New York lawmakers suspend Cuomo impeachment investigation

New York state lawmakers will halt the impeachment investigation against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned this week and will leave office on August 25, state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie announced on Friday afternoon.

In a statement, Heastie said Cuomo's resignation effectively eliminated the central question of the probe -- "whether Governor Cuomo should remain in office" -- and that Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Lavine advised him, with the guidance of counsel, that the state constitution "does not authorize the legislature to impeach and remove an elected official who is no longer in office." The decision is unlikely to sit well with many of Cuomo's critics, in and outside of government, who had called on the assembly to continue its impeachment process even after the three-term governor stepped down. Heastie in his statement addressed some of the reasons why, revealing that the investigation turned up "credible evidence" not only related to sexual harassment allegations against Cuomo, but also "the misuse of state resources in relation to the publication of the governor's memoir as well as improper and misleading disclosure of nursing home data during the COVID-19 pandemic."