"We Have To Impeach": NY State Lawmakers Call for Cuomo to Resign or Be Removed
“These women were just trying to go through a day doing their jobs"
A bombshell report from New York Attorney General Letitia James on Governor Andrew Cuomo’s sexual harassment of employees and his office’s subsequent attempts to cover it up has state lawmakers calling for resignation or impeachment.
“It took 179 witnesses and a statewide investigation by the Attorney General to hold one powerful man accountable—tell me again that New York doesn't have a power problem,” Assembly Member Yuh-Line Niou said.
Niou, who told me “we have to impeach” the governor, is one of Cuomo’s fiercest critics and called for the governor’s resignation months ago when allegations of harassment and misconduct were first reported by former aide Lindsay Boylan and others.
She said she’s had impeachment articles drafted for a long time.
“I had them drafted yesterday,” Niou said. “I had them drafted months ago.”
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“A deeply disturbing, yet clear picture”
In the report, James and her office found that Cuomo “sexually harassed current and former state employees in violation of both federal and state laws.”
“The independent investigation found that Governor Cuomo harassed multiple women, many of whom were young women, by engaging in unwanted groping, kisses, hugging, and by making inappropriate comments,” James said.
According to the New York Times, the report’s findings confirm allegations that the governor’s behavior was part of a pattern of harassment and intimidation:
Ms. James said the report revealed “a deeply disturbing, yet clear picture” and “conduct that corrodes the very fabric and character of our state government and shines light on injustice that can be present at the highest levels of government.”
The report included at least two previously unreported allegations of sexual harassment from women who accused Mr. Cuomo of improperly touching them, including an unnamed female state trooper and an employee of the National Grid energy company.
“These women were just trying to go through a day doing their jobs,” Niou said. “They never asked to be abused or harassed.”
With the findings, Cuomo’s political career appears over. But whether or not he goes willingly is still an open question.
“The Assembly needs to act”
State Senator Alessandra Biaggi, who is exploring a run for governor in 2022, said in a tweet that the Assembly needs to act quickly.
“I am calling on him to resign,” Biaggi tweeted. If Cuomo refuses, I am calling on [Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie] & the Assembly to move to impeach immediately.”
Biaggi told me that when she says “immediately,” she means it.
“The assembly needs to act,” she said. “Within the next day.”
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Just like trump he should be held accountable and prosecuted