New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) once again called on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) to resign after an investigation found the governor sexually harassed multiple women, saying the “narcissist” lawmaker should “get the hell out of the way.”
“He should step aside right now,” De Blasio said of Cuomo during a Thursday morning press conference. “Just get the hell out of the way. I mean, in the end, maybe he could close off his career with one act of dignity and decency and just step aside. But don’t bet on that.”
“He’s obviously borrowing a page from the Trump playbook and trying to scorch the Earth, attack the people doing the investigation, attack anyone who might prosecute him,” the mayor added.
De Blasio then said the governor’s refusal to resign is causing ongoing harm to residents.
“A guy who spends 11 hours having to testify about his sexual harassment and assaults is not a guy who’s focusing on fighting COVID or getting us federal aid or getting rent relief money to people who need it,” he stated.
De Blasio’s comments come after he called on Cuomo to “be impeached as quickly as possible” and face criminal charges.The mayor told CNN:
He should resign. If he won’t resign, he should be impeached as quickly as possible by the state legislature. He can’t govern. He can’t govern. And Wolf, this was one investigation. There’s a whole separate series of issues around the nursing home scandal, whether the facts of all those deaths in the nursing homes due to COVID was covered up. There’s a scandal around the book he wrote with the help of state employees. There’s a scandal around giving out vaccines to political supporters and withholding vaccine supplies from opponents. I mean, this guy is past the point of no return. He can’t govern. He just has to go.
State lawmakers told Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday that their ongoing impeachment investigation is almost done and gave him a deadline of Aug. 13 to provide additional evidence.
Since March, the Assembly’s judiciary committee has been investigating whether there are grounds to impeach the Democratic governor over sexual harassment allegations, misleading the public about COVID-19 outbreaks at nursing homes and using state resources and staff for his $5 million book deal.
In a letter sent Thursday, the law firm leading the investigation, Davis Polk & Wardwell, reminded Cuomo’s legal team that it has subpoenaed certain documents and expects “full compliance from the governor,” but that his time to respond was almost up. They wrote:
We write to inform you that the Committee’s investigation is nearing completion and the Assembly will soon consider potential articles of impeachment against your client. Accordingly, we invite you to provide any additional evidence or written submissions that you would like the Committee to consider before its work concludes.
The letter was released publicly by Assembly Judiciary Committee Chair Charles Lavine, a Long Island Democrat.
The committee has scheduled its next meeting on the matter for Monday.
Findings from an independent investigation overseen by state Attorney General Letitia James released earlier this week said Cuomo sexually harassed at least 11 women, and that his administration retaliated against at least one of them for going public with her allegations.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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