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Which specific allegations against Andrew Cuomo were classified as inappropriate touching and who accused him?
Executive summary
The New York attorney general’s independent investigation found Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women, including specific allegations of “unwelcome and non‑consensual touching” such as groping a former aide’s breast and a state trooper’s stomach/back being touched; individual accusers named in reporting include Lindsey Boylan, Brittany Commisso, a female state trooper (often called “Trooper 1”), and others who provided testimony to investigators [1] [2] [3] [4]. Subsequent federal and state reporting and court filings expanded or summarized those claims—DOJ materials said 13 women were affected in a broader civil rights settlement, and several civil suits allege unwanted touching, kissing, groping, and other contact [5] [6] [4].
1. What investigators labeled “inappropriate touching” — concrete examples
The attorney general’s August 2021 report described multiple instances the investigators concluded were non‑consensual touching. Examples cited in mainstream reporting include: a former aide who said Cuomo groped her breast in November 2020 at the governor’s mansion (often reported in coverage of the AG report) [4] [1]; a state trooper who described Cuomo running a finger down her back to her bra clasp, touching her stomach and back in other instances, and kissing her on the cheek [3] [7]; and allegations that he ran his fingers across a woman’s shirt lettering at an event [1]. The AG’s full transcripts and exhibits provide the sourced testimony underlying those descriptions [8].
2. Who accused him — named and anonymous complainants
Reporting and the AG investigation identify both named accusers and anonymous witnesses. Named accusers in the AG report and later civil actions include Lindsey Boylan (who publicly alleged unwanted touching and inappropriate comments), Brittany Commisso (whose complaint alleges escalation to non‑consensual touching and a Dec. 7, 2020 groping incident), and a state trooper (commonly referenced as “Trooper 1” in many summaries; her testimony is included in AG exhibits) [1] [2] [3]. Other women interviewed in the probe included former aides, staffers, and at least one woman from the private sector; some initial media stories cited an anonymous Executive Chamber staffer who accused Cuomo of inappropriate touching [9] [4].
3. How official reports and later filings frame the same incidents
The AG’s investigative report concluded Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women and engaged in “unwelcome and non‑consensual touching,” corroborated to varying degrees by witnesses and contemporaneous messages, a finding that precipitated Cuomo’s resignation in 2021 [1] [10]. Later coverage notes the Department of Justice summarized a broader civil rights settlement saying Cuomo sexually harassed 13 women; that DOJ announcement did not detail each incident in the same way as the AG’s public report [5]. Civil complaints and settlements since then (for example, Commisso’s lawsuit and settlement) restate specific alleged incidents, such as reaching into a blouse and groping over a bra [2].
4. Disputes, denials, and legal outcomes
Cuomo has consistently denied touching anyone inappropriately, and his lawyers have contested accusers’ motives and the characterization of events; district attorneys declined to bring criminal charges in several reviews, and some civil claims have been dropped or are subject to ongoing litigation and settlement [11] [5] [4]. Advocates for the accusers argue later legal maneuvers—such as discovery and DOJ filings—risk retraumatizing witnesses, while Cuomo’s team argues those steps are necessary for defense [5].
5. Gaps in publicly available reporting and where to look next
Available sources include the AG’s transcripts and exhibits, major news reconstructions, and later federal summaries; the AG exhibits (hosted by the New York attorney general) contain the detailed testimony that underpins the phrase “inappropriate touching,” and are essential for close review [8]. Some sources summarize but do not reproduce all witness names or verbatim accounts; for example, the DOJ notice referenced broader numbers but did not publicly enumerate individual acts like the AG report did [5]. If you seek verbatim allegations or each accuser’s full account, consult the attorney general’s transcripts and the cited civil‑case filings [8] [2].
6. Why language matters — “inappropriate,” “unwelcome,” “non‑consensual”
Journalistic and legal accounts separate phrases: Cuomo sometimes pleaded that he never “touched anyone inappropriately,” while the AG used “unwelcome and non‑consensual touching” as the operative finding; federal summaries used different counts (11 vs. 13) depending on scope and legal framework [10] [1] [5]. Those differences reflect investigative standards, evidentiary thresholds, and choices about public disclosure; readers should note that “inappropriate touching” in reporting often aggregates a range of alleged acts—from hand‑holding and kissing to groping—each described with different degrees of specificity in the cited documents [1] [3] [2].
If you want, I can extract and summarize the specific passages from the AG transcripts that describe each touching allegation (the primary source cited by reporters) so you can read the exact language used by each accuser [8].