ALBANY \u2013\u00a0Dime\u2019s up.<\/p>\n
Andrew Cuomo\u2019s sexual harassment accusers called on state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli to cut off the former governor\u2019s taxpayer-fueled legal defense fund Thursday after his Big Apple mayoral run bellyflopped.<\/p>\n
The accused sex pest, who resigned as governor in 2021 while facing misconduct allegations from over a dozen women, has since received a whopping $60 million from taxpayers<\/a> while battling scandals that ensnared his administration.<\/p>\n Andrew Cuomo conceded defeat in the New York City Democratic primary for mayor Tuesday night. Matthew McDermott<\/p>\n Roughly $18 million of that largesse went toward the three-term Democratic governor aggressively defending himself against the women who accused him of sexual harassment.<\/p>\n \u201cSurvivors and whistleblowers shouldn\u2019t have to live in fear of being dragged through the legal system simply for telling the truth,\u201d said Erica Vladimer, founding director of the group Harassment-Free Albany.<\/p>\n Vladimer was joined via Zoom by some of the former state staffers who spoke out against Cuomo, including Charlotte Bennett, an ex-aide who had sued <\/a>over alleged sexual harassment. <\/p>\n \u201cIt has been an excruciating time and the joy of the outcome on Tuesday was quickly followed by fear of what the next piece of this means for me,\u201d Bennett, who supported Cuomo\u2019s main opponent Zohran Mamdani in the Democratic primary, said while holding back tears.<\/p>\n Cuomo in April filed and renewed a notice of claim<\/a> that he intended to pursue a defamation lawsuit against Bennett \u2014 in what she alleged was a deliberate effort to keep her quiet during the primary race.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t feel like I\u2019ve been able to respond to his narrative,\u201d Bennett said.<\/p>\n Cuomo\u2019s lawyers filed a notice of claim that he intends to sue Bennett for defamation in December. AP<\/p>\n Fellow Cuomo accuser Lindsey Boylan called for Cuomo\u2019s legal bills to be scrutinized. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post<\/p>\n Cuomo, who has denied the allegations, went on the offensive against Bennett after she dropped her federal lawsuit<\/a> against him late last year, shortly before she was expected to be deposed in the case.<\/p>\n Bennett, fellow Cuomo accuser Lindsey Boylan and Vladimer called for DiNapoli to seriously scrutinize the legal bills that the former governor has been submitting for reimbursement.<\/p>\n