(CN) — Just days after announcing it would suspend its impeachment inquiry into New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, leadership in the New York Assembly added fuel to the fire Monday by stating that their study of the governor’s conduct will continue.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Charles Lavine, chair of the Assembly Judiciary Committee, said in a joint statement that the committee would review evidence it collected and end its inquiry with a final report.
“[The] committee will take all appropriate steps to ensure that this effort does not interfere with various ongoing investigations by the United States Attorney concerning nursing home data; the attorney general concerning the governor's memoir; and local law enforcement authorities in five jurisdictions — Manhattan, Albany, Westchester, Nassau and Oswego — regarding possible criminal incidents of sexual misconduct,” the statement says.
This comes after the judiciary committee announced on Friday that there was no point to it continuing the investigation of Cuomo beyond his planned resignation date of Aug. 25. Cuomo set the two-week resignation timeline earlier last week after state Attorney General Letitia James released the findings of an independent probe that detailed evidence for nearly a dozen allegations of sexual harassment against him.
By this point, the judiciary committee had been several months into a probe of several controversies darkening the governor's third term. In addition to sexual harassment and retaliation allegations, other scandals that have threatened to bring down Cuomo have included how his administration handled access for Covid-19 testing early in the pandemic, the state's reporting of nursing home and whether the governor used public resources to write a book.
The investigation was nearing its end. Cuomo faced a deadline of Friday, Aug. 13, to respond to the committee's subpoenas, and Assemblyman Lavine said the committee could publicly release its findings later in the month of August.
At a closed-door executive meeting last Monday, before Cuomo announced his resignation, it plotted out a series of public hearings that would have concluded with a vote on whether to introduce articles of impeachment against New York’s 56th governor.
Cuomo announced his resignation the following day, with Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul taking his place Aug. 25.
Heastie, the Assembly speaker, said on Friday lawmakers would end the impeachment investigation because Lavine believed the assembly lacked authority to pursue impeachment against a politician who left office. Lavine, a Democrat representing a district on Long Island, meanwhile canceled the judiciary committee meeting scheduled for Monday.
The move prompted criticism among lawmakers like Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt, who issued an open letter Friday calling on Lavine to publish the results of the investigation.
Writing to the lawmaker in the lower chamber, Ortt, a Republican representing a district in the western part of the state, citing a promise made to New York residents: “You previously described yourself as having the ‘solemn responsibility' of conducting an impeachment investigation into Governor Andrew Cuomo. Unfortunately, that investigation has ended without a transparent conclusion that the residents of New York State deserve.”
In an email this afternoon, a spokesman for Heastie emphasized that the committee never took a report off the table. The spokesman did not answer various questions, including when the report might be released.
The governor’s office did not return a request for comment.
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