On Tuesday, Sept. 29, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson released a statement on the findings of the Standards and Ethics Committee regarding Council Member Andy King, following an investigation launched in February 2020 into alleged conflict of interest violations, disorderly conduct, breaking City, and possibly State laws and running afoul of the Council’s anti-discrimination and harassment policies.

“I agree with the recommendations of the Standard and Ethics Committee. Council Member King should be expelled from office,” Johnson said. “This is not a decision to be made lightly, but Council Member King has given us no alternative. This is the third time this Committee has had to discipline the council member, and yet he continues to show a blatant disregard for the rules and policies put in place to protect staff and the integrity of this body, including undermining the monitor who was imposed to try and correct his egregious behavior.”

Johnson added, “I want to thank the members of the Committee who were tasked with the difficult and important task of overseeing this investigation.”

King has refuted on more than one occasion the allegations brought against him previously, as reported by Norwood News, characterizing them as a “lynching” and an assault on his character.

In October 2019, it was reported that King was temporarily suspended from the City Council amid a 48-page report by the City Council Committee on Standards and Ethics that allegedly found evidence that he had allegedly violated New York City’s anti-harassment policy and had allegedly used Council funds to plan a retreat in the Virgin Islands at the same time as the wedding of his wife’s daughter. King was suspended from his duties in October 2019, returning in December 2019.