Ex-Cuomo staffer who now works for LGBTQ advocacy group is SLAMMED for handing over the personnel file of accuser Lindsey Boylan after he'd left the job so the governor's aides could try to discredit her
A former Cuomo staffer who now works as the president of an LGBTQ organization is facing angry criticism after being named in the Attorney General's report because he gave Cuomo's aides the personnel file of accuser Lindsey Boylan, that they then leaked to the media to try to discredit her allegations of sexual harassment.
Alphonso David was Counsel to the Governor in 2018 when Boylan - one of 11 women whose claims of sexual harassment have been substantiated this week by the AG - was also working in the state.
He left the position in August 2019 and is now the President of the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ organization. He appeared on a controversial recent episode of CBS 60 Minutes where he slammed Leslie Stahl for presenting a story on transgender kids changing their minds and called the coverage dangerous.
In September 2018, while he was still working with the Governor, he was tasked with putting together a personnel file on Boylan after several assistants complained to HR that she was a bully.
He had a meeting with her, during which he 'counseled' her and she then resigned voluntarily.
Alphonso David used to work for Cuomo but is now an LGBTQ rights crusader. In 2018, he had a meeting with accuser Lindsey Boylan about complaints that other female staff had made against her. He made a personnel file about her, and in 2020, after Boylan went public, Cuomo's aides pushed that file out to journalists to try to discredit her
These texts are from December 2020 when Melissa DeRosa asked David for the file and he told her where she could find it
In December 2020, Boylan went public with the first allegations of sexual harassment, tweeting that Cuomo was an 'abuser'.
Quickly afterwards, Cuomo's aide Melissa DeRosa contacted David to ask him for the file.
He replied, adding in Judith Mogul, Special Counsel to the Governor who still works there, and handing over the document which he'd kept a record of.
Cuomo's communications director Richard Azzopardi then sent the files to reporters from CBS, The Hill, NY1 News, NY Daily News, New York Post, Associated Press, and the New York Times.
He said it was to prove she was fired and hadn't quit over sexual harassments claims.
These are the files, titled 'draft, privileged and confidential' and 'attorney client privileged communication' between David and Boylan
This email shows Richard Azzopardi, one of Cuomo's communications directors, sending the files to David Caruso, an Associated Press reporter. He gave with it a statement by Caitlin Girouard, one of Cuomo's spokespeople
Now, David is being lampooned for giving the files over to Cuomo's aides when he'd left his position. Critics say he set the smear campaign in motion by giving the files over and that he should resign from his new job, because they'll stop donating to the organization if he doesn't.
Michigan Attorney General, who is the second openly lesbian attorney general to be elected in any state, tweeted: 'I will not be accepting any campaign donations or support from unless and until there is a new president of this organization.'
Others supported her.
The personnel files on Boylan described how three black female assistants had complained to HR that she - a white woman - was a bully and treated them 'like children'.
Cuomo's aides wanted to prove that that was the reason she'd left the Executive Chamber and that if she was lying about that, what else may she be lying about.
The Attorney General describes the leak in her report as the aides trying to discredit Boylan's entire story.
She alleges that Cuomo repeatedly made inappropriate remarks to her and kissed her on the lips without her consent when she worked for him.
Now, critics are lashing out at HRC - The Human Rights Campaign - which David is the President of. They say he must be fired over his involvement
After she left the Executive Chamber, Boylan campaigned to become Manhattan Borough President.
She believes that Cuomo and his aides tried to stifle her campaign in retaliation for her sexual harassments claims.
They maintain that she only ever went public in the first place with what they say are false allegations because she was angry when Cuomo shortened the petition period for candidates during the COVID-19 pandemic.
David did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's inquiries on Friday and neither did the Human Rights Campaign. It's unclear if he intends to stand down.
David was Counselor to the Governor for four years before quitting in August 2019
He appeared on a controversial recent episode of CBS 60 Minutes where he slammed Leslie Stahl for presenting a story on transgender kids changing their minds and called the coverage dangerous
David says he never knew what the file would be used for and that he's innocent. He says he had to turn over the files by law, but that Cuomo should resign
He tweeted that the Governor ought to resign after the report.
In a statement to The Hill, David said he was legally required to hand over the documents and that he had no idea how they'd be used.
'I was never aware of any allegations of sexual misconduct, and no one ever reported them to me, as the report verifies. Of the 11 survivors, I only directly engaged with one, and that was on a personnel matter that had nothing to do with sexual misconduct,' he said.
One of the assistants who had complained about Boylan said they were furious when the complaint ended up in the media because they thought they were protected by attorney client privilege, and that the documents would never become public
'I was dismayed when my memo was picked up in papers literally around the world and domestically—this was not how I wanted to find my name in People Magazine,' the assistant said.