New York Lt. Guv Resigns: Brian Benjamin In Feds Crosshairs!

Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin resigns amidst a scandal.

Republicans love to embrace gotcha politics. I am reminded that Jan. 6 was one of the worst political attacks in American history.

It appears that the race for New York governor was rattled by the lieutenant gover being arrested. He also resigned as of today. He also acknowledged the mass shooting in New York City.

I put New York governor race in TILT DEMOCRAT.

I lowered it from lean Democrat because of Kathy Hochul being unknown and many New Yorkers still liked Andrew Cuomo despite the allegations.

Hochul also dealing with a mass shooting in New York City. A terrorist opened fire on a subway in Brooklyn bounded for Manhattan. The incident is currently fluid.

Brian Benjamin, the lieutenant governor of New York state is under arrest by the feds for allegations of bribery and campaign finance fraud.

Unsealed by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damien Williams said that Benjamin has been indicted on charges including bribery and related offenses in connection with his alleged participation in a scheme to obtain campaign contributions in exchange for securing a state grant, according to an indictment.

Benjamin was indicted on multiple counts, including bribery and honest services wire fraud conspiracy, bribery, honest services wire fraud and two counts of falsification of records, for an alleged conspiracy that took place while he was a state senator.

A source familiar with the matter says Benjamin turned himself into authorities Tuesday morning.

CNN has reached out to a spokesperson for Benjamin and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's office for comment. 

Kathy Hochul has enough headaches to deal with.

A Benjamin campaign spokesperson previously told CNN, "Neither Lieutenant Governor Benjamin nor his campaign are being accused of any wrongdoing and they are prepared to fully cooperate with authorities. As soon as the campaign discovered that these contributions were improperly sourced, they donated them to the Campaign Finance Board, pursuant to guidance obtained from the CFB."

Benjamin was appointed to his position by Hochul after she took over the state's top job from former Gov. Andrew Cuomo following his resignation last summer. Hochul, who just completed contentious budget negotiations in Albany, will now come under scrutiny over the vetting process that preceded her decision to elevate Benjamin, who finished fourth in the 2021 Democratic primary for New York City comptroller -- a campaign in which prosecutors now say he sought and received illegal contributions. Benjamin is also accused of lying on a background check that followed Hochul's decision to make him her top deputy.

Williams would not comment on what, if any, contact investigators have had with Hochul's office.

"This indictment is about one person: Brian Benjamin," Williams said.

It is unclear whether Benjamin will resign from his post. Like Hochul, he is the party's endorsed candidate in the 2022 primary, and cannot be removed from the ballot.

A senior New York State Democratic Party official told CNN on Tuesday that "it would be best if (the party) found another candidate, if it's at all possible for (Benjamin) to be removed from the line" and that party leadership is planning to "explore all the options on that."

"It's a complicated process. There's not that many ways to do it, but there are some ways to do it. So we're looking at that," the official said. "And if we can, then obviously there's a committee on vacancies and we would take the recommendation of the governor for who we should replace him with, if that's at all possible."

The official also defended Hochul against criticism of her vetting process, referencing prosecutors' allegation that Benjamin had lied on his official background check.

"The US attorney made clear in his indictment today that one of the things was an issue was Brian Benjamin's lack of honesty in the vetting process," the official said. "I don't know how you fault the governor or her vetting team, frankly, for getting misinformation. She does not have access to investigations ongoing in the US attorney's office."

The suspect is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.