14 August 2021: Cuomo Claims He Would Have Beaten Impeachment

Cuomo blasted for 'thuggery' as he grants first interview since resignation speech

We're presenting a report based on the New York Magazine's interview with Andrew M. Cuomo because the interview is behind a paywall.

In his first interview since announcing his resignation plans, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he both thought he made the right move and claimed he would likely have survived an impeachment trial.

"I did the right thing for the state," Cuomo told New York Magazine on Friday, three days after he made his resignation speech over a damning sexual harassment report from the state attorney general’s office.

"I’m not gonna drag the state through the mud, through a three-month, four-month impeachment, and then win, and have made the State Legislature and the state government look like a ship of fools, when everything I’ve done all my life was for the exact opposite. I’m not doing that. I feel good."...

He told the magazine Friday he was feeling "philosophical."

"You know, I consider myself a student of history and I see everything through that lens," he added....

Cuomo said he isn’t a "martyr" but insisted he also isn’t "disappearing."

"I have a voice, I have a perspective and that’s not gonna change," he continued. "And the details aren’t really that important to me to tell you the truth. You know? I’m a New Yorker, I’ve lived here, I’ve lived in Queens, I’ve lived in the city, I’ve lived upstate, I’ve lived everywhere, I came to Washington, so that’s … I don’t really care about that. I’ll figure that out. And I think I did the right thing."...

"In my mind, I’ve never crossed the line with anyone," he said Tuesday, adding that his resignation would be effective Aug. 24. "But I didn’t realize the extent to which the line has been redrawn."

Did you catch the "ship of fools" comment? He's telling NY lawmakers exactly what he thinks of them.

The report cites a statement by a former state official with their reaction following NY Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie's announcment the Assembly's impeachment probe would be dropped:

Several people who were interviewed for the story asked to remain anonymous, the magazine claimed, because the interviewees said they felt Cuomo could eventually launch a comeback after his resignation and potentially get revenge against anyone who spoke out against him.

"The arc of his entire career," an anonymous former state official told the magazine, "is one of thuggery."

Here is an archived version of New York Magazine's interview that's not behind a paywall, but which if you're accessing the link at work, you may find your employer's system administrators have blocked access to it because the archive is not based in the U.S.