New York Assemblyman Ron Kim (D) says that state lawmakers should move forward with the impeachment of Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) despite his resignation, after he withheld data on coronavirus-related deaths in the state’s nursing homes.
In a Thursday interview on Hill.TV’s “Rising,” Kim said that the impeachment should proceed so “we can get to the truth about whether he was motivated to defraud the public to chase down a $5.1 million book deal.”
“That’s what the timeline reflects, and the public deserves the truth,” he said. “It will be a disservice to the taxpayers and the public because we already spent so much time, money and research…to do the work.”
Kim, who represents parts of Queens, added that it should be a criminal fraud to lie about life-and-death data.
“He not only directed the Department of Health to deflate the numbers, but he took the suppressed data, put it in his book and held [it] up at press conferences making it seem like, ‘Woah, New York is not that bad compared to other states’ for months,” he said.
Cuomo on Tuesday announced his resignation after months of denying accusations related to sexual harassing multiple women. During that time, he has also faced continued criticism over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Kim said he hopes to hold Cuomo accountable for his actions.
“Some members wanted to leverage impeachment to get him to resign, but most of us, including me, thought that impeachment was the process to get to accountability,” he said.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.