Former governor Cuomo forming PAC, hosting weekly podcast

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This article was published 28/09/2022 (1102 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NEW YORK (AP) — Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is taking his biggest steps yet to return to public life, more than a year after resigning in the wake of a bevy of sexual harassment allegations.

In a video posted online Wednesday, the Democrat said he’s forming a political action committee and a gun safety organization, and also plans to host a weekly podcast.

“I have fought the good fight in government and politics my whole life, and I am not done fighting yet,” he said.

Cuomo said his time away from politics — which he said has included attempting to fix a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, among other activities — has changed his perspective, and he decried the deep partisanship affecting current political discourse.

He criticized the inability of Congress to pass meaningful legislation, using a recent failed effort to get an assault weapons ban passed as an example. He said his PAC will seek to elect people “who will fight for change and get results” and not be “afraid to take the heat that goes with leadership.”

Cuomo resigned in August 2021, during his third term, a week after New York’s attorney general released a report that concluded he had sexually harassed at least 11 women.

Cuomo denied the allegations and slammed the investigation as being politically motivated, and said at the time he was stepping down to “let government get back to governing.”

This month, Cuomo filed an ethics complaint against Attorney General Letitia James that questioned the investigation’s credibility, noting that James briefly ran for governor after Cuomo resigned.

Also this month, a former aide sued Cuomo, claiming he sexually harassed her and then smeared her reputation after she publicly accused him of misconduct. Through his attorney, Cuomo denied harassing anyone.

Debra Katz, an attorney for former aide Charlotte Bennett, said of Cuomo Wednesday, “I think the world would be a better place if he just stayed at home and worked on his motorcycle.”

Cuomo has made more public appearance this year, and even suggested in the spring he might gather petition signatures to try to get on the ballot to get his old job back, though ultimately he didn’t do so.

In Wednesday’s video, Cuomo said his intention in hosting the podcast is to address people’s concerns and present the facts — “not Democratic facts, or Republican facts, but actual facts.”