NEW YORK (WBEN) - Numerous local, state, and even national leaders, including President Biden, have now called on Governor Andrew Cuomo to resign after the New York Attorney General reveal that their investigation shows the governor sexually harassed multiple current and former state employees.
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However, even after Attorney General Letitia James revealed the investigation's findings, Cuomo continued to deny ever harassing women.
"It has been a hard and a painful period for me and my family, especially as others feed ugly stories to the press," Cuomo said in a pre-recorded video message released Tuesday afternoon. "But I cooperated with the review and I can now finally share the truth...The facts are much different than what has been portrayed."
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Cuomo's video did not at all indicate that he intends to resign, and if that's the case, it will be up to the New York State Legislature to pursue the required steps to remove him from office.
"The governor seemed to challenge the facts and the very basis of his report in his response," said Republican State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt. "No real ownership, certainly no contrition, and he does not seem to be resigning.
"The Assembly Democrats should immediately move forward with impeachment proceedings based on this report," Ortt continued. "Our conference stands ready to come back immediately to deal with this."
And it appears Democrats are prepared to do just that. Democratic Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie released the following statement Tuesday afternoon:
"After our conference this afternoon to discuss the Attorney General's report concerning sexual harassment allegations against Governor Cuomo, it is abundantly clear to me that the Governor has lost the confidence of the Assembly Democratic majority and that he can no longer remain in office. Once we receive all relevant documents and evidence from the Attorney General, we will move expeditiously and look to conclude our impeachment investigation as quickly as possible."
State Assemblymember Pat Burke has long been calling on Cuomo to resign, and he hopes the process of impeaching the governor is now expedited following the report.
"That's the process that's been going on, and it's not dissimilar to the process for federal impeachment," said State Assemblymember Pat Burke. "There's an impeachment inquiry right now; there's an active investigation, but I'm certainly urging the Judiciary Committee, which oversees the impeachment inquiry, to move faster at this point."
Assemblymember Charles Lavine, chairman of the Assembly Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement Tuesday:
"We are reviewing the Attorney General's extensive report documenting sexual harassment and misconduct committed by Governor Cuomo. The findings are extraordinarily disturbing. The details provided by the victims are repugnant. The report is being studied by the members of the Judiciary Committee and every member of the Assembly. We are engaged in an intensive analysis of the report and its exhibits with our Assembly counsels and with our independent counsel..."
"This shouldn't be a political issue, and today is not about politics, it's about speaking truth to power," said Erie County Democratic Chairman Jeremy Zellner. "I think you're going to see that over the coming days with the State Legislature."
Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul is next in line if Cuomo were to be removed from office, and while she didn't explicitly call for the governor to resign, she called his behavior unacceptable.
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"I have the utmost confidence in Kathy Hochul," Zellner said of the Western New York native. "She's an attorney; she's served in every level of government; she knows the State of New York front and back, and I think that's part of the reason why she's standing by, waiting for the process to play out...It would really be inappropriate for her to weigh in on a lot of things right now due to the fact that she has been standing by if there were some action taking place."