UPDATE 1-White House: Probe into allegations against Cuomo should be quick, thorough

Adds further comments

WASHINGTON, March 15 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden finds the developments regarding allegations of sexual misconduct against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to be troubling, and the investigation into them should be quick and thorough, the White House said on Monday.

Biden has not spoken directly with Cuomo, who currently chairs the National Governors Association and was expected to join a weekly call with the president on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told a briefing.

The 63-year-old Cuomo faces accusations of sexual harassment and misconduct leveled by at least seven women, including former aides, and is under pressure from disclosures that his administration withheld the number of nursing home residents killed in New York state by COVID-19.

"New developments seem to happen every day. We find them troubling. The president finds them troubling, hard to read," Psaki said. "Every woman who steps forward needs to be treated with dignity and respect."

Biden declined on Sunday to call on Cuomo to resign over sexual misconduct allegations, saying he wanted to await the outcome of an investigation into the matter. nL1N2LC0JW

Asked if Cuomo, a fellow Democrat, should step down, Biden told reporters: "I think the investigation is under way and we should see what it brings us."

On Friday, New York's two Democratic U.S. senators, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, and most of the state's congressional delegation, including leading progressive Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, urged Cuomo, now in his third term as governor, to resign. nL1N2LA1SN

(Reporting by Steve Holland, Jeff Mason and Andrea Shalal
Editing by Franklin Paul and Mark Heinrich)

((jeff.mason@thomsonreuters.com; +1 202 898 8300; On Twitter: @jeffmason1; Reuters Messaging: jeff.mason.thomsonreuters.com@thomsonreuters.net))