24 July 2021: Slow Walking Assembly Speaker Heastie Wants To Keep Slow Walking Impeachment Probe

Heastie defends AG but wouldn’t impeach Gov. Cuomo solely off her probe

New York Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie has been accused of slow-walking the Assembly's impeachment probe of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. In comments responding to questions from members of the press on Friday, 23 July 2021, he gave further ammunition to critics of his leadership:

"The federal government is doing an inquiry. No one is rushing them," Heastie said during an unrelated event in Schenectady on Friday morning. "The attorney general has said when she's done, she's done. I would ask that people give the Judiciary Committee the same deference they're giving to the federal government and the attorney general."...

"I'm treating the impeachment inquiry the same way we deal with ethics investigations," he said. "The committee makes their decisions and I await their results. The questions and the discussions are more in the hands of Judiciary Committee."

Heastie's comments on Friday appeared to be geared in part to a narrow audience: Democrats in his own conference who are eager to move forward with a potential impeachment of Cuomo, which would be the first such action in more than a century for a sitting New York governor.

"I don't know why everyone is rushing the Assembly," Heastie said. "I think all three should be given the latitude for areas of responsibility."

Heastie would appear to be purposefully conflating the role of New York's legislature with that of actual state and federal law enforcement agencies. At the same time, Heastie has consistently taken actions to limit the ability of the Assembly to conduct narrowly-focused probes that could be completed much faster, ensuring their deliberations would needlessly drag out.

That situation has benefited Heastie's agenda, in which he and other members of his party have exploited the scandal-weakened Cuomo for political gain.

Heastie made additional news in his comments, which we're following up spearately in their own timeline entry.