(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday marked the Senate’s passage of a bipartisan infrastructure plan earlier in the day with a White House speech touting the political win and thanking Republican senators who voted with Democrats for what he said was their “courage” to come together to strike a deal for the American people.
“After years and years of infrastructure week, we’re on the cusp of an infrastructure decade that I truly believe will transform America,” Biden said in triumphant remarks delivered from the White House East Room.
Biden praised the bipartisan negotiators, touching on themes from his candidacy — the idea that this 36-year veteran of the Senate could reinvigorate the bipartisan cooperation of an era gone by.
“I want to thank the group of senators, Democrats and Republicans, for doing what they told me they would do. The death of this legislation was mildly premature as reported. They said they were willing to work in a bipartisan manner. And I want to thank them for keeping their word. That’s just what they did,” Biden said.
The package, with $550 billion in new spending, will address core infrastructure needs. It includes $110 billion in new funds for roads and bridges, $66 billion for rail, $7.5 billion to build out electric vehicle charging stations, $17 billion for ports, $25 billion for airports, $55 billion for clean drinking water, a $65 billion investment in high-speed internet and more.
“This bill shows that we can work together,” he continued. “From the time I announced my candidacy, and bringing the country together, doing things in a bipartisan way, it was characterized as a relic of an earlier age. I never believed that, and still don’t.”
Biden also gave an unusual, specific shout-out to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who voted with 18 other Republicans to pass the bill.
“I want to thank the Republican — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell for supporting this bill,” Biden said. “And special thanks to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Your leadership, Chuck, in the Senate was masterful.”
But the bill is not close to becoming law yet.
Biden’s victory lap is somewhat premature given a weeks or months-long delay in final passage could lie ahead. Biden did note that there was still a lot of work to be done to get the bill on to his desk.
“Look, let’s be clear. The bill is far from down,” Biden continued. “The bill goes to the House of Representatives where I look forward to winning its approval. We have to get to work on the next critical piece of my agenda, my Build Back Better plan,” he said, referring to the need to have the House pass the bipartisan bill, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi continues to insist she receive the $3.5 trillion Democratic budget bill before she will hold a vote on the bipartisan package.
Earlier, at the daily White House briefing, press secretary Jen Psaki was asked about pressure from some moderate House Democrats to hold an immediate vote.
“His message is that he remains committed to passing each of these pieces of legislation, on dual tracks. That he is going to work in lockstep with Speaker Pelosi, just as we have worked in lockstep with [Senate Majority] Leader Schumer, successfully over the last several weeks and months to get this done, and he is confident in the leadership, the strategic approach of Speaker Pelosi and looks forward to being her partner in the weeks ahead,” Psaki told reporters.
Still, Biden took every opportunity to tout this achievement, noting that the infrastructure bill passed the Senate with more bipartisan support than Federal Highway Act of 1956.
“America has often had the greatest prosperity and made the most progress when we invest in America itself. And that’s what this infrastructure bill does,” he added, praising the “overwhelming support” with which it passed. “A vote margin bigger than when the Interstate System passed in the United States Senate in 1956,” he said.
Biden also proudly pointed out that he had kept his promise not to raise taxes on those making less than $400,000 — and would benefit working class families the most.
“We’re going to do all of this by keeping my commitment. We will not raise taxes by one cent on people making less than $400,000 a year. Everyone from union to business leaders, to economists, left, right and center, believe the public investment contained in this bill will generate more jobs, higher productivity, higher growth for our economy over the long-term,” he insisted.
Vice President Kamala Harris spoke before the president, also extolling praise for the deal that moves the country “one step closer to making a once in a generation investment in our nation’s infrastructure,” and Biden, for his commitment to bipartisanship.
“Even when you sign the bill into law, our work will not stop,” she said.
After the Senate passed the $1.1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill by a vote of 69-30, with 19 Republicans joining Democrats, Schumer immediately turned the chamber’s business to the $3.5 trillion “human infrastructure” package which Democrats are hoping to pass via budget reconciliation, a process would not require the Republican support they do not have.
(WASHINGTON) — Twitter has suspended Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s account for the violation of the social media platform’s policy in posting COVID-19 misinformation, again.
The tweet prompting the action falsely claimed that vaccines are “failing” and don’t reduce spread.
Nearly all COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths in recent weeks have been among the unvaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Public health experts continue to warn that vaccines are the most effective way to curb the spread of the coronavirus and the highly contagious delta variant.
The Georgia congresswoman’s tweet is still on the platform, but now stamped with a warning that it “may be misleading.”
A Twitter spokesperson told ABC News that the tweet “was labeled in line with our COVID-19 misleading information policy.”
“The account will be in read-only mode for a week due to repeated violations of the Twitter Rules,” the spokesperson said.
According to Twitter, “read only” mode enables the following:
“If it seems like an otherwise healthy account is in the middle of an abusive episode, we might temporarily make their account read-only, limiting their ability to Tweet, Retweet, or Like content until calmer heads prevail. The person can read their timelines and will only be able to send Direct Messages to their followers,” the website says.
It’s not the first time the platform has taken action against Greene.
Back in June, Greene’s accounted was suspended for 12 hours for COVID-19 misinformation. Monday’s tweet appears to be her fourth strike.
Another violation could get her kicked off the platform for good.
(NEW YORK) — Andrew Cuomo has said he will step down as governor of New York after many called for his resignation and before a potential impeachment trial.
Cuomo began his press conference Tuesday morning by continuing to defend himself against 11 women who’ve accused him of sexual harassment, stating that the report by New York Attorney General Letitia James was “false” and biased.
The disgraced governor admitted that he “truly offended” the women but contended that there have been “generational and cultural shifts” that precluded him from understanding the necessity for “personal boundaries.”
“In my mind, I’ve never crossed the line with anyone,” Cuomo said. “But I didn’t realize the extent to which the line has been redrawn.”
About halfway through his 20-minute speech he said he couldn’t govern effectively given the current situation, which would “generate months of political and legal controversy,” adding that it was no longer in the “best interest” of New Yorkers for him to continue.
Cuomo ended his address by telling New Yorkers that it was the “honor” of his life to serve as governor.
He will step down in 14 days and will be succeeded by Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, the first woman to hold that post in state history.
Here are Cuomo’s full remarks:
Good morning. Let me begin by thanking Rita Glavin for that powerful presentation. I’d like to address several issues today. First, I’ve always told New Yorkers the facts, before my opinion. So let’s start New York tough with the truth. The Attorney General did a report on complaints made against me by certain women for my conduct. The report said I sexually harassed 11 women. That was the headline people heard and saw, and reacted to. The reaction was outrage. It should have been.
However, it was also false. My lawyers, as you just heard from Rita Glavin, have reviewed the report over the past several days and have already raised serious issues and flaws that should concern all New Yorkers. Because when there is a bias or a lack of fairness in the justice system, it is a concern for everyone — not just those immediately affected. The most serious allegations made against me have no credible factual basis in the report.
And there is a difference between alleged improper conduct and concluding sexual harassment. Now, don’t get me wrong, this is not to say that there are not 11 women who I truly offended. There are. And for that I deeply, deeply apologize. I thought a hug and putting my arm around a staff person while taking a picture was friendly. But she found it to be too forward. I kissed a woman on the cheek at a wedding, and I thought I was being nice, but she felt it was too aggressive.
I have slipped and called people honey, sweetheart and darling. I meant it to be endearing. But women found it dated and offensive. I said on national TV, to a doctor wearing PEE and giving me a COVID nasal swab, you make that gown look good. I was joking, obviously, otherwise I wouldn’t have said it on national TV.
But she found it disrespectful. I take full responsibility for my actions. I have been too familiar with people. My sense of humor can be insensitive and off-putting. I do hug and kiss people casually, women and men. I have done it all my life. It is who I’ve been since I can remember. In my mind, I’ve never crossed the line with anyone. But, I didn’t realize the extent to which the line has been redrawn.
There are generational and cultural shifts that I just didn’t fully appreciate. And I should have. No excuses. The report did bring to light a matter that I was not aware of and that I would like to address. A female trooper relayed a concern that she found disturbing, and so do I. Please let me provide some context. The governor’s trooper detail had about 65 troopers on it. But of the 65, only six women and nine black troopers.
I’m very proud of the diversity of my administration. It is more diverse than any administration in history. And I’m very proud of the fact that I have more women in senior positions than any governor before me. The lack of diversity on the state police detail was an ongoing disappointment for me. In many ways, the governor’s detail is the face of state government that people see. When I attend an event, people see the detail that’s with me. I was continuously trying to recruit more to diversify. On one occasion, I met two female troopers who were on duty at an event.
Both seemed competent and impressive and I asked the state police to see if they were interested in joining. I often meet people, men and women, and if they show promise, I refer them to be interviewed. The state police handled the interviewing and the hiring, and one of the two troopers eventually joined the detail. I got to know her over time and she’s a great professional. And I would sometimes banter with her when we were in the car. We spent a lot of time driving around the state.
This female trooper was getting married, and I made some jokes about the negative consequences of married life. I meant it to be humorous. She was offended, and she was right. The trooper also said that in an elevator I touched her back, and when I was walking past her in a doorway, I touched her stomach. Now, I don’t recall doing it, but if she said I did it, I believe her.
At public events, troopers will often hold doors open or guard the doorways. When I walk past them, I often will give them a grip of the arm, a pat on the face, a touch on the stomach, a slap on the back. It’s my way of saying “I see you. I appreciate you, and I thank you.” I’m not comfortable just walking past and ignoring them. Of course, usually they are male troopers. In this case I don’t remember doing it at all.
I didn’t do it consciously with the female trooper. I did not mean any sexual connotation. I did not mean any intimacy by it. I just wasn’t thinking. It was totally thoughtless, in the literal sense of the word. But it was also insensitive. It was embarrassing to her, and it was disrespectful. It was a mistake, plain and simple. I have no other words to explain it. I want to personally apologize to her and her family.
I have the greatest respect for her and for the New York State Police. Now, obviously in a highly political matter like this, there are many agendas, and there are many motivations at play. If anyone thought otherwise, they would be naive, and New Yorkers are not naive. But I want to thank the women who came forward with sincere complaints.
It’s not easy to step forward, but you did an important service, and you taught me, and you taught others an important lesson. Personal boundaries must be expanded and must be protected. I accept full responsibility. Part of being New York tough is being New York smart. New York smart tells us that this situation and moment are not about the facts. It’s not about the truth. It’s not about thoughtful analysis. It’s not about how do we make the system better. This is about politics, and our political system today is too often driven by the extremes, rashness has replaced reasonableness. Loudness has replaced soundness. Twitter has become the public square for policy debate. There is an intelligent discussion to be had on gender-based actions, on generational and cultural behavioral differences, on setting higher standards and finding reasonable resolutions.
But the political environment is too hot, and it is too reactionary for that now, and it is unfortunate. Now, you know me. I’m a New Yorker, born and bred. I am a fighter, and my instinct is to fight through this controversy, because I truly believe it is politically motivated. I believe it is unfair and it is untruthful. And I believe it demonizes behavior that is unsustainable for society. If I could communicate the facts through the frenzy, New Yorkers would understand, I believe that. But when I took oath as governor, then it changed. I became a fighter, but I became a fighter for you, and it is your best interests that I must serve.
This situation, by its current trajectory, will generate months of political and legal controversy. That is what is going to happen. That is how the political wind is blowing. It will consume government. it will cost taxpayers millions of dollars. It will brutalize people. The state assembly yesterday outlined weeks of process that will then lead to months of litigation — time and money that government should spend managing COVID, guarding against the delta variant, reopening up states, fighting gun violence and saving New York City. All that time would be wasted. This is one of the most challenging times for government in a generation. Government really needs to function today. Government needs to perform. It is a matter of life and death, government operations, and wasting energy on distractions is the last thing that state government should be doing.
And I cannot be the cause of that. New York tough means New York loving. And I love New York. And I love you. And everything I have ever done has been motivated by that love, and I would never want to be unhelpful in any way. I think that given the circumstances, the best way I can help now is if I step aside and let government get back to governing. Therefore that’s what I’ll do, because I work for you. And doing the right thing is doing the right thing for you. Because as we say, it’s not about me. It’s about we.
Kathy Hochul, my lieutenant governor, is smart and competent. This transition must be seamless. We have a lot going on. I’m very worried about the delta variant, and so should you be. But she can come up to speed quickly, and my resignation will be effective in 14 days.
To my team and the hundreds of dedicated administration officials, I want to say this: Thank you. Thank you. And be proud. We made New York state the progressive capital of the nation. No other state government accomplished more to help people, and that is what it’s all about. Just think about what we did. We passed marriage equality, creating a new civil right. Legalized love for the LGBTQ community, and we generated a force for change that swept the nation. We passed the SAFE Act years ago, the smartest gun safety law in the United States of America, and it banned the madness of assault weapons. We’ve saved countless lives with that law.
Fifteen-dollar minimum wage, the highest minimum wage in the nation, lifting millions of families’ standard of living, putting more food on the table and clothes on their backs, and we led the nation with in economic justice with that reform. We have managed every emergency mother nature could throw at us — fires, floods, hurricanes, super storms and pandemics. We balanced the state budget, and we got it done on time — more than any other administration — because government should work and perform. Free college tuition for struggling families. Nobody in this state will be denied their college because of their income. We have built new airports, rail, transit, roads all across this state, faster and better than ever before.
And more than any state in the nation, the most effective green economy program in the nation. We did more for Black and Latino families and any other administration. We did more for working families. We did more for our union brothers and sisters. We did more to battle racism and anti-Semitism. Today so much of the politics is just noise — just static. That’s why people begin to doubt. That’s why people tune out. What matters is improving people’s lives, and that’s what you did. You made this state a better state for the generations that follow, and that is undeniable, inarguable, and true.
In in these ugly, crazy times. I’d like to thank the speaker and the leader for their leadership. Let me say this on a personal note. In many ways I see the world through the eyes of my daughters. They are 26 and 26, twins, and 23. I have lived this experience with and through them. I have sat on the couch with them, hearing the ugly accusations for weeks. I have seen the look in their eyes and the expression on their faces, and it hurt. I want my three jewels to know this. My greatest goal is for them to have better future than the generations of women before them. It is still in many ways a man’s world. It always has been.
We have sexism that is institutionalized. My daughters have more talents and natural gifts than I ever had. I want to make sure that society allows them to fly as high as their wings will take them. There should be no assumptions, no stereotypes, no limitations. I want them to know from the bottom of my heart that I never did and I never would intentionally disrespect a woman or treat any woman differently than I would want them treated. And that is the God’s honest truth. Your dad made mistakes, and he apologized, and he learned from it. And that’s what life is all about. And I know the political process is flawed and I understand your cynicism and distrust and disappointment now. But don’t give up, because government is still the best vehicle for making positive social change.
Lastly, I want to remind all New Yorkers of an important lesson and one that I will carry with me for the rest of my life, and that’s what you New Yorkers did in battling COVID. The enemy landed in New York state. COVID launched the attack here. It came on us from Europe, and we had no idea. It was an ambush. And it was up to New Yorkers to fight back. We were on our own, and it was war. Nurses, doctors, essential workers became our frontline heroes.
Hospitals became the battlegrounds. Streets were still and sirens filled the city’s silence. You refused to give up, and you fought back, and you won, going from the highest infection rate in the nation to one of the lowest. No one thought we could do it, but you did it. You lead the nation, and you show the way forward. And how you did it is what’s most important. You did it together. Not as Black New Yorkers or white New Yorkers. Not as LGBTQ New Yorkers or straight New Yorkers or Democrats or Republicans or Upstate or downstate or Jewish, Muslim, Protestant, Catholic New Yorkers, but as one community. One community, one family, the family of New York. You overcame the naysayers and the haters and unified, and you rose and you overcame. You saved lives, and that was powerful in its effect. It was beautiful to see. And it was an honor to lead. Please remember that lesson. Hold it dear and hold it up high for this nation to sees, cause it is New York state at her finest, creating her legacy, fulfilling her destiny, giving life and animation to the lady in the harbor saying, “We can be better! We can reach higher!”
That is our founding premise and our enduring promise. That is the salvation of this nation that it so desperately needs to hear. Thank you for the honor of serving you. It has been the honor of my life. God bless you.
Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Tuesday he would resign following a New York attorney general investigation that found he sexually harassed 11 women, including his own staff members.
All eyes are now on Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, the woman who will succeed Cuomo on Aug. 24.
Hochul, 62, will be New York’s first female governor in the state’s history.
Hochul, who chaired the governor’s “Enough is Enough” campaign to combat sexual assault on college campuses, tweeted a statement following Cuomo’s announcement, stating his decision to step down was “the right thing to do and in the best interest of New Yorkers.”
“As someone who has served at all levels of government and is next in the line of succession, I am prepared to lead as New York State’s 57th Governor,” she said.
Hochul will serve the remainder of Cuomo’s term, which ends next year. She has not indicated if she will run again. New York faced a similar change in power in 2008 when David Paterson assumed the office following Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s resignation over a prostitution scandal.
Hochul, who has been in her position since 2015, has had a long history with New York state politics.
Born in Buffalo, New York, Hochul earned a B.A. degree from Syracuse University in 1980 and a J.D. from Catholic University four years later.
After graduating from law school, she worked for a private Washington D.C. firm before serving as legal counsel and legislative assistant to U.S. Rep. John LaFalce and later U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, according to her official New York state bio.
In 1994, Hochul was elected to the Hamburg Town Board in Erie County, New York, and served until 2007 when she was appointed the Erie County Clerk.
“She served as liaison to the local economic development agency and worked to attract new businesses and create jobs following the loss of the [Western New York] manufacturing base,” her bio said.
During her time in office, Hochul also worked to help displaced women. In 2006, she, her mother and her aunt established the Kathleen Mary House, a transitional home for victims of domestic violence.
In 2011, Hochul was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in a special election for New York’s 26th district. Chris Collins would defeat her in the 2012 election.
During her tenure, she sat on the Armed Services and Homeland Security committees.
Cuomo nominated Hochul to be his lieutenant governor when he successfully ran for his second term in 2014. Cuomo and Hochul won re-election in 2018.
Under the Cuomo administration, Hochul has overseen several state projects and governing groups. She chairs 10 regional economic development councils, which help decide investments for projects in New York and the State Workforce Investment Board.
Cuomo appointed her as co-chair of the Heroin and Opioid Abuse Task Force.
(NEW YORK) — After weeks of wrangling, the Senate on Tuesday passed a $1.1 trillion infrastructure bill with Republican support, in a big win for Democrats and President Joe Biden.
The measure passed by a vote of 69-30, with 19 Republicans joining all Senate Democrats to advance the bill out of the Senate chamber.
In a sign of its political significance, Vice President Kamala Harris presided over the final vote.
Republicans Roy Blunt, Richard Burr, Shelley Moore Capito, Susan Collins, Deb Fischer, Lindsey Graham, Rob Portman, Thom Tillis, Chuck Grassley, Mitt Romney, Dan Sullivan, Mike Crapo, Lisa Murkowski, James Risch, Bill Cassidy, Kevin Cramer, Roger Wicker, John Hoeven and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell joined Democrats in voting yes.
The package, with $550 billion in new spending, will address core infrastructure needs. It includes $110 billion in new funds for roads and bridges, $66 billion for rail, $7.5 billion to build out electric vehicle charging stations, $17 billion for ports, $25 billion for airports, $55 billion for clean drinking water, a $65 billion investment in high-speed internet and more.
Passage represents a major victory for senators from both parties who said they were committed to showing Congress could work in a bipartisan way, as well as for President Joe Biden, who campaigned on a promise to work across the aisle.
Biden’s first reaction to the passage came via Twitter and sent a strong signal to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that he does not want the House to delay a vote.
“Big news, folks: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal has officially passed the Senate. I hope Congress will send it to my desk as soon as possible so we can continue our work of building back better,” Biden tweeted.
The package took months to forge, with bipartisan negotiators Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., and Portman of Ohio, a Republican, leading a group of ten colleagues in discussions that led to the final package.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer praised the package in remarks just before the final vote, saying, “We have persisted and now we have arrived. There were many logs in our path, detours along the way, but the American people will now see the most robust injection of funds into infrastructure in decades.”
“When the Senate is run with an open hand rather than a closed fist senators can accomplish big things,” he added.
The bill now heads to the House, where it faces a precarious path to Biden’s desk.
Pelosi, who leads a razor-thin majority of Democrats in the House, has made clear she has no intention of bringing the bipartisan bill to a vote until the Senate sends over a second, larger budget bill containing the rest of President Biden’s “American Families Plan” priorities.
The debate of the budget will be far different from the bipartisanship in the debate over infrastructure.
Democrats unveiled their $3.5 trillion budget that includes universal pre-K, free 2-year community college, paid family leave, climate initiatives and a smattering of other social priorities, on Monday morning.
With the bipartisan bill off their plate, Senate Democrats are turning their attention immediately to passing the budget bill, and they’re expected to try to force the massive package through the Senate as early as tomorrow, without a single GOP vote. Budget bills are not subject to the regular 60-vote threshold generally necessary to move legislation forward.
Republicans have vowed to fight the budget resolution at every step, including through what is expected to be a marathon of votes this week on partisan amendments designed to score political points and make centrist Democrats squirm.
McConnell conceded Tuesday morning there will be little Republicans can do to stop the budget from advancing if Democrats keep a united front, but he promised a fight on the Senate floor.
“Republicans do not currently have the vote to spare American families this nightmare,” McConnell said of the $3.5 trillion bill. “But we will debate and we will vote and we will stand up and we will be counted and the people of this country will know exactly which senators fought for them.”
Senate action on the budget this week is just the first in a series of steps before the bill comes to a final vote in the Senate and moves to the House, likely in the fall.
Pelosi said only then, after the full budget process is completed, will she bring both the budget bill and the bipartisan infrastructure bill up for a final vote in the House.
(NEW YORK) — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced he will resign from office following accusations of sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct from a number of women, including former staffers and one current staffer.
His resignation will be effective in 14 days, Cuomo said.
After a four-month investigation, New York State Attorney General Letitia James announced in a 168-page report last week that “the governor engaged in conduct constituting sexual harassment under federal and New York State law.”
“Specifically, we find that the Governor sexually harassed a number of current and former New York State employees by, among other things, engaging in unwelcome and nonconsensual touching, as well as making numerous offensive comments of a suggestive and sexual nature that created a hostile work environment for women,” the report said.
In announcing his resignation, Cuomo said his instinct was to fight through the controversy, which he said is politically motivated.
“This is about politics, and our political system today is too often driven by extremes,” Cuomo said.
However, Cuomo said, the situation on its current trajectory would create months of controversy, consume government, and cost taxpayers millions of dollars.
As a result, he said, “the best way I can help now is if I step aside.”
Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul will assume the governor’s seat, becoming the first woman to lead New York state.
Cuomo, the son of legendary former Gov. Mario Cuomo and the heir to his deep political legacy, gained renewed national attention during the pandemic with his daily COVID-19 briefings.
But his image took a hit with the drumbeat of allegations from women surfacing as well as questions about his administration failing to fully disclose the nursing home deaths caused by the virus.
The governor admitted that the state miscategorized the nursing home data but said it was because it had not been verified.
Cuomo, however, has vehemently denied the allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct, including a reported sexual assault. In a March 12 press conference he told reporters, “I did not do what has been alleged,” but defended the right of his accusers to come forward and tell their stories.
At Tuesday’s press conference, employment discrimination attorney Anne Clark, one of the investigators assigned to lead the probe, presented findings from the report, including specific examples of the governor making suggestive comments and engaging in unwanted touching that 11 women found “deeply humiliating and offensive.”
In at least one instance, the investigation determined that the governor sought to retaliate against a woman who leveled accusations against him, identified in a report released by the AG’s office as Lindsey Boylan.
In February, Boylan, a former special adviser to the governor, and Charlotte Bennett, a former health policy adviser, both detailed examples where Cuomo allegedly spoke inappropriately while they were both employed by the governor’s office. Boylan initially made the allegations in a series of tweets in December, and Cuomo denied the accusations.
In an instance involving one of Cuomo’s unnamed executive assistants, the governor was found to have “reached under her blouse and grabbed her breast,” according to the report.
The same woman also recounted a circumstance in which “the governor moved his hand to grab her butt cheek and began to rub it. The rubbing lasted at least five seconds,” the report said.
After allegations were first made against Cuomo, other women began accusing the governor of various forms of inappropriate conduct.
Anna Ruch claimed Cuomo touched her and asked if he could kiss her during a wedding reception in September 2019.
Karen Hinton, a former press aide to Cuomo when he was the secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, told The Washington Post that while later working as a consultant, Cuomo had summoned her to his hotel room.
Hinton said she pulled away from Cuomo, but he pulled her back toward his body, holding her before she backed away and left the room.
Another former staffer, Ana Liss, also came forward on March 6 with allegations of inappropriate comments and touching.
Another woman alleged the governor groped her during a visit to the executive mansion in 2020, the Albany Times Union reported March 10.
Sherry Vill, came forward with allegations that the governor inappropriately touched and kissed her in 2017.
Cuomo met with her during a tour of flood damage near her town in Greece, New York, she said. The governor took her by the hand, pulled her in and kissed her on both cheeks, Vill said.
“That’s what Italians do, kiss both cheeks,” the governor allegedly told Vill.
Vill said at the time she was not pressing charges or filing suit for this incident but was planning to meet with the state attorney general to discuss the matter.
“During times of crisis, the governor has frequently sought to comfort New Yorkers with hugs and kisses,” Cuomo’s attorney, Rita Glavin, said. “As I have said before, the governor has greeted both men and women with hugs, a kiss on the cheek, forehead or hand for the past 40 years.”
After a back and forth on Feb. 28 between the governor’s office and the New York attorney general’s office over who would oversee an investigation into the allegations, Cuomo gave James the approval to look at the case.
James deputized two private lawyers to conduct the investigation.
As the number of allegations grew, elected officials on both sides of the aisle called for Cuomo to step down including New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and state Senate Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
State Assembly Leader Carl Heastie announced on March 11 that he authorized the Assembly Judiciary Committee to begin an impeachment investigation. On Tuesday, in the wake of the attorney general’s report, he said the Democratic majority had lost confidence in the governor.
“After our conference this afternoon to discuss the Attorney General’s report concerning sexual harassment allegations against Governor Cuomo, it is abundantly clear to me that the Governor has lost the confidence of the Assembly Democratic majority and that he can no longer remain in office,” Heastie said in a statement. “Once we receive all relevant documents and evidence from the Attorney General, we will move expeditiously and look to conclude our impeachment investigation as quickly as possible.”
Cuomo initially denied the allegations from the first two victims but acknowledged on March 3 that he “acted in a way that made people feel uncomfortable.”
“It was unintentional, and I truly and deeply apologize for it. I feel awful about it and, frankly, I am embarrassed. And that’s not easy to say,” he said.
After more women came forward, he made similar statements and insisted he was not going to resign during news conferences in March.
Cuomo was elected governor in 2010 after serving as New York’s attorney general for three years. He won re-election in 2014 and 2018 and served the state during many major moments, including Superstorm Sandy.
The governor began his political career working as a campaign manager for his father and also worked under New York City Mayor David Dinkins as the chair of the New York City Homeless Commission.
Cuomo served as the assistant secretary for Community Planning and Development under the Clinton administration and was later appointed as the secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development during former President Bill Clinton’s second term.
He first attempted to run for New York governor in 2002 but dropped out before the Democratic primary. Four years later, he won the election for the state’s attorney general.
(NEW YORK) — Dominion Voting Systems on Tuesday morning filed three $1.6 billion defamation lawsuits against two pro-Trump media networks and an outspoken Trump ally, the latest in a string of suits from the company against those it says pushed false accusations that the company helped rig the 2020 election.
The complaints were filed against Newsmax and One America News Network, as well as against former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne, who is an outspoken supporter of the former president.
Newsmax and OAN “helped create and cultivate an alternate reality where up is down, pigs have wings, and Dominion engaged in a colossal fraud to steal the presidency from Donald Trump by rigging the vote,” Dominion wrote in each of its complaints against the two networks.
Specifically, Dominion alleges that two networks “manufactured, endorsed, repeated, and broadcast a series of verifiably false yet devastating lies about Dominion.” OAN, they allege, was motivated by a “quest for profits and viewers” in competition with leading conservative network Fox News. They say both outlets helped spread these lies by promoting other figures such as Byrne, who they say “pushed lies” in collaboration with “other Trump-connected individuals.
“Byrne continues to stick to his manufactured, inherently improbable, profitable, and demonstrable lies,” the complaint against him says.
The complaints include dozens of statements by the networks and Byrne repeating conspiracy theories about the company, and claiming “evidence” to back them up.
A Newsmax spokesperson said in a statement, “While Newsmax has not reviewed the Dominion filing, in its coverage of the 2020 Presidential elections, Newsmax simply reported on allegations made by well-known public figures, including the President, his advisors and members of Congress — Dominion’s action today is a clear attempt to squelch such reporting and undermine a free press.”
Earlier this year, however, Newsmax retracted some its reporting surrounding the 2020 election as part of a settlement after it was sued by a Dominion employee last year. Referring to allegations that Dominion had schemed to rig the election in favor of President Joe Biden, the network reported that it “subsequently found no evidence that such allegations were true.”
OAN and Byrne did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Dominion’s latest complaints were filed in Delaware by the Denver-based voting company, which became the subject of false far-reaching conspiracy theories fueled largely by right-wing figures close to then-President Donald Trump as part of efforts to overturn the results of the election
Dominion has in recent months filed similar billion-dollar defamation suits against other Trump allies for what the company said was their role in pushing the false allegations, including Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney; Sidney Powell, a member of the Trump’s legal team who was later removed; and Mike Lindell, the Trump-aligned pillow magnate.
All of those parties have denied the allegations against them and have asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuits. Those motions are still pending.
The litigation comes amid a wave of renewed scrutiny of the 2020 election results, as Democrats in Congress have ramped up their investigation into the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6 by Trump supporters who believed the election was tainted by fraud, while Republicans in some states have renewed calls for additional audits of the 2020 returns.
After pushing baseless allegations of election fraud, Byrne was one of the key figures who helped fund a partisan audit of the 2020 election in Arizona’s Maricopa County, ABC News has previously reported.
Byrne, who previously said he’d been funding his own team of “hackers and cybersleuths and other people with odd skills” to search for voter fraud, has so far raised over $1.5 million to support the audit, according to the website created by his new nonprofit organization, The America Project. The former CEO also claims to have donated at least $500,000 of his own money to fund the audit.
(WASHINGTON) — Fresh off one of the most expensive presidential elections in modern American history, wealthy donors from both sides of the aisle are already back pumping big checks into supporting Donald Trump and Joe Biden’s political efforts.
Campaign disclosure reports filed last week showed Team Trump’s aggressive post-White House fundraising efforts raising more than $50 million over the past six months, with more than $100 million on hand heading into the second half of the year. Trump’s post-election fundraising operation has mainly focused on small-dollar online contributions through his newly formed political action committee, Save America, and his presidential campaign committee-turned PAC, Make America Great Again PAC — both of which are limited by federal campaign regulations to contributions of $5,000 per person.
In comparison, Team Biden — which hasn’t been soliciting donations as aggressively or extensively as Trump’s multi-entity fundraising team and instead has mainly been raising money through his presidential campaign committee — reported bringing in $10 million in the first six months of the year, with $4.7 million on hand. Much of Biden’s campaign committee’s fundraising — limited by federal regulations to contributions of $2,800 per person — has also focused on small online donations.
As a result, contributions from wealthy donors who want to show bigger support are coming through outside entities like super PACs, which can solicit an unlimited amount of money from a single donor — unlike a presidential campaign or a regular PAC.
A newly formed pro-Trump super PAC, led by former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, took in more than $3 million in the two months since it started accepting donations, its first financial disclosure report shows.
The super PAC, called Make America Great Again Action (MAGA Action), received donations ranging from $5,000 to $1 million from three dozen donors between May 10 and June 30, after reportedly hosting a fundraising dinner at Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, with a price tag of $250,000 per person.
The $1 million donation came from Nevada-based businessman Don Ahern, who had fundraised for Trump during Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign. Waste management tycoon Anthony Lomangino, who had previously given big checks to Trump’s various fundraising committees during Trump’s presidency, also gave $500,000 to the super PAC.
Former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who was unseated by Democratic challenger Raphael Warnock last November, also wrote a $250,000 check to the super PAC, while MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, who has continued to push false claims of a rigged election, also gave $100,000 to the group.
The MAGA Action committee is reportedly going to serve as the main pro-Trump super PAC in his post-White House era, a role that another super PAC, America First Action, had played during his time in office. America First donated an additional $1.8 million in monetary and in-kind contributions to MAGA Action during the first half of this year, according to its disclosure report.
MAGA Action has already begun supporting pro-Trump political efforts, spending more than $417,000 to support coal industry lobbyist Mike Carey in a GOP special election primary in Ohio’s House race. Carey, who was endorsed by Trump, won the primary last week.
Biden’s big-dollar supporters are already in action as well, writing five-figure and six-figure checks to super PACs that have been supporting his campaign and political efforts, according to disclosures.
Unite the Country, a super PAC formed last year with the main purpose of supporting Biden during the 2020 presidential election, brought in just over $1 million from a handful of big and small donors in the first half of this year.
Major labor unions were among Unite the Country’s biggest donors, with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers PAC contributing $500,000, the Amalgamated Transit Union’s super PAC giving $250,000, and the ironworker union’s PAC contributing $100,000.
Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah also contributed $95,000, while several attorneys made five-figure donations.
The American Bridge 21st Century PAC, another major Democratic super PAC that backed Biden during the 2020 election and is also involved in numerous other pro-Democratic political efforts, reported taking in nearly $9 million already this year. Among the big checks the organization received was $2 million from Lone Pine Capital partner Stephen Mandel and $1 million from Sequoia Capital partner Michael Moritz, disclosure filings show.
Unite the Country and American Bridge have yet to report any 2021 expenditures supporting specific candidates, but they have reported other advertising, fundraising and consulting expenditures.
(NEW YORK) — If impeachment proceedings against embattled New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo were to take place, the process would likely begin in early September, according to a tentative hearing schedule set by state lawmakers.
The New York State Assembly Judiciary Committee said it will hold hearings through the remainder of the month to review evidence against Cuomo, as well as hear expert testimony surrounding sexual harassment and the standards for impeachment.
“These sessions will conclude with the potential for a vote on articles of impeachment if necessary and appropriate,” the committee’s chairman, Charles Lavine, said Monday.
A report released by State Attorney General Letitia James last week found that Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women, including current and former state employees. In at least one instance, the investigation determined that the governor sought to retaliate against a woman who leveled accusations against him.
Cuomo has denied all allegations of sexual misconduct or harassment.
Lavine said Cuomo has until Friday to submit exculpatory evidence which he promised the committee would consider.
“The governor has clearly lost the confidence of the majority members,” Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said Monday, reiterating what he said last week in the wake of the state attorney general’s report being released.
“Our goal is to bring the matter to a close with all haste,” Heastie added.
The impeachment investigation includes the sexual harassment allegations and allegations the governor inappropriately used state resources to write a book, as well as further concerns raised surrounding COVID-19 and nursing homes and accusations that Cuomo provided preferential access to COVID-19 testing to friends and relatives, according to Lavine.
“Just on the nursing home question alone there are a half million pages of documentation,” Lavine said in noting the volume of evidence.
On Aug. 16 and Aug. 23, outside counsel is set to update investigative findings and the Judiciary Committee members will review the evidence in a secure environment. After Aug. 23, public hearings for expert testimony on sexual assault and harassment and on the impeachment process itself are set to take place. The committee will then issue a recommendation on whether the Assembly should approve articles of impeachment.
If the governor resigns beforehand, Lavine conceded “impeachment would be moot” but said there is a procedure to establish a prohibition on Cuomo that prevents him from holding elective office in the state.
Earlier Monday, Lavine called the findings of the state attorney general’s report “deeply disturbing” as he ushered the committee into executive session to discuss next steps in the impeachment investigation.
“We commend the attorney general on her work and her agreement to provide relevant materials to this committee,” Lavine said. “The findings, the content, of the report are deeply disturbing.”
If impeachment proceedings are initiated, it would mark the first impeachment of a New York governor in more than a century.
(WASHINGTON) — Senate Democrats on Monday unveiled details of their $3.5 trillion budget resolution, setting up Congress to begin work on the second portion of President Joe Biden’s major economic objectives.
The legislative language comes just as the Senate is preparing to complete its work on a separate $1.1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill late Monday or early Tuesday morning. Taken together, the bills are designed to comprise the whole of Biden’s American Families Plan priorities.
Unlike the bipartisan infrastructure plan, which focuses on “core” infrastructure needs such as roads bridges and waterways, the budget resolution includes many of Biden’s social programs focusing on family, climate and health care.
Key campaign promises, including universal pre-K, free 2-year community college, and paid family leave are included in the package, as are many of Biden’s climate priorities. The bill, pushed by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also secures investments in public housing, invests in job training, adds new Medicare benefits and extends expansions of the Affordable Care Act.
Democrats are expected to try to force the massive package through the Senate this week without a single GOP vote. Budget bills are not subject to the regular 60-vote threshold generally necessary to move legislation forward.
But any Senate action on the budget this week is just the first in a long series of steps before these objectives make it to Biden’s desk.
After the Senate votes on the budget bill, individual committees must craft legislation in line with the new budget, and that legislation will go before the full chamber for a second vote, likely in the fall.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has also been clear that she’ll need to see the Senate’s final budget product before she brings the House in to vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the budget resolution. House progressives want assurances that the Senate can approve social programs in the budget bill before they lend their support to the slimmed-down bipartisan package.
Republicans have vowed to fight the budget resolution at every step, including through what is expected to be a marathon of votes this week on partisan amendments designed to score political points and make centrist Democrats squirm.
The Democrat-only bill is expected to be funded in part by raising taxes on big corporations and wealthy Americans, something Republicans see as a referendum on the 2017 tax cuts, which many of them view as on one of former President Donald Trump’s most significant legislative achievements.
As well as general opposition to the massive $3.5 trillion price tag, Republicans have also promised a bruising fight over language incorporated into the legislation aimed at implementing significant changes to immigration policy, including providing a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
According to a top-line summary of the budget resolution released Monday, the package will “provide green cards to millions of immigrant workers and families” and “fund smart technology for safe and efficient borders for trade, travel and migration.”
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., has told reporters that his panel, which will write this portion of the final bill, plans to draft legislation that would provide green cards for so-called “Dreamers” — children brought to the U.S. illegally – and for farmworkers.
It is not yet clear whether these immigration policies will be permissible under the strict rules governing what may be in a Senate budget bill, but barring a ruling by the chamber’s parliamentarian that such policies are out of bounds, there isn’t much that Republicans can do to stop passage of the bill if all Democrats are on board.
It will require all 50 Senate Democrats plus the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris to move the budget resolution forward, but it is not yet clear that the caucus will remain united.
Earlier this month, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., announced that she would not support a $3.5 trillion top-line package. She said she’ll allow the process to move forward this week by lending her support to the budget bill for now, but as committees slog through their work, she said she wants to see overall spending reduced.
It is also not clear if all Democrats will agree with the leadership’s budget strategy for keeping the overall price tag of the bill down. Committees are expected to sunset costly programs – like the childcare tax credit – before the bill’s 10-year budget window, even though the programs could be extended in later years, thus growing the ultimate spending on the plan.
Foreshadowing another major partisan fight to come, Democrats also left a hike of the federal debt limit out of their budget blueprint, perhaps to appease moderates in their ranks, many of whom are up for re-election in 2022 and fearful of growing deficit spending in Washington. Republican challengers are all but certain to use a vote to raise the debt limit against them.
A suspension of the federal debt limit expired at the end of July, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that the US could exhaust its borrowing authority in the coming months without swift congressional action.
But Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has repeatedly insisted that Republicans will not vote to increase the debt limit, arguing that Democratic policies, like the massive COVID-19 relief bill and the upcoming budget bill, are driving up the debt, even though an increase in the nation’s debt ceiling is done to accommodate spending and tax cuts that have already occurred, including the effects of the 2017 GOP tax cut.
“They won’t get our help with the debt limit increase that recklessly, that these reckless plans will require. I could not be more clear,” McConnell said of his Democratic colleagues on the Senate floor last week. “They have the ability. They control the White House, they control the House, they control the Senate. They can raise the debt ceiling and if it’s raised, they will do it.”
But the administration challenged that notion in a statement Monday from Yellen, who urged Congress to use “regular order,” rather than the budget bill, to raise the debt ceiling.
“The vast majority of the debt subject to the debt limit was accrued prior to the Administration taking office. This is a shared responsibility, and I urge Congress to come together on a bipartisan basis as it has in the past to protect the full faith and credit of the United States,” Yellen wrote.
Failure to act could prove catastrophic. The last time the parties engaged in a partisan fight over the debt ceiling in 2011 resulted in a historic downgrading of the U.S. credit rating for the first time. World and U.S. markets plunged.
The Senate is expected to leave town for a shortened August recess upon completion of its work on the budget. When they return the second week in September, they’ll have just weeks to forge a path forward on the debt limit, as well as pass a final version of the Democrat-budget bill, this as the government runs out of funding on Oct. 1.
