Photos: Wikimedia Commons
As the calls mushroom for the resignation—or removal by impeachment—of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, two more political heavyweights of New York City politics, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, have now issued statements calling for the governor to step down.
Speaker Johnson expressed support for the impeachment investigation and the separate investigation being done by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Johnson released the following statement:
“I applaud the courage of the women who have come forward. Previously, I expressed my support for the investigation being led by Attorney General Letitia James. I still believe that independent investigation must continue. But I also believe that the number and the nature of the allegations against Gov. Cuomo has made it impossible for him to govern. Gov. Cuomo should resign.”
Advocate Williams criticized Governor Cuomo accusing him of “denying responsibility, and dodging accountability.”
Williams released the following statement:
“Confronted with the prospect of having to face true accountability, Governor Cuomo has continued to reveal who he has always been behind the made-for-TV image he hopes people will believe. He has adopted a strategy of deflecting questions, denying responsibility, and dodging accountability – and today, seemingly daring to impugn the motives of the courageous survivors who have come forward. It was grotesquely Trumpian, inexcusable, and entirely expected.
“Every day, the Governor shows more clearly why he cannot lead our state – a rapid acceleration of a revelation that has been ongoing for weeks, months, and years. In creating and then covering up the nursing home crisis as part of a failed pandemic response that made New York the epicenter of the epicenter and disproportionately impacted Black and brown New Yorkers, in setting up the Buffalo Billion and shutting down the Moreland Commission, in expediting the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge at the expense of safety, and in moving to undermine any checks on his own authority, he has long demonstrated that he prioritizes acquiring and abusing power, no matter who is hurt or how. As we face this critical moment for New York, with crises compounding and a budget looming, he must relinquish that power or have it taken from him.”
This week has been a bad one for Governor Cuomo.
On Thursday, New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie announced the launch of an impeachment investigation into the widening sex scandal. Along with Heastie, New York Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins has also called for Cuomo’s resignation.
And on Friday, Senator Chuck Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand joined their names to the list of those calling on the governor to leave.
This happened as two more women Jessica Bakeman, a reporter who published her story, and an anonymous staffer (who is still working in Cuomo’s office) also came forward this week to tell their stories of alleged sexual harassment by the governor.
There are now seven women who have accused Cuomo of sexual harassment. The other women are: Lindsey Boylan, Charlotte Bennett, Ana Liss, Karen Hinton, and Anna Ruch.
