Impeachment appears inevitable for embattled NY Governor Andrew Cuomo as the committee which would kick off proceedings says it is nearing the end of its investigation, and 86 lawmakers say they would vote him out – ten more than the majority that’s needed. 

The Assembly Committee has sent a letter to Cuomo asking him to submit ‘evidence’ to plead his case, according to Newsday’s Albany Bureau Chief. 

The committee also told him its investigation is ‘nearing completion’. 

That committee is scheduled to meet on Monday to decide the next step which would be to formally launch impeachment proceedings. 

In that scenario, the first step would be a vote among the 150 members of the NY Assembly and a simple majority of 76 is needed to move it on. 

Eighty-six members have already told The Associated Press that they would vote to impeach him. 

New York Speaker Carl Heastie, who would oversee impeachment proceedings against Cuomo, released this statement on Tuesday saying an investigation was underway and would conclude ‘expeditiously’. Critics say the legislature needs to act fast to remove the Governor, who has ‘lost the confidence’ of his peers 

Carl Heastie, the Assembly Speaker, who would oversee the proceedings, said the investigation would be completed ‘expeditiously’ 

Then, the vote would go to the next stage, the High Court of Impeachment which would be made up of all of the state’s senators and seven judges from the Court of Appeals. 

That process could, however, take months. In the meantime, Democrats are hoping he will resign so they can avoid the prolonged process. 

Kathy Hochul, the Lieutenant Gov., would replace Cuomo if he is impeached or resigns first.

The Assembly includes 106 Democrats, 43 Republicans and one Independent. At least 40 of the 83 Assembly members who say they are ready to start impeachment proceedings are Democrats.

Assembly Democrats, who lead the chamber, debated virtually for hours Tuesday about whether to impeach the governor now, wait to see whether he resigns, or give the Assembly Judiciary Committee time to wrap up its wide-ranging investigation.

The Judiciary Committee is investigating topics from sexual misconduct to the Cuomo administration´s months long obfuscation of the total number of nursing home residents who died from COVID-19. 

Some said the Assembly should vote for impeachment now, while others said the chamber should impeach Cuomo if he doesn’t resign.

Assembly Republican Leader Will Barclay urged Speaker Carl Heastie, a Democrat, to convene an emergency special session to vote to impeach Cuomo. 

Meet the ‘down to earth’ Irish immigrants’ daughter ready to replace Cuomo: Kathy Hochul was once endorsed by the NRA and replaced a male colleague who was busted soliciting sex on Craigslist 

Lieutenant Gov. Kathy Hochul who will replace Cuomo if he resigns or is impeached, which is becoming increasingly likely. The 62-year-old mother-of-two is an Irish immigrants’ granddaughter who started her political career upstate with more Conservative policies than Cuomo’s 

The woman who would replace Andrew Cuomo in the event that he is impeached or stands down, which is becoming increasingly likely, is Lieutenant Kathy Hochul, the granddaughter of Irish immigrants who was handpicked by the embattled governor and has now turned against him.  

Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul, 62, would become the first female governor in New York’s history if she replaces Cuomo. 

Throughout the pandemic, she has taken a quiet backseat to her boss’s very public profile after being cherry-picked by him in 2014.   

She won another political role in 2011 by replacing Rep. Chris Lee, her married male colleague who was caught soliciting women for sex on Craigslist. 

Hochul was only in his seat for a year before being replaced. Previously, she ran upstate as a more conservative candidate and was once endorsed by the NRA. 

In 2007, when she was the Erie County Clerk, she went against the then Governor Elliot Spitzer’s effort to give all undocumented migrants driver’s licenses. 

She was endorsed again in 2012, when running against Chris Collins, but she lost that election.  

Hochul was chosen by Cuomo in 2014, replacing former Lieutenant Gov. Lieutenant-Governor Robert Duff, and was re-elected along with Cuomo in 2018. 

Hochul grew up in upstate New York, the daughter of a steelworker father once so poor his family had to live in a trailer, before he became a successful businessman.

She has served Cuomo loyally but this week, as the Attorney General found him guilty of sexually harassing at least 11 women, she turned on him. 

‘The AG’s investigation has documented repulsive & unlawful behavior by the Governor towards multiple women. I believe these brave women & admire their courage coming forward.

‘No one is above the law. Under the New York Constitution, the Assembly will now determine the next steps. 

‘Because Lieutenant Governors stand next in the line of succession, it would not be appropriate to comment further on the process at this moment,’ she tweeted. 

Hochul was handpicked by Cuomo in 2014 to stand as his running mate. At the time, she’d replaced another male colleague – Chris Lee- who was ousted for soliciting sex from women on Craigslist. The pair were re-elected in 2014 

Hochul – who grew up in upstate New York, the daughter of a steelworker father, has served Cuomo loyally but this week, as the Attorney General found him guilty of sexually harassing at least 11 women, she turned on him.

Hochul’s husband is William J. Hochul Jr, a prosecutor of 23 years whose convictions include those of the Lackwanna Six – six American men who joined al-Qaeda.

Her husband is William J. Hochul Jr, a prosecutor of 23 years whose convictions include those of the Lackwanna Six – six American men who joined al-Qaeda.

In 2011, Hochul replaced Rep. Chris Lee who was caught soliciting women for sex on Craigslist despite being married

He is now a private attorney but was previously the United States attorney for the Western District of New York.

The pair live in Buffalo in a $800,000, three-bedroom apartment, according to public records. 

Their kids are in their early 30s. Katie, or Caitlin, works for PR firm Concepts Inc whose past clients include The Gates Foundation and the Justice Department. 

Her son, William Hochul III, is a DC lawyer. 

Unlike Cuomo – whose father was a governor and who grew up in wealth and New York society – Hochul’s family are Irish immigrants. 

On her public bio, she talks about how her mother and father lived at one time in a trailer on the grounds of the steel plant where her father worked in Buffalo. 

Hochul was endorsed by the NRA in 2007 when she was running as Erie County Clerk but she has since become decidedly anti-gun and is shown above at a 2019 rally against gun violence. In the background is AG Letitia James – who found Cuomo guilty in her report this week 

She describes herself as ‘progressive’ and is keenly pro-choice and pro-LGBTQ rights.  Hochul is well-liked upstate, where Cuomo’s popularity has evaporated. 

‘She is probably one of the most down-to-earth people that you could ever meet.  

‘She’s gone to great heights in government, yet one-to-one, she is so accessible and so warm and just a very generous person. 

‘She’s always able to help — particularly women, too,’ Assembly member Karen McMahon told Politico recently. 

‘She works hard, she listens to people, she cares. In any state, you want for your lieutenant governor somebody who can do the job of governor. It doesn’t always happen, but in Kathy Hochul’s case she has the ability to do the job if it comes to it,’ Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan told The Wall Street Journal. 

The Assembly Committee that is determining whether or not to launch impeachment proceedings against Cuomo will meet on Monday. 

Then, it would require an Assembly vote with a simply majority to kick off an impeachment trial. 

It would then also require the conviction of a High Court of Impeachment, consisting of seven Court of Appeals judges and all of New York’s sitting state senators, to convict him. 

The process may take months and while it plays out, Hochul would be drafted in to replace Cuomo on the day-to-day running of the state. 

Democrats are calling for Cuomo to resign before that happens but he is digging his heels in, insisting he is innocent.