Embattled Lieutenant Gov. Brian Benjamin resigned Tuesday evening just hours after he was indicted by federal prosecutors in Manhattan on a five corruption-related charges that alleged he attempted to trade a state grant for campaign contributions.
“I have accepted Brian Benjamin’s resignation effective immediately. While the legal process plays out, it is clear to both of us that he cannot continue to serve as Lieutenant Governor,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said.
“New Yorkers deserve absolute confidence in their government, and I will continue working every day to deliver for them,” she added.
Hochul — who picked Benjamin as her running mate last year — announced his departure after spending much of the day dodging questions about his arrest Tuesday morning.
However, the Harlem politician’s name will likely remain on the ballot for the primary as the deadline for withdrawing his candidacy passed in February.
“This is the first step,” said state Democratic Party chairman Jay Jacobs.
As for getting Benjamin off the ballot, he said, “We’re taking a look at all the options.”
One of Benjamin’s closest allies, former longtime Harlem congressman Charlie Rangel, declined to comment on his downfall.
“I can’t help you on this one,” he told The Post.
Benjamin’s indictment and resignation may offer Hochul’s Democratic opponents a new opening in their bid to unseat her in the state’s June 28 primary, a contest the governor appeared to have largely sewn up after Attorney General Letitia James ended her campaign in December.
“She needs to stay 350 feet away from him and not go near him,” said a top Democratic consultant shortly before Benjamin quit.
The resignation was the coda to an extraordinary day of political drama — even by the standards of a state political capital seemingly inured to scandal — that began early Tuesday morning when news broke of Benjamin’s arrest.
Prosecutors outlined their case during an afternoon press conference in Lower Manhattan, which alleged that Benjamin used his power as a state Senator to arrange a $50,000 grant for a non-profit controlled by a real estate developer in trade for thousands in campaign contributions.
“Taxpayer money for campaign contributions, a quid pro quo, this for that. That’s bribery, plain and simple,” said US Attorney Damian Williams, the top federal law enforcement official in Manhattan, describing the alleged scheme.
Benjamin’s attorneys claimed that prosecutors had misconstrued Benjamin’s “laudable” actions with the indictment.
“There has never been a federal case like this in America,” they said in a statement issued after he was released on bail. “Brian supported a $50,000 grant to Friends of Public School Harlem. Every dollar was to buy supplies for public school students in Harlem.”
“There was nothing inappropriate about this grant,” they added. “After today’s charges, Brian will resign his duties as Lieutenant Governor and suspend his campaign. He will focus his energies on explaining in court why his actions were laudable—not criminal.”
