New York Assembly heads for impeachment against Gov. Andrew Cuomo

The New York Assembly on Thursday took an important step towards a possible impeachment of state governor Andrew Cuomo with the announcement of a judicial commission inquiry after six women claimed to have been victims of sexual harassment. and a fault on your part in recent weeks.

The spokesman for the Democratic majority in the legislative chamber, Carl Heastie, issued a statement in which he described the accusations against Cuomo as “serious” and specified that Charles Lavine will head the judicial committee which will be in charge of the investigation.

“The committee will have the power to question witnesses, request documents and assess evidence, as required by the Constitution of the State of New York.“Said Heastie, who said she was confident the investigation will be” prompt, thorough and thorough “.

The Legislative Judiciary Committee’s inquiries will come alongside that of New York Attorney General Letitia James, who announced on March 1 that she would begin investigating both Cuomo’s behavior and his management. office of charges. .

Both, however, will be independent of each other, as both parties insisted.

“Today’s action by the New York State Legislature will not affect our independent investigation into the allegations against Governor Cuomo. Our investigation will continue, ”James said in a statement issued shortly after Heastie’s announcement.

The start of the Legislative Chamber’s investigation is known a day after details of the latest case revealed through alleged sexual harassment of the adviser were released., which this Wednesday published the local newspaper Albany Time Union.

A young Cuomo employee, the sixth to accuse him of such behavior, was sexually assaulted at the governor’s official residence in late 2020, when the politician asked him to come and help him solve a problem, media reports. with his mobile.

Cuomo then allegedly put his hands under the employee’s blouse, who was not identified, and he groped her breasts, said the media, which claims to have obtained information from a person close to the woman.

This is, so far, the most serious accusation against the governor, who so far has not been formally denounced for his abusive behavior.

Cuomo has repeatedly denied the allegations that have surfaced in recent weeks., and again claimed he was innocent on Wednesday, minutes after details of the sixth case became known.

“Like I said yesterday, I’ve never done something like this to anyone. The details of this information are devastating, ”he said in a statement sent to the Albany Times Union, in which he also said he would not discuss the specific circumstances exposed in any of the allegations given the James’ current investigation.

While this Monday the Republican minority in the New York Legislature announced that it would initiate proceedings to launch a political trial against Cuomonow it is his own party colleagues who have started to turn their backs on him.

On Thursday, more than 59 Democratic legislators in the Assembly and Senate signed a declaration demanding that the governor resign to allow Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul to take office.

“The governor must put the people of New Yor firstk, ”says the text, signed by both rookie Democrats and veterans of the assembly. “It’s time for Cuomo to step down,” he adds.

The sexual accusations began in mid-December, when a former advisor, Lindsey Boylan, claimed on social media Twitter that she had been harassed by the politician “for years”.

However, It wasn’t until more than two months later that he gave details of what had happened.or that the testimonies of other women who said they had been victims of sexual abuse and inappropriate behavior began to come to light.

Of the six women who accused Cuomo, five of them work or have worked with him, and one of them met him at a wedding.

With information from EFE

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