Cuomo impeachment probe will take ‘months rather than weeks’: lawmakers
The impeachment investigation into Gov. Cuomo will likely take months a top New York state lawmaker revealed during a Tuesday committee hearing about the probe.
Assemblyman Charles Lavine (D-L.I.), head of the Judiciary Committee, warned there would be no quick verdict from lawmakers about the myriad sexual misconduct and other allegations against the embattled governor.
”The timing of the investigation will be in terms of months rather than weeks,” Lavine said in an opening statement.
The main purpose of the Tuesday hearing was to introduce lawyers from David Polk & Wardwell, a high-profile Manhattan-based firm hired by state lawmakers last week to lead the impeachment probe.
The team includes Greg Andres, a former Brooklyn federal prosecutor who was part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation and helped convict former President Donald Trump’s campaign chairman Paul Manafort of tax and bank fraud.
Cuomo is facing claims of sexual harassment and abuse by several women, including some past and present staff members.
At one point, the governor’s aides tried to discredit Lindsey Boylan, a onetime Cuomo aide who first accused the governor of harassment on Twitter in December, then broke the dam of allegations in February with a bombshell essay about her experience.
Cuomo is separately accused of hiding the real death toll of COVID victims in nursing homes during the dreadful first months of the pandemic last year.
The impeachment investigation may also look into claims that the governor helped cover up safety problems at the newly rebuilt Tappan Zee Bridge, which was renamed to honor his dad, the late Gov. Mario Cuomo.
Democrats, including some staunch Cuomo loyalists, hold wide majorities in both the state Assembly and Senate and can control the impeachment process.
But Cuomo’s support in both parties has crumbled as more allegations emerge. Some harassment victims have criticized the impeachment process as a distraction that Cuomo will use to stay in power, and have demanded that he resign immediately.
Cuomo has refused to step down. He has denied and downplayed the misconduct accusations, and has denied any wrongdoing with regard to the pandemic, which previously earned him nationwide adulation.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Lavine and other Democrats vowed to scrupulously respect the rights of Cuomo’s accusers, as well as the governor’s right to a fair trial.
Some Black lawmakers suggested they would push back against efforts to use the probe to pile on against Cuomo, arguing that defending the rights of those accused is a civil rights issue.
“Just because we are dealing now with the governor of the great state of New York, I think that the same level of care and attention to ... our civil rights is just as important,” said Latrice Walker (D-Brooklyn).
Republican Assemblyman Michael Montesano (R-L.I.) vowed to hold Cuomo to account for all the alleged wrongdoing. ”Everything is on the table,” he declared at the hearing.
Lavine told the committee that he has formally warned Cuomo against intimidating potential witnesses or victims.
Lawmakers spent most of the meeting quizzing the outside attorneys about how the investigation would proceed.
Andres said the firm would conduct live interviews, submit written questions and make document requests. If Cuomo or others resisted, they could face subpoenas to cooperate, he said.
“We’ll follow all the leads in our investigation and interview any necessary witnesses,” Andres vowed.
