The New York City Council has overwhelmingly voted to remove Councilman Andy King from office as a result of sexual harassment against a female staffer, finance violations, and numerous other offenses.
The committee overseeing the investigation voted overwhelmingly for his expulsion due to being considered unreformable.
King attempted to sway the council to vote against his expulsion by reading a letter allegedly written by one of his constituents calling the investigation and expulsion a corrupt process.
But none of his last minute pleas were enough to win the hearts of the council as they voted to remove him.
In fact, they many council members explained their yes vote by apologizing for not voting yes a year ago when they had an opportunity to remove King, a Democrat, along with regrets for having to revisit the issue yet again.
According to some in the council, it wasn’t just a vote for his past actions but also that of his actions since last year’s vote which have come to light in report released to the council.
Unsurprisingly, Bronx Councilman Ruben Diaz was the sole councilman to vote against the removal of King.
King was also accused of retaliation against against the same staffer who accused him of sexual harassment.
The New York Daily News reports:
“He was back in 2019 for retaliation against the same woman as well as retaliation against other aides who had cooperated with ethics probers. The panel’s 48-page report also determined that King misused taxpayer funds for a Virgin Islands jaunt and let his union boss wife use his Council office for her own purposes.
“His Council-approved punishment: tossed off all committees and suspended without pay for a month. He was fined $15,000 and told to take a behavior training course. Further, he was subject to a monitor, a Council staff attorney, for the rest of his term. Didn’t work.
“In its newest and final 68-page report from last week, the Ethics Committee found that King never paid the fine, never took the course and interfered with the monitor when he wasn’t intimidating her. King also forced an aide to take unwanted medical leave while arranging a $2,000 cash kickback from another aide.”
King is the first New York City council member to be removed from office by the council in history.
