ALBANY – The state Assembly will end its impeachment inquiry into New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Aug. 25 after the governor’s resignation is due to take effect, Speaker Carl Heastie announced Friday.
The Assembly Judiciary Committee had been investigating Cuomo and his administration for the past five months to determine whether to move forward with removal proceedings.
Outside attorneys hired by the committee had been looking into the myriad sexual harassment allegations lodged against Cuomo, as well as questions about whether the state was forthcoming with the COVID-19 death toll in nursing homes and if Cuomo used state resources on a book deal that promises to pay him $5.1 million.
But with Cuomo announcing Tuesday that he would resign Aug. 24 amid a sexual-harassment scandal, the committee will suspend its ongoing investigation and turn over its evidence to the proper authorities, according to Heastie, D-Bronx.
Heastie did not commit to issuing any sort of public report on the matter, though he said the committee collected evidence that showed “misuse of state resources” related to the book deal and “improper and misleading disclosure” related to nursing homes.
“Let me be clear — the committee’s work over the last several months, although not complete, did uncover credible evidence in relation to allegations that have been made in reference to the governor,” Heastie said in a statement.
The decision Friday angered lawmakers of both parties who had been calling for impeachment proceedings to continue.
Sen. Samra Brouk, D-Rochester, said she was “incredibly disappointed” with the decision.
“The governor’s resignation was not an act of nobility — it was because he committed unlawful acts and was out of options,” she said in a statement. “Resignation should not preclude him from being impeached or otherwise held accountable.”
Legal questions surround NY impeachment process
Heastie and Assembly Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Lavine, D-Nassau County, had been facing pressure from Republicans and some Democrats to continue with the impeachment process as a way of holding Cuomo further accountable.
Their calls came after a report from state Attorney General Letitia James concluded he sexually harassed 11 women, including nine current or former state employees.
Had Cuomo been impeached by the Assembly and convicted by a joint court of the Senate and the Court of Appeals, he could have been barred from ever running for state office again.
But Heastie said Lavine and counsel for the Assembly’s Democratic majority came to the conclusion that Cuomo’s resignation would likely block lawmakers from impeaching and convicting him.
In a legal memo provided by Heastie’s office, attorneys for the Assembly were asked if it was possible to impeach and convict “a person who has resigned from public office.”
Their conclusion? “Probably not,” though they noted the question has not been “definitively answered” by the state courts.
At issue is language in the state constitution that allows for two outcomes for those who are convicted at impeachment trial: “removal from office, or removal from office and disqualification.”
The Assembly’s legal memo makes the case that since both options include “removal from office,” they can’t legally impeach or try someone who has already left office.
More:As Andrew Cuomo resigns, women who say he harassed them feel vindicated, grateful
Some wanted impeachment probe to continue
Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt, R-North Tonawanda, Niagara County, said Heastie’s decision “reeks of a shady deal to protect Andrew Cuomo.”
Ortt had called for Cuomo’s continued impeachment. Similar calls were put forward by other Republicans and the progressive wing of the Assembly’s Democratic majority, as well as some of the women who came forward with stories of Cuomo’s alleged harassment.
In a joint statement, the six Republican members of the Assembly Judiciary Committee blasted Heastie’s decision and called on the committee to issue a public report with its findings.
“We are outraged by today’s events and the public should be outraged too,” the joint statement read. “The committee must meet immediately, continue to work and issue a public report containing the facts and findings obtained during the investigation.”
In his statement, Heastie did not commit to publicly releasing any of the evidence the committee had collected, but he said it would be turned over to the proper authorities.
He suggested the evidence on the book deal would go to James, who has an ongoing investigation into the matter.
The evidence surrounding COVID-19 in nursing homes will go to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, Heastie suggested. And district attorneys in Manhattan as well as Westchester, Albany, Oswego and Nassau counties are investigating Cuomo’s alleged harassment.
“I have asked Chair Lavine to turn over to the relevant investigatory authorities all the evidence the committee has gathered,” he said in a statement.
The Assembly’s investigation has been led by Davis Polk, a major law firm. On Monday, Heastie acknowledged the probe’s cost was in the millions of dollars.
Heastie’s announcement drew criticism from a number of Democrats, including Assemblymember Harvey Epstein of Manhattan, who said New York residents “deserve more from us.”
“The decision to suspend the investigation and impeachment process into Cuomo is not right,” he said in a statement. “We should finish the work of the judiciary committee and release a full report.”
Cuomo’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday afternoon.
During his resignation speech Tuesday, Cuomo raised the possibility of an impeachment process costing the state millions of dollars.
“It will consume government,” he said. “It will cost taxpayers millions of dollars. It will brutalize people.”
Cuomo’s accusers ripped the Assembly’s decision.
Lindsey Boylan, a former aide and one of his accusers, called the announced “an unjust cop out.”
“The public deserves to know the extent of the Governor’s misdeeds and possible crimes. His victims deserve justice and to know he will not be able harm others,” she wrote on Twitter.
More:Andrew Cuomo is resigning, but the investigations into his conduct will continue
Jon Campbell is the New York State Team editor for the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @JonCampbellGAN.
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