A New York university’s chancellor and longtime ally of ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced his resignation. James Malatras, the State University of New York’s chief official, said in a Thursday letter to the SUNY Board of Trustees that his last day will be Jan. 14. Only voted in by the board in August last year, Malatras came under fire last week after several of his text messages targeting a Cuomo accuser emerged as part of Attorney General Letitia James’ probe into the former governor’s pattern of sexual harassment. In his resignation letter, Malatras called “recent events” too much of a “distraction” to continue his work as chancellor of the 64-campus system.

Malatras’ texts, sent to other Cuomo allies in 2019, mocked the ex-governor’s first accuser, onetime aide Lindsey Boylan. At the time, Boylan had just spoken out about what she called a challenging work environment in Cuomo’s Executive Chamber. She had yet to come forward with allegations of sexual harassment against the governor. In his texts, Malatras called for releasing Boylan’s “cray emails” and sniped: “Malatras to Boylan: Go fuck yourself.” On Thursday, the chancellor said, “I believe deeply in an individual’s ability to evolve, change and grow, but I also believe deeply in SUNY and would never want to be an impediment to its success.”