Rein In Cuomo's Aggressive, Taxpayer-Funded Legal Tactics, Advocates Demand

By Rosalind Adams, The City

June 27, 2025

Spurred by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s resounding defeat in the mayoral primary Tuesday, advocates called on state lawmakers to pass tougher protections for people who come forward with reports of sexual harassment — and to curb taxpayer spending on Cuomo’s legal defense.

Charlotte Bennett, one of the first women to make harassment allegations against the former governor back in early 2021, shared on the Thursday morning virtual briefing that she stayed largely quiet throughout the primary election because she hadn’t felt safe to speak out. In court filings, hearings and on the campaign trail, Cuomo has repeatedly dismissed the harassment allegations and accused Bennett of lying.

“I don’t feel like I’ve been able to respond to his narrative,” Bennett said. “It has been an excruciating time, and the joy of the outcome on Tuesday was quickly followed by fear of what the next piece of this means for me.”

A former aide to Cuomo, Bennett testified to the Attorney General’s office that on different occasions, the former governor asked her to do push-ups for him and to sing for him. He also asked Bennett if she had ever been with an older man. He followed the question by sharing that he was looking for a girlfriend in the area and was okay with anyone over 22 (Bennett was 25 at the time).

Charlotte Bennett cheers on Comptroller Brad Lander speaking in McCarren Park on the last day of early voting in the Democratic Primary, June 22, 2025. Credit: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY

Bennett sued Cuomo in September 2022. In a hearing, Cuomo’s lawyers alleged Bennett was not only dishonest but making “sexual harassment and sexual assault kind of her personal brand.” And they subpoenaed testimony from a man who allegedly assaulted her while she was still a college student, as well as her former college dean and records from her school.

When the judge called it a “scorched earth” approach, Cuomo’s counsel insisted “we were seeking records of a false claim of sexual misconduct.”

Bennett dropped her federal suit in December 2024. In a statement, she wrote that “throughout this extraordinarily painful two year process, I’ve many times believed that I’d be better off dead than endure more of his litigation abuse which has caused extraordinary expense to my family and friends.”

Quickly after Bennett dropped her suit, Cuomo filed a notice of a defamation claim against Bennett. He filed a second one in April. No complaint has been filed with the court in either case.

Lindsay Boylan, the first woman to accuse Cuomo of harassment and a vocal opponent of the former governor’s bid for mayor, also shared the impact of the ongoing legal fight these past several years. Unlike Bennett, Boylan never filed a lawsuit against Cuomo, yet has been continuously subpoenaed for documents and testimony.

“The abuse never stopped. It moved to the courtroom, it moved to smears in the media paid for by campaign funds,” said Boylan on Thursday. Now, she said, “it needs to stop.”

Bennett, Boylan and others are pushing lawmakers to pass the Speak Your Truth Act, which aims to protect whistleblowers from retaliatory defamation suits. “New York deserves laws that reflect the reality of the legal system in which these suits are retaliatory in nature and muzzle the very people we’re trying to protect,” Bennett said on the call.

“These suits are often financially devastating, emotionally traumatizing, on top of the experiences of abuse, harassment, discrimination that they’ve already experienced at the hands of powerful people.”

By the time Bennett dropped her case, the state had already spent nearly $10 million defending Cuomo and other defendants in the litigation. Advocates are also calling on state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli to reign in the costs of Cuomo’s litigation.

“The amount of money that has now been spent should not have even happened in the first place. It is time to cut him off,” said former state senator Alessandra Biaggi on Thursday. Biaggi, too, was subpoenaed by Cuomo’s team in one of the ongoing lawsuits against the former governor.

“There is no excuse any longer to be funding any of the retaliation and frankly, cruelty that he is pursuing by continuing to drag his survivors through the court system,” Biaggi continued.

Cuomo’s defense is covered under a state law which provides “reasonable attorneys’ fees,” to state employees accused of wrongdoing, though Erica Vladimer, founding director of the advocacy group Harassment-Free Albany, said that Cuomo’s defense far exceeds that threshold.

The comptroller’s office responded to Vladimer’s initial call to curb the spending in a March letter, saying that while it can audit legal fees, it is outside of the office’s authority to substitute the legal judgment of Cuomo’s attorneys. On Thursday, Vladimir pushed back on this.

“We are urging the state comptroller to show leadership. If he truly doesn’t believe that he has the authority to rein in this abuse of taxpayer funds, then he should be pushing really hard for the legislation that he needs,” said Vladimer.

She pointed to legislation introduced by State Senator Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) and Assemblymember Grace Lee (D-Manhattan) earlier this year to limit the defense litigation costs of lawmakers. On Wednesday, Krueger told THE CITY she was hopeful there would be more movement of the proposal at the next legislative session.

While Cuomo’s primary campaign has come to a close, the former governor continues to defend himself from both state and federal civil suits that still are mounting bills for New Yorkers.

“He has literally weaponized taxpayer money to try and muzzle all of us,” said Boylan, adding Cuomo “thought that he could use the court system to keep us all quiet so he could become mayor.”

But, she said, “We’re not going anywhere.”

This press release was produced by The City. The views expressed here are the author’s own.