ALBANY, New York (AP) — The only criminal charge filed over the sexual harassment allegations that drove former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo from office was dismissed Friday at prosecutors’ request, clearing what had been seen as the most serious legal threat to the Democrat.

The move had been expected after Albany County prosecutors said they couldn’t prove the case and intended to drop it.

Cuomo, who denied the allegation that he groped an aide in the executive mansion in 2020, didn’t speak during Friday’s short hearing, held with the judge sitting in an Albany courtroom and the lawyers and defendant appearing via videoconference.

Wearing a black mask, Cuomo was visible for only a few seconds when his lawyer, Rita Glavin, swiveled her camera to show him in the room.

“As the governor has said, this simply did not happen,” Glavin said in a video statement after the hearing. “Today, reason and the rule of law prevailed. Not politics, rhetoric or mob mentality,” she added.

During the hearing, which lasted only a few minutes and would have been even shorter if not for audio glitches, Assistant District Attorney Jennifer McCanney told the judge prosecutors had reviewed the evidence “and concluded we cannot successfully secure a conviction in this case.”

Judge Holly Trexler noted district attorneys’ “unfettered discretion” to decide whether to prosecute a case.

“A court may not and should not interfere with discretion of a district attorney,” she said.

Cuomo could still face lawsuits if his accusers choose to take him to court.

Some, including Commisso, have indicated they plan to do so. Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi bristled Friday that the former governor “will not pay one penny in attempts at civil extortion.”

The local sheriff filed the misdemeanor complaint in October, two months after Cuomo resigned from office.

Albany County District Attorney David Soares said this week that although the aide was credible, and some evidence supported her account, he believed he couldn’t win a conviction.

The aide, Brittany Commisso, said Cuomo slid his hand up her blouse and grabbed her breast when they were alone in an office at the mansion.

Her testimony was among the most damning in a report released in August by Democratic state Attorney General Letitia James that concluded Cuomo sexually harassed 11 women. He said he never touched anyone inappropriately.

Cuomo resigned that month. He has called the report unfair.

The US Department of Justice in August opened a civil inquiry into sexual harassment allegations concerning Cuomo. The status of that investigation is unclear.