Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo is blaming longtime foe Attorney General Tish James after The Post revealed sworn testimony that he was having an “emotional romantic relationship” with his then-married top aide Melissa DeRosa.
In a statement provided to The Post, Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi accused James of leaking the unredacted testimony, even though the document is publicly available through an archived page of the AG’s website.
He claimed it was a ploy by James — whose office found in 2021 that Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women, leading to his resignation as governor — to kneecap his comeback bid for New York City mayor.
James, as The Post previously reported, had been pushing behind the scenes for City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams to enter the Democratic mayoral primary, which the Queens pol did earlier this month.
“This is transparently a play for Tish James to prop up her favored candidate Adrienne Adams who is polling at 4%, and she should be investigated for her continued abuse and law fare within her office,” Azzopardi wrote.
The Post exclusively reported Thursday on unredacted transcripts from the AG’s investigation into the then-governor in which a former aide, Josh Vlasto, testified that Cuomo lieutenant Melissa DeRosa had confided in him about a “relationship” with their boss.
“There was a conversation with Melissa where she told me at one point that she had an emotional romantic relationship with the Governor,” Vlasto said under oath on June 7, 2021, in a portion of the transcript that was later redacted by the AG’s office.
“She said that to me. She said we had an emotionally intimate relationship.”
Vlasto said DeRosa told him that she and the governor “have not had sex and we are not crossing that line or something like that,” according to the transcript.
Both Cuomo, 67, and DeRosa, 42, denied any dalliance. Cuomo has also strenuously insisted he never sexually harassed anyone and continues to fight the claims in court.
The AG’s office declined to respond Friday to Cuomo’s allegations about a plot to harm his mayoral campaign.
But a spokesperson for James previously told The Post that Vlasto’s unredacted testimony was posted erroneously online, before it was replaced with the correct file.
“An unredacted transcript was accidentally posted for less than two hours during the initial release of these files. The office immediately removed the unredacted version once it was discovered,” the statement said.
James, a fellow Democrat, has been Cuomo’s nemesis since special prosecutors brought on by her office concluded in August 2021 that he had sexually harassed employees and that his staff retaliated against them.
Cuomo, who claimed the AG’s investigation was politically motivated, voluntarily resigned a week later.
James announced her intention to run for governor two months after Cuomo stepped down, but she soon withdrew as incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul emerged as the frontrunner, and chose to run for re-election instead.
Since his resignation, the three-term Democrat has dragged James to court on several occasions, including trying to force her to hand over tons of investigatory material related to the sexual harassment investigation.
The AG had been pushed by top Dems to consider a run for City Hall herself, The Post reported last year, as embattled Mayor Eric Adams faced a deluge of calls to resign.
Campaign finance records show James contributed $175 to the campaign of Adrienne Adams, no relation to the mayor.
The little-known Queens pol’s relatively late entry into the race has proven to be an uphill battle as she struggles to build up momentum – and her campaign coffers – with Cuomo consistently dominating in the polls.
The council speaker was dealt a major blow earlier this month when she failed to raise enough money to qualify for matching funds.
And, as The Post first reported Thursday, Queens Democratic Chairman Gregory Meeks is set to endorse Cuomo over the weekend.
Meeks, also a congressman, represents some of the same predominantly black neighborhoods in Southeast Queens as Adrienne Adams.
Queens native Cuomo had been leading in the polls since his March 1 entry to the race, and even prior. A poll released earlier this week had him at 38% of likely voters.
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