NEW YORK — Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin resigned from office Tuesday, hours after he was arrested and charged with five counts of bribery and fraud in a federal corruption probe, bowing to a ballooning scandal and adding a baffling wrinkle into the spring Democratic primary.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has pledged to bring an era of transparency to government since taking office last summer, issued a statement late in the afternoon Tuesday saying that she had accepted Benjamin’s “resignation effective immediately.”
Even though he stepped down, due to complicated election rules and antiquated New York laws, Benjamin will remain on the ballot for the June 28 primary, and that could prove to be a headache for Hochul.
