Democrat NY Lt. Gov. Who Advocated to Defund Police Criminally Indicted on Multiple Charges Including Bribery

Brian Benjamin, the Democrat New York Lieutenant Governor, is in major hot water as of today. Apparently, he has been criminally indicted on multiple charges.

Benjamin was a pro mandate, anti-police funding activist, calling to defund police while simultaneously asking people to follow vaccine mandates. He was only sworn in when the current Governor, Kathy Hochul, and former Lt. Gov., replaced Andrew Cuomo who had to resign for alleged sex crimes.

It seems the Democrat party without checks and balances in New York is turning into a hot mess. The charges stem from alleged participation in a scheme to obtain campaign contributions in exchange for securing a state grant.

The indictment was unsealed on Tuesday and is sure to send shockwaves through the system. Left-leaning CNN even had to report in part:

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.

CNN reached out and received a comment from the Lt. Gov.’s office:

“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.”

Damian Williams, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York will be holding a news conference soon to give details to the American public and to New Yorkers specifically, although the world will be watching.

We will bring updates to this story and the situation as it develops.

Benjamin clarified his support for defunding police and apparently trying to play both sides and do “damage control” (poorly) in January 2021 by saying:

“I support the movement to defund the police because I believe that there are parts of the NYPD budget that are not essential for public safety.”

I support the movement to defund the police because I believe that there are parts of the NYPD budget that are not essential for public safety. pic.twitter.com/TYcQkxBk1V

— Brian Benjamin (@BrianBenjaminNY) January 18, 2021

Spectrum Local News reported in part:

During his campaign for New York City comptroller, he said if elected he would launch a programmatic audit of the city’s police spending to provide a blueprint for “responsibly defunding NYPD.”

Spectrum News 1 asked him Friday if his stance has since changed given Hochul’s comments. He said the thinks there has been some confusion about his position.