By David Porter | Related Press
NEW YORK — In his first public remarks since resigning over a number of sexual harassment allegations final 12 months, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday assailed the “cancel tradition” he stated was behind politically motivated efforts to take away him and hinted at a future position in public life.
Showing at God’s Battalion of Prayer church in Brooklyn on Sunday morning, Cuomo quoted the Bible a number of instances as he described his travails then went on the offensive to assault the “political sharks” in Albany who, he stated, “smelled blood” and exploited the scenario for political achieve.
“The actions towards me had been prosecutorial misconduct,” Cuomo stated, repeating a theme he has pushed from the outset. “They used cancel tradition to successfully overturn an election.”
The Democrat resigned in August, days after an unbiased probe discovered he sexually harassed almost a dozen girls and that he and aides labored to retaliate towards an accuser. On Sunday, Cuomo acknowledged his conduct wasn’t acceptable however shortly added that nothing he did violated the regulation.
“I didn’t respect how briskly the views modified,” he stated. “I’ve realized a strong lesson and paid a really excessive value for studying that lesson. God isn’t completed with me but.”
A number of district attorneys in New York stated they discovered Cuomo’s accusers “credible,” however stated the accessible proof wasn’t sturdy sufficient to press felony costs towards him. Final month, a New York state trooper sued him claiming he brought about her extreme psychological anguish and emotional misery by touching her inappropriately and making suggestive feedback. A Cuomo spokesperson referred to as the swimsuit a “low-cost money extortion.”
Cuomo used his platform Sunday principally to sentence a social media-fueled local weather he stated is rising and harmful.
“Any accusation can set off condemnation with out info or due course of,” he stated. “We're a nation of legal guidelines, not a nation of tweets. Woe unto us if we enable that to change into our new justice system.”
Returning a number of instances to a Biblical metaphor of crossing a bridge to explain his journey, Cuomo hinted he received’t keep out of the highlight.
“The Bible teaches perseverance, it teaches us to get off the mat,” he stated. “They broke my coronary heart however they didn’t break my spirit. I wish to take the power that would have made me bitter and make us higher.”