The New York Assembly’s Judiciary Committee will soon issue subpoenas as part of its impeachment investigation into Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a member of the committee said on Wednesday.
The announcement was made by state assemblyman Charles Lavine, a Democrat who chairs the body’s Judiciary Committee, who has been named as the head of the panel conducting the impeachment investigation.
At the end of a meeting in Albany, he said the committee will issue subpoenas to compel documents and sworn statements from witnesses to corroborate existing evidence.
“The purpose of this process is to both gather substantive evidence, as well as to assess the credibility and corroborate information learned during interviews,” Lavine said.
Cuomo is also being probed over allegations that he directed staff to illegally withhold or mispresent information regarding the number of COVID-19 nursing home resident deaths, and whether he directed or had knowledge of executive personnel withholding information regarding safety concerns with bridges in the state.
Assemblyman Tom Abinanti, a Democrat, said the subpoenas will likely be issued to “a whole wide range of categories of people.”
“This is the next step in the process, it’s a normal step. We all expected this was going to happen.”
Cuomo has said the interactions detailed by the women who have come forward with sexual misconduct allegations against him “may have been insensitive or too personal” but denied inappropriately touching anybody or propositioning them. He has apologized for his conduct.
The governor has refused to resign, despite growing calls for him to do so, saying it’s up to voters to decide who governs the state.
Lavine didn’t indicate on Wednesday when he expects the impeachment investigation will end.
Law firm Davis Polk, which was appointed by Speaker Carl Heastie to lead the probe, has collected more than 100,000 pages of records, he said, adding that the firm has reviewed “tens of thousands of pages of documents,” including emails, text messages, photographs, personnel records, training materials, and policies.
A separate probe is taking place under the aegis of the state’s attorney general, Democrat Letitia James. Lawyers Joon Kim and Anne Clark are leading that investigation, which has no defined timeline.
President Joe Biden said in March that Cuomo should resign if an investigation confirms the multiple allegations of sexual misconduct made against him.
Cuomo’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment by The Epoch Times.
