The Human Rights Campaign has removed Alphonso David as president of the nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group, making him the latest casualty of the left’s ongoing reckoning over former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The HRC and HRC Foundation Boards of Directors voted Monday to terminate Mr. David, saying he had done “material damage” to the organization’s “interests, reputation and prospects” by assisting Mr. Cuomo’s team last year in responding to sexual harassment allegations.
“This is a painful moment in our movement,” said the statement by HRC and HRC Foundation board chairs Morgan Cox and Jodie Patterson. “While the Board’s decision is not the outcome we had ever envisioned or hoped for in terms of Mr. David’s tenure with HRC, his actions have put us in an untenable position by violating HRC’s core values, policies and mission.”
Mr. David fired back by promising legal action, claiming that the board chairs “elected to hide in darkness” in response to his demand for transparency, and “unjustly provided notice of termination to me in order to end my fight for the integrity of the review process and for what is right.”
“As a Black, gay man who has spent his whole life fighting for civil and human rights, they cannot shut me up,” Mr. David tweeted Monday. “Expect a legal challenge.”
Mr. David comes as the latest prominent progressive to be caught up in the fallout over Mr. Cuomo, the Democrat who resigned last month shortly after New York Attorney General Letitia James’ investigation found he sexually harassed 11 women.
The board of the Time’s Up Foundation announced Saturday that its members would step down over the next 30 days over the “current crisis” after CEO Tina Tchen and legal defense fund director Roberta Kaplan resigned last month over their involvement in the Cuomo scandal.
“We see the current crisis within TIME’S UP as an important opportunity for growth and change,” said the Time’s Up statement. “TIME’S UP is ready for new leadership, and we want to move forcefully toward its new iteration.”
Mr. David, a former Cuomo legal adviser who has led HRC since 2019, sent Cuomo aides confidential files on accuser Lindsey Boylan in December after she tweeted that the governor was “one of the biggest abusers of all time,” the details of which were later leaked to media, according to the attorney general’s report.
Mr. David argued that he was legally obligated to turn over the files, but he soon faced calls for his resignation over his involvement with the Cuomo team as it sought to beat back the sexual harassment allegations.
Update from Alphonso David pic.twitter.com/PAtqcEwvBg
— Alphonso David (@AlphonsoDavid) September 7, 2021
“As outlined in the New York Attorney General report, Mr. David engaged in a number of activities in December 2020, while HRC President, to assist Governor Cuomo’s team in responding to allegations by Ms. Boylan of sexual harassment,” said the HRC statement. “This conduct in assisting Governor Cuomo’s team, while president of HRC, was in violation of HRC’s Conflict of Interest policy and the mission of HRC.”
The HRC also said that Mr. David’s recent statements “included significant untruths about the investigation and his status with the organization.”
The board named chief operating officer Joni Madison to serve as interim president while the organization conducts a search to replace Mr. David.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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