Cuomo’s scandal dusts off American politicians’ sexual abuse playbook

“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” — Lord Acton

Moral corruption is more pervasive than just in the upper echelons of the US government; in reality, it reflects a dysfunctional political system that enables wealthy politicians to abuse their authority and live a luxurious life on the backs of hardworking American taxpayers.

Of course, the government does not disclose the many incidents of sexual harassment until the problem gets out of hand. Andrew M. Cuomo, the former governor of New York, is the latest in a long line of American politicians to be accused of sexual harassment or assault. Nearly all have faced demands for resignation. Although some have complied, others have stubbornly resisted, showing that sexual harassment and moral corruption exist unfortunately at all levels of the US government.

The number of politicians accused of sexual harassment or assault is too lengthy for a short article, but here are some of the most recent high-profile accusations. Former President Donald J. Trump has been accused of sexual harassment or assault by more than two dozen women. A 2005 video of Mr Trump bragging vulgarly about kissing and groping women without their permission emerged only weeks before the 2016 election.

E. Jean Carroll, a writer, later accused Mr Trump of raping her in a New York City department store changing room in 2019. He denied the allegation, and she sued him for defamation, in which Trump took the extremely rare legal step of enlisting the help of the Justice Department to defend him.

In late 2017, four women and a fifth said that Roy S. Moore, a Republican Senate candidate in Alabama, had initiated sexual approaches toward them as teens while he was in his 30s. Mr Moore has been accused of sexual assault by many women, including one who claims he forced her into a sexual encounter when she was 14.

Meanwhile, former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who resigned after being accused of sexually abusing four women, repaid more than $1 million to donors after leaving office. The former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has broken her silence and asked for an inquiry into New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s moral conundrum. The latest Democratic Party controversy brought up memories of Monica Lewinsky’s romance with former President Bill Clinton as a young White House intern. The affair was first divulged by a close friend of Lewinsky, causing widespread outrage and culminating in Bill Clinton’s impeachment by the US Congress for lying about the nature of his affair with Lewinsky.