Tag politics

Soares noted that the decision to discontinue criminal prosecution is unrelated “to any possible civil liability.”

The allegations from Brittany Commisso were among the 11 detailed in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ report on allegations of sexual misconduct that led to Cuomo’s resignation in August.

Commisso, a former assistant to Cuomo, told investigators for the attorney general’s office that Cuomo had grabbed her buttocks during hugs and, during an event at the executive mansion, reached under her blouse and grabbed her breast.

Brian Premo, an attorney for Commisso, told CNN on Tuesday, “I can confirm only that in this case my client had no control over the filing or prosecution of criminal charges. She had no authority or voice in those decisions.”

“The only thing she has any power over is her resolution to continue to speak the truth and seek justice in an appropriate civil action, which she will do in due course,” Premo said.

Cuomo has denied the allegation. CNN has reached out to his attorney, Rita Glavin, for comment. CNN also reached out to Cuomo representative Rich Azzopardi.

The Albany Times Union first reported the story.

Soares said in a November letter that filings in the misdemeanor forcible touching case against Cuomo are “potentially defective” and asked to delay the former governor’s arraignment on a charge filed by the Albany County sheriff. Soares noted that the filing was “unilaterally and inexplicably filed” by Albany Sheriff Craig Apple’s office and failed to include a sworn statement by the victim.

Separately, Cuomo attorney Elkan Abramowitz told CNN that the Manhattan district attorney’s office closed an investigation into whether there was criminal liability from nursing home leadership or state officials for Covid-19 deaths in nursing homes.

“I was contacted today (Monday) by the head of the Elder Care Unit from the Manhattan district attorney’s office who informed me they have closed its investigation involving the Executive Chamber and nursing homes,” Abramowitz said.

Abramowitz was outside counsel to Cuomo’s office when the former governor was in office. “I was told that after a thorough investigation — as we have said all along — there was no evidence to suggest that any laws were broken.”

CNN has reached out to the Manhattan district attorney’s office and Gov. Kathy Hochul’s executive chamber for comment. This investigation was not previously disclosed to the public.

A March 25, 2020, order by the state’s Department of Health while Cuomo was governor mandated that nursing homes must not deny readmission or admission to people “solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19.” Cuomo announced a new policy on May 10, 2020, saying a hospital cannot discharge a person who is Covid positive to a nursing home.

A separate, federal investigation into how the Cuomo administration handled Covid-19 nursing home death data is ongoing. CNN has reached out to a spokesman for the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York for comment.

The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal reported in 2021 that Cuomo’s former senior aides were involved in rewriting a 2020 nursing home report from state health officials to lower the coronavirus death toll in nursing homes, citing documents and interviews with people with knowledge of the discussions.

The original report listed the number of nursing home deaths at nearly 10,000, according to the Journal. A 2021 investigation by James’ office revealed that the state was not counting the nursing home deaths of people who had been transferred to hospitals as their conditions worsened and had died there.

(WFSB) – A nightmare commute for drivers in Virginia was brightened by a couple from Connecticut.

Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia said he was stuck in traffic for 19 hours on his way to Washington DC.

He and a number of other people were the victims of a severe winter storm. The Virginia Department of Transportation said the storm created snowy and icy conditions.

Kaine said his drive usually takes him about 2 hours. He started it around 1 p.m. on Monday.

He wasn’t alone in being trapped.

Drivers were stuck on portions of a 50 mile stretch of Interstate 95 in the Fredricksburg, VA area, between Richmond and Washington DC.

“I started my normal 2 hour drive to DC at 1 p.m. [Monday],” Kaine posted to Twitter. “Nineteen hours later, I’m still not near the Capitol.”

At some point during the wait, the senator said a Connecticut family that was returning from Florida found him and the others.

A CT family returning in a packed car from Florida walked by in the middle of the night handing out oranges as we were stopped for hours on I-95. Bless them! pic.twitter.com/MrmZ1ZF6JJ

— Tim Kaine (@timkaine) January 4, 2022

“A CT family returning in a packed car from Florida walked by in the middle of the night handing out oranges as we were stopped for hours on I-95,” Kaine said. “Bless them!”

It’s unclear who the family was.

However, in addition to getting recognition from Kaine, Gov. Ned Lamont also took notice.

“Connecticut values extend well beyond our state’s boundaries,” Lamont responded on Twitter. “This family’s generosity meant much more than just a snack. It was a friendly reminder that we’re all in this together.”

Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

Implementation of the roughly $1 trillion law is a top priority of the White House ahead of this year’s midterm elections. The President and Democrats in Congress are hoping Americans see tangible benefits from the massive new spending bill ahead of the elections.

The legislation, which was signed into law by the President in November, will deliver $550 billion of new federal investments in America’s infrastructure over five years, including money for roads, bridges, mass transit, rail, airports, ports and waterways.

The package includes a $65 billion investment in improving the nation’s broadband infrastructure and invests tens of billions of dollars in improving the electric grid and water systems. Another $7.5 billion would go to building a nationwide network of plug-in electric vehicle chargers.

“The President has been clear in his charge to me: make sure these programs get implemented without unnecessary bureaucracy and delay to rebuild America’s infrastructure — while at the same time being good stewards of taxpayer dollars and working to achieve goals around creating good middle-class jobs, supporting disadvantaged and underserved communities, advancing climate resilience and sustainability, and investing in American manufacturers,” the letter reads.

Landrieu also told governors that this month his team, in coordination with the Office of Management and Budget, will be releasing formal guidance to agencies to “help set the policy parameters for much of the discretionary and remaining formula funding in 2022 and beyond.” They are also preparing a guidebook for state and local governments that will include key dates related to programs coming this year.

The bipartisan infrastructure law is the first part of Biden’s two-part economic agenda. Biden is also looking to get an even larger spending package to expand the social safety net and fight the climate crisis passed through Congress but is facing major hurdles.

West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, a key swing vote, dealt his party a major blow when he announced in late December that he was a “no” on the Build Back Better Act. But the President has said that he still thinks “there’s a possibility of getting Build Back Better done” and has insisted that he and Manchin will “get something” finished. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said that Democrats “will not let this opportunity pass.”

The Trumps’ lawyers requested a hearing to argue their position.

The subpoenas for Trump’s children were made public Monday in a court filing where the judge set a briefing schedule to handle the dispute. CNN reported last month that Trump himself had been subpoenaed for testimony. James’ office will have two weeks to respond to the motion to quash the subpoenas and then the Trump lawyers will have time to reply, meaning a decision over the subpoenas is not expected for at least a month.

Eric Trump, an executive vice president at the company, was previously subpoenaed and provided his testimony in late 2020. Since then, James joined the criminal investigation, which covers the same topics as the civil investigation and is looking into the accuracy of financial statements the Trump Organization used when seeking financing.

The Trump filing Monday included more than two dozen exhibits, including tweets and transcripts of James’ public statements, to support their assertion that she has a dual role.

The Trumps have asked the judge to quash the subpoenas, which they made public, or put them on hold until the criminal investigation is complete. The subpoenas are seeking multiple forms of communication and financial statements prepared by the Trumps’ accountants dating back to 2010.

The subpoenas also seek records relating to the Trump hotel in Chicago and conservation easements, or tax benefits, taken on properties including the family’s Seven Springs estate in New York. Additionally, the subpoenas seek all communications with Forbes magazine, which wrote articles about Trump’s wealth, and records relating to its insurance coverage and renewal of the plans.

The Trumps’ pushback marks a new showdown in the ongoing investigations into the Trump Organization and its finances. Trump attorneys have fought subpoenas for documents and testimony in the civil and criminal investigations, going to the US Supreme Court twice over a grand jury subpoena to its longtime accounting firm.

Authorities have prevailed in their subpoena fights, at least in the litigation that has been public, but the disputes have caused delays.

Monday night, James’ office issued a statement in response to the motion saying that “despite their names, they must play by the same rules as everyone else. These delay tactics will not stop us from following the facts or the law, which is why we will be asking the court to compel Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump to testify with our office under oath. Our investigation will continue undeterred.”

The civil subpoenas come as prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office have interviewed additional witnesses in recent weeks and brought others before the grand jury.

An attorney for Trump earlier Monday reiterated his claims that the investigation is politically motivated.

“Letitia James is the single most unethical Attorney General this country has ever seen,” said Alina Habba, an attorney representing Trump. “The way she has weaponized her office through this political witch hunt exceeds all bounds of prosecutorial standards and violates basic constitutional rights. Her actions are a threat to our democracy and I plan to hold her accountable to the fullest extent.”

This story has been updated with additional developments Monday.

Klyushin’s case is just the latest high-stakes US pursuit of a Russian national with potentially illuminating connections to Russian hacking activity targeting US interests.

Christopher Krebs, former head of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, called Klyushin’s arrest and prosecution a potential “gold mine” for US intelligence because it could shed additional light on GRU operations against the US and its allies. “This is a big get for a few reasons: If he flips, he may be able to confirm the intelligence community’s findings about Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 election,” Krebs told CNN.

Even if Klyushin doesn’t cooperate, Krebs said, a conviction on the charges of securities fraud could send “a strong signal to others like him that they don’t have a whole lot of freedom of movement outside Russia.”

Oliver Ciric, a Switzerland-based lawyer for Klyushin, told CNN in an email that his client denies the US securities fraud allegations and other US charges and “intends to use all available legal remedies in order to ensure his defense.”

The US Office of the Director of National Intelligence did not immediately respond to Ciric’s statement. The UK Foreign Office declined to comment to CNN.

From the Alps to a Massachusetts jail

Klyushin was arrested in Switzerland in March 2021 while on a ski vacation with this family, according to Ciric. Klyushin was extradited to the US last month, where he now faces hacking and securities fraud charges for his alleged role in the multimillion-dollar scheme between 2018 and 2020.

US prosecutors accuse Klyushin, Ermakov and their co-conspirators of using access to the non-public financial records to make tens of millions of dollars on stock trades.

Ermakov worked at Klyushin’s firm, M-13, which claims to offer “IT solutions to the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation,” among other government agencies, according to its website.

Klyushin wrote to Ermakov, whom the Justice Department describes as a now-former GRU officer, in May 2019 describing the nearly $1 million in profits the scheme had netted for one account over the previous seven months, according to the US indictment.

Ermakov could not be reached for comment. M-13 did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.

Ciric previously told CNN that the US indictment and extradition were “disingenuous” and alleged that “the real reason” for Klyushin’s arrest and extradition “is in connection with the nature of his work for and contacts within the Russian government.”

Kellen Dwyer, a former US deputy assistant attorney general, said Klyushin looked like a natural target for US investigators.

“Russia fights extradition of high-level cybercriminals for a number of reasons, including the fact that they don’t want the US to have access to people who can help them better understand the relationship between Russian intelligence and cybercriminals,” Dwyer, now a partner focusing on cybersecurity at Alston & Bird law firm, told CNN. He said he had no knowledge of any non-public information on Klyushin’s case.

Holden Triplett, a former senior FBI official based in Russia, said that the US arrest of Klyushin could compromise any Russian intelligence activity of which Klyushin or his firm had knowledge.

“When someone like this has been arrested, any operation that they would have knowledge of immediately becomes suspect from a counterintelligence perspective,” Triplett told CNN. “Anything that they’ve touched is now under the microscope.”

“We’re not smarter than anybody, any others. It’s just part of the DNA of the state,” Gardner told NPR in 2016. “It’s part of our political heritage, our culture.”

Stephen Stepanek, chair of the New Hampshire Republican Party, said Gardner “made an indescribable and long-lasting impact on the State of New Hampshire and our country as a whole.”

“His steadfast commitment to putting his state first and partisanship last is admirable,” said Stepanek.

Ray Buckley, chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, said Gardner has “played an important and historic role with not only NH’s Elections but the nation’s.”

“Bill Gardner’s 44 year diligence in preserving the state’s status as the First in the Nation Primary has been laudable and has served the nation well,” Buckley said.

Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, also recognized Gardner’s legacy: “Granite Staters owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Secretary of State Bill Gardner.”

“For decades, Bill Gardner has fiercely protected New Hampshire’s First in the Nation presidential primary and overseen our elections that are truly a point of pride for our state – always open, fair, accessible, and accurate,” he said.