All eyes on state Legislature to see if move to impeach Gov. Cuomo comes next

The Albany district attorney has an open criminal investigation pending against Cuomo, however, it doesn't appear he will step down.

News 12 Staff

Aug 4, 2021, 12:39 AM

Updated 1,163 days ago

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State Attorney General Letitia James' announcement that her investigation found Gov. Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed nearly a dozen women and worked to retaliate against one of his accusers leaves many wondering what happens next, especially since she said her office has nothing left to do.
The Albany district attorney has an open criminal investigation pending against Cuomo, however, it doesn't appear he will step down. The governor strongly denied any wrongdoing Tuesday.
Now all eyes are on the state Legislature to see if it will move forward with impeachment.
Michael Montesano, of Glen Head, is the leading Republican on the Assembly Judiciary Committee. That's the group overseeing the impeachment investigation into Cuomo.
Montesano says today's revelation will likely speed up the impeachment process, but the Assembly's probe is still not finished.
"Numerous amounts of subpoenas have been issued," says Montesano. "They've conducted additional interviews, obtained additional documentation, so now we're trying to put everything together."
The investigation is also looking into Cuomo's multimillion-dollar book deal and his alleged mishandling of nursing home deaths during the height of the pandemic.
Vivian Zayas, of Voices for Seniors, has been calling for Cuomo to resign. She formed the group Voices for Seniors after her mother passed away at a nursing home last year. Zayas says the AG's report gives her hope.
"That only gives us more optimism that we're going to find out what happened with the nursing homes and that there will be a non-partisan investigation into what happened with the seniors," says Zayas.
In light of the report, political analyst Mike Dawidziak says Democrats will likely vote to impeach.
"He's putting the onus on his own party to remove him from office and he's really leaving them no choice but to move forward with impeachment because they don't want to be looked at as being complicit in stalling justice or whitewashing this situation," says Dawidziak.
The Albany DA says he's requesting investigative materials used in the AG's probe and asking any victim to contact his office.
Touro law professor Richard Klein says it's unlikely Cuomo will face any criminal charges. However, there's talk about civil cases being filed.
If the state Assembly votes to impeach, Cuomo would be immediately suspended, and the lieutenant governor would take over while the process continues in the Senate.