New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo is set to step down and resign from his position amid a sexual harassment controversy where he is accused of abusing female employees.
In a statement where he announced his resignation, Cuomo continued to deny all allegations against him, saying they were baseless and false. However, he said that as a New Yorker, he did not want to be unhelpful to the federal investigation in any way.
Cuomo Announces Formal Resignation
The governor said he would continue to fight against the "false" controversies, which he believes are politically motivated. Cuomo added that the allegations were untruthful and demonized behavior that was unsustainable for society as a whole.
After denying the allegations since the release of the New York state investigation, Cuomo recently said that he has been "too familiar with people" on several occasions. He also apologized to the women that he "truly offended," CNN reported.
The release of the documents was followed by lawmakers making calls for Cuomo to resign from his position as New York governor. United States President Joe Biden was among them; Biden urged the official to step down.
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When asked about the possibility of Cuomo being able to pardon himself, former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Andrew McCarthy, said there is currently no provision in New York law that would ban Cuomo from doing so. However, he said that it was unlikely for the New York governor to pardon himself.
He argued that the crimes against the official were considered a misdemeanor and not very serious and because he previously denied the allegations furiously. The idea was brought about by previous incidents in the history of the United States where governors pardoned themselves for crimes they were facing.
Denying all Allegations
One example is from 1911 where Tennessee Governor B.W. Hooper sentenced himself to two days in prison in order to "study conditions firsthand." He then pardoned himself the day after. In 1941, Washington Governor Arthur Langlie pardoned himself, although unpurposely, due to a stenographer's mistake in a transcription, which was later amended, Fox News reported.
Despite the report, President Biden said Cuomo did a "hell of a job" on the administration's $550 billion bipartisan infrastructure bill. The legislation was passed by the Senate before the Democratic leader awkwardly praised the New York governor.
During a press conference, Biden was pressed for a response about the issue by Kaitlan Collins. When asked how Cuomo was as a governor, ignoring his personal behavior, the U.S. president said the lawmaker was "OK."
"Given the circumstances, the best way I can help now is if I step aside and let the government get back to governing. Therefore that's what I'll do because I work for you, and doing the right thing, is doing the right thing for you. Because, as we say, 'it's not about me, it's about we,'" Cuomo said in a video statement that lasted for about 21 minutes, Politico reported.
