Since New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Tuesday that Gov. Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women, violating both federal and state law, cries for his removal and resignation have erupted from nearly every point on the political spectrum.
On top of the expected criticism from Republicans, Cuomo seems to have lost the confidence of his own party. Both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Joe Biden said it was time for Cuomo to step down. Democratic New York Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie announced that if Cuomo does not resign, the state assembly will begin impeachment proceedings against him.
“Cuomo’s career is over. He’ll have to resign in disgrace or face removal by his own party. Finally, a granny-killing petty tyrant will get his comeuppance, right? Right!?” Republicans feverishly dare to hope.
Don’t hold your breath.
James gave Cuomo, and his Democrat allies, a very convenient way out of the situation. While she maintained that Cuomo’s conduct was “unlawful,” James added that “the matter is civil in nature and does not have any criminal consequences.”
The lack of any charges takes away any sense of urgency and places responsibility for bringing Cuomo to justice solely on Democratic politicians and the media.
Without charges, we can easily predict how this will go. Democrats will do what they did when allegations against Cuomo first emerged — wag their fingers and call Andy a very bad boy. Then, once the news cycle moves on after a couple of days, they’ll drag out the investigation process and quietly sweep the whole thing under the rug.
Remember, investigations into Cuomo’s order to send COVID patients to nursing homes and the revelation that his administration had been knowingly undercounting nursing home deaths have gone nowhere.
The media, sans Chris Cuomo, will give an obligatory round of condemnation of Cuomo’s actions before quickly moving on to something less likely to draw attention to the fact that they shamelessly fawned over him throughout the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Republicans will use the news to launch a thousand Twitter tirades and fundraising emails, but probably little else.
Cuomo’s position seems untenable at the moment, but in reality, he has a pretty good chance of weathering the storm if he sits tight. The political bias from those who are now responsible for keeping him accountable will impede any serious probe into his misconduct. Almost a third of New Yorkers believe that Cuomo should finish his current term in office despite the fact the state attorney general said his actions were unlawful, according to a new Marist poll, and that figure will almost certainly go up as the scandal fades from public memory.
Don’t be surprised if Cuomo survives this scandal. The real question is whether he’ll decline to seek reelection or if we’ll see him back on the ballot in 2022.
Hayden Daniel is the opinion editor at the Daily Caller.