[ad_1]
Mr. Cuomo, however, is a man who has always operated on his own terms. And for a week after the attorney general’s report dropped, he seemed to believe that he could fight the claims even as his closest aide quit, the highest-ranking Democrats in the country, from President Biden on down, called for his resignation and people he has long relied on for political advice saw no path forward for him.
Still, the governor hunkered down, consulting with lawyers, his brother, his pollster and a shrinking inner circle.
But as it became clearer that the State Assembly intended to seek his impeachment, the situation grew less tenable. Under New York’s rules, if a governor is impeached by the Assembly, he or she must step aside even before a Senate trial has reached a verdict. Mr. Cuomo, accustomed to the trappings of power, would have been loath to sit through a trial as effectively a private citizen, people who know him say.
“Today was all about buying him 14 days to figure out the next phase of his life, as opposed to an impeachment vote which would have triggered his immediate removal from his actual home and the executive chamber,” said State Senator Todd Kaminsky, a Nassau County Democrat.
“He wants to leave on his own terms, and he wants it to be as comfortable and least embarrassing as possible and he bought himself 14 days to do that,” he added. “I don’t think voters feel any differently about the acts, the nauseating conduct, in the attorney general’s report.”
Asked if Mr. Cuomo could run again, Mr. Kaminsky replied, “I absolutely do not think so.”
Just before Mr. Cuomo spoke on Tuesday, his lawyer, Rita Glavin, made a lengthy presentation, criticizing the news media and lacing into the details in the report.
After she laid the groundwork, Mr. Cuomo came to his own defense. The political environment was to blame for his predicament, he claimed.
[ad_2]
Source link
