The leader of New York’s NAACP chapter has offered a vehement defense of the state’s now-former lieutenant governor, who was indicted for alleged campaign finance violations before resigning from his powerful post on the same day.

Brian Benjamin, who up until Tuesday was the second-most powerful elected official in the state of New York, stepped down as lieutenant governor on Tuesday hours after he was indicted for what the New York Times described as allegedly “directing a brazen scheme to funnel illegal donations to his past political campaigns and cover up the criminal activity.”

In layman’s terms, Benjamin was accused of “bribery, honest services wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit those offenses,” according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York.

The charges stem from 2019 when Benjamin was a State Senator and also served as the chair of the Revenue and Budget Subcommittee. Continue Reading