New York’s top lawmakers agree with Cuomo’s defense against the resignation

ALBANY, NY – There does not appear to be any serious move to impeach New York governor Andrew Cuomo the day after the state Senate majority leader asked the governor in trouble to step down.

In the Assembly, where any impeachment process would have to begin, women at the top of the chamber issued a statement that echoed Cuomo’s own arguments against the resignation, a clear sign that there is not enough support among the leaders of the dominated chamber. Democrats to launch impeachment procedures.

In the statement, 21 women, all Democrats, wrote that “our democracy requires us to be diligent and expeditious in our search for truth and justice. This subject deserves no less care. New York Attorney General Tish James is conducting an investigation into the charges.

Majority leader in the state Senate, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, said on Sunday that the cascade of charges against the governor had become a distraction as the state seeks to negotiate a budget and deal with the distribution of vaccines and the economic consequences of coronavirus restrictions. . “For the sake of the state,” she said, “Governor Cuomo must resign.”

But a statement by Assembly President Carl Heastie, who would have to approve the start of any impeachment process, has been drafted more carefully. He said that Cuomo should “seriously consider” whether he should continue in his post.

Monday’s lawmakers’ statement took on an even more cautious tone.

“We believe that the Attorney General will exercise due process and speed in his deliberations”, he said. “We continue to support our Attorney General, the first woman, and the first African American woman to be elected to this position, as she begins this investigation. We ask that she take adequate time to complete her investigation, instead of undermining her role and responsibility as the New York State Chief of Police. ”

James announced on Monday that two lawyers, including one who sued Cuomo’s longtime aide and confidant Joe Percoco, would conduct the independent investigation of Cuomo’s conduct.

Signatories to Monday’s statement included the majority leader of the assembly, Crystal Peoples-Stokes and the president of manners and means, Helene Weinstein, the second and third highest member of Heastie’s chamber. It was also signed by Assembly member Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, chairman of the Democratic Committee of Brooklyn.

The statement does not explicitly say that Cuomo should not resign. But it echoed the tone used by the governor in his recent appearances, where he argued that no one should draw conclusions until the investigation is completed. “I don’t represent or work for politicians in Albany,” said Cuomo in a presentation at the Javits Center in Manhattan on Monday.

The governor’s office said it had no role in drafting Monday’s statement by members of the Assembly.

Others similarly suggested that people should wait until the attorney general’s report was complete before making the judgment. But together, the 21 members represent a larger portion of the Democratic conference of 107 people than the 14 members who said Cuomo should resign, or the six who called for an impeachment process.

In other words, there is a long way to go before there is evidence that the majority of Democrats in the Assembly would be willing to start impeachment – and thus end any chance of their legislative priorities getting attention in the coming months.

The only impeachment of a New York governor came in 1913, when William Sulzer was impeached and was removed during his first year in office.

This trial “consumed everything,” said lobbyist Jack O’Donnell, author of a book on the subject. “There was literally no other government work [that] while the trial continued … there was only chaos in the state, where the vice-governor said he was the boss, the controller stopped paying the bills ”.

Republicans, however, “will continue to insist on this issue,” Assembly minority leader Will Barclay said on Monday. He announced that his conference, which had previously presented resolutions to create commissions to study whether impeachment is warranted, will now present a resolution to skip this step and impeachment directly from Cuomo.

“I don’t think I used the term bomb, especially this weekend, [at] at any time in my life – it was one bomb after another, ”said Barclay. “We hope that the pressure will continue to increase.”

But the Barclay conference will have no role in deciding what to vote on, leaving critics in Cuomo with the hope that some new developments will increase pressure for impeachment or that the governor will simply take calls like Stewart-Cousins ​​and resign. This latter option still seems unlikely.

“Asking him to resign? He has already said ‘no, I am not’, ”said Rep. Charles Barron (D-Brooklyn), an impeachment supporter who has been raising the issue since at least 2014.“ Now what are you going to do? He’s not the type to say ‘you know what, yes, for the good of the state, I’m going to quit my job’. This is not in your makeup. ”