Photos: Twitter
Yesterday, while New York was largely fixated on the subway shooting attack in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, there was another bombshell story rocking New York: the morning arrest of Brian Benjamin, who was New York’s Lieutenant Governor, until his swift resignation Tuesday afternoon.
Former Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin
Benjamin was arrested on bribery and fraud charges related to campaign financing. The fast fall of Benjamin has major implications for the June primaries and upcoming gubernatorial race.
Benjamin’s arrest will likely make it difficult for Governor Kathy Hochul’s re-election effort. Hochul reportedly cannot remove Benjamin from her ticket for the June primaries.
Moreover, many are openly questioning Hochul’s judgement in the aftermath of Benjamin’s arrest and resignation.
Jumaane Williams above (middle) speaks to media.
One of Hochul’s Democratic opponents New York Public Advocate Jumaane Williams released a statement criticizing Governor Kathy Hochul’s judgement. Williams said the following:
“As Lieutenant Governor, Kathy Hochul denied knowledge or awareness of Andrew Cuomo’s wrongdoing — now she’s repeating the same posture and strategy with her own Lieutenant. Either she’s consistently shamefully out of the loop, or shamefully enabling through her inaction, and either way it’s clear that unless we elect leadership outside of the old ways of Albany, these patterns of scandal and corruption will keep repeating.
“Throughout our campaign we’ve highlighted how the Hochul administration represented Albany’s dysfunctional status quo. She claims to have cleaned up the Capitol. But just this week, with historic handouts to Buffalo billionaires, donor-driven scandals, and resignation, it’s never felt more familiar, or more clear that we need drastic change.”
