A top aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has resigned from her position following a damning report from the state’s attorney general concluding that the governor had sexually harassed multiple women, according to multiple reports.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve the people of New York for the past 10 years,” Melissa DeRosa said in a statement Sunday evening, adding that the past 2 years have been “emotionally and mentally trying.”
Earlier in the week, New York Attorney General Letitia James released an extensive report accusing Cuomo of sexual misconduct which prompted calls for the governor to resign including from President Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
DeRosa’s departure was significant. She was seen as one of the governor’s most competent and trusted top aides. The New York Times wrote that she stood by Cuomo “for years even as his inner circle shrank in size and many of the top staffers who had helped first elect him in 2010 left the administration.”
About two-thirds of state Assembly members have already said they favor an impeachment trial if he refuses to resign. Nearly all 63 members of the state Senate have called for Cuomo to step down or be removed.
