BUFFALO, N.Y. — U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand was in Cheektowaga on Friday talking about her push for more funding for community schools and low income students and families.
We haven't heard from the Governor since Thursday when he didn't take questions at his event. Meanwhile, Senator Gillibrand is holding firm to what she's said in the past about him.
2 On Your Side asked Senator Gillibrand if she is satisfied with how the governor has handled things this week, specifically not taking questions Thursday and continuing to say he won't resign.
"While I agree that the investigations must be conducted thoroughly, transparently, and fully, but I do think it's very difficult because we are in the middle of a pandemic with two crises, an economic crises and the COVID crises, and my view is that we really need someone who has the support of their governing partners to meet the need of this moment," said Sen. Gillibrand.
The Senator said last week that she thinks the Governor should resign. When we asked her Friday if she thinks the Governor can be an effective leader right now, she referred back to her previous statements.
Meanwhile, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown has not called for the Governor to resign, saying the investigations have to play out.
Friday, 2 On Your Side's Jeff Preval asked Mayor Brown why he hasn't called on the Governor to resign like some of his fellow Democrats already have.
"I respect people's opinions. Sexual harassment is very serious. It should be taken seriously, and it should be looked at very seriously, but I think we have a system of justice where someone has the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. An investigation has been initiated, and I think it's important for that investigation to go forward and the results of that investigation to be what guides what happens here," says Mayor Brown.
Also Friday, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that the investigation by the New York State Attorney General's office is going deeper into the Governor's administration looking beyond the Governor to see if members of his staff handled complaints appropriately, whether members of his administration intimidated people, or even enabled certain behaviors. The Governor's office declined further comment and referred the Wall Street Journal to his comments from Wednesday's press call where he did take questions.
Also, one of the latest developments is that in a New Yorker article, the Governor's first accuser goes into more details about her allegations against the Governor and talks about what it was like to work for him in Albany and what's happened in her life since coming forward by tweeting about this in December.