De Blasio Aide Had History Of Sexual Harassment: Report

NEW YORK — A top mayoral aide who was pushed out of City Hall after he was accused of sexual harassment was fired from a previous job because of similar allegations, a new report says.

Kevin O'Brien reportedly resigned from his post as a senior adviser to Mayor Bill de Blasio in February 2018 after harassment allegations from two city employees were substantiated. De Blasio said earlier this month that he was unaware of any concerns about O'Brien's behavior when he praised him in November 2017.

But O'Brien had actually been canned from his job as a senior adviser at the Democratic Governors Association because he was found to have sexually harassed a woman who also worked for the group, The New York Times reported Monday.

O'Brien left the governors association in December 2015 — the month before he started as de Blasio's deputy chief of staff, according to the Times.

De Blasio didn't know about the previous allegation until Monday, his press secretary, Eric Phillips, told the Times. The city's Department of Investigation did a routine background check on O'Brien but received "no adverse information" about his employment, Phillips told the paper.

O'Brien reportedly went to work at the governors association after a stint as a senior staffer for Montana Gov. Steve Bullock. Bullock, a centrist Democrat, knew about the harassment allegation but there was "no indication" whether he tried to warn New York officials about it, the Times reported.

O'Brien reportedly blamed his "horrible decisions" on alcohol abuse.

"There’s no excuse for what I’ve done. I’m embarrassed and ashamed," he said in a statement to the Times. "No one deserves to be treated that way. I’ve apologized to the people I’ve hurt and will continue to do so because I am truly sorry."

Read the full New York Times story here.

(Lead image: Kevin O'Brien is seen in February 2014, when he was deputy chief of staff to Montana Gov. Steve Bullock. AP Photo/Cliff Owen)