NEW YORK — New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin resigned from office on Tuesday, hours after he was arrested and charged with bribery and fraud in a federal corruption probe, bowing to a ballooning scandal after seven months in his post.
Benjamin, a former Democratic state senator from Harlem, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday after he was charged with trading state funds for campaign donations from a real state developer during his time in the Legislature.
“I have accepted Brian Benjamin’s resignation effective immediately,” Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, said in a statement. “While the legal process plays out, it is clear to both of us that he cannot continue to serve as Lieutenant Governor.”
She added in the statement: “New Yorkers deserve absolute confidence in their government, and I will continue working every day to deliver for them.”
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