New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has been accused of making unwanted advances by a third woman. In an interview with the New York Times on Monday, Anna Ruch said she met Cuomo at a wedding in September 2019, when the Governor allegedly placed his hand on her bare lower back. 

Ruch claims Cuomo called her “aggressive” when she removed his hand, adding that he then placed his hands on her face and asked if he could kiss her. 

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“I was so confused and shocked and embarrassed. I turned my head away and didn’t have words in that moment,” Ruch recalled. 

Ruch’s story was corroborated by a friend who heard the exchange as well as by text messages and photographs from the wedding. 

Last week, Cuomo was accused by two former staffers of making unwanted sexual advances. 

Lindsey Boylan on Friday said that Cuomo had been making sexual advances towards her since 2016, adding in her Medium blog post that she resigned in 2018 after he kissed her on her lips without her consent. 

The next day, Charlotte Bennet claimed that Cuomo asked her inappropriate questions and also made sexual advances towards her. 

The 63-year-old Democrat Governor denied both allegations in a statement on Sunday, saying that his behaviour towards women had been “misinterpreted as unwanted flirtation”. 

“To the extent anyone felt that way, I am truly sorry about that,” he said in the statement, adding that his teasing and bantering with subordinates were him “being playful” in “a very serious business”. 

“I now understand that my interactions may have been insensitive or too personal and that some of my comments, given my position, made others feel in ways I never intended,” he said. 

He has also agreed to New York Attorney General Letitia James conducting an independent investigation into the allegations.

That decision was made after Janet DiDiore, the chief judge on New York’s highest court, was set to “jointly select an independent and qualified lawyer in private practice without political affiliation to conduct a thorough review of the matter and issue a public report” along with James. 

DiFiore is a known ally of Cuomo, who nominated her for her current position.