As the top Democratic leaders in the state Senate call for Gov. Andrew Cuomo's resignation, one Buffalo Democrat on Monday called for patience.
Sen. Sean Ryan, a longtime member of the Assembly elected to the upper chamber of the Legislature last year, said in a statement Monday afternoon he would continue to wait for Attorney General Letitia James's investigation into multiple sexual harassment allegations and inappropriate behavior to be completed.
The statement aligns Ryan with calls from Cuomo himself as well as Democratic women in the state Assembly who in a separate statement said James's office should be given time to conduct the investigation.
“As I have said previously, the multiple allegations of sexual harassment made against the Governor are disturbing and warrant a truly independent investigation, and New Yorkers deserve to know exactly what happened as it relates to nursing home fatalities during the pandemic," Ryan said.
"The Senate Investigations Committee will soon begin hearing sworn testimony regarding nursing homes, and Attorney General Letitia James has begun the process to investigate the allegations made against the Governor. Stepping in front of the Attorney General’s investigation and the work of the Senate Investigations Committee will only prevent all the facts from coming forward. We must let the Attorney General and the Senate Investigations Committee get to work, and I am going to get to work to deliver a good budget for the people of Western New York. We need to get vaccinations in arms, provide funding for our schools to get teachers and students back in the classroom, and continue to rebuild our economy as we push forward to end the pandemic.”
The statement also underscores the well of political strength Cuomo draws from Buffalo, a pillar for Cuomo's statewide base which has re-elected him twice since 2010.
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins on Sunday backed resignation calls as did Deputy Majority Leader Mike Gianaris and Senate Finance Committee Chairwoman Liz Krueger.