The governor’s office, Mr. Mercer said, was “on an island,” and aides prepared three options: a denial, an admission and a condemnation of the photo coupled with a pledge to investigate it. Aides drafted the statement, which Mr. Northam reviewed and approved. But a panic, Mr. Mercer said, had seized the governor’s office. I didn’t think through it.”As hours passed, investigators said, Mr. Northam became more confident that he was not in the photograph. Mr. Northam and his staff, Mr. Mercer said, “underestimated how strong and how quickly” there would be demands for his resignation.

Source: New York Times May 22, 2019 16:01 UTC