I did YOU all a favor: Defiant Cuomo says he quit for the good of NY and boasts he would have 'won' his impeachment battle in first interview since sex-pest resignation: Tried to cut deal to serve out remainder of his term

Andrew Cuomo has said he did New Yorkers a favor by resigning as governor, and not 'dragging the state' through a months-long impeachment investigation which he claims he would win - leaving the state government to 'look like a ship of fools.' 

'I feel like I did the right thing. I feel good. I'm not a martyr,' Cuomo  told New York Magazine.

He resigned after a report from the state attorney general found that he had sexually harassed 11 women, and democrat colleagues in the legislature turned on him. 

Cuomo announced his resignation on Tuesday, which will take effect on August 24. He told New York Magazine that he did not know what he would do next or where he will live after leaving the Albany governor's mansion. 

'Uh, I don't know what I'm gonna do,' Cuomo said. 'I'm not disappearing.' 

Andrew Cuomo was pictured walking in the grounds of the New York State Mansion on Friday. He will be forced to leave the home in two weeks and has no other reported place of residence

Cuomo resigned on Tuesday a week after the state submitted its 'sex-pest' report claiming that the governor had sexually abused 11 women during his reign  

An unknown woman was spotted at the pool in the governor's mansion home on Friday

Despite saying he left on his own terms, Cuomo allegedly enacted last-ditch efforts in the days leading up to his resignation to try and cut deals with members of the state assembly/

A source told the magazine that Cuomo promised not to run for a fourth term if the assembly did not impeach him. 

'If he saw any possible way out, any possible deal that could have been worked out with the legislature for him to leave more gracefully, he would have kept fighting,' one person close to Cuomo told the magazine.

'But there was just no path, and for once in his life, there was no one around him to even tell him there was a path.' 

The New York State Assembly ultimately suspended their impeachment investigation on Friday, speaker Carl Heastie announced.

He said it came to the attention of the committee that the legislature 'couldn't impeach' an official who was no longer in office, but admitted that if they'd continued, they'd have likely voted to impeach based on the evidence.

He claimed they would turn over all of the evidence they have found since March to relevant authorities.

Without impeachment, Cuomo will be free to run for governor again in the future and will keep his pension.

Rich Azzopardi, a spokesperson for Cuomo, told Fox News that the 14-day period was to ensure a transition to the next administration.

'It’s to ensure an orderly transition at this critical time where the key decisions still remain on COVID, the Delta variant and other significant challenges facing the state,' Azzopardi said.

But the decision did not please incoming governor Kathy Hochul - currently Cuomo's Lieutenant Governor.

‘It’s not what I asked for,’ the Buffalo native and former congresswoman told reporters during a news conference on Wednesday. 

She quickly added: ‘However, I’m looking forward to a smooth transition which he promised.’ 

Hochul said that in her conversations with Cuomo, the outgoing governor told her that he felt it was important to ensure ‘a transition to continuity.’ 

Hochul said she plans to ‘take advantage of that time’ in order to ‘engage with the people of the State of New York.’

She said that at the end of the 14-day period, Hochul will once again address the state to discuss the agenda of her incoming administration. 

Hochul added there would be no place in her administration for any Cuomo aides who were implicated in unethical behavior by the state attorney general's investigation of his behavior toward women. 

New York Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul says that she would have preferred that Andrew Cuomo’s resignation go into effect sooner than the 14 days that the alleged ‘sex pest’ announced on Tuesday

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie earlier this week claiming the committee would work 'expeditiously' to conclude the investigation

Cuomo's fall from pandemic hero to 'sex-pest' officially began in late 2020, when Lindsay Boylan accused him of sexual harassment.

The former state official posted on Twitter that Cuomo had persistently gone after her, detailing the time he asked her to play 'strip poker' with him during a flight on a taxpayer-funded jet and later gave her an unwanted kiss in his Manhattan office. 

Boylan's accusations were mostly pushed to the side as Cuomo's team worked to discredit her, according to State Attorney General Letitia James's report into Cuomo's sexual harassment. 

New York State Attorney General Letitia James, at the podium, presented the 'sex-pest' report on Aug. 3. Earlier in the year, James's office submitted another report that called into question Cuomo's policy to force nursing homes to house COVID-19 positive residents 

Cuomo may be left with nowhere to live when he gets the boot from Governor's Mansion after his ex sold their old home for $1.85m 

While Cuomo's official move-out date from the executive residence in Albany is unclear, what's even less certain is where he will end up after that.

The outgoing governor only began living in the 165-year-old residence in 2019, following his split with longtime partner Sandra Lee. 

Before that, the two shared a 4,129-square-foot colonial in Mount Kisco since moving there in 2008.

On December 23, 2020, however, she sold the home, called Lily Pond, for $1.85 million.

One possible destination for the governor might be his brother and CNN anchor Chris Cuomo's $2.9million home in the Hamptons, where Chris famously quarantined in his basement during the early stretch of the pandemic.

Another possible destination would be with his 89-year-old mother, who owns a co-op in Manhattan on Sutton Place South, which she and her late husband purchased for $595,000 in 1995.

Cuomo's sister, Maria Cuomo-Cole along with her husband and fashion designer Kenneth Cole, have a number of holdings as well, with homes in Westchester County and Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, the Post also reported.

And in 2002, economist Jeffery Sachs, reportedly let Cuomo stay at financial district rental at 1 West Street after his divorce from Kerry Kennedy.

'I’m a New Yorker, I’ve lived here, I’ve lived in Queens, I’ve lived in the city, I’ve lived upstate, I’ve lived everywhere, I came to Washington, so that’s … I don’t really care about that. I’ll figure that out,' Cuomo said.

The next hit to Cuomo's reputation was one he could not sweep on the rug so easily. The State Attorney General's office published a report in January revealing that Cuomo's policy to force COVID-19 positive patients into nursing homes due to lack of hospital beds 'may have put residents at increased risk of harm in some facilities.' 

The following month, the Associated Press reported that Cuomo's administration undercounted the loss of life at New York's nursing homes due to COVID-19 by 50%, with a total of 15,745 New Yorkers dead. 

Cuomo contends that he made the right call and his decision saved more lives than it cost by freeing up desperately needed hospital beds.

But the administration also tallied nursing home deaths in a way that was out of step with nearly every other state: It counted only those residents who died on nursing home property, not those who succumbed after being sent to a hospital. 

A top aide to the governor, Melissa DeRosa, tried to explain the administration's delays in releasing data on deaths by saying officials 'froze' over worries the information was 'going to be used against us' by Trump´s Justice Department. 

Cuomo and his administration are currently being investigated by federal prosecutors and the FBI over this issue.

Assemblyman Ron Kim, who lost his uncle to COVID-19 in a nursing home, went after Cuomo for his actions and pushed that the state investigate an alleged cover up. 

Although the two politicians argued on TV, the true shock came when Kim claimed he got a message from Cuomo saying that the governor could 'destroy' Kim. 

As news about the message gained traction, so too did Boylan's previous accusations.

With the governor's 'bullying' tactics beginning to be exposed, Charlotte Bennett, a former aide, came forward in February and revealed that Cuomo had asked her to have a sexual relationship with him.  

Then Anna Ruch, a third accuser, told her story of Cuomo forcing a kiss on her when she was attending the wedding of a friend.

Assemblyman Ron Kim has continued to call out Cuomo for his alleged part in contributing to the staggering deaths in the state's nursing homes. Kim's uncle was one of the victims

Protestors paid tribute to their loved ones outside Cobble Hill Health Center on March 21, 2021

Ruch claimed Cuomo approached her for a kiss during the party, and when she refused his advance, the governor allegedly called her 'aggressive,' and used both his hands to force a kiss on her.   

Other accusations soon followed, and James and her office began a full investigation into the sexual harassment claims. 

The report, published on Aug. 3, revealed that Cuomo had sexually harassed 11 women. 

While Cuomo maintains that he was innocent, three district attorneys are investigating him on the sexual harassment allegations. 

Lindsey Boylan, a former state official, was the first to call out Cuomo's 'predatory' behavior in December. She is pictured at a March 20 rally in New York, calling for his impeachment

Pictured here, Charlotte Bennett with Andrew Cuomo. Bennett came forward in February and claimed that the governor had asked her to be in a sexual relationship with him 

Anna Ruch said the governor had approached her during a friend's wedding and tried to kiss her. When she rebuked him, he said he called her 'aggressive' and forced a kiss on her

Top democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and President Joe Biden had all called on Cuomo to resign amid the scandals. 

Biden noted that he was 'sad' about the resignation as he believed Cuomo had done a 'hell of a job,' as governor. 

President Donald Trump, a fellow New Yorker who had Cuomo argued with during the pandemic, had also called on him to resign. 

'To tell you the truth, this guy is a total loser, and New York, as well as the entire country, is better off without him,' Trump wrote in a message to his supporters.    

President Donald Trump, pictured leaving Trump Tower on July 19, said New York and the country would be better off without Cuomo following the governor's resignation

President Joe Biden called New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's resignation 'sad' during a back-and-forth with reporters at the White House Tuesday, after calling on the Democrat to resign a week ago

In Cuomo's 20-minute resignation speech, he addressed his three daughters, calling them his 'jewels' and saying he had 'made mistakes and learned from them', but insisting he was not the serial abuser the report made him out to be.

Cuomo has served as governor of New York since 2011 and was the highest paid governor in American history with a $225,000-a-year salary. 

It remains to be seen how involved Cuomo will be in state government over the next two weeks, or how he'll manage handing over authority - something he rarely ceded during his time in office.

His circle of advisers has shrunk, but his closest aide and policymaking partner Melissa DeRosa - who was a familiar face at Cuomo's side during his televised briefings on New York´s fight against the coronavirus pandemic - made a surprise return after having announced her resignation from the administration Sunday.

The governor's office said she will remain in her job as secretary to the governor until Cuomo departs.  

The ELEVEN women from NY Attorney General's sex-pest report on Cuomo 

State Trooper #1  

Cuomo is accused of sexually harassed a state trooper, referred to in the report as Trooper #1, who he hired onto his protective detail in 2017 - bending the three-year experience requirement.

Although she had only completed two years on the force, the governor reportedly wanted the unnamed trooper in his inner circle. 

He is said to have asked a senior member of his security detail to add her to the team even though she did not meet the standard requirement.

'Ha ha, they changed the minimum from 3 years to 2 just for you,' the senior security member told the trooper in an email, which was included in the AG's report.

Once she was on his team, he allegedly harassed her on a number of occasions, including one where he ran his hand across her stomach from her belly button to her right hip while she was holding the door open for him at an event.

'I felt...completely violated because to me...that's between my chest and my privates,' the trooper said, according to Business Insider. 

'But, you know, I'm here to do a job.' 

He also ran is accused 'running his finger down her back' while they were in an elevator together and saying 'hey you', and kissing her on the cheek in front of another trooper.

'I remember just freezing, being - in the back of my head, I'm like, oh, how do I say no politely because in my head if I said no, he's going to take it out on the detail. And now I'm on the bad list,' the trooper said.

Cuomo also allegedly asked her to help him find a girlfriend and said he wanted someone who 'liked pain', and asked her why she wanted to get married, saying 'your sex drive goes down'.

'Trooper #1 found these interactions with the Governor not only offensive and uncomfortable, but markedly different from the way the Governor interacted with members of the PSU who were men, and she conveyed these incidents contemporaneously to colleagues,' the report reads.

The trooper said she was afraid of being retaliated against if she were to speak out against the behavior. 

The State Troopers Police Benevolent Association said in a statement on Tuesday that it was 'dismayed and disturbed' by the findings.

Tom Mungeer, president of the association, said: 'I'm outraged and disgusted that one of my members, who was tasked with guarding the governor and ensuring his safety, could not enjoy the same sense of security in her work environment that he was provided.'

State Entity Employee #2

A doctor says she was sexually harassed while administering a televised COVID-19 test to Cuomo.

The doctor who administered a COVID-19 test to Cuomo she was sexually harassed during the incident.

On May 17, 2020 Cuomo told the medic, in front of cameras 'nice to see you doctor, you make that gown look good'.

The doctor, who appeared in full PPE gear, did not respond to his comment.

Cuomo is accused of sexually harassing the medic while she administered him a COVID-19 test in front of cameras

Cuomo allegedly made comments towards the medic that were sexual in nature. He said: 'Nice to see you doctor, you make that gown look good'

The report also claims that before the test, Cuomo asked her not to swab him so hard that it 'hit his brain'. 

She replied that she'd be 'gentle but accurate' and he said 'I've heard that before,' which the doctor said was 'implied in a sexual nature'.

The medic considered the interaction to be sexual harassment and investigators agreed.  

Another unnamed 'state entity employee' 

The unidentified employee, identified in the report as 'State Entity Employee #1,' said she attended an event with Cuomo in September 2019.

After giving a speech, Cuomo is said to have posed for pictures with her. While the picture was being taken, he 'grabbed her butt'.

'The employee was shocked and discussed it with a number of friends, family and co-workers,' the report says.

She also 'memorialized the Governor's inappropriate touching' contemporaneously, but the report doesn't say how. 

'Executive Assistant One'

Cuomo is accused of groping an executive assistant, whose identity remains anonymous, at an event last November after routinely engaging in a pattern of impropriate conduct that began in late 2019.

The report includes photos of Cuomo with a woman described as 'executive assistant one'

The report says Cuomo repeatedly sexually harassed 'Executive Assistant One' when she worked for him by subjecting her to 'close and intimate hugs', 'kisses on the cheeks and forehead', 'at least one kiss on the lips' and 'touching her butt'.

He allegedly referred to her and one other assistant as 'mingle mamas' and asked her repeatedly if she would ever cheat on her husband.

On December 31, 2019, Cuomo asked her to take a selfies of them as they worked together inside his office at the Executive Mansion.

As she held up the camera, Cuomo 'moved his hand to grab her butt cheek and began to rub it' for at least five seconds, the report alleges.

The assistant 'was shaking so much during this interaction' that the photos came out blurry — and Cuomo suggested the two sit down to take one more, the document says.

That photo, showing Cuomo smirking while he sits back on a couch with the aide, is included in the report.

The governor then allegedly told her to send the snap to another aide, Alyssa McGrath - who has also accused Cuomo of sexual harassment - and said 'not to share the photograph with anyone else.'

The woman said she didn't report what happened because she was terrified.

'he way he was so firm with that I couldn't show anyone else that photo, I was just terrified that if I shared what was going on that it would somehow get around,' she told investigators. 

Cuomo admitted that he and the staffer took a photo together, but said it was her idea, because 'he does not like to take selfies.' 

In November 2020, he allegedly groped her breast at the Executive Mansion in Albany.

'For over three months, Executive Assistant #1 kept this groping incident to herself and planned to take it 'to the grave,' but found herself becoming emotional (in a way that was visible to her colleagues in the Executive Chamber) while watching the Governor state, at a press conference on March 3, 2021, that he had never 'touched anyone inappropriately.' 

She then confided in certain of her colleagues, who in turn reported her allegations to senior staff in the Executive Chamber, the report says.

Cuomo, in a defiant address after the report was published, presented a montage of photos of him being tactile with people such as Bill Clinton, his mother and Robert De Niro. He used the photo show to claim he was never abusive, but merely someone who frequently hugged and touched people

Cuomo, who served as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Clinton administration, is seen above planting a kiss on the cheek of former Vice President Al Gore

Cuomo's montage included another image of him planting a kiss on his mother's forehead

Cuomo included a photo above showing the governor grabbing a young boy's face

The assistant was summoned to the mansion under the pretext of having to assist Cuomo with a technical issue involving his phone, the Times Union reported in March. 

The two were alone together on the second floor of the residence when Cuomo allegedly closed the door, reached under the woman's blouse and began to fondle her.  

'You're going to get us in trouble,' the woman said she told Cuomo, who replied, 'I don't care,' according to the report.

His demeanor 'wasn't like 'ha ha,' it was like, 'I don't care.' . . . It was like in this - at that moment he was sexually driven. I could tell and the way he said it, I could tell,' the woman testified.

The governor then 'slid his hand up her blouse, and grabbed her breast, cupping her breast over her bra,' the report alleges. 

A source familiar with the incident told the newspaper that the victim had asked Cuomo to stop. 

This was allegedly the only time he touched her; all other instances involved flirtatious behavior. 

Lindsey Boylan

Boylan, who was the first accuser to speak out publicly, said that Cuomo made inappropriate remarks to her when she worked as chief of staff to the CEO of the Empire State Development Corporation.

Boylan is seen in Washington Square Park in Manhattan on March 20 at a rally demanding Cuomo resign

Cuomo said that he found her attractive and that he wanted to play strip poker.

She also said that he physically touched her on various parts of her body, including her waist, legs, and back.

She claimed that once she reported her allegations, she was victimized by his team who ran a smear campaign against her while she ran for office.

The alleged harassment took place between 2015 and 2018. 

Reports released earlier this year revealed that Cuomo's top aide tried to discredit Boylan and allegedly called at least six former employees looking for dirt on her.

Lindsey Boylan was the first accuser to speak out publicly against Cuomo. She says he made inappropriate comments towards her and physically touched her on various parts of her body

Charlotte Bennett

Bennett worked briefly for Cuomo as an aide. She was a health policy adviser in the New York governor's administration, hired in the spring of 2019 and swiftly promoted to senior briefer and executive assistant only a few months later. 

AG Letitia James says her allegations that Cuomo harassed her with a series of comments are corroborated.

Among his alleged remarks are questions about if she'd date older men, asking her help to find a girlfriend, and apparently quizzing her on a sexual assault she had endured.

Charlotte Bennett, who worked for Cuomo last year, told CBS News she felt 'vindicated' by the report

EXCLUSIVE: “I feel vindicated,” former Gov. Cuomo aide Charlotte Bennett tells @NorahODonnell after New York’s attorney general said she believed the women who came forward saying they had been sexually harassed by the governor. pic.twitter.com/O6Iwjndwo8

— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) August 3, 2021

EXCLUSIVE: “I feel vindicated,” former Gov. Cuomo aide Charlotte Bennett tells @NorahODonnell after New York’s attorney general said she believed the women who came forward saying they had been sexually harassed by the governor. pic.twitter.com/O6Iwjndwo8

— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) August 3, 2021

EXCLUSIVE: “I feel vindicated,” former Gov. Cuomo aide Charlotte Bennett tells @NorahODonnell after New York’s attorney general said she believed the women who came forward saying they had been sexually harassed by the governor. pic.twitter.com/O6Iwjndwo8

Charlotte Bennett worked briefly as a an aide for Cuomo. He allegedly asked her questions about if she'd date older men, asking her help to find a girlfriend, and apparently quizzing her on a sexual assault she had endured

One of the other comments that he made was that he wanted to ride into the mountains with women.

Bennett had a friendly relationship with Cuomo due to their mutual ties to Westchester County, and saw him as a mentor.

Charlotte Bennett made notes about her experience working with Cuomo which she gave to investigators 

In an interview earlier this year, Bennett said her first awkward conversation with Cuomo occurred on May 15, 2020. 

The report included text messages between Charlotte Bennett and another aide, and conversations she had with her parents where she had she had a 'great conversation' with the 'Governor', and others where she says he made her feel uncomfortable.  

'The governor invited me to lift weights with him,' she wrote in one message. 'He challenged me to a push-up competition'.

She had told her parents how he was surprised to learn that she lifted weights and boxed, and that he had asked her to do push-ups in the office.

In another text chain she said Cuomo 'talked about age difference in relationships,' calling his comments 'explicit'. 

Charlotte Bennett saw Cuomo as a mentor, but she says he was clear he wanted more

The report also included messages in which Bennett tells a confidant that she was incredibly uncomfortable following an interaction in the office. Bennett said she was 'shaking' and 'so upset and so confused'.

In texts to another aide, Bennett said Cuomo repeated to her 'over and over' that she had been 'raped'. 

Cuomo was also recorded singing the popular 1960s love song Do You Love Me?, by the Contours, to Bennett during a phone call in 2019.

According to the New York Post, Bennett initiated the phone call saying, 'Hi, governor. This is Charlotte'.

Cuomo allegedly answered the call with 'Are you ready? Doo, doo, doo,' and proceeded to ask her if she was familiar with the song.

Bennett told him the song was 'before her time'.

Cuomo allegedly continued singing, 'Do you love me? Do you really love me? Do you love me? Do you care?' 

Virginia Limmiatis

Virginia Limmiatis worked for National Grid and was wearing a t-shirt with the company's name written across her chest when she says she met Cuomo.

Virginia Limmiatis worked for the National Grid when Cuomo allegedly groped her

He ran his 'two fingers across her chest, pressing down on each of the letters as he did so and reading out the name of the company as he went'.

The report says he then 'leaned in, with his face close to her cheek, and said 'I'm going to say I see a spider on your shoulder' before brushing the area between her shoulder and her breasts'.

'Ms. Limmiatis came forward in this investigation after she heard the governor state, during the March 3, 2021 press conference, that he had never touched anyone inappropriately.

'As Ms. Limmiatis testified to us, 'He is lying again. He touched me inappropriately. I am compelled to come forward to tell the truth... I didn't know how to report what he did to me at the time and was burdened by shame, but not coming forward now would make me complicit in his lie, and I won't do it.'' 

Alyssa McGrath

McGrath, 35, was the first current employee to accuse Cuomo, and works as an executive assistant.

'In his interactions with another executive assistant, Alyssa McGrath, the Governor made inappropriate comments and engaged in harassing conduct, including: regularly asking about her personal life, including her marital status and divorce; asking whether Ms. McGrath would tell on Executive Assistant #1 if she were to cheat on her husband - and whether Ms. McGrath herself planned to 'mingle' with men'.

She also claimed he looked down her shirt to compliment her on her necklace, told her that she's beautiful in Italian and kissed her on the forehead during an office Christmas party in 2019. 

Alyssa McGrath was quizzed by Cuomo about her marital status and divorce and kissed on the forehead by Cuomo at an office Christmas party

Her attorney, Mariann Wang, said on Tuesday that McGrath and another accuser she represents, Virginia Limmiatis, were relieved.

The two women 'feel profoundly grateful to the AG's team for taking this seriously and examining their reports thoroughly and carefully.'

Wang continued: 'Cuomo's misogyny and abuse cannot be denied. He has been doing this for years, without any repercussions. 

'He should not be in charge of our government and should not be in any position of power over anyone else.'

'Kaitlin'

Kaitlin - whose second name is not public - met the governor in 2016 at a fundraising event where they were photographed together in a dance pose.

Afterwards, she was hired by him in a junior position but given a salary of $120,000 - a figure so high she says it was laughed at in her interview.

Ana Liss

Liss, 35, worked in the Executive Chamber between 2013 and 2015, during which time she says the governor subjected her to sexual harassment that included being called 'sweetheart' and 'darling', and placing his hand around her lower waist.

Ana Liss worked in the Executive Chamber between 2013 and 2015, during which time she says the governor subjected her to sexual harassment that included being called 'sweetheart' and 'darling', and placing his hand around her lower waist

He also kissed her hands and cheek, she said.

Despite feeling uncomfortable, she says she did not report them because 'for whatever reason, in his office the rules were different.' 

She added: 'It was just, you should view it as a compliment if the Governor finds you aesthetically pleasing enough, if he finds you interesting enough to ask questions like that.

'And so even though it was strange and uncomfortable and technically not permissible in a typical workplace environment, I was in this mindset that it was the twilight zone and...the typical rules did not apply.' 

Anna Ruch

Ruch was a guest at a wedding, as was the governor, in 2019 when she says he put his hands on a section of her back that was exposed by a cut-out in her dress.

She grabbed his wrist to move it away and he responded by saying 'wow, you're aggressive,' according to the report.

Cuomo then grabbed her face with both of his hands and said 'can I kiss you?'

He was pictured kissing her cheek.

Anna Ruch was a guest at a wedding, as was Cuomo, in 2019. She says he put his hands on a section of her back that was exposed by a cut-out in her dress

Karen Hinton

Karen Hinton, 62, spoke to the Washington Post about an incident in which Cuomo summoned her to his 'dimly lit' hotel room and embraced her after a work event in 2000. 

She was not among the 11 women on who the attorney general based her report. 

Hinton said that she tried to pull away from Cuomo, but that he pulled her back and held her before she backed away and escaped the room. 

Peter Ajemian, Cuomo's director of communications, told the Post that Hinton is a 'known antagonist of the Governor's who is attempting to take advantage of this moment to score cheap points with made up allegations from 21 years ago'.  

'All women have the right to come forward and tell their story — however, it's also the responsibility of the press to consider self-motivation. This is reckless,' he added.

Karen Hinton, 62, (pictured above) claims the governor summoned her to his 'dimly lit' hotel room and embraced her after a work event in 2000 before she managed to escape

In response, Hinton told the Post that 'attacking the accuser is the classic playbook of powerful men trying to protect themselves' as she said that watching Cuomo's apologetic press conference 'drove me crazy'.  

'I really thought the flirt wasn't about having sex,' Hinton said. 'It was about controlling the relationship.' 

At the time of the alleged encounter in the hotel room, Cuomo would have been leading the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Hinton was a consultant after moving to California. 

The Post reports that Hinton and Cuomo have a contentious past and that they had a major blow up before she left the agency in 1999, remaining on as a consultant.  

She had joined Cuomo in Los Angeles to promote a HUD program and later had dinner in his hotel before allegedly receiving a phone call from him stating: 'Why don't you come to my room and let's catch up?'

Hinton said that she began to think it was unusual when Cuomo asked her to avoid being seen by Clarence Day, his longtime head of security, but that she continued to his room anyway. 

'I paused for a second,' she told the Post about noticing the low lights in the room. 'Why are the lights so low? He never keeps the lights this low.'  

Hinton said they sat on opposite couches and talked about their work at HUD and that Cuomo asked her personal questions about her life and marriage - including if she would leave her husband. 

She claims that she grew self-conscious after speaking so much about herself and went to leave.

'I stand up and say, 'It's getting late, I need to go,' ' she said, describing the embrace Cuomo gave her as 'very long, too long, too tight, too intimate'.

'He pulls me back for another intimate embrace,' she said. 'I thought at that moment it could lead to a kiss, it could lead to other things, so I just pull away again, and I leave.' 

Hinton told the Post that she viewed the move as a 'power play' for 'manipulation and control' and that the pair never discussed the incident again, although they have remained in touch. 

She has both publicly praised Cuomo and been critical of him, especially when working as press secretary in 2015 and 2016 for New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, with whom the governor has an intense rivalry. 

The Post spoke to two people who confirmed that Hinton had told them about the hotel incident after it happened.