Alphonso David, the president of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBT activist and lobbying group in the United States with far-left interests, gave New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s aides a confidential file about one of the Democrat politician’s victims after she publicly called out the governor for sexual harassment.
In a damning report released by the New York attorney general this week, investigators confirmed that Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women and that his administration drafted an op-ed-type letter that “attacked Ms. [Lindsey] Boylan [one of his victims] for alleged conduct at work, for alleged conduct with men, other than the governor, as well as postulating various political conspiracies including that Ms. Boylan was funded by far-right Republicans and supporters of Donald Trump.”
“Although the letter was never published, it was sent or read to a variety of people outside the executive chamber either to get their advice or ask them to sign their names to it and shared, ultimately, with at least one member of the press,” the investigator stated in a press conference this week. “The governor was arguing for the release of that letter.”
According to the report, David, who worked in Cuomo’s office for eight years before leaving for the Human Rights Campaign in 2019, “agreed to ask former Cuomo aides to sign the letter” and even claimed he would sign it himself if Cuomo’s aides requested it.
“Mr. David testified that he did not agree to have his name attached to the statement because he did not know if the statements in it were true and he did not think it was a good response,” the report states. “He nonetheless agreed to read it and convey its substance to other former employees to see if they would sign it.”
David, who claims he had copies of Boylan’s files because it “may have been the only instance where [he] was actually involved in a counseling of an employee when [he] was in the Executive Chamber,” denied any wrongdoing and said he was legally obligated to release the documents requested by the administration after Boylan went public with her allegations. David also said he was unaware of the aides’ intentions for the documents.
“Reading the Attorney General’s report made me sick to my stomach. As much as I knew Governor Cuomo to be a demanding boss, I never imagined he would have engaged in illegal conduct,” David told The Hill before promoting the HRC’s message of “equality and justice for all people.” “He has to resign. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the survivors for their courage in speaking out.”
Despite concern and outrage from HRC employees, who said their organization should not be run by someone who “care[s] more about staying in the good graces of people in power,” David faces no punishment from the HRC for his involvement in the Cuomo scandal and will continue to act as president under a contract that was recently extended.
David also does not plan to resign from his position despite some demands from employees and others such as Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who is a lesbian.
I will not be accepting any campaign donations or support from @HRC unless and until there is a new president of this organization. https://t.co/zUgmWQi37T
— Dana Nessel (@dananessel) August 5, 2021
Two co-founders of Time’s Up, a group dedicated to helping victims of sexual harassment, also allegedly helped Cuomo’s aides create the hit letter directed at downplaying the allegations of sexual harassment against the governor.
