Committee hearing where lawmakers were to hear evidence against Cuomo canceled, drawing objections

(The Center Square) – On Friday, hours after New York Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie moved to suspend the impeachment investigation of outgoing Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a highly anticipated meeting on the matter was abruptly canceled.

Assembly Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Lavine, D-Glen Cove, released a statement after 4:30 p.m. ET on Friday stating the committee’s scheduled Monday meeting would not occur as planned.

While not necessarily shocking, given Heastie’s bombshell a couple hours earlier, Lavine’s news was still significant as Monday’s committee meeting was supposed to be the time when lawmakers received access to evidence from the independent investigation regarding sexual harassment claims against the disgraced governor.

Assemblymember Mary Beth Walsh, R-Ballston, one of six Republicans on the committee, said in a statement late Friday afternoon after Monday’s meeting was shelved that she and other members were prepared to spend hours going over the 500,000 documents accumulated by the impeachment panel’s outside counsel as well as the thousands of documents Attorney General Letitia James provided from the independent investigation.

Based on Friday’s decisions, the bare minimum committee members can do, Walsh said, is work together over the remaining days before the governor leaves office and issue a report on those findings.

“I’m calling on Speaker Heastie and Chairman Lavine to see that that is what happens,” Walsh said.

Lavine said in his statement that future committee meetings would take place on an as-needed basis and referred to Heastie’s statement for more information on the status of the investigation.

Heastie said in a statement Friday that Cuomo’s resignation meant the purpose of the impeachment inquiry – to see if he was fit for office – was rendered moot. In addition, he added that Lavine, as well as an unsigned legal opinion, believed the state constitution allowed for impeaching someone no longer in office.

Late Friday night, Assemblymember Ron Kim, D-Queens, rebutted via Twitter a hastened opinion from Cornell Law professor Robert Hockett that stated former officials can’t face impeachment because removal from office can also mean, by its legal definition, to disqualify.

Impeaching Cuomo would be the “condemnation of every criminality he has done and stood for to protect the integrity of the state government and the people it is supposed to protect,” Kim said.

Throughout the day and into the evening, more lawmakers, other officials and individuals connected to the report continued to make their feelings known about the shocking decision and the Bronx Democrat who made it.

None of it seemed positive.

Lindsey Boylan, the former Cuomo staffer whose harassment allegations against him led to more women coming forward, tweeted it was “an unjust cop out” to end impeachment proceedings.

“@CarlHeastie is certainly no profile in courage. He dragged his feet on an investigation and grossly said, ‘any one of us in this place could be accused.’ Now he’s ready to forget about it. We deserve better,” she added.

Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou, D-Manhattan, said she was “disgusted” over the decision in a statement. She was one of the first to call for the impeachment inquiry to continue after Cuomo announced his resignation Tuesday afternoon.

With Cuomo’s resignation not taking effect until later this month, she implored leaders to reconsider.

“Our legislature has a shameful history of avoiding tough decisions and failing to fulfill our constitutional obligations,”`

Even Democrats on the Judiciary Committee criticized the move.

Assemblymember Monica Wallace, D-Lancaster, favored sharing the evidence the committee compiled with Attorney General Letitia James and others investigating the governor’s actions.

However, she was adamant the decision to suspend was wrong.

“We have an obligation to the public and to the witnesses who came forward to finish our work and to disclose our findings,” she said.

Assemblymember Dan Quart, D-Manhattan, agreed on the need to finish the investigation that started five months ago. The committee could have at least published a report on its findings regarding the governor’s alleged misconduct.

The committee wasn’t just examining the sexual harassment claims. They also were looking into the Cuomo administration’s handling of nursing home policies during the pandemic as well as its efforts to withhold the actual COVID-19 death toll connected to long-term care facilities.

There were also concerns about the governor’s $5 million deal he received last year to write a book on his handling of the COVID-19 crisis, as well as allegations that his family members and others close to him got special priority for testing during the early stages of the emergency. The committee also was looking into allegations that safety concerns regarding the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge were covered up.

Even as the impeachment investigation wraps up, Cuomo still faces a slew of other inquiries. Federal authorities have been examining the nursing home policies and data, and at least five district attorneys have requested files from the independent investigation into the harassment claims that outside lawyers found to be credible.

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