Third accused female employee New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of misconduct, Wall Street Journal reports

The Democratic governor is already accused of harassing two women and making progress against him by a third.

A former Cuomo supporter, Ana Liss, told The Wall Street Journal that the governor asked “if she had a boyfriend, called her boyfriend, rubbing her on her back at a party and one once she kissed his hand as she rose from her desk. “

CNN has reached out to Liss for comment.

“I have never touched anyone inappropriately. I have never spoken to anyone in an inappropriate way,” Cuomo said in his first public comments addressing the scandal. “I never knew at the time that I was making anyone feel uncomfortable. I never knew at the time that I was making anyone feel uncomfortable. feeling uncomfortable. ”

Cuomo said at Wednesday’s appearance that he was learning from his behavior.

“I understand that sensitivity has changed, and behavior has changed, and I will get it. And I’m going to learn from it,” he said.

Liss was a policy and operational support for Cuomo from 2013 to 2015, according to the Journal.

Liss initially thought of Cuomo’s act as “harmless flirtations,” but began to see it as “patronizing,” according to the Journal.

“It is not really appropriate in any situation,” she told the Magazine.

One such incident occurred while Liss was working at a ceremony at the Governing Platform in Albany, New York, on May 6, 2014, according to the Journal.

“He came over to me and it was like, ‘Hey, Sweetheart! ‘”Liss said.

She told the Magazine that “the Governor grabbed her, kissed her on both cheeks and then wrapped his arm around her lower back and grabbed his heels.”

A photo shown by the Magazine shows Cuomo ‘s hand around the center of Liss.

Lawyer for prosecutor Cuomo urges NY AG to protect all documents and notes of conversations from 'potential damage' by the governor 's administration

In response to Liss ‘s claims, Rich Azzopardi, a senior advisor at Cuomo, told CNN in a statement, “Reporters and photographers have been covering the governor for 14 years watching men’ s kisses and kisses. women and pose for pictures. At the open public – a big house concert, there are hundreds of people, and it stands for hundreds of pictures. That’s what people in politics do. ”

Liss said she never made a formal complaint about the governor’s conduct but later asked to move to another office. Liss said the experience prompted her to seek mental health counseling in 2014, according to the Journal.

CNN previously reported that Charlotte Bennett, an executive supporter and health policy adviser to Cuomo, told the New York Times that the governor had asked her a series of personal questions, suggesting admitted that he was open to relationships with women in their 20s.

She was the second woman to come forward with allegations of sexual harassment against Cuomo. Lindsey Boylan, a former supporter of the governor, said Cuomo kissed her on her lips in 2018 after a one-on-one briefing in his office in New York City.

Another woman, Anna Ruch, told the Times – in an account confirmed by CNN with a friend – that Cuomo made unsolicited progress toward a crowded wedding reception in New York City in 2019.

A lawyer for Bennett sent a letter Friday to New York Attorney General Letitia James demanding that all documents and notes of conversations related to her client’s complaint be kept “unchanged.” A spokesman for the New York State Attorney General’s Office said the office sent a reservation request to the governor’s office last week.

The request calls for all documents related to sexual harassment allegations against Cuomo to be retained.

This story has been updated with additional background and context.

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