New York Assembly Speaker Defends Suspending Cuomo Impeachment Inquiry, Denies There Was a Deal to Drop It

New York Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie defended the decision to suspend the impeachment inquiry into Andrew Cuomo Friday, denying there was a “deal” to drop it.

The Democratic lawmaker spoke at a press conference Monday as the Assembly Judiciary Committee laid out its plans to impeach the governor. The next day Cuomo announced his resignation.

On Friday Heastie announced that the Assembly would be suspending its impeachment inquiry, saying in a statement the legislature can’t impeach an official who’s no longer in office.

He said the inquiry uncovered evidence connected to sexual harassment allegations, nursing home covid-19 deaths, and the book the governor wrote last year.

Full statement pic.twitter.com/WLJSRThxuI

— Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) August 13, 2021

On Spectrum News’ Capital Tonight, Nick Reisman asked Heastie about the decision and whether findings from the inquiry would be made public.

Heastie said there was “credible evidence that could’ve led to articles of impeachment” as he defended the decision to suspend it.

Reisman brought up the outrage among a number of lawmakers that the inquiry is being suspended, and remarked, “You’ve got Republicans who are suggesting that some sort of deal was reached with the governor to not move forward with the investigation.”

“There was no deal. I’ve said that 150 times, and I’ll make this the 151st time,” Heastie responded.

He called Republicans hypocritical and asked how he could be accused of “protecting the governor” when “this committee uncovered evidence that was troubling on the book and the nursing home.”

You can watch part of the interview above, via Capital Tonight.