Caribbean American New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams has criticized New York Governor Kathy Hochul after she accepted the resignation of her Lieutenant Governor, Caribbean American Brian Benjamin on indictment of bribery and related offenses.
Damian Williams, another Caribbean American, who is the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, had announced on Tuesday that Benjamin, the son of a Guyanese mother and Jamaican father, was charged with bribery, honest services wire fraud and conspiracy to commit those offenses.
The charges were “based on his use of his official authority while a New York state senator to direct a state-funded grant to an organization controlled by a real estate developer (‘CC-1’) in exchange for campaign contributions made and procured by CC-1”.
Benjamin, 45, who resigned shortly after prosecutors unsealed the indictment, pleaded not guilty when he made a short appearance at the Federal District Court in Lower Manhattan. He was released on a US$250,000 bond.
“As Lieutenant Governor, Kathy Hochul denied knowledge or awareness of Andrew Cuomo’s (former New York Governor) wrongdoing,” Williams, the son of Grenadian immigrants said.
“Now, she’s repeating the same posture and strategy with her own Lieutenant. Either she’s consistently shamefully out of the loop, or shamefully enabling through her inaction and either way, it’s clear that, unless we elect leadership outside of the old ways of Albany, these patterns of scandal and corruption will keep repeating,” said Williams, a candidate for Governor of New York in June’s Democratic Primary.
“Throughout our campaign, we’ve highlighted how the Hochul administration represented Albany’s dysfunctional status quo. She claims to have cleaned up the Capitol. But just this week, with historic hand-outs to Buffalo billionaires, donor-driven scandals, and resignation, it’s never felt more familiar, or clearer that we need drastic change.”
Hochul said in a brief statement late Tuesday that she was accepting Benjamin’s resignation “effective immediately.
“While the legal process plays out, it is clear to both of us that he cannot continue to serve as Lieutenant Governor,” said Hochul, who had appointed Benjamin, a former New York State Senator, representing Harlem, last August, as her second-in-command.
“New Yorkers deserve absolute confidence in their government, and I will continue working every day to deliver for them.”
In announcing the charges against Benjamin, Williams, said the former New York Lieutenant Governor is also charged with two counts of falsifying records in connection with the preparation of contribution forms that falsely reported certain contributions made by CC-1 as being made by other individuals.
Benjamin is also charged with making false statements in a questionnaire he submitted while seeking to become Lieutenant Governor.
“As alleged, Brian Benjamin used his power as a New York state senator to secure a state-funded grant in exchange for contributions to his own political campaigns,” Williams said, adding “by doing so, Benjamin abused his power and effectively used state funds to support his political campaigns.
According to the indictment, during the period 2019-21 Benjamin participated in a scheme to obtain campaign contributions in exchange for the use of his official authority and influence as a New York State senator to obtain a US$50,000 state-funded grant for a non-profit organization.
“Benjamin and others acting on his behalf, or at his direction, then engaged in a series of lies and deceptions to cover up his scheme, including falsifying campaign donor forms, misleading city regulators, and providing false information on vetting forms he completed while seeking to be the Lieutenant Governor of New York State,” the indictment alleges.
Benjamin’s attorneys, in a statement late Tuesday said their client is suspending his campaign for lieutenant governor to “focus his energies on explaining in court why his actions were laudable, not criminal”, adding that there was “nothing inappropriate” about the US$50,000 grant.
They also said their client “looks forward to when this case is finished, so he can rededicate himself to public service.”
CMC/
