Inside the push to disbar former NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo

A state panel is exploring whether Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s law license should be in jeopardy for his alleged sexual harassment of women.

The previously undisclosed probe by the Attorney Grievance Committee in New York’s Third Judicial Department is still in its early stages, but it could eventually result in the suspension or disbarment of Cuomo, a licensed lawyer who previously served as state attorney general. The investigation serves as a reminder of one of Cuomo’s vulnerabilities – the harassment allegations that helped lead him to resign as governor in 2021 – as he inches closer to running for New York City mayor.

Confidential documents obtained by Gothamist show the grievance committee, a 21-member panel that oversees ethics complaints about lawyers, is looking into Cuomo’s conduct. The probe was launched after an organization known as the Sexual Harassment Working Group filed a complaint against the former governor seeking to disbar him in 2022.

The group cited Cuomo’s alleged harassment of women, including members of his staff, and his attempts to discredit conclusions from the state attorney general’s office and Assembly that he violated the law.

“Mr. Cuomo is asking this Committee to disregard the conclusions of this state and the nation’s top law enforcement bodies and, in the process thereby completely undermine the rule of law – all to evade accountability under the Rules of Professional Conduct,” wrote Erica Vladimer, an attorney who signed formal comments the working group sent the committee this month.

Until this winter, the case had been dormant for over two years. In December, the grievance committee asked the anti-harassment group to respond to arguments the former governor made in a May 2022 filing. It wasn’t clear what led to the delay; the grievance committee’s chief attorney declined comment, citing state law that requires the panel to keep its work confidential.

A spokesperson for Cuomo said the committee’s requests were a formality.

“This is nothing more than a pro forma part of the process -- one that failed political candidate Erica Vladimer has been attempting to weaponize for her political purposes for years,” spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said.

Vladimer, who briefly ran for Congress in 2020, said the committee’s requests show it’s taking the complaint seriously.

“ I understand that these types of administrative hearings and decisions can take quite a long time,” Vladimer said. “It doesn't make it any less frustrating, but it is heartening to know that they are continuing to take the complaint seriously.”

The committee’s behind-the-scenes work comes as Cuomo continues to line up support for a potential Democratic primary run against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, including recent endorsements from Bronx Rep. Ritchie Torres and former state Comptroller Carl McCall.

In back-and-forth filings, Cuomo’s attorney and the Working Group have sparred over which evidence the panel can consider when deciding whether to discipline Cuomo. The Working Group argues the panel should be able to rely on the official reports from the state attorney general’s office and state Assembly, which found Cuomo violated the state’s anti-harassment law. Cuomo has spent more than three years fighting to discredit those reports.

The conduct detailed in the reports — including accusations that Cuomo groped a staffer’s breast and asked repeated, invasive questions about the personal life of another — formed the bulk of the Sexual Harassment Working Group’s initial complaint. The group described the conduct as “clear grounds for this Committee to pursue disciplinary proceedings against Mr. Cuomo.”

The group argued that Cuomo violated the state Rules of Professional Conduct for attorneys, which say they can’t engage in “conduct that adversely reflects on the lawyer’s fitness as a lawyer.” But in a May 2022 written response obtained by Gothamist, Cuomo’s attorney denied the former governor violated the rules or any federal or state law.

The attorney, Rita Glavin, wrote that Cuomo “adamantly denies having sexually harassed anyone.” She spent much of the 48-page response raising issue with the reports from the attorney general and Assembly, dismissing them as “materially flawed” and “productions of a political process in the face of a looming election cycle” — a reference to Attorney General Letitia James’ brief run for governor after Cuomo resigned.

“No reliance can be placed on the biased and one-sided political reports given the lack of process afforded to the governor,” Glavin wrote.

The case laid dormant for more than two years before the grievance committee asked the Sexual Harassment Working Group for comment on Cuomo’s response in December 2024. Vladimer sent her group’s response last week, reiterating its position that Cuomo should be disbarred.

“This committee must reject [Cuomo’s] procedurally impossible demand that it ignore the findings of every investigative body that has looked into Mr. Cuomo’s conduct, and to instead simply accept his personal denials,” she wrote.

Azzopardi pointed out that five district attorneys declined to pursue criminal charges against the former governor, calling Vladimer’s argument “unsurprisingly meritless” and James’ report a “sham.”

“The courts have already ruled that the AG’s since-discredited political report does not constitute findings, much less a legal document that could be relied upon in a court of law,” he said in a statement, referring to a state judge denying a request to summarily decide one of the pending Cuomo harassment cases based on the attorney general’s findings.

James has repeatedly stood by the Cuomo harassment report, which concluded the governor sexually harassed 11 women. It was authored by two outside attorneys, Joon Kim and Anne Clark.

“New Yorkers are ready to move forward and close this sordid chapter in our state's history,” a spokesperson for James said in 2022.

Vladimer said if the working group’s arguments were meritless, the grievance committee would have “dismissed the complaint outright” — which didn’t happen.

Under the state’s attorney ethics process, the grievance committee will decide whether to pursue discipline against the former governor — which can range from a private letter of admonishment to a law license suspension or revocation.

It would be up to the Appellate Division, the state’s midlevel appeals court, to decide whether a suspension or disbarment is warranted, if that’s the route the committee decides to pursue.

But it’s not likely the issue will be decided anytime soon.

The state’s attorney grievance committees usually wait until any related civil lawsuits are resolved before deciding on complaints, according to Ellen Yaroshefsky, a Hofstra University law professor who is an expert on attorney ethics. That allows for the courts to establish a set of facts the committee can rely on.

But that’s not always the case. The Appellate Division suspended former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s law license in 2021 before revoking it in 2023 as the former mayor continued to face civil claims.

Cuomo faces two civil harassment complaints and has signaled he intends to pursue a defamation suit against one of his accusers. He’s also filed an ethics complaint against James and the two private attorneys she hired to investigate him.

Yaroshefsky said the fact that the grievance committee asked the Sexual Harassment Working Group to respond shows the panel is taking the complaint seriously — though she said it’s unlikely Cuomo’s law license is in jeopardy.

“The chances of disbarment in this case, I think, are not significant,” she said.

Update: This story has been updated to clarify a comment from Rich Azzopardi.