Ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo and top aide Melissa DeRosa had ‘emotional romantic relationship’: bombshell testimony
Andrew Cuomo and his then-married top aide, Melissa DeRosa, were in an “emotional romantic relationship” while he was New York governor, according to bombshell testimony obtained by The Post.
But Cuomo — who is running for New York City mayor — seemingly failed to disclose any such relationship to Attorney General’s Office investigators probing sexual harassment allegations that prompted his resignation in August 2021.
Another former Cuomo aide, Josh Vlasto, told the AG’s office on June 7, 2021, that DeRosa had confided in him about the relationship, according to an unredacted transcript of his testimony.
“There was a conversation with Melissa where she told me at one point that she had an emotional romantic relationship with the Governor,” Vlasto said under oath, in a portion of the transcript that was later redacted by the AG’s office.
“She said that to me. She said we had an emotionally intimate relationship.”
Vlasto said DeRosa told him that she and the governor “have not had sex and we are not crossing that line or something like that,” according to the transcript.
According to Vlasto’s testimony, DeRosa asked him for advice in early March 2021, when she learned the Daily Mail was about to publish a photo of her and Cuomo having an intimate conversation over dinner. Vlasto said the governor’s brother, then-CNN host Chris Cuomo, was also looped in on the conversation.
The group planned to deny the existence of any relationship at the time. And DeRosa was considering whether to continue the relationship, Vlasto said, according to the transcript.
“We both though [sic] it was better to deny any relationship at this point,” Vlasto testified, recalling what DeRosa allegedly told him.
“That was sort of so much going on, that their personal life is their personal life,” Vlasto added. “And his view and mine was that if they wanted to deny it that was probably the rise [sic] course to move on from any speculation about them.”
The Daily Mail eventually published the photo of Cuomo and DeRosa on March 1, 2021, but, as Vlasto testified, the administration was never asked about it by reporters at the time.
During Cuomo’s interview under oath that July, the three-term Democrat was asked “have you ever had any romantic relationship with any member of your staff?” according to a transcript.
“No,” the governor replied.
“Never?”
“Never,” Cuomo said.
Rumors swirled at the time of an affair between Cuomo, 67, and DeRosa, 42, who served as secretary to the governor, though none of the gossip was substantiated and the two denied any dalliance.
There was also talk of Cuomo’s apparently flirty behavior while he and his longtime girlfriend, TV cooking show star Sandra Lee, were living together. Former staffers told The Post they believed he was involved with or had pursued several female aides, with one saying his cheating “was an open secret.”
An alleged relationship between DeRosa and Cuomo was hinted at in previously-reported testimony from an anonymous state trooper on the governor’s security detail who accused him of sexual harassment.
She told investigators she had heard from another trooper that the two were once seen “making out on the sidewalk like high schoolers.”
DeRosa and Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi denied the existence of a relationship at the time, with the former calling the trooper’s allegations “flat-out false.” Cuomo’s attorney Rita Glavin, has said that the rumor was later discredited.
Attorneys for DeRosa, who has split up from her husband, said in a statement after publication: “This was all discussed 5 years ago — the conversation with Josh was that the Daily Mail was implying that Ms. DeRosa had a physical relationship with the governor, which was untrue.”
“In the conversation Ms. DeRosa told Josh that the two had an emotionally intimate relationship based on years of working together in a high stress environment,” the statement said. “All of this is in transcripts that have been publicly available for years, except portions that were redacted by the AG that they have fought turning over in court, but somehow made their way into the hands of the New York Post — calling into question potentially unethical activity by the Attorney General’s Office for political purposes.”
Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi called the allegations “silly and ridiculous.”
“Vlasto’s conversation was in the context of an outlet trying to write a story about a physical relationship that was absolutely false. Of course after seven years of working together for New York, the Governor and Melissa were emotionally close – we all were after going through COVID and everything else together,” he said in a statement.
Vlasto declined to comment. He worked for Cuomo during the governor’s first term and was later brought on as an outside adviser to Cuomo as the administration faced an onslaught of scandals related to the COVID-19 pandemic and sexual harassment allegations.
The AG’s scathing report into the claims found that DeRosa allegedly helped try to bury the sexual harassment allegations against her boss, including by leaking the personnel file of one accuser in an attempt to discredit her.
The AG’s office has historically redacted personally and potentially embarrassing information from transcripts, including in investigations such as the one into Cuomo.
A spokesperson for AG Letitia James said the unredacted transcript had been accidentally posted and was quickly replaced with the redacted version at the time.
“An unredacted transcript was accidentally posted for less than two hours during the initial release of these files. The office immediately removed the unredacted version once it was discovered,” the statement said.
Cuomo resigned a week after James’ office released a report on its investigation, which found that the governor sexually harassed at least 11 women, and as he faced growing calls for his ouster, which he claimed was politically motivated.
He has emphatically denied all the claims, and continues to fight them in ongoing lawsuits.
The shocking new details come as Cuomo tries to resurrect his political career in a bid for mayor.
The powerhouse politician — who faces incumbent Mayor Eric Adams and a slew of other opponents in the heated Democratic primary — has been leading in the polls for months, even before entering the race officially on March 1. The latest survey had him at 38% with likely voters, but pollsters have noted his negatives, including trustworthiness could prove to ding him in the race down the line.
While DeRosa is not working on Cuomo’s campaign, she was recently spotted by Page Six attending a breakfast fundraiser for her former boss.
The communications firm run by DeRosa’s ex, Matt Wing, has been brought on to work for the campaign of City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, one of Cuomo’s rivals in the June primary.
The two met while working for Cuomo during his first term, and Wing later left the office to work as a communications executive for Uber.
They were preparing to split as early as January 2020, she wrote in her memoir published three years later, “What’s Left Unsaid: My Life at the Center of Power, Politics & Crisis.”
“Her marriage had been really struggling and had effectively ended with Matt and that is why there was room in her life for a relationship, however you want to describe it with the Governor,” Vlasto testified to AG investigators.
Cuomo and Lee broke up in 2019 after 14 years together, and she blames him for the split, claiming he made a mystery comment early that year that set her over the edge.
One former aide described to The Post an instance where Cuomo was spotted by troopers on his detail exiting the Mount Kisco home he shared with Lee with a female staffer.
Cuomo and Lee got together after Kerry Kennedy divorced him, following an affair she had with family friend Bruce Colley.
The latest survey had him at 38% with likely voters, but pollsters have noted his negatives, including trustworthiness could prove to ding him in the race down the line.
–Additional reporting by Craig McCarthy, Carl Campanile
