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In a social media post over the weekend, Lindsay Nielsen, a former reporter for News10 ABC based out of Albany, said that Cuomo’s alleged “threatening” tactics and “incessant bullying” were among the reasons she opted to leave the news outlet in 2017 after five years at the station.
Nielsen said that Cuomo’s administration last spoke to her in a disparaging tone, claiming that the reporter “has a vendetta against him, don’t you!”
According to Nielsen, that “was the last time I allowed someone connected to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration to harass and manipulate me.”
“It was during one of the many accusatory and threatening phone calls I received by his staff members that I realized this behavior was never going to stop,” she posted. “It was shortly thereafter that I decided to leave my job at News10.”
Nielsen detailed the alleged harassment in her post, which included late-night phone calls from his administration, threats to go over her head to her bosses, and bullying in attempts to get her to stop doing her job or reporting on specific stories.
Cuomo has denied any wrongdoing or sexual harassment claims among him or his administration.
“It would never end,” she said. “The tactics used were deliberate yet evasive. They skimmed the line of inappropriateness ever so delicately as to make you feel like they were acceptable.
“I am writing this today to make sure that those involved in this behavior back then and now know that not only was it not acceptable, but also that it was damaging. I applaud those who have come forward recently with reports of similar behavior by the same administration.”
Nielsen said that she would reach out to Cuomo’s office, often without receiving a response, then would be berated with phone calls later from members of his administration demanding changes to stories that were already published.
“They would make it personal, claiming I have this personal vendetta against the governor, which is absolutely bogus. I was doing my job as a journalist,” she said to the New York Post. “All I was ever trying to do was report the story, report the facts.”
On Fox News on Monday, March 1, Nielsen said that when she read similar harassment claims from former Cuomo aides last week, she broke down crying while at Starbucks.
“I just started crying,” she said. “I was sitting in my car and was like bawling my eyes out. I was just overwhelmed because I had very similar experiences and it all just kind of came flooding back to me.
“I don’t want this behavior to happen to any other reporter," Nielsen said. "That gave me the courage to have the confidence. I knew it was wrong, back then, the behavior, but when you’re in those types of situations you often don’t really realize the impact until later on."
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