The New York state Assembly will suspend its impeachment investigation of Gov. Andrew Cuomo after his resignation takes effect on Aug. 25, Speaker Carl Heastie said on Friday.
Cuomo announced his resignation earlier this week following the release of a damning report by the New York State Attorney General’s office that found he sexually harassed at least 11 women and oversaw a hostile working environment in his office.
Heastie said there is longer a need for the Assembly Judiciary Committee’s investigation due to the governor’s resignation. The committee was also advised the state constitution does not authorize the legislature to impeach an elected official who is no longer in office, Heastie added.
But the committee’s work over the last several months did uncover evidence related to allegations against the governor, which “could likely have resulted in articles of impeachment had he not resigned,” Heastie said.
This includes evidence related to sexual harassment and misconduct, the misuse of state resources in relation to the governor’s memoir and misleading disclosure of nursing home data during the pandemic.
Heastie said he has asked the Assembly’s Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Lavine to turn over all the evidence the committee has gathered to “relevant investigatory authorities.”
The Attorney General’s office is investigating issues concerning Cuomo’s memoir, while the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York is probing his administration’s actions related to nursing home data, Heastie said.
Investigations into the governor’s sexual misconduct are also being carried out by local law enforcement authorities in five jurisdictions including Manhattan, Albany, Westchester, Nassau and Oswego, Heastie added.
“The people of this great state expect and deserve a government they can count on to always have their best interests in mind. Our government should always operate in a transparent, safe and honest manner,” Heastie said in a statement Friday.
