A second former aide has come forward with sexual harassment allegations against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who responded with a statement Saturday saying he never made advances toward her and never intended to be inappropriate. Charlotte Bennett, a health policy adviser in the Democratic governor’s administration until November, told The New York Times that Cuomo asked her inappropriate questions about her sex life, including whether she had ever had sex with older men. Another former aide, Lindsey Boylan, a former deputy secretary for economic development and special adviser to the governor, recently accused Cuomo of subjecting her to an unwanted kiss and inappropriate comments. Cuomo denied the allegations. Cuomo said in a statement Saturday that Bennett was a “hardworking and valued member of our team during COVID” and that “she has every right to speak out.” He said he had intended to be a mentor for Bennett, who is 25. “I never made advances toward Ms. Bennett nor did I ever intend to act in any way that was inappropriate,” Cuomo’s statement said. “The last thing I would ever have wanted was to make her feel any of the things that are being reported.” Cuomo, however, said he had authorized an outside review of Bennett’s allegations. The governor’s special counsel, Beth Garvey, said that review would be conducted by a former federal judge, Barbara Jones. “I ask all New Yorkers to await the findings of the review so that they know the facts before making any judgements,” Cuomo said. “I will have no further comment until the review has concluded.” The pair of harassment allegations represent a deepening crisis for Cuomo, who just months ago was at the height of his popularity for his leadership during the height of the coronavirus pandemic last spring. In recent weeks, he has been assailed, even by some fellow Democrats, over revelations that his administration had substantially underreported COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes. A state ...
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Biden administration buys 100,000 doses of Lilly antibody drug
The Biden administration on Friday announced an agreement to purchase 100,000 doses of Eli Lilly's monoclonal antibody cocktail that was recently authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The move will increase the available supply of one of the few proven treatments for people with COVID-19. The antibody drugs are authorized for use in patients who are at high risk of becoming seriously ill but are not yet hospitalized. Under the agreement, the federal government will pay $210 million for the initial purchase of up to 100,000 treatment courses of the therapeutic, which is a combination of the drug bamlanivimab, which was authorized last November for high-risk COVID-19 patients, with a second drug known as etesevimab. ADVERTISEMENT The combination received emergency use authorization earlier this month , after data showed it reduced the risk of hospitalization and death by 70 percent. The agreement includes flexibility to purchase up to a total of 1.2 million doses through November, but it will likely depend on the course of the pandemic over the next several months. The government has already committed to purchase a total of 1,450,000 doses of bamlanivimab alone, which includes more than 1 million doses that have been delivered and an agreement to deliver 450,000 additional doses by the end of March. The government has said it will provide neutralizing antibodies at no out-of-pocket cost to patients, although health care facilities may charge a fee for the product's administration. To receive an antibody therapeutic treatment, patients should contact their health care providers. ADVERTISEMENT Another antibody treatment manufactured by Regeneron is also authorized by FDA. Regeneron is supplying the federal government up to 1.5 million doses. But despite their effectiveness and the federal efforts to encourage use, antibody therapy has seen lackluster demand. Supply was limited at first, and making ...
Powerful Countries Come Under Fire at UN Human Rights Council
Cracks are emerging in the firewall that until now has protected some of the world’s powerful nations from being scrutinized and called to account for gross violations by the U.N. Human Rights Council. The executive director of Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Roth, called them the “untouchables.” “By that I mean governments that have managed to avoid any real critical scrutiny in the form of a resolution by the council. And the foremost untouchables that I have in mind are China, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Russia,” he said. Addressing the untouchables, Roth said, is not only the biggest challenge facing the council, but is critical to its credibility. He said efforts are underway to draft critical statements on Egypt and Saudi Arabia. He added pressure is growing on Russia because of its alleged poisoning of opposition activist Alexey Navalny. However, of greatest interest, he says are emerging signs that China may no longer be untouchable. “It has been seen as politically impossible to address the worsening repression in Xinjiang, the ongoing repression in Tibet, the crushing of Hong Kong’s freedoms. It was seen as just, you know, impossible to get past China’s enormous diplomatic and economic efforts to prevent that kind of critical scrutiny. But the times are changing,” he said. International criticism of China’s alleged internment of at least 1 million Uighur Muslims in so-called vocational education camps hit new heights during the council’s High-Level Segment last week. In a hard-hitting statement, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab called the situation in Xinjiang beyond the pale. “The reported abuses — which include torture, forced labor and forced sterilization of women — are extreme and they are extensive. They are taking place on an industrial scale. It must be our collective duty to ensure that this does not go unanswered. U.N. mechanisms must respond.” Raab called on the council to pass a resolution allowing urgent and unfettered ...
Russia Seeks to Strengthen Old Ties with Myanmar Junta
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA - Russia’s appetite for influence and lucrative arms sales in Southeast Asia has been whetted by the latest coup in Myanmar, where isolated generals remain distrustful of China but still require allies on the United Nations Security Council. Chinese investments had flourished in Myanmar under the now-deposed civilian government effectively led by former opposition figure Aung San Suu Kyi, and the military, also known as Tatmadaw, benefitted through state owned enterprises brought under its control before Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won historic 2015 elections. However, relations between junta leaders and Beijing have long been strained over Chinese interference across their common border – an existential threat not shared with Russia – and Beijing’s assistance to long-running ethnic insurgencies, including the sale of weapons to rebels. Bradley Murg, a senior research fellow at the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace, said Russia and China are both maneuvering to protect their vested interests in Myanmar. “We’ve seen Russia step up to the plate twice with its actions in the Security Council on the Myanmar question and again joining with China and others in the human rights council to potentially oppose any form of condemnation of the new regime,” he said. Russia and China used their power in the Security Council to water down the world body’s response to the coup, led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. China labeled the coup a “cabinet reshuffle” while Russia called it a “purely domestic affair,” and, according to The Irrawaddy , a news site, even asked the international community for “practical assistance to the new authority of Myanmar." That was despite the message from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who said he would do everything in his power to pressure Myanmar and “make sure that this coup fails.” Guterres has also consistently slammed the repression and violence inflicted upon protesters. ...
Cynthia Nixon, others scoff after Cuomo team names judge to ‘review’ gov’s sex scandal
close Video Janice Dean: We need ‘independent, bipartisan investigation’ into Cuomo’s nursing home policy Fox News senior meteorologist calls on lawmakers to ‘come together’ in order to get answers and hold the New York governor accountable. A New York state Republican and other critics – including former "Sex and the City" star Cynthia Nixon -- reacted with derision Saturday after a retired judge was named to conduct a "review" of sexual harassment allegations against Gov. Andrew Cuomo . After Cuomo authorized that an outside review be conducted following the latest allegations raised by former aide Charlotte Bennett, the governor’s special counsel, Beth Garvey, announced the inquiry would be led by Barbara Jones, a former federal judge. But critics of Cuomo quickly noted that Jones is a former law-firm colleague of Steve Cohen, a former top aide to Cuomo. They wondered if Jones could bring the impartiality a review of serious allegations would require. NY DEMS CONDEMN NEW CUOMO SEXUAL HARASSMENT CLAIMS, CALL FOR HIS OUSTING, INDEPENDENT PROBE "Who asked the judge to review the new allegations?" Nixon asked. "If the answer is the Cuomo administration itself let’s be clear that’s an inside job, NOT an outside review. In a previous post Friday, Nixon scoffed at a statement that Cohen made Thursday, defending Cuomo, his former boss. Cohen’s remarks came after the sexual harassment allegations from Cuomo’s first accuser, Lindsey Boylan. "I can tell you never in my time working with the governor, the former attorney general, private citizen Andrew Cuomo, I have never seen anything of the like of what Ms. Boylan has described," Cohen told reporters, according to the New York Daily News . "His conduct has always been in my presence with the members of other staff, appropriate, not that it is always fun-loving and a good time, but it is always appropriate and he pushes to get results." ...
