ALBANY, N.Y. —

New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul spoke Wednesday for the first time since Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced his resignation, promising a smooth transition as she prepares to assume the state's highest office.

In a televised address, the 62-year-old Democrat assured viewers that work of building a new administration had "already begun" with a series of meetings with local and federal legislators. Hochul is slated to officially become the state's 57th governor in just under two weeks, an intermediate period set by Cuomo.

While she described her placement into the role as unexpected, she repeatedly cited her preparedness.

"I'm prepared to take office, as any lieutenant governor is from the very first hour you're sworn in," she said. "The promise I make to all New Yorkers, right here and right now — I will fight like hell for you every single day."

When an investigation into the Cuomo administration was referenced by reporters, Hochul made a point to distance herself from the personal actions and culture alleged in the attorney general's report.

"I think it's fairly clear that the governor and I are not close — physically or otherwise," she said, noting her ties to upstate. "No one will ever describe my administration as a toxic work environment."

Still, she thanked the current governor for his service to the state, noting that his resignation was "appropriate and in the best interests of the state of New York."

Cuomo made the decision to step aside after a state attorney general's report concluded he sexually harassed at least 11 women, including some among state employees. It also listed alleged an instance of threatened retaliation against a former employee who threatened to speak out against the office.

Hochul's plans for the upcoming weeks include meeting with state cabinet officials and forming a solidified plan for her administration that will then be delivered to the public. Among her noted priorities are pandemic safety, a return to the classroom and employment across the state.

The incoming governor has longstanding ties across the state. Raised in Buffalo, she later graduated from Syracuse University in 1980 before entering public service.

Hochul served as the Erie County, New York, deputy court clerk in the early 2000s. She was appointed by then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer to take over as Erie County court clerk after her predecessor left office. Hochul later ran for the seat and won.

Hochul has been a part of several high-profile controversies over the course of her political career. In 2007, she openly opposed Spitzer’s proposal to allow undocumented immigrants to apply for and receive a New York driver’s license. She said at the time that she’d have any undocumented immigrants who applied for a driver’s license arrested.

In 2018, she changed her position and said she supported a similar driver’s license program.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Melissa DeRosa, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's top aide, has resigned from her role, she told the media Sunday night, about a week after a state attorney general report found the governor had sexually harassed 11 women.

DeRosa, who joined Cuomo's administration in 2013, eventually became one of the governor's most trusted confidantes. She wrote in a statement to news organizations that serving the people of New York had been “the greatest honor of my life.”

“Personally, the past two years have been emotionally and mentally trying,” DeRosa wrote in her statement. “I am forever grateful for the opportunity to have worked with such talented and committed colleagues on behalf of our state.”

DeRosa often defended Cuomo when he faced public criticism. In March, she told lawmakers that Cuomo's administration didn’t turn over nursing home death data to legislators last August because of worries the information would be used against them by President Donald Trump’s administration.

DeRosa is chair of the New York State Council on Women and Girls, which Cuomo launched in 2017 to, in part: “make sure that every policy enacted and each program created takes into account the experiences of women and girls and tries to further advance equality in our state.”

As the aftermath of the attorney general's report unfolds, Cuomo, a Democrat, has dug in for the fight of his political life despite the threat of potential criminal investigations and widespread calls for his impeachment.

Scores of Democrats, including President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and some past Cuomo loyalists, have urged him to leave office or face an impeachment battle he probably cannot win.

About two-thirds of state Assembly members have already said they favor an impeachment trial if he refuses to resign. Nearly all 63 members of the state Senate have called for Cuomo to step down or be removed.

“My sense is from what I’m hearing is he’s still looking for ways to fight this and get his side of the story out,” state Democratic party Chairman Jay Jacobs said in an interview with The Associated Press. But Jacobs added: "I just think that he’s going to, at some point, see that the political support is just not anywhere near enough to even make an attempt worthwhile.”

The governor’s lawyers have promised what will likely be a drawn-out fight to stay in office.

“I am not aware of the governor having plans to resign,” Cuomo lawyer Rita Glavin told CNN on Saturday.

Cuomo — who for months said the public would be “shocked” once he shared his side of the story — has not spoken publicly since the release of a 168-page report written by two independent attorneys who were selected by the state attorney general to investigate.

A female executive assistant who accused Cuomo of groping her said Sunday that what the governor did to her was a crime. She was the first woman to file a criminal complaint against Cuomo.

In her first public interview in which she identified herself, Brittany Commisso told “CBS This Morning” and the Albany Times-Union that the governor "needs to be held accountable.”

Commisso has said Cuomo reached under her shirt and fondled her when they were alone in a room at the Executive Mansion last year and on another occasion rubbed her rear end while they posed for a photo.

“He broke the law,” she said in an excerpt of an interview scheduled to be aired in full on Monday.

Cuomo’s attorneys have centered his defense on attacking the credibility and motives of his accusers. Glavin has also blasted the investigation overseen by Attorney General Letitia James for not providing its findings and transcripts to Cuomo lawyers ahead of time, and for not including more material favorable to Cuomo in the report.

“It was shoddy. It was biased. It omits evidence, and it was an ambush,” Glavin said.

Dozens of state lawmakers who were once hesitant to call for Cuomo’s resignation or impeachment told the AP in recent interviews that they were swayed by the heft of the report.

“I think the majority of us feel that the governor is not in a position to lead the state any longer, and that’s not a temporary position,” said Assembly member John McDonald, a Democrat whose district includes Albany.

Cuomo has flat-out denied that he ever touched anyone inappropriately, but he acknowledged hugging and kissing aides and other individuals.

Glavin said it’s clear to Cuomo that people who “worked for him felt that he was invading their space and that it was unwanted.”

“He doesn’t believe it was inappropriate,” Glavin said. “He has seen what these women have said, and he does feel badly about this."

Meanwhile, the state Assembly’s judiciary committee planned to meet Monday to discuss when to conclude its monthslong investigation into whether there are grounds to impeach Cuomo.

The investigation has focused on sexual harassment and misconduct, the administration’s past refusal to release how many nursing home residents died of COVID-19, the use of state resources for Cuomo's $5 million book deal and efforts to prioritize COVID-19 tests for the governor's inner circle in spring 2020, when testing was scarce.

Some lawmakers want an impeachment vote in days, but committee members say the probe could wrap up in a month. State law requires at least 30 days between an Assembly impeachment vote and Senate impeachment trial.

Assembly member Amanda Septimo called for urgency.

“What we need to do the soonest is to get Cuomo out of power because of the way he uses it, like a weapon,” the Bronx Democrat said.

Democrats are increasingly worried about how Cuomo will affect political races in New York and potentially nationally, Septimo said.

“I’m willing to put money on how soon we see Cuomo’s face on an attack mailer somewhere in Ohio,” she said. “I feel like everyone’s calculus is bigger than themselves at this point, besides the governor.”

Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul would take over for Cuomo if a majority of the 150-member Assembly votes to impeach him.

Cuomo championed a sweeping law he signed in 2019 that mandated anti-harassment training, extended the statute of limitations and declared that accusers do not have to prove they were treated differently than other workers. It also lowered New York’s standard for sexual harassment to include unwanted conduct that rises above the level of “petty slights and trivial inconveniences.”

Many lawmakers have criticized the governor for failing to acknowledge that his unwelcome remarks and touching violated his administration’s own definition of sexual harassment, which is based on how a person feels despite the perpetrator’s intent.

Cuomo also faces scrutiny from federal prosecutors over his administration’s handling of COVID-19 nursing home data. And the state ethics commission is looking into the same issues that the Assembly is investigating.

In addition, Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple said Saturday that Cuomo could face misdemeanor charges if investigators substantiate Commisso's complaint. At least five district attorneys have asked for materials from the attorney general’s inquiry to see if any of the allegations could result in criminal charges.

The investigation concluded that Cuomo sexually harassed a state trooper with unwanted touching and suggestive remarks, a previously unknown account. Investigators found that the governor wanted to assign the trooper to his security detail after briefly meeting her, even though she lacked qualifications for the job.

Cuomo plans to address the allegation “very, very soon,” Glavin said.

She defended the governor’s interest as an effort to increase diversity after he found the trooper “impressive” for maintaining eye contact with him in a conversation.

Related video — Athlete warning: Follow the rules at Tokyo Olympics, or else

Olympic runner Shelby Houlihan said she has been banned from the sport for four years following a positive test for anabolic steroids that she attributes to eating a pork burrito.

Houlihan said she was devastated to learn of the suspension from the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), an independent body that combats doping, after she tested positive for nandrolone.

Houlihan said in a post on Instagram Monday that a burrito she ate before the test contained pig organ meat, or offal, which she said can lead to a positive test for nandrolone. A study funded by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) found trace amounts of nandrolone can be found in that kind of meat and warned about the possibility of a false positive.

The ban will prevent the 28-year-old from competing in upcoming U.S. Olympic Trials and the Tokyo Olympic Games. Doping accusations and investigations have led to multiple bans of athletes and even entire countries from competing, including a two-year ban on Russia from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The runner said she received an email from AIU on January 14, 2021, informing her that a drug test she took Dec. 15, 2020, returned positive for nandrolone.

"When I got that email, I had to read it over about 10 times and Google what it was that I had just tested positive for," she said in the post. "I had never even heard of nandrolone."

What is nandrolone?

Nandrolone is a synthetic, anabolic steroid analog of testosterone, according to the National Institutes of Health.

NIH says it can be used for testosterone replacement therapy to increase nitrogen retention and fat-free muscle mass.

Houlihan said after she learned of the positive test, she put together a log of everything she ate the week prior to the test.

"We concluded that the most likely explanation was a burrito purchased and consumed approximately 10 hours before that drug test from an authentic Mexican food truck that serves pig offal near my house in Beaverton, Oregon," she said.

Certain pigs produce the chemical naturally, with pig organ meat, or offal, having the highest levels of nandrolone, she said in her post.

Olympic aspirations dashed

Houlihan said she learned on June 11 that her explanation of the positive test was not accepted by the Court of Arbitration, prompting the four-year ban.

"I feel completely devastated, lost, broken, angry, confused and betrayed by the very sport that I've loved and poured myself into just to see how good I was," the runner said in her post. "I want to be very clear. I have never taken any performance enhancing substances. And that includes that of which I am being accused."

Houlihan said she did everything she could to prove her innocence and return to her beloved sport, including passing a polygraph test and having her hair sampled.

"WADA agreed that test proved that there was no build up of this substance in my body, which there would have been if I were taking it regularly," Houlihan said.

Houlihan's coach Jerry Schumacher called out the organizations that banned the runner in a statement Monday, saying AIU and WADA are treating her "unfairly," and preventing her from competing in the Olympics despite knowing about the issue with pork and nandrolone.

AIU told CNN it "applies the World Anti-Doping Code equally to athletes from all over the world." Houlihan's case "was heard by a three-member panel at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which made its decision after hearing evidence and arguments from the athlete's lawyers and the AIU," a statement from AIU said.

CNN reached out to WADA, and USA Track and Field for comment.

The coach said he knows Houlihan is innocent and "has had her entire career taken away from her for something she didn't do."

As for Houlihan, she said the dream she's had since she was 5 years old has been ripped away.

"Since I started running when I was 5 years old, I've had dreams of running professionally, setting records, winning an Olympic gold medal and being one of the best in the world. I have always blindly believed that I was good enough to achieve those things," she said.

Now that she's been accused of doping, the runner has doubled down on her love of the sport.

"I believe in the sport and pushing your body to the limit just to see where the limit is. I'm not interested in cheating," she said. "I don't do this for the accolades, money, or for people to know my name. I do this because I love it. I have so much fun doing it and it's always the best part of my day."

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An energy company that gave the money in an alleged $60 million bribery scheme in Ohio and a man accused of spending a large chunk of it are now arguing in separate proceedings that their actions were legal.

Neither asserts the money didn’t flow.

Akron-based FirstEnergyCorp. argues that political donations are protected by the First Amendment and a federal criminal complaint failed to provide evidence that money was exchanged for official favors, according to a motion filed by company attorneys seeking dismissal of shareholder lawsuits.

Matt Borges, a former state Republican Party chair and lobbyist, called violations of campaign finance law leveled against him by the state elections chief, based off the federal complaint, “absurd and without merit,” according to a recent affidavit submitted to the Ohio Elections Commission. He doesn’t deny he paid $15,000 in dark money funneled through a private bank account to another person, only the details of their arrangement.

As FirstEnergy and Borges lay out their defenses, campaign finance experts say their tacit acknowledgement is notable.

“We’ve been in a place with money in politics for awhile where the scandal isn’t a paper bag of money in a dark alleyway, but the scandal is what’s legal,” said Ian Vandewalker, senior counsel in the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program.

Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, said her organization is watching the sweeping federal racketeering case in Ohio to see if it clarifies the law around dark money organizations: “It may be legal. We shall see.”

The latest FirstEnergy and Borges filings appear against the backdrop of what federal prosecutors described in July as, not everyday political giving, but an elaborate secret scheme orchestrated by then-Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder to gain the speaker’s chair, elect political allies, pass a $1 billion nuclear bailout law and crush a ballot effort aimed at repealing it.

Householder, who fellow Republicans have demoted but not unseated from the House, also maintains that he is innocent and expects to be vindicated. Federal prosecutors charge that FirstEnergy funneled millions through a network of private businesses, bank accounts and dark money groups controlled by Householder, who, along with four associates including Borges, spent it on candidates, campaigns, influence peddling and personal expenses.

Both Householder and Borges have pleaded not guilty to racketeering charges. Two others charged in the probe have pleaded guilty and a third died by suicide in March.

In his affidavit, Borges said recordings of conversations between him and Tyler Fehrman, who wore a wire for the FBI while working for the repeal effort, were “selectively edited to make those discussions appear as bad as possible.” Fehrman declined comment, referring a reporter to details in the criminal complaint. A preliminary review of Borges’ elections case is scheduled for June 24.

FirstEnergy’s filing said there was no explicit agreement between the company and Householder and his associates “to commit an unlawful act.”

Its attorneys referred to FirstEnergy spending on the effort to pass the nuclear bailout bill, House Bill 6, as not bribes but contributions and to nonprofits implicated in the alleged scheme as not dark money groups but as “social welfare organizations.”

Krumholz said social welfare is often far from these groups’ main mission.

“These are not your average Girls and Boys Clubs,” she said.

She said if the scheme fails to produce convictions, Ohioans will be worse off — but they will have learned something about politics as usual.

“The bottom line is this leaves Ohioans in the dark about how money is used to influence the laws that their representatives pass and that will govern their lives,” she said. “And that’s why it’s called dark money. It leaves us in the dark.”

Vandewalker said, “Of course, the people who are receiving the money know exactly where it’s coming from and what those people want.”

Generation Now, the dark money group also indicted in July alongside Householder and the others, pleaded guilty in February.

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Gillispie reported from Cleveland. AP reporter Andrew Welsh-Huggins contributed to this report.