New York lieutenant governor Brian Benjamin resigned on Tuesday after he was arrested and charged with bribery and other offenses. The charges stemmed from a scheme in which Benjamin is alleged to have funneled state funds to a Harlem real-estate developer in exchange for illegal campaign contributions.
“I have accepted Brian Benjamin’s resignation effective immediately,” Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement to the media on Tuesday evening. “While the legal process plays out, it is clear to both of us that he cannot continue to serve as Lieutenant Governor.”
Hochul added, “New Yorkers deserve absolute confidence in their government, and I will continue working every day to deliver for them.”
Benjamin was charged for alleged offenses dating from his time as a New York state senator, before Governor Kathy Hochul appointed him to his current position in August 2021. Benjamin surrendered to authorities on Tuesday morning and later pleaded not guilty in federal court, according to CBS News.
Benjamin “participated in a scheme to obtain campaign contributions from a real estate developer (“CC-1″) in exchange for Benjamin’s agreement to use, and his actual use of, his official authority and influence as a New York state senator to obtain a $50,000 grant of state funds . . . for a non-profit organization controlled by CC-1,” according to a federal indictment revealed on Tuesday morning.
The indictment adds that Benjamin and “others acting at his direction or on his behalf, also engaged in a series of lies and deceptions to cover up his scheme,” such as “falsifying campaign donor forms” and “falsifying information in vetting forms” he completed during the lieutenant governor selection process.
The illegal contributions were allegedly directed to Benjamin during his unsuccessful campaign for New York City comptroller, according to the indictment. The developer was previously indicted in November 2021 in connection with the case.
Benjamin represented Harlem in the state senate beginning in 2017, until Hochul appointed him lieutenant governor. Benjamin backed New York’s bail-reform legislation that eliminated cash bail for misdemeanors and “non-violent” felonies, and also expressed support for the “defund the police” movement during his campaign for city comptroller.
Hochul was herself formerly lieutenant governor to Andrew Cuomo, who resigned in August 2021 after New York attorney general Letitia James published a report alleging that Cuomo sexually harassed eleven women.