The New York State Assembly Judiciary Committee has given Gov. Andrew Cuomo an Aug. 13 deadline to provide any evidence he wants before the committee considers articles of impeachment against him over a sexual harassment scandal.
Meanwhile, the governor continued to hemorrhage what little political support he had left, as the chairman of the Democratic National Committee and the head of the powerful healthcare workers union 1199SEIU both called for him to resign.
"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," the Assembly committee's lawyers wrote to the governor's lawyers.
Cuomo Under Fire
"Accordingly, we invite you to provide any additional evidence or written submissions that you would like the Committee to consider before its work concludes. To the extent that you wish to share any such materials with the Committee, please do so by no later than 5:00 pm on August 13, 2021," lawyers from Davis Polk & Wardwell wrote.
Late on Thursday, Cuomo's top spokesman, Rich Azzopardi, issued a statement saying the governor would present its case before the Assembly.
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"The Governor appreciates the opportunity," he said. "We will be cooperating."
"The Assembly has said it is doing a full and thorough review of the complaints and has offered the Governor and his team an opportunity to present facts and their perspective. The Governor appreciates the opportunity. We will be cooperating."
The committee is next set to meet on Monday. It's not clear how long the impeachment process will take, though reports have suggested it could be roughly another month to complete the committee's investigation (combined with the AG's probe), produce its report and articles of impeachment, and then vote on them.
Based on tallies compiled by the AP and others, there appear to be more than sufficient votes to impeach the three-term governor. Under New York law, he would then be temporarily removed from office pending a trial, with Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul becoming acting governor in the interim.
Cuomo currently faces no fewer than seven county, state and federal investigations related to alleged sexual harassment, alleged misuse of state resources to produce and promote a 2020 book, and purported cover-ups in COVID nursing home death data.
There are virtually no Democrats left at the local, state or national level who have not called for Cuomo to go.
