Dear John,

There are weeks when years happen, this felt like one of them.

The shield of impunity and power that has long surrounded Governor Andrew Cuomo, protecting him from accountability, began to crumble a few weeks ago, and came crashing down this week.

The evidence we continue to learn about Governor Cuomo’s repeated misconduct towards women and abuse of the power of his office make it clear that he should not continue to lead our state.

I first called on the governor to resign on March 1st, [[link removed]] and in the last few days, the majority of our Congressional delegation and the State Senate have joined that call. The State Assembly has opened an impeachment inquiry, and I believe that they should continue [[link removed]] that process.

To be clear, it’s good that the independent investigation is also moving forward, and I have a lot of confidence in Attorney General Letitia James to lead it. But leadership is a privilege, not a right, and it has become very clear that Governor Cuomo cannot continue to lead this state during this critical juncture.

The women who courageously came forward to speak about the harassment and assault they experienced deserve accountability. They, and elected officials including State Senator Alessandra Biaggi, Assembly Members Ron Kim and Yuh-line Niou, and Attorney General James, broke the dam on speaking out about the Cuomo administration’s ongoing abuses of power and cover up of nursing home deaths.

The ongoing bullying, verbal abuse, and toxic work environment fostered under his leadership goes deep, and is a product of political institutions that fail to have good mechanisms for accountability.

New York State needs a new and independent process for addressing harassment claims against the governor or other elected officials, as the Sexual Harassment Working Group [[link removed]] has long demanded. But harassment, toxic culture, weak reporting systems, and compromised investigations aren’t unique to New York State’s elected officials. New York City’s system also needs a serious overhaul.

As the incomparable Rebecca Traister explored in this must-read reporting [[link removed]] , sexual harassment is an abuse of power. And where men (yes it is usually, but not exclusively men) abuse their power over others in interpersonal interactions it is often accompanied by abuses of power in other spheres.

It’s time for that to end.

Brad

P.S. These last few weeks have been busy ones, so it took me a bit to realize that we had not updated you on where I stand on these critical issues. If you want more frequent updates, you can follow me on social media:

Twitter [[link removed]]

Facebook [[link removed]]

Instagram [[link removed]]

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