{"id":1434128,"date":"2022-04-12T19:59:37","date_gmt":"2022-04-12T23:59:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1434128"},"modified":"2022-04-12T19:59:41","modified_gmt":"2022-04-12T23:59:41","slug":"democrat-new-york-lt-gov-brian-benjamin-resigns-after-arrest-on-bribery-conspiracy-indictment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrat-new-york-lt-gov-brian-benjamin-resigns-after-arrest-on-bribery-conspiracy-indictment\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrat New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin Resigns After Arrest on Bribery Conspiracy Indictment\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdemocrat-new-york-lt-gov-brian-benjamin-resigns-after-arrest-on-bribery-conspiracy-indictment%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1434128&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Election-2022-New-York-640x335-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">Democrat New York Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin resigned from office hours after his arrest on Tuesday on a federal bribery conspiracy indictment, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) announced.<\/p>\n<p>Hochul, who selected Benjamin to serve as her Lt. Gov. less than a year ago, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/04\/12\/nyregion\/brian-benjamin-resigns-indicted.html\">said<\/a>:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<blockquote>\n<p>I have accepted Brian Benjamin\u2019s 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. New Yorkers deserve absolute confidence in their government, and I will continue working every day to deliver for them.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Benjamin\u2019s resignation came hours after he surrendered to federal authorities and was arrested and charged with one count of federal bribery, one count of wire fraud, one county of conspiracy to commit those crimes, and two counts of falsifying records.<\/p>\n<p>As the Associated Press\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/news\/ny-lt-gov-benjamin-arrested-in-campaign-donation-scheme\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Benjamin was accused of participating in a scheme to obtain campaign contributions from a real estate developer in exchange for Benjamin\u2019s agreement to use his influence as a state senator to get a $50,000 grant of state funds for a nonprofit organization the developer controlled.<\/p>\n[\u2026]\n<p>The indictment said Benjamin and others acting at his direction or on his behalf also engaged in a series of lies and deceptions to cover up the scheme.<\/p>\n<p>They falsified campaign donor forms, misled municipal regulators and provided false information in vetting forms Benjamin submitted while he was being considered to be appointed as lieutenant governor, the indictment said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>United States Attorney Damian Williams called Benjamin\u2019s actions \u201ca quid pro quo.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThis is a simple story of corruption. Taxpayer money for campaign contributions. A quid quo pro. This for that. That\u2019s bribery, plain and simple,\u201d Williams said during a press conference shortly before Benjamin\u2019s resignation.<\/p>\n<p>Williams also said Benjamin \u201cabused his power\u201d in a written statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs alleged, Brian Benjamin used his power as a New York state senator to secure a state-funded grant in exchange for contributions to his own political campaigns,\u201d Williams\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/news\/state-watch\/3265896-ny-lieutenant-governor-resigns-following-arrest\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a>. \u201cBy doing so, Benjamin abused his power and effectively used state funds to support his political campaigns.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hochul, who became New York\u2019s governor after former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) resigned amid a sexual harassment scandal, is running for a full term as governor this year with Benjamin as her running mate.<\/p>\n<p>Although Benjamin resigned, his name will likely still appear on the Democrat primary ballot this June. \u201cBecause Mr. Benjamin was designated as the Democratic Party\u2019s 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,\u201d the<em> New York Times<\/em>\u00a0<a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/04\/12\/nyregion\/brian-benjamin-resigns-indicted.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democrat New York Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin resigned from office hours after his arrest on Tuesday on a federal bribery conspiracy indictment, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) announced. Hochul, who selected<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1434128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1434128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1434128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1434128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1434128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1434128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1434128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}