'Cascade of harm': Cuomo threatens defamation lawsuit against former aide who accused him of sexual harassment

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday submitted a notice that he would be filing a defamation lawsuit against a former aide, who previously filed a federal lawsuit against him for sexual harassment, claiming that she defamed him through the process.

"The nature of this action is to recover compensatory and punitive damages for the serious injuries and losses that Governor Cuomo has suffered and will continue to suffer as a result of the December 9, 2024 false statement by Bennett and her agents that Governor Cuomo ‘sexually harassed’ Bennett," a legal notice filed by Cuomo against Charlotte Bennett on Thursday reads. 

"Bennett’s agents tweeted this statement on December 9, 2024 with the headline: "Debra Katz and Charlotte Bennett issued statements on news that Bennett voluntarily dismissed her lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in the SDNY against Andrew Cuomo, who sexually harassed her." Bennett reposted her agents’ tweet, which has garnered more than 90,000 views. The December 9 Defamatory Statement – which was intended to be and was widely disseminated and which was made in the wake of Bennett and her agents’ numerous prior public accusations against Governor Cuomo – was false and defamatory, and Bennett made it knowing full well that it was false and intending to cause harm to Governor Cuomo."

Bennett was one of several women to accuse Cuomo of sexual harassment, which ultimately contributed to his resignation in 2021. 

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"I would never want to be unhelpful in any way, and I think given the circumstances, the best way I can help now is if I step aside and let government get back to governing, and therefore, that’s what I’ll do," Cuomo said at the time while denying the allegations against him and arguing that state investigators from the office of Attorney General Letitia James were biased against him. 

"I have slipped and called people ‘honey, ’sweetheart' and ‘darling.’ I mean it to be endearing, but women found it dated and offensive," Cuomo said at the time. "I take full responsibility for my actions. I have been too familiar with people. My sense of humor can be insensitive and off-putting."

"In my mind, I've never crossed the line with anyone, but I didn't realize the extent to which the line has been redrawn," he added. "There are generational and cultural shifts that I just didn't fully appreciate. And I should have, no excuses."

Bennett dropped her lawsuit against Cuomo, which she filed in 2022, this December on the eve of her deposition in the case.

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"Since Ms. Bennett filed suit in federal court in September 2022, former Governor Cuomo has used every opportunity to harass our client with an astonishing number of invasive discovery requests and outrageous statements in pleadings to embarrass and humiliate her," Bennett’s lawyer, Debra Katz, said in a statement as the lawsuit was dropped on Dec. 9. "These include requests for medical records for unrelated specialists, including gynecologists, optometrists, and others, as well as medical records dating back more than ten years ago from when she was a minor."

"This fishing expedition was designed to dig up material to smear our client and distract from the fact that Mr. Cuomo did, as the New York Attorney General’s Office concluded after a lengthy investigation, sexually harass Ms. Bennett and at least 11 other women.  It is also important not to lose sight of the fact that before engaging in his multi-year, multi-million dollar legal war against Ms. Bennett – funded by N.Y. State taxpayers – Mr. Cuomo apologized for his behavior.  At a March 2021 press conference, he apologized for ‘making anyone feel uncomfortable’ and for ‘whatever pain I caused anyone,’ and said, ‘I acknowledge some of the things I have said have been misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation. To the extent anyone felt that way, I am truly sorry about that.’ His apologies were empty."

Richard Azzopardi, a rep for Cuomo, praised Bennett's decision to drop the case at the time, saying that her claims "falsely smeared" the former governor "for years."

"Ms. Bennett's decision to drop her baseless lawsuit should be viewed as a complete capitulation and a desperate attempt to avoid being confronted with the mountains of exculpatory discovery – including contemporaneous texts and videos that the AG’s office never obtained – that completely refute her claims against Governor Cuomo," he said, in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

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"After falsely smearing Governor Cuomo for years, Ms. Bennett suddenly withdrew her federal lawsuit on the eve of her deposition to avoid having to admit under oath that her allegations were false, and her claims had no merit," he said. "If New York State does give in to her public pressure campaign and settles, it will not be on the merits and should require the public release of all the evidence so that New Yorkers finally know the truth: Governor Cuomo never sexually harassed anyone."

Katz pushed back against Cuomo's notice of claim in a statement to the Times Union, saying it has "no merit."

"There is a long history of using defamation lawsuits to silence and punish accusers of sexual harassment," Katz said. "It is shameful that Mr. Cuomo has apparently now chosen to go down that path."

Fox News Digital reached out to Katz for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Cuomo's notice alleges that Bennett "cynically used" conversations with Cuomo to "advance" her career and that her "false allegations materially contributed to a cascade of harm to Governor Cuomo."

Fox News Digital's Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report