After a report in the New York Times found that Hochul’s top political consultant, Adam Sullivan, not only made questionable policy calls for the Governor, but also belittled women staffers — Hochul parted ways with him.

But a new report has found that Sullivan was fired from his previous job at a Washington, D.C. based advocacy organization, “The Hub,” in 2017 for sexually harassing at least two women.

“You know, I want to say in the case of Adam Sullivan, sexual harassment under any circumstance is unacceptable,” Hochul told reporters on Thursday, at an unrelated event.

“There is no tolerance. This was an individual who came to me from the Democratic National Party, the DCCC, back when I was running for Congress. He worked as a manager on my campaign and so I knew him back in that environment. So, to then think I have to ask for a resume and go through a whole new process later for campaigns. That wasn’t what I was doing,” she said.

What You Need To Know

  • Gov. Hochul says she learned about allegations of sexual harassment involving her top former campaign aide only hours before the public did

  • The New York Times reports the consultant Adam Sullivan was fired from a previous job over substantiated sexual harassment claims against him

  • Hochul parted ways with Sullivan on Sunday after it was revealed he belittled female staffers on Hochul’s campaign

According to the Times, Sullivan approached women who worked with him at “The Hub” to talk about his sex life in inappropriate terms and asked them probing questions about theirs.

The allegations were investigated, substantiated, and Sullivan was fired.

Less than a year later, he was working for Hochul on her 2018 campaign for Lieutenant Governor.

Hochul claims she knew nothing about his previous firing.

“Reading the news yesterday. My staff told me they were contacted by the New York Times and so they alerted me that there would be an article in a few hours,” Hochul said. “That is when I found out about the sexual harassment allegations and what the women are saying happened. And I believe the women. But also, in terms of past employment, I was not even aware — I was not even sure what ‘The Hub’ was.”

But the Times reports it was Hochul who recommended Sullivan for his job at “The Hub” — Hochul’s office denies this.

The Times found Sullivan has no social media presence, and no website, despite having his own business. They could not even locate a current photo of Sullivan, only a photo where he appears in the background was discovered. He also lived in a remote area of Colorado, which Hochul defended on “Inside City Hall” this week.

“This is someone who lived in New York City, lived in Washington. People work remotely, so that’s not a disqualifier,” Hochul told Errol Louis on “Inside City Hall,” Monday.

Some say Sullivan’s attempt to keep a low profile should have been a red flag for Hochul, since he seemed to want to avoid public scrutiny for his actions.

It’s also not lost on critics that Hochul took over for Andrew Cuomo, who resigned over a sexual harassment scandal.

Hochul had vowed to bring a new culture to government and politics with zero tolerance for sexual harassment.