In the days after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was first accused of sexual harassment by a former aide, the governor’s office called at least six former employees to find out if they had heard from the prosecution or for information about it. to gather her in conversations that some said they saw as attempts to intimidate them.
Some of the people who received the calls said they had not heard from the administration for months before they got the call about the prosecution. One said a caller encouraged them to give reporters information that discredited the prosecutor, Lindsey Boylan, who worked as an economic adviser to the Cuomo government between 2015 and 2018.
The calls were made by current officials and former aides who are still close to the governor’s office, several recipients said. The outreach was commissioned by Melissa DeRosa, the governor’s best assistant, according to people familiar with the effort.
“I felt intimidated and baffled,” said Ana Liss, a former assistant to the governor who received one of the calls.
Ms. Liss, who earlier this month accused Mr. Cuomo of improper conduct, said Rich Azzopardi, a senior adviser to Mr. Cuomo, called her on December 21. The call came eight days after Ms. Boylan said in a post on Twitter that the governor sexually harassed her.