9 NY state assembly Democrats accuse Cuomo of obstruction, tell colleagues to put aside ‘loyalty’

Nine Democratic New York State Assembly members signed a letter to their colleagues accusing Gov. Andrew Cuomo of obstruction of justice and asking that lawmakers set aside political loyalty and oppose him.

"We implore you to set aside any concerns of loyalty or disloyalty to this Governor, or that this matter is politicized," said the letter, dated Tuesday. "We must absolutely consider above all the sanctity of the democratic institution that we call the Legislature of the State of New York, and resolutely pursue justice in the face of an executive who we can say without hesitation has engaged in intentional criminal wrongdoing." Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa had reportedly admitted that the administration intentionally kept the nursing home data under wraps out of fear of possible repercussions from the Department of Justice. DeRosa later said that she "was explaining that when we received the DOJ inquiry, we needed to temporarily set aside the Legislature's request to deal with the federal request first."