO and President Bob Duffy, Congressman Joe Morelle (D-25) and alluded to a former female Monroe County Executive.
Boylan claims Morelle was “on the receiving end of a lot of hatred from the governor.”
“At a another event, Gov. Cuomo belittled the then Monroe County Executive in front of a group of my colleagues — based entirely on her looks,” she wrote in the Twitter thread.
“I mention these two white men and no one else because that’s kind of what Gov. Cuomo thought of Rochester and who really mattered. That’s pretty much it. And he has run all of his power and influence in Rochester with these two men in mind. That’s how he sees the world.”
Boylan ended her tweets saying she thinks Duffy and Morelle continued to go along with the governor out of fear or losing his support.
Earlier this month, Morelle did called for the governor’s resignation.
Another Cuomo accuser, Ana Liss — a former aide to the governor and current director of planning and development for Monroe County — released this statement to News 8 Tuesday:
“I empathize with and share Ms. Boylan’s disappointment at the lack of support conveyed by certain individuals who observed the alleged behavior in the workplace and in public spaces. Their silence is audible.”
Boylan, 36, is a former state economic development official and aide of Cuomo, and is currently running for Manhattan Borough President.
She worked for the Cuomo administration for over three years, and first leveled public accusations against the governor in a December tweet:
Boylan served as a former deputy secretary for economic development and special adviser to the governor. In December she made allegations in a post on the website Medium, more than two months after she first spoke up about alleged mistreatment by Cuomo.
Boylan said the kiss happened at the end of a one-on-one meeting with Cuomo at his New York City office.
“As I got up to leave and walk toward an open door, he stepped in front of me and kissed me on the lips. I was in shock, but I kept walking,” she wrote. “The idea that someone might think I held my high-ranking position because of the Governor’s ‘crush’ on me was more demeaning than the kiss itself.”
Boyland said Cuomo “would go out of his way to touch me on my lower back, arms and legs,” compared her to one of his rumored ex-girlfriends and once remarked they should play strip poker.
Cuomo’s spokesperson Caitlin Girouard said last week that all Boylan’s “claims of inappropriate behavior are quite simply false.”
Personnel memos written in 2018, obtained by the AP, indicate Boylan resigned after she was confronted about complaints she belittled and yelled at her staff. Boylan said those records “were leaked to the media in an effort to smear me.”
In her post, she offered a different reason for her departure, saying her relationship with Cuomo’s “senior team — mostly women — grew hostile after I started speaking up for myself. I was reprimanded and told to get in line by his top aides, but I could no longer ignore it.”
Boylan said Cuomo created a culture of pervasive sexual harassment, including making unflattering comments about female colleagues’ weight, ridiculing their romantic relationships and having roses delivered to them on Valentine’s Day.
Duffy and Rep. Morelle have not yet publicly addressed Boylan’s claims.
