According to a bombshell attorney general’s report, Gov. Andrew Cuomo turned to members of his inner circle to help cover up allegations of sexual harassment. Jonathan Dienst reports.
Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign, is refusing to step down after claims top organization officials want his resignation over ties to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo's effort to silence accusers.
David is one of two prominent LGBTQ leaders embroiled in the ex-governor's scandal for allegedly consulting the Cuomo team as accusations of sexual harassment swirled. David and Roberta Kaplan, former leader of Time's Up, were named in the attorney general's report for allegedly agreeing to help discredit Lindsey Boylan.
Shortly after the report's release, the HRC president became the focus of an internal investigation by the organization, an inquiry that David claims has concluded.
"I have now been privately contacted by the two co-chairs of the HRC board and their representatives, who informed me verbally that the review period has been completed, and that there is no indication of wrongdoing on my part," he tweeted over the Labor Day weekend.
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The independent investigators tasked with looking into the governor's allegations found David and Kaplan were consulted over a letter the Cuomo administration had drafted attacking Boylan's credibility, and both agreed to review the letter.
The HRC president, and former special counsel to the governor from 2015-2019, said he did not sign on to the letter. NBC News reported last month that David denied agreeing to circulate the letter to see if other Cuomo allies would sign it.
The same night the attorney general's scathing report was released to the public David tweeted saying the governor should resign.
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"Despite the lack of any findings, the board co-chairs have now asked me to consider resigning, not because of any wrongdoing, but because they feel the incident has been a 'distraction' for the organization," David said of the HRC investigation.
In his lengthy statement Sunday, David says the chairs have no intention to release the results of the inquiry with anyone, and isn't clear if a formal report even exists. He's demanding the organization release the report.
The Human Rights Campaign did not respond Sunday to requests for comment.
David has publicly supported the internal investigation since it's announcement. He's also maintained that he wasn’t aware of allegations of sexual harassment against the governor during his time as chief counsel.
