With the resignation of Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin after an indictment on charges including bribery, Capital Tonight hosted two statehouse reporters to share their insights.
The indictment accuses Benjamin of striking a corrupt bargain with a real estate developer, alleging he directed a $50,000 state grant to a nonprofit organization controlled by that real estate developer. In exchange, prosecutors allege Benjamin received tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the developer. Those contributions were directed to both Benjamin's state Senate campaign committee and campaign for New York City comptroller. Benjamin is also accused of allegedly falsifying campaign forms, misleading city regulators and lying on vetting forms he filled out before he was selected as lieutenant governor last year.
Joe Spector, New York editor for Politico, and Spectrum News 1 reporter Nick Reisman discussed the vetting process used by Gov. Kathy Hochul’s team to choose Brian Benjamin.
“That’s where the criticism lies with Hochul. How did you not know these things? A Google search would have found some of the things that ended up being part of the indictment,” Politico’s Spector said.
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On WNYC earlier Wednesday, Gov. Hochul stated she was unaware of Benjamin’s trouble with the federal government.
One of the charges against Benjamin is that he didn’t tell the truth on his application for the position of lieutenant governor.
“[Politico] interviewed him last week and he said he never told Hochul about some of these subpoenas that he’s…gotten,” Spector said.
The immediate problem for Hochul is that there is no easy way to remove Benjamin from the primary election ballot. She told WNYC’s Brian Lehrer, because of that, she is eager to revisit some of the state’s election laws.
“She called them antiquated and said maybe there is some potential for changes here. Certainly, whenever you run into problems like this, you want to make changes,” Nick Reisman said. “It’s unlikely that she’ll be able to implement these within the next six weeks or so, but it’s a good reminder of how arcane New York election law is.”
Spector and Reisman also discussed the state budget.