Brian A. Benjamin, New York’s second in command to Gov. Kathy Hochul, was charged with bribery, fraud and falsification of records while a state senator.
Lt. Gov. Brian A. Benjamin of New York resigned on Tuesday as the state’s second-in-command, hours after federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment accusing him of directing a brazen scheme to funnel illegal donations to his past political campaigns and cover up the criminal activity. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who selected Mr. Benjamin to be her lieutenant governor less than a year ago, announced that he was stepping down “effective immediately.” “While the legal process plays out, it is clear to both of us that he cannot continue to serve as lieutenant governor,” she wrote in a statement. “New Yorkers deserve absolute confidence in their government, and I will continue working every day to deliver for them.” The five-count indictment said that Mr. Benjamin conspired to direct $50,000 in state funds to a Harlem real estate developer’s charity while he was a state senator. In exchange, the developer orchestrated thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions to Mr. Benjamin’s unsuccessful 2021 campaign for New York City comptroller and to his Senate campaign, the indictment said. Mr. Benjamin was also accused of offering to help the developer, Gerald Migdol, obtain a zoning variance if he made a $15,000 donation to a separate fund for State Senate Democrats. The developer was arrested on federal charges in November. “This is a simple story of corruption,” Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said at a news conference before Mr. Benjamin’s resignation. “Taxpayer money for campaign contributions. A quid quo pro. This for that. That’s bribery, plain and simple.” Mr. Benjamin’s resignation will complicate Ms. Hochul’s bid to be elected to her first full term as governor; she was catapulted into office after her predecessor, Andrew M. Cuomo, resigned in disgrace in August. Despite his resignation, Mr. Benjamin is likely to remain on the Democratic primary ballot in June, along with two main challengers. Because Mr. Benjamin was designated as the Democratic Party’s nominee for lieutenant governor, his name could only be removed at this point if he were to move out of the state, die or seek another office. There is no suggestion that Ms. Hochul was party to Mr. Benjamin’s alleged criminal conduct, which prosecutors said occurred when he was a state senator. Still, she took office last year promising to end an era of impropriety in Albany, and selecting Mr. Benjamin,45, was among her first major decisions as governor. The indictment — the result of an investigation by the federal prosecutors, the F.B.I. and the city’s Department of Investigation — accused Mr. Benjamin of subsequently engaging in a “series of lies and deceptions to cover up the scheme,” including falsifying campaign donation forms, misleading New York City authorities and giving false information as part of a background check to become lieutenant governor last year. Earlier in the day, Mr. Benjamin pleaded not guilty at a brief appearance in Federal District Court in Lower Manhattan, and was released on $250,000 bond under terms that would require him to get special permission to travel to Albany. He left the courthouse without comment. The governor, appearing at a news conference in Brooklyn on a mass subway shooting, initially declined to address Mr.
