It was announced Wednesday that the New York State Judiciary Committee will ramp their impeachment efforts against Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The committee revealed they plan to begin using their subpoena powers as part of their probe into the possible crimes of the New York Democrat.

Democratic Assemblymember Tom Abinanti said they will likely be sent to “a whole wide range of categories of people.”

Assemblymember Charles Lavine, another Democrat who chairs the committee, said the Assembly has also issued a commission to a law firm which it has retained to handle much of the investigation, a technical step which he said “allows our independent counsel to take testimony under oath.”

Lavine said the firm, Davis Polk, has so far gathered more than 100,000 pages of records and is searching for more information to corroborate other evidence, according to reports.

He added that much progress is being made on the investigation, although he did not provide any indication when it would conclude.

“The purpose of this process is to both gather substantive evidence, as well as to assess the credibility and corroborate information learned during interviews.”

The impeachment investigation, which began in March, is looking into multiple allegations against Cuomo of sexual misconduct by several women, as well as claims that the governor illegally used staff to help him write and promote a book about the coronavirus pandemic last year.

Also being investigated are allegations that Cuomo helped family and friends obtain access to coronavirus tests early on in the crisis, when such tests were difficult to get, as well as the alleged hiding of the actual number of coronavirus deaths in nursing homes, and whether he knew of any attempts to suppress or obstruct probes related to these matters, the New York Daily News reported.

Cuomo has denied any wrongdoing and refused calls for him to resign.

In addition to the impeachment probe, State Attorney General Letitia James is looking into several similar issues, according to Politico.

James earlier said she does not “share information” with the Assembly investigators, but on Wednesday said the granting of a commission to the Davis Polk law firm opens up that possibility, “because now they are authorized to subpoena the same information the attorney general’s office is subpoenaing … so I would assume the attorney general’s office would feel more comfortable cooperating with our counsel.”

Author: Val Dohm