Cuomo claims longtime foe NY AG Tish James leaked testimony on alleged relationship with his top aide to boost mayoral candidate

Former Gov.Andrew Cuomo is blaming longtime foe Attorney General Tish James after The Post revealed sworn testimony that he was having an “emotional romantic relationship” with his then-married top aide Melissa DeRosa.In a statement provided to The Post, Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi accused James of leaking the unredacted testimony, even though the document is publicly available through an archived page of the AG’s website.He claimed it was a ploy by James — whose office found in 2021 that Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women, leading to his resignation as governor — to kneecap his comeback bid for New York City mayor.James, as The Post previously reported, had been pushing behind the scenes for City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams to enter the Democratic mayoral primary, which the Queens pol did earlier this month.“This is transparently a play for Tish James to prop up her favored candidate Adrienne Adams who is polling at 4%, and she should be investigated for her continued abuse and law fare within her office,” Azzopardi wrote.The Post exclusively reported Thursday on unredacted transcripts from the AG’s investigation into the then-governor in which a former aide, Josh Vlasto, testified that Cuomo lieutenant Melissa DeRosa had confided in him about a “relationship” with their boss.“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 on June 7, 2021, 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. Both Cuomo, 67, and DeRosa, 42, denied any dalliance.Cuomo has also strenuously insisted he never sexually harassed anyone and continues to fight the claims in court.The...