Gov. Andrew Cuomo was physically “aroused” when he allegedly hugged a press aide more than two decades ago, the woman said Monday.
Karen Hinton — who first went public against Cuomo on March 6 — detailed the alleged incident during an interview on WNYC radio.
“He approached me, embraced too tightly, too long and was aroused,” Hinton said. “I felt extremely uncomfortable and actually shocked. Nothing had ever happened that way between the two of us.”
Hinton — who’s married to lobbyist and former Cuomo administration official Howard Glaser — has said Cuomo twice hugged her inside a Los Angeles hotel room in December 2000.
At the time, Cuomo was then-President Bill Clinton’s housing secretary and Hinton was working as a consultant after having been employed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development from 1995 to 1999, she said Monday.
In the wake of Hinton’s initial accusation, Cuomo responded with a vehement denial, insisting, “What she said is not true.”
Cuomo also pointed to the fact that she was formerly the press secretary for Mayor Bill de Blasio, a political rival.
“As everybody who has been involved on any level in New York politics knows, she has been a longtime political adversary of mine, highly critical for many, many years and has made many, many accusations,” Cuomo said during a conference call with reporters on March 7.
Hinton then fired back with a statement saying, “Truth is the ‘longtime adversary’ that Cuomo fears the most.”
Hinton is among seven women whose allegations of groping, sexual harassment and other inappropriate behavior are under investigation by outside lawyers hired by Attorney General Letitia James.