Pressure Mounting on New York Gov. Cuomo to Resign Amid Six Harassment Claims

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s refusal to resign in the face of six harassment accusations has lawmakers weighing their next steps.

Calls for the third-term Democrat’s resignation have surged in just the past day as details of the latest accusation led to the first suggestion of criminal behavior. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie is meeting to discuss “potential paths forward” while the state’s Democratic Chairman -- one of Cuomo’s most vocal supporters -- agreed that closer review by the legislature was necessary.

If Cuomo continues to refuse to resign, legislators can push for an impeachment trial or seek less severe options, such as a judiciary committee investigation with subpoena power. Several members are pushing for impeachment, while Heastie is pushing for the committee investigation, according to two lawmakers who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations. The committee’s findings could then serve as a catalyst for impeachment proceedings.

Cuomo, 63, said on March 7 there is “no way” he would resign. Two days later, allegations from the sixth accuser surfaced in the Albany Times-Union, and details revealed Wednesday allege that the governor groped her under her blouse after she had been summoned to the Executive Mansion late last year.

The governor, in response to the newspaper’s report, denied making any “inappropriate advances.” On Thursday, his office referred the groping accusation to the Albany police department.

Beth Garvey, acting counsel to the governor, said police must be contacted by the accuser, and if not the accuser then the agency, “as a matter of state policy when allegations of physical contact are made.”

“In this case the person is represented by counsel and when counsel confirmed the client did not want to make a report, the state notified the police department and gave them the attorney’s information,” Garvey said in a statement. Her referral was reported earlier by the New York Times.

Following the latest accusation, 59 Democratic state lawmakers called for Cuomo to resign.

“He has lost the confidence of the public and the state legislature, rendering him ineffective in this time of most urgent need,” the 59 lawmakers said of Cuomo in a statement on Thursday.

Should Cuomo refuse to step down, the legislature could consider impeachment proceedings. A majority vote in the Assembly would be needed for the Senate to conduct a trial. Impeachment is a longer and tougher process than resignation that has happened only once in New York history, in 1913.

Cuomo has urged the public and lawmakers to withhold judgment until state Attorney General Letitia James’s office completes an investigation of the harassment allegations. The governor also faces probes of his response to the Covid-19 deaths of nursing-home residents.

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