Andrew Cuomo unlikely to face charges as last criminal case dropped by District Attorney

On Monday, the final criminal case against former New York governor Andrew Cuomo was dropped, seemingly putting to rest any possibility of charges being pressed.

Since Cuomo's resignation in August 2021, five criminal cases were brought against him; four dealt with allegations of sexual misconduct, while the fifth related to the nursing home deaths that occurred under his governorship during COVID-19.

According to NBC New York, following decisions by District Attorneys in Westchester, Nassau, Manhattan, and Albany to close their investigations, the Oswego DA followed suit.

"After a thorough review of the available evidence and applicable law," DA Gregory Oakes stated, "the Oswego County District Attorney’s Office has concluded that there is not a sufficient legal basis to bring criminal charges against former-Governor Andrew Cuomo based upon the allegations of unwanted physical contact made by Virginia Limmiatis."

Oakes emphasized that just because criminal charges were not sought, "the character or credibility of Ms. Limmiatis" should not be doubted. He urged New York legislators to pass new laws that could "properly hold offenders accountable" for their actions.

"This investigation makes clear what victims, their advocates, police, and prosecutors have said for years: The current sex offense statutes in New York fail to properly hold offenders accountable and fail to adequately protect victims," the DA said.

Other DAs argued similarly that the evidence against Cuomo simply did not meet the burden at trial.

"While we found the complainant in this case cooperative and credible, after review of all the available evidence we have concluded that we cannot meet our burden at trial," Albany County District Attorney David Soares said at the time.

The allegations of sexual assault were compiled in a months-long report by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who stated that she believed the women.

As the final DA concluded that no criminal charges were being sought, Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi slammed James, arguing that the fact that five DAs have refused to press charges shows that the whole thing "has always been a political hit job to further the Attorney General’s own ambitions, which both reeks of prosecutorial misconduct and has wasted millions of taxpayer dollars."