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After much criticism, legislature will issue an impeachment report, but won't say when

Aug 16, 2021 1:23 pm

Luis Ferré-Sadurní reports in The New York Times that New York Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie on Aug. 16 reversed course somewhat on his efforts to shut down the impeachment investigation of Gov. Andrew Cuomo. On Aug. 13 Heastie unilaterally ended efforts to impeach Cuomo for sexually harassing 11 women, after spending more than $10 million of taxpayer money on an investigation. But on Aug. 16, he walked that back just a bit, after a torrent of criticism from both Republicans and Democrats. Heastie and Charles Lavine, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, announced “The Assembly Judiciary Committee will continue to review evidence and issue a final report on its investigation of Governor Cuomo.” The governor announced last week that he will resign Aug. 24. But by avoiding impeachment, he will be allowed to run for governor again next year or in the future. Besides the sexual harassment claims, the legislature has also investigated Cuomo’s handling of nursing homes during the pandemic and Cuomo’s use of state resources to write a book that netted him $5.1 million. Heastie and Lavine did not say when a report would be released. Heastie said the investigation has uncovered evidence that “could likely have resulted in articles of impeachment had he not resigned.” Heastie killed the impeachment efforts because he found a constitution expert saying you can't impeach a governor who has already resigned. But other constitutional experts hold opposite views. Many Republicans and Democrats criticized Heastie's announcement that impeachment efforts would end, and Cuomo could run for governor again. Read more about this story in The New York Times.