New York Assembly names outside lawyers to lead Cuomo impeachment investigation

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Denis Slattery, New York Daily News
·3 min read
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ALBANY, N.Y. — State Assembly Democrats have retained attorneys from a high-profile Manhattan-based law firm to lead the chamber’s impeachment investigation into sexual harassment claims against Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, facing accusations that the probe is nothing more than a delay tactic to buy the Democratic governor time, announced Wednesday that Davis Polk & Wardwell will lead the probe.

“Hiring Davis Polk will give the Committee the experience, independence and resources needed to handle this important investigation in a thorough and expeditious manner,” Heastie, a Bronx Democrat, said.

The team includes Greg Andres, a former Brooklyn federal prosecutor who was part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe and helped convict former President Donald Trump's campaign chairman Paul Manafort of tax and bank fraud.

Also assisting the chamber will be Angela Burgess, co-chair of Davis’ white-collar defense and investigations group, and Martine Beamon, a partner in the litigation department who previously served as a federal prosecutor in Manhattan.

Debra Katz, an attorney representing Cuomo accuser Charlotte Bennett, slammed the choice after some on social media noted that Dennis Glazer, the husband of State Supreme Court Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, was a longtime partner at Davis Polk. DiFiore is a Cuomo appointee.

“This is an unacceptable conflict of interest,” Katz said. “The impeachment investigation must operate free of political influence and must be transparent, detailing for the public the steps being taken to protect the integrity of their impeachment investigation.”

A Heastie spokesman pushed back on concerns about Cuomo connections to the chosen firm.

“Yes go with that, Twitter,” spokesman Michael Whyland tweeted. “He hasn’t been with the firm for almost a decade. Good Lord.”

The Speaker stood by the pick later in the day.

“They were vetted externally and internally,” he said. “We didn’t find any conflict.”

Bennett is one of multiple women who have come forward with claims of misconduct against the governor in recent weeks, prompting more than 130 state lawmakers to call on Cuomo to resign, including Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. The governor has repeatedly said he has no intention of stepping down.

Heastie on Monday indicated that the impeachment investigation will be “very broad” and likely go beyond just allegations of sexual harassment leveled against the governor.

Lawmakers and the newly hired outside counsel will also probe the governor’s handling of nursing home deaths during the pandemic and questions about the structural integrity of the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement named for his father.

On Tuesday, leaked audio of a closed-door meeting from last week revealed that some of Heastie’s fellow Dems fear the inquiry is a delay tactic providing Cuomo with cover as he seeks to lower the temperature as he faces a federal COVID nursing home probe and State Attorney General Letitia James oversees a separate independent probe into his conduct.

During the meeting, Heastie reportedly advocated for “due process” and said “people get accused of things,” according to Yahoo News.

“There are some members who want an immediate impeachment,” Heastie told reporters on Monday. “I’d say the overwhelming majority believes in due process and that’s why we’re moving forward with an impeachment investigation.”

Actual impeachment wouldn’t move forward without Heastie allowing it to come to a vote. It would then take a majority vote in the 150-member Assembly to send charges to the Senate.

Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul would become acting governor as the Senate trial, which would include the seven Cuomo-appointed members of the Court of Appeals and all senators except Stewart-Cousins, plays out.

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