WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) – The head of the nation’s most powerful LGBT lobbying organization, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) – which gloated in May about influencing Facebook to permanently ban LifeSiteNews – is now under fire for having helped New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo discredit one of his sexual assault victims.
A massive, bombshell report issued by New York Attorney General Letitia James on Tuesday showed that in December 2020, Cuomo’s top aides enlisted HRC president Alphonso David, who previously served as Cuomo’s chief counsel and principal legal advisor, to hand over a confidential personnel file of Cuomo accuser, Lindsey Boylan.
Cuomo aides then leaked the file to media outlets, including the Associated Press, The New York Times, The New York Post, New York Daily News, the Hill, and CBS.
Cuomo’s team sought to retaliate against Boylan because she had declared on Twitter that the New York governor was “one of the biggest abusers of all time.”
The files in David’s possession included discussions of complaints made against Boylan in 2018. The files were labeled “confidential” and “privileged,” according to the Washington Free Beacon.
“The Cuomo aides and David also wrote and circulated a draft of an op-ed intended to discredit Boylan,” continues the Free Beacon report. “The attorney general’s office said that while the op-ed was never published, the draft ‘constitutes retaliation’ when considered alongside the release of Boylan’s personnel files.”
The New York attorney general’s investigation concluded that Cuomo “engaged in conduct constituting sexual harassment under federal and New York State law” by “among other things, engaging in unwelcome and nonconsensual touching, as well as making numerous offensive comments of a suggestive and sexual nature that created a hostile work environment for women.”
After the New York attorney general’s report was made public, HRC president David did a quick about-face and issued a statement via Twitter calling for his former boss’s resignation.
“After reading the AG’s devastating report that concluded Gov. Cuomo engaged in a pattern of sexual harassment, in violation of both federal and state law, he should resign.”
After reading the AG’s devastating report that concluded Gov. Cuomo engaged in a pattern of sexual harassment, in violation of both federal and state law, he should resign.
— Alphonso David (@AlphonsoDavid) August 3, 2021
The statement by David was seen as hypocritical and lacking self-awareness.
“You *helped* to cover this up. You should resign,” tweeted Jon Nicosia, Managing editor of Mediaite.
You *helped* to cover this up. You should resign. 🙄
— Jon Nicosia (@NewsPolitics) August 3, 2021
“You used your position to discredit and [shame] a victim for Cuomo. Is this ok with the members of @HRC that pay you?? Believe all women?” asked Nicosia.
You used your position to discredit and Shane a victim for Cuomo. Is this ok with the members of @HRC that pay you?? Believe all women?
— Jon Nicosia (@NewsPolitics) August 3, 2021
“The president of the Human Rights Campaign, the pro-LGBT group, helped Cuomo’s team smear his accusers,” noted Washington Free Beacon investigative reporter Chuck Ross, who issued an “Hypocrisy alert” on Twitter.
“David Alphonso tracked down a personnel file on Cuomo accuser Lindsey Boylan that was leaked to the media,” said Ross, who then wrote, “Alphonso David also took part in discussions about secretly recording another Cuomo accuser named Kaitlin.”
Alphonso David also took part in discussions about secretly recording another Cuomo accuser named Kaitlin. pic.twitter.com/65Jb5bMub9
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) August 3, 2021
“Andrew Cuomo’s top advisors tried to discredit accuser Lindsey Bolan by pulling her confidential personnel files and sending them to reporters, per the NYAG report,” wrote Business Insider’s senior legal reporter Jacob Shamsian.
“Overlooked from the NYAG report: Alphonso David, who’s currently the president of the LGBTQ+ nonprofit the Human Rights Campaign, played a role in smearing one of Cuomo’s accusers,” continued Shamsian. “David held on to the private files after leaving his job for Cuomo.”
Overlooked from the NYAG report: Alphonso David, who’s currently the president of the LGBTQ+ nonprofit the Human Rights Campaign, played a role in smearing one of Cuomo’s accusers.
David held on to the private files after leaving his job for Cuomo.https://t.co/L5M7Q5Buea pic.twitter.com/Urt5SEccnv
— Jacob Shamsian (@JayShams) August 3, 2021
In May it was revealed that Alphonso David’s LGBT powerhouse, the Human Rights Campaign, had joined Media Matters for America, GLAAD, and NARAL Pro-Choice America to strong-arm Facebook into permanently banning LifeSiteNews.
David’s organization then published on its website a joint statement by the four powerful anti-life, anti-marriage, anti-family, and anti-human dignity social influencers boasting of their takedown of LifeSiteNews and vowing to do more to further silence LifeSite’s pro-life messaging.