NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Demands continue for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign following a bombshell report from the attorney general that he sexually harassed several women.
Will he, or will lawmakers have to move forward with an impeachment trial?
As CBS2’s Political Reporter Marcia Kramer reports, there is no indication the governor is about to fall on his sword and step down, like former Gov. Eliot Spitzer did when he was faced with a sex scandal. Even though elected officials and the public are screaming for Cuomo to exit the political stage, he seems to have selective hearing.
“He has the audacity to say, ‘Oh you know, I like to hug people.’ I mean, that’s just out of touch with reality,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday morning.
The mayor put his finger on the conundrum facing New Yorkers — the out-of-touch governor showing picture after picture of himself hugging people from all walks of life, as a defense for the disturbing charges from Attorney General Letitia James that he sexually harassed 11 women over a seven-year period.
“By engaging in unwanted groping, kissing, hugging and by making inappropriate comments,” James announced Tuesday.
WATCH: N.Y. Attorney General James’ Press Conference On Report
WEB EXTRA: Read The Report | Exhibits 1 | Exhibits 2 | Exhibits 3 | Cuomo’s Response
While you could go deaf listening to all the calls for Cuomo to resign, the governor, by all indications, is digging in his heels, seeming to want to take his chances at an impeachment trial, Kramer reported.
A new overnight poll by Marist College found that 59% of New Yorkers want him to resign, and if he doesn’t, 59% want the Legislature to impeach him. While Cuomo denies the allegations, 44% believe he did something illegal, and 29% say he did something unethical but not illegal.
David Birdsell, provost at Kean University and a longtime expert on New York politics, said he doesn’t think the governor will resign.
“Nobody knows the governor’s mind beyond the governor, but there is nothing in Andrew Cuomo’s history, his personal comportment, the statements that he’s made about this and everything else to suggest that he’s ready to back down,” said Birdsell. “I think this is going to go at least up to the brink of a formal impeachment process, if not the full impeachment process itself.”
If he continues to refuse to resign, the Assembly Judiciary Committee will meet next week to begin the impeachment process. The committee would vote on articles of impeachment, followed by a Senate trial.
“If he doesn’t resign, the impeachment then would be inevitable,” Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins said.
WATCH: N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Press Conference In Response
Cuomo’s accusers, including Charlotte Bennett, remain stunned that he’s hanging on.
“He sexually harassed me. I am not confused, it is not confusing. I am living in reality, and it’s sad to see that he’s not,” she told CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell in an exclusive interview.
There has been no response from the governor’s office Wednesday to calls for his resignation, but Tuesday, he was defiant about continuing to run the state.
“My job isn’t about me, my job is about you. What matters to me, at the end of the day, is getting the most done I can for you, and that is what I do every day, and I will not be distracted from that job,” Cuomo said.
“I absolutely believe he must resign for the good of New York State,” said de Blasio. “If he wants to wait for impeachment, he can, but it’s coming soon.”
There are also questions about the possibility of criminal charges. The Manhattan and Westchester district attorneys have requested the attorney general’s files on Cuomo to see if any of the incidents happened in their jurisdictions. The Albany DA is also investigating.
from CBS New York https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2021/08/04/cuomo-mounting-calls-to-resign-or-impeachment-trial/
via gqrds
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.