Cuomo Sexual Harassment Part of Broader Toxic Workplace, Report Says

The governor leaned in, close to her cheek, and said, “I’m going to say I see a spider on your shoulder,” investigators found. Then he brushed his hand “in the area between her shoulder and breasts.”

Around December 2018, just before posing for a picture with a male member of the protective detail and his wife at a holiday party, Mr. Cuomo peeled off the woman’s name-tag, just below her breast. The governor began to leave, the report said, before doubling back to hand the man the name-tag, saying something to the effect of, “You might want this — I could get in trouble.”

At times, Mr. Cuomo seemed to commingle an instinct for political survival with an expectation that those around him would look out for him, too.

He could do his own bidding, as in his aggressive flirtations with the female trooper — instructing her, “Don’t tell anyone about our conversations,” according to her account.

But almost without fail, the governor had reinforcements.

The trooper told investigators that she hoped her story would “validate these women” accusing a “vindictive” governor of misconduct. But she said she still fears retribution for speaking, even without being named publicly.

She recalled how a security detail commander had responded to hearing Mr. Cuomo ask why the trooper wasn’t wearing a dress as she drove them to an event.

After she left the vehicle, unnerved by the exchange, the trooper received a message from the commander, advising discretion.

“Stays in the truck,” it read.

It did, until it didn’t.