As I said earlier today, there are some Democrats that are corrupt, but not the entire party like the GOP. Unfortunately, the bad Democrats that are absolutely corrupt are real doozies.
Lt. Gov. Brian A. Benjamin of New York resigned on Tuesday, hours after federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment implicating him in a brazen scheme to enrich his political campaigns with illegal donations.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, who selected Mr. Benjamin to be her lieutenant governor less than a year ago, announced that he was stepping down immediately “while the legal process plays out.”
“It is clear to both of us that he cannot continue to serve as lieutenant governor,” she wrote in a statement Tuesday evening.
The five-count indictment charging Mr. Benjamin said that while he was a state senator, he had conspired to direct $50,000 in state funds to a Harlem real estate developer’s charity. In exchange, the developer gathered thousands of dollars in illegal contributions to Mr. Benjamin’s 2020 Senate campaign and his unsuccessful 2021 bid for New York City comptroller, the indictment said.
Mr. Benjamin, who pleaded not guilty on Tuesday, was also accused of offering to help the developer, Gerald Migdol, obtain a zoning variance if he made a $15,000 donation to a separate fund for State Senate Democrats. The developer was arrested on federal charges in November and pleaded not guilty at the time.
“This is a simple story of corruption,” Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said at a news conference before Mr. Benjamin’s resignation. “Taxpayer money for campaign contributions. A quid pro quo. This for that. That’s bribery, plain and simple.”
The resignation of Mr. Benjamin could prove to be a serious political liability for Ms. Hochul, who took office last year after Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo resigned in disgrace. Although she was not implicated in any of the allegations against Mr. Benjamin, the indictment of her handpicked No. 2 threatened to undercut Ms. Hochul’s vow to turn the page on an era of scandal in Albany.
The indictment — the result of an investigation by federal prosecutors, the F.B.I. and New York City’s Department of Investigation — accuses Mr. Benjamin of engaging in a “series of lies and deceptions to cover up the scheme,” including falsifying campaign donation forms, misleading city authorities and giving false information as part of a background check to become lieutenant governor last year.
Mr. Benjamin entered his not guilty plea at a brief appearance in Federal District Court in Lower Manhattan, and was released on a $250,000 bond under terms that require him to get special permission to travel to Albany. He left the courthouse without comment.
Ms. Hochul can select a new lieutenant governor in the coming weeks, but it will be far more difficult to replace Mr. Benjamin on the Democratic primary ballot in June. Because he was designated as the Democratic Party’s nominee for lieutenant governor, election rules stipulate that his name can only be removed at this point if he were to move out of the state, die or seek another office.
Mr. Benjamin said last week that he had been cooperating with investigators, after news outlets, including The New York Times, reported details of the investigation. Accompanied by his lawyers, he met with prosecutors last week, according to a person who was briefed on the meeting and not authorized to discuss it, and his top aides were privately reassuring allies that he expected to be cleared of any wrongdoing.
So there's a really good chance that Benjamin's bribery scandal leaves him on the ticket, something Republicans are going to have a field day with in November, and it might very well put a racist asshole like Rep.Lee Zeldin in the Governor's Mansion come 2023.
Dems, do better. Please. The country can't afford more Republicans.
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