Buttigieg remains silent on former top aide helping Andrew Cuomo fight sexual harassment accusations
Lis Smith admitted to offering Cuomo 'strategic advice' in response to sexual harassment allegations
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has remained silent as the details of a former top aide’s assistance to disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo have come to light.
Democratic strategist Lis Smith appears in a series of text messages made public this week by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who conducted an investigation into Cuomo and his staff.
Smith is documented referring to Christine Blasey Ford as "looney tunes" and speaking dismissively about the #MeToo movement earlier this year.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaks during the daily briefing at the White House on Nov. 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
"Christine Blasey Ford was looney tunes and the height of [#MeToo] overreach so this checks out," Smith texted members of then-Gov. Cuomo's staff, referring to one of the women who accused Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during the 2018 confirmation process of sexually assaulting her when the two were in high school.
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Andrew Cuomo during the daily media briefing at the governor's office in New York City on June 12, 2020. (Jeenah Moon/Getty Images)
Smith served as Cuomo's spokesperson during his 2014 reelection bid. She also served as Buttigieg's senior communications director during the mayor’s 2020 presidential campaign, where she was often credited as a driving force behind his rise.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Buttigieg, who has publicly referred to Ford as a "profile in courage," has remained silent on his former aide’s comments and the fact that she played an instrumental role in providing advice to Cuomo and his team.
In the transcript of Smith's testimony for James' investigation into Cuomo, she was asked whether she was "involved" in any other discussions besides the Cuomo team's response to Lindsey Boylan's sexual harassment allegations, prompting Smith to say, "Yes. I was involved with the response to the subsequent allegations that came out."
Lis Smith, Andrew Cuomo and Melissa DeRosa (Getty Images)
"It was primarily offering strategic advice on how the Governor's Office and the Governor himself should respond," Smith added.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Also would like to help w the sex [sic] harassment stuff- the maher people offered to do a call w me today but I need something from your team," Smith wrote to top Cuomo aide Melissa DeRosa, according to the transcripts. "At some point you guys need to give people a reason to help you and some ammo."
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Smith is documented scolding Cuomo staff for not using their "f---ing assistant" amid a new accusation of sexual misconduct on the part of the governor.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox News Digital reached out to Buttigieg through the Department of Transportation's Public Affairs Office, but did not receive a response by press time.