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Josh Dawsey: “Cuomo is unlikely to resign. His people were totally caught off guard by state trooper accusations and were not expecting report to come out yesterday.”
However: “There is little belief among some of longest advisers that he can survive.”
The district attorneys for Manhattan and Westchester County on Wednesday requested evidence related to New York Attorney General Letitia James’ investigation into sexual harassment allegations against Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), NBC News reports.
Cuomo already faces a criminal investigation by the Albany County district attorney.
New York Times: “A person familiar with the process said it could take just a month to complete the inquiry and draw up the articles of impeachment. A trial in the State Senate could begin as soon as late September or early October.”
Playbook: “New York’s impeachment process looks a lot like Congress’, but with a few differences. It starts in the lower chamber and takes a simple majority of the Assembly’s 150 members to impeach, just like on Capitol Hill. The chamber can create a special committee, though in this case the Judiciary panel has been investigating Cuomo.”
“But unlike with presidential proceedings, Cuomo would be tried in the so-called “High Court of Impeachment,” a jury composed of all the state’s senators (except the majority leader, who would become lieutenant governor and therefore is recused), and the seven members of the state’s highest court. Removal takes two-thirds of the 69-member body.”
“President Biden on Tuesday denounced Republican officials who have blocked efforts to mandate vaccines, as he encouraged cities and states to require that individuals show proof of vaccination to visit restaurants and other public spaces,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Biden: “I say to these governors: Please help. But if you aren’t going to help, at least get out of the way.”
Albany Times Union: “We do not expect Mr. Cuomo to resign from office; he is clearly beyond shame. The state Assembly needs to formally vote to proceed with impeachment, an action that would remove the governor from office until the full Legislature and the members of the Court of Appeals can sit in judgment on him. We are encouraged by Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie’s statement that the report’s findings are ‘gut-wrenching,’ but now is the time to display actual guts.”
New York Times: “If Mr. Cuomo cares for the well-being of the state and its citizens as much as he has said he does over the years, he needs to do the right thing and step down.”
New York Post: “It’s time for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to do one honorable thing: step down. If he refuses, lawmakers should remove him. Pronto.”
“The speaker of the New York State Assembly said on Tuesday that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo had lost the support of the Democratic majority in the assembly and could no longer serve as governor,” the New York Times reports.
“The statement from Speaker Carl Heastie, came after an emergency meeting with fellow Democratic members on Tuesday to discuss how the body — which has the sole power to impeach Gov. Andrew Cuomo — should address the attorney general’s findings that Mr. Cuomo had sexually harassed multiple women, most of them state employees.”
President Biden called on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) to resign on Tuesday after an independent investigation found that Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women, including employees in his office, in violation of state and federal law.
“There should be a zero tolerance policy when it comes to sexual harassment and must send a clear message that this behavior is not tolerated.”
— New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), in a tweet from 2013.
Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) reiterated their call for Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) to step down.
From their joint statement: “The people of New York deserve better leadership in the governor’s office. We continue to believe that the Governor should resign.”
The Hill reports New York’s entire congressional delegation is now calling for Cuomo’s resignation.
As dozens of elected officials called for his resignation, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) denied the sexual harassment allegations against him, which were corroborated in a probe led by the state attorney general.
Said Cuomo: “I never touch anyone inappropriately or made inappropriate sexual advances. I am 63 years old. I live my entire adult life in public view. That’s just not who I am.”
State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D) put out a statement that called the details of the investigation “gut-wrenching” and concluded: “We will have more to say in the very near future.”
Meanwhile, all 19 of New York’s Democratic U.S. House members called on Cuomo to resign.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) “sexually harassed multiple women, including current and former government workers, and retaliated against at least one of the women for making her complaints public, according to a much anticipated report from the New York State attorney general released on Tuesday,” the New York Times reports.
“The 165-page report said that Mr. Cuomo, a third-term Democrat, and his aides cultivated a toxic work environment in his office that was rife with fear and intimidation, and helped enable ‘harassment to occur and created a hostile work environment.'”
“The findings of the report could fuel support for impeachment proceedings against Mr. Cuomo in the State Legislature, which Democrats overwhelmingly control, lead to additional calls for his resignation and influence public opinion as he considers running for a fourth term.”
New York Times: “The videotaped interview lasted about 11 hours, and Mr. Cuomo faced a barrage of questions under oath about his treatment of women, posed by the two lead investigators hired by the state attorney general’s office: Joon H. Kim, the former prosecutor, and Anne L. Clark, an employment lawyer.”
“There were tense moments: At more than one point during the lengthy session, Mr. Cuomo confronted Mr. Kim, challenging his fairness and independence as a result of his past investigations into the governor and his allies.”
“As confirmed COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to surge in Louisiana, Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) reinstituted an indoor mask mandate on Monday requiring residents to wear face coverings in schools, churches, businesses and any other public spaces,” the Baton Rouge Advocate reports.
Said Edwards: “It has been clear that current recommendations on their own haven’t worked.”
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) called for private businesses to incentivize getting vaccinated against the coronavirus by instituting “vaccine-only admission,” Axios reports.
Said Cuomo: “Private businesses, bars, restaurants: go to a vaccine-only admission… I believe it’s in your business interest to run a vaccine-only establishment.”
“A day after it recorded the most new daily cases since the start of the pandemic, Florida on Sunday broke a previous record for current hospitalizations set more than a year ago before vaccines were available,” the AP reports.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) “has pulled his children out of a summer camp after photos surfaced of his son sitting without a mask with other maskless children,” the Sacramento Bee reports.
“The photo began circulating on social Monday and quickly drew criticism from parents who oppose the state’s requirement that children wear masks in schools. Under the state’s guidelines, children’s camps must follow the same rules as schools.”
Former Oregon state Rep. Mike Nearman (R) pleaded guilty “to one count of official misconduct in the first degree for letting rioters into the closed Oregon Capitol building during a special legislative session on Dec. 21, 2020,” the Salem Statesman Journal reports.
“As a result of the negotiated plea agreement, Nearman was sentenced to 18 months probation, during which he will need to complete 80 hours of community service and is banned from the Capitol building and grounds.”
“Florida’s Covid crisis has wedged Gov. Ron DeSantis between two competing forces: public health experts who urge him to do more and anti-vaxxers who want him to do less,” Politico reports.
“As Covid infections swell across the state, DeSantis’ major achievement has the potential to backfire on him ahead of his 2022 reelection campaign and potential 2024 presidential bid.”
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Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.