Note: This post examines publicly available information and defense-raised challenges.
Accuser #6
Alyssa McGrath currently works in the Executive Chamber as
an executive assistant, providing administrative assistance to certain assigned
staff members of the Executive Chamber, and has been in that role since May
2018. In December 2018, McGrath also assisted the Governor, including by
covering phone calls and other executive assistant functions on weekends at the
Executive Mansion.
The allegations
Italian word In
early 2019, McGrath was assisting Cuomo at the Executive Mansion by herself
when he asked her whether she spoke Italian. McGrath replied that she did not speak
Italian, although she is of Italian heritage. Cuomo then said a short Italian phrase to
McGrath and grinned at her. McGrath did
not recognize the phrase, but when she consulted her parents, who are fluent in
Italian, her father told her that Cuomo’s comment had been about how McGrath
was beautiful. McGrath testified that
she felt uncomfortable and surprised at learning this, especially given that
this had also been one of the first times she had assisted Cuomo at the
Executive Mansion by herself.
There is a footnote on the AG report.
Bella means beautiful in Italian. My grandmother used to
call me that. “I can’t believe he said
that.” Really? There are a lot worse words she could have
been called.
Necklace Incident Also
in early 2019, McGrath was working on a dictation assignment with Cuomo for the
first time and was nervous. McGrath says
she was seated slightly bent over her notepad and pen, ready to take dictation
from Cuomo, when she noticed he had not spoken for an unusual amount of time. McGrath
says when she looked up at him, and saw that he was staring down into McGrath’s
shirt, which was a silk-like blouse that was loosely hanging off of her as she
was slightly bent forward. After McGrath
looked up and saw that Cuomo had been looking in the area of her chest, he
asked her what was on her necklace, which was hanging between McGrath’s breasts
and the shirt. McGrath responded that her necklace had a pendant of the Virgin
Mary and an Italian horn. McGrath
understood Cuomo’s question about her necklace as confirmation that he in fact
had been looking down her shirt, and she felt embarrassed, uncomfortable, and
stressed.
Cuomo testified that he did not recall ever looking down
McGrath’s shirt, and noted that he believed it was physically impossible to do
so from across his desk. He did recall that
McGrath was “very nervous when she came in,” and acknowledged that he
may have complimented her on her necklace “to sort of make her feel more at
ease.”
My only question is how slightly bent over were you sitting
for anyone to see straight down your shirt considering how far away you were?
McGrath’s testimony is corroborated by Executive Assistant #1 (Commisso), her best friend.
Holiday Photo McGrath
also testified that, at the annual holiday party, Cuomo “would intentionally go
up to [her and Executive Assistant #1] instead of us going up to him. And he
would always want to take a picture with the two of us,” even though “people
are all like trying to get to him.” McGrath recalled being “a little surprised
that he came up to us out of . . . everyone there.” Photographs of Cuomo with
McGrath and Executive Assistant #1 at holiday parties show Cuomo holding both
of them tight, with his hands on their sides right under their breasts. In one
of the pictures,
“Right under their breasts” is normally called your waist.
On March 19, 2021, the New York Times published an article
reporting on “a series of unsettling interactions” that McGrath had with Cuomo.
what was left out
Matt McGrath’s testimony
The AG’s assessment was that based on her demeanor during her testimony, as well as the level of detail and consistency in the substance of her allegations and the corroboration from other individuals and documents, we found Ms. McGrath to be credible.
it was like, “Hey, I’m gonna say some stuff, you might
know it’s BS, but can you keep your mouth shut?” And it wasn’t in exact words,
that was my interpretation of it, knowing what I know. Matt McGrath Testimony, p.
27-51
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