Albany Democrats introduced legislation late Friday that would allow them to significantly delay expected special elections in the state, triggering a formal call for a racketeering investigation by Hudson Valley Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY).
The move is meant to jam up House Republicans whose already razor thin majority would shrink further – and for longer – when North Country Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) resigns to serve in President Trump‘s administration as UN ambassador.
The legislation, which could come up for a vote as soon as Monday, allows Gov. Kathy Hochul to set the special election date as the November general election.
Democrats in Albany are moving to give Gov. Kathy Hochul the power to delay a special election to November so House Republicans have a thinner majority after the expected resignation of Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) to become U.N. Ambassador.ZUMAPRESS.com
Hochul signaled earlier this week that she is on board with the effort which sources say is largely being driven by House Minority Leader and Brooklyn Rep. Hakeem Jefferies (D-NY).
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“Shame on Hakeem Jeffries and Kathy Hochul for conspiring to deny residents of New York’s 21st Congressional District representation. This blatantly corrupt power grab reeks of racketeering and internationally subverts the will of voters in the North Country,” Lawler said.
Lawler has sent a formal letter to Trump’s Department of Justice asking for a racketeering probe into Hochul as well as state Sen. Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins (D-Westchester) and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) and Jeffries.
“Their scheme to alter the schedule for the special election is a serious abuse of power that is more alike to election processes in authoritarian countries than anything we see in the United States,” the letter reads, calling Democrats’ scheme “textbook racketeering.”
Lawler is joined by Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Nick Langworthy (R-NY) and Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) on the letter.
“This is a shameless, brazenly corrupt scheme to disenfranchise 750,000 New Yorkers and block President Trump’s agenda. The federal Department of Justice needs to investigate Governor Hochul and both legislative leaders,” Assemblyman Matt Slater (R-Putnam), the ranking member on the elections committee, told The Post.
Stefanik’s timeline for a confirmation vote in the US Senate is unclear, so it’s not yet known when she would resign and create the vacancy.
Rep. Mike Lawler and other Republican members of New York’s House delegation are calling on the DOJ to investigate Dems’ effort as a potential racketeering violation.Getty Images
Under current state law, the governor must designate a special election date within 10 days of a vacancy. That date must be between 70 and 80 days later.
Democrats claim the move is meant to increase government efficiency.
“At a time when people need our government to work more efficiently, this legislation is a common-sense approach that saves taxpayer dollars while maximizing voter turnout,” Stewart Cousins wrote in a statement.
“This bill isn’t about fairness, democracy, or saving money. This is the Democrats telling the voters of New York to go to hell,” Senate Majority Leader Rob Ortt (R-NY).
Gov. Kathy Hochul and Democrats are presenting the move as a measure to save money.AP
“These shameless Albany politicians can’t win on their disastrous policies like sky-high crime, out-of-control taxes, or an illegal migrant crisis they created, so they’re resorting to using Albany swamp tactics,” Ortt continued.
The law would also apply to state Senate and Assembly elections.
A vacancy is currently expected to open up in southern Brooklyn after state Sen. Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn) resigns to run for city council.
Felder’s seat presents a potential pickup opportunity for Republicans.
Republicans and other opponents of the Democrats have also promised to sue over the move.
President Trump has ordered security clearances stripped from a new hit list of antagonists.
Just days after revoking Joe Biden’s access to classified information and secure federal buildings — “because I don’t trust him” — Trump said his new top target is ex-Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who orchestrated the “Dirty 51” letter from former intelligence officials on the eve of the 2020 election.
The infamous missive falsely claimed that Hunter Biden’s laptop, the contents of which The Post revealed, was Russian disinformation.
Blinken’s security clearances will be revoked, following the same presidential directive aimed at Biden and the 51 ex-spooks last week, Trump told The Post in an exclusive interview.
“Bad guy. Take away his passes,” he said of Blinken.:04
President Donald Trump has ordered a new hit list of antagonists that will have their security clearances revoked.AFP via Getty Images “This is to take away every right they have [revoking security clearances] including they can’t go into [federal] buildings.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg join the new group of eight Democrat foes Trump plans to punish by revoking any access to classified information and barring their entry to federal facilities.
The president said they all will be given “exactly the same” punishment as Biden and the Dirty 51 as part of his administration’s vow to hold government officials accountable for actions he regards as election interference or the mishandling of classified information.
Bragg prosecuted Trump last year in the so-called “hush money” case and James brought a civil fraud case against the president for supposedly exaggerating his wealth when applying for bank loans.
The move is regarded as more symbolic than consequential for the New York lawfare duo.
Trump announced on Friday that he revoked President Joe Biden’s security clearances.Getty Images
But it could hamper them in carrying out their official duties by prohibiting them from entering courthouses, prisons, and law enforcement facilities in Foley Square in lower Manhattan, including the Thurgood Marshall and Daniel Patrick Moynihan courthouses, the Metropolitan Correctional Center, and the Jacob Javits Federal Building which houses the FBI’s New York field office.
They also will not be able to set foot in the US Attorney’s offices for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
“It’s more an insult and a slap in the face than a real deterrent,” said attorney Bob Costello, a former Manhattan federal prosecutor who testified as a defense witness in Trump’s hush-money trial in Manhattan.
Ex-Secretary of State Antony Blinken is now Trump’s newest top target as he orchestrated the “Dirty 51” letter from former intelligence officials on the eve of the 2020 election.Getty Images
The other targets Trump disclosed to The Post include Biden’s former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who also was chief foreign policy adviser to Hillary Clinton during her failed 2016 presidential bid when he notoriously helped foment the Trump-Russia collusion hoax.
Also in Trump’s sights are Biden’s Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, who was involved in overseeing lawfare investigations against Trump and coordinating the DOJ response to the Jan. 6 riot.
She also helped orchestrate the Russia hoax while working as an aide to President Obama.
In addition to targeting Blinken, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg will also have their security clearances revoked.Getty Images
Next in line are anti-Trumpers Andrew Weissman, the lead prosecutor in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russiagate investigation of Trump, who frequently maligns the former president in his role as an MNBC contributor; lawyer Mark Zaid, who represented Eric Ciaramella, the CIA analyst identified as the whistleblower in Trump’s impeachment in 2019 over a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky; and Norm Eisen, special counsel to the Democrat-led House Judiciary Committee during the impeachment.
Former Trump attorney Tim Parlatore says Trump’s action is largely symbolic and hard to enforce, especially on New York officials.
But it will have a “major impact” on Zaid’s legal practice “because he fashions himself as a national security lawyer.”
Last year, Bragg prosecuted Trump in the “hush money” case, while James brought a civil fraud case against the president for allegedly exaggerating his wealth in order to apply for bank loans.Getty Images
“He’s a whacky partisan guy [who] tweeted after Trump was inaugurated that it was time for a coup. He makes his money during Republican [presidencies] by going against the administration.”
Trump last week cut off Biden’s access to the daily intelligence briefings normally afforded former presidents, before stripping his security clearances, telling The Post he doesn’t “trust” his predecessor with such sensitive information.
“I don’t trust him. He’s not worthy of trust … To safeguard national security,”
He told the Post his administration had no plans to investigate his predecessor, while noting that Biden did not pardon himself when he pardoned his son Hunter and six other family members.
“I wouldn’t do it specifically. If something comes up, he’s certainly prime time for investigation. … It’s not good what he did to our country. I mean, all of this work we’re doing now with getting [illegal aliens] out, finding murderers on the street. … all of this that we’re doing is because of him allowing people to come into our country.”
ALabourMinister has been sacked after The Mail on Sunday exposed his racist and sexist messages, including one vile post saying he hoped a pensioner who didn't vote Labour would die before the next election.
Andrew Gwynne also made anti-Semitic slights and 'jokes' about a constituent being 'mown down' by a truck.
Keir Starmer stripped Mr Gwynne of his job as Health Minister and suspended his membership of the Labour Party when he was told about the content of the WhatsApp messages yesterday. Meanwhile, the MP himself apologised for his 'badly misjudged commments'.
A Government spokesman said: 'The Prime Minister is determined to uphold high standards of conduct in public office. He will not hesitate to take action against any Minister who fails to meet these standards, as he has in
this case.'
In one particularly shocking comment, the Gorton and Denton MP says he hopes a 72-year-old woman will soon be dead after she dared to ask about her bins.
The Stockport resident wrote to her local councillor saying she hadn't voted Labour, but added: 'As you have been re-elected I thought it would be an appropriate time to contact you with regard to the bin collections.'
After the councillor shared the letter among fellow Labour figures in the WhatsApp group, Mr Gwynne wrote a suggested response: 'Dear resident, F*** your bins. I'm re-elected and without your vote. Screw you. PS: Hopefully you'll have croaked it by the all-outs.' 'All-outs' are elections at which every council seat is contested at once.
Accepting his fate last night, Mr Gwynne wrote on social media: 'I deeply regret my badly misjudged commments and apologise for any offence I've caused. I've served the Labour Party all my life and it was a huge honour to be appointed a minister by Keir Starmer. I entirely understand the decisions the PM and the party have taken and, while very sad to have been suspended, will support them in any way I can.'
The messages were exchanged in a group called Trigger Me Timbers, which Mr Gwynne shares with more than a dozen Labour councillors, party officials and at least one other MP, all based on the outskirts of Manchester.
The MoS gained access to thousands of messages from the closed group, which was set up in 2019, and discovered a barrage of abusive texts. Among them are:
Mr Gwynne saying someone 'sounds too Jewish' and 'too militaristic', apparently from their name alone;
Racist comments about veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott, mocking her historic achievement in becoming the first black MP at either Despatch Box for Prime Minister's Questions;
Sexist comments about Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner performing a sex act;
Mr Gwynne mocking a local Labour leader as 'Colin C*mface'.
The politician also made offensive remarks about Jewish people.
Discussing an upcoming Labour meeting, a member of the group asks if Marshall Rosenberg would be there, in apparent reference to a late American psychologist whose conflict management techniques might have been useful in heated debates. Mr Gwynne responds: 'No. He sounds too militaristic and too Jewish. Is he in Mossad?'
In 2018, Mr Gwynne made headlines when it was revealed he was in a Facebook group called Labour Supporters in which anti-Semitic messages were shared. At the time he responded: 'I was added to this Facebook group without my knowledge or permission. I DO NOT support the posts and I ABHOR anti-Semitism. It has absolutely NO place in the Labour Party or in society. End of.'
But months later, he was taking part in anti-Semitic banter in the WhatsApp group, including taking an apparently mocking tone to those who thought it inappropriate. 'Geoffrey the Giraffe says don't be nasty to the Jews,' he posted. It's not clear who he was referring to, but Geoffrey was the logo of the Toys R Us stores.
Alex Hearn, co-director of Labour Against Anti-Semitism, said asking if a person with a Jewish name is an agent of the Israeli spy agency Mossad feeds to an enduring anti-Semitism trope.
He said: 'This so-called 'banter' about Jews was unnecessary and unpleasant. Themes of disloyal infiltrators crosses the line into classic anti-Jewish racism, and should not be acceptable discourse among Labour officials, activists or anywhere in our society.'
Mr Gwynne also made race-based jokes on Trigger Me Timbers while talking about veteran black Labour MP Diane Abbott, when she stood in for Jeremy Corbyn at Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons in October 2019.
In the historic move, she became the first black parliamentarian to represent their party at the weekly clash. When one member asks if this pioneering moment for black Britons was a 'joke', Mr Gwynne told the group it was 'because it's Black History Month apparently'.
A councillor then suggests other black Labour MPs, living and dead, asking: 'Was David Lammy not available? I'd also take the corpse of Bernie Grant [the black Labour MP who died in 2000].'
At the time, both Tory MP Swayne and the Canadian prime minister were engulfed in racism rows after photos of them in offensive 'blackface' caricatures had emerged in two separate incidents.
Bishop Desmond Jaddoo, a prominent black campaigner, said: 'It's amazing when a black person rises to prominence, they have to put up with these outrageous comments. They have racial connotations that have no place in our society. If a Minister has these kinds of views, then they should take stock.'
The Gorton and Denton MP said he hopes a 72-year-old woman will soon be dead after she dared to ask about her bins
Angela Rayner was also mocked by the group, particularly by Mr Gwynne. In March 2021, when the deputy Labour leader faced criticism for claiming £249 Apple wireless headphones on expenses, Mr Gwynne reposted a tweet from the parody account Tammy Pax MP. It read: 'I don't see what the problem is. It's literally impossible to give a b*** *** while wearing wired headphones. Anyone with a similar background to Angela would understand this.'
Another outrageous exchange came after a councillor mentions a constituent called 'Nick' who asked for more cycle lanes. Mr Gwynne replies: 'I had positive visions of him getting mown down by an Elsa Waste HGV while he's cycling to the Fallowfield Loop [cycle lane]. We couldn't be that lucky!' The MP also mocked a senior party figure in Tameside called Colin Bailey, 61, the vice-chair of Labour's Audenshaw branch.
In January 2019, appearing to reference a local party victory, Mr Gwynne asked: 'How did Colin C*mface take it?' He added later: 'Can we post the Colin C*mface Tory supporting tweets now?'
A shocked Mr Bailey – who has campaigned for Mr Gwynne in the past – told the MoS yesterday: 'I am angry about this, if this is directed at me. Andrew never said anything like this before.'
Nigel Huddleston MP, co-chairman of the Conservative Party, said: 'These comments are sickening. It is shameful that a Labour Minister thinks it is appropriate to wish for the death of one of his own constituents – especially as his government has cruelly taken away Winter Fuel Payments and left vulnerable pensioners to freeze, and just goes to show how out of touch Labour are.'
And David Sedgwick, the councillor who posted a photo of the letter from the pensioner about the bins, said Mr Gwynne's comments 'are totally not acceptable'.
Mr Gwynne has been in politics since 1996, when he was elected as England's youngest councillor at the age of 21. He became an MP in 2005, and after last year's General Election was appointed Minister for Public Health.
Labour last night confirmed Mr Gwynne had been 'administratively suspended' from the party while the messages were investigated. They added: 'Swift action will be taken if individuals are found to have breached the high standards expected of party members.'
At this point the Hamas-Israel truce has held since January 19, and several successful rounds of hostage/prisoner exchanges have followed since. The latest happened Saturday, withHamas releasing three more Israeli hostagescaptured on Oct.7, 2023 - in exchange for another 183 imprisoned Palestinians released by Israel.
This brings the total freed since the ceasefire took effect last month to 21 people freed by Hamas and Islamic Jihad - 16 of them Israelis and five Thai citizens who had been workers in the Kibbutz which were attacked. This is still part of the first, 42-day phase of the agreement.
The three Israelis released Saturday have been identified as Eli Sharabi, 52, Ohad Ben Ami, 56, and Or Levy, 34. They were paraded on a stage in the town of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza to sign handover documents.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office described the scene of the emaciated hostages "shocking" and vowed that the government would take action against Hamas.
"The shocking images we saw today will not pass without response," the statement reads. "The government, together with security officials, will support them and their families. Israel is committed to bringing back all the hostages and missing."
The freed captives looked gaunt as they were paraded on stage by Hamas just before the were transferred into the custody of the Red Cross, and they were also interviewed on stage by one of the fighters.
Netanyahu has “instructed to now allow the situation to go unaddressed,” a statement from his office said, without giving further details.
Israel's President Isaac Herzog said in separate statement the hostages were “being exploited in a cynical and cruel spectacle,” after suffering "491 days of hell."
But Gaza officials also pointed to the emaciated condition of some of the freed Palestinians:
Seven of the Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel today have been taken to hospital due to “their poor health condition,” according to the Red Crescent.
Hamas said yesterday that 183 would be freed today. A group were taken to the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank earlier today. But it is unclear how many were freed.
The released prisoners were let go by a bus in Ramallah, to large crowds and jubilation as they were reunited with their families.
Palestinians say there were abused in Israeli jails and right up until release:
"Dr. Hagar Mizrahi, the head of the medical division in the Israeli Health Ministry, reported that the three hostages who returned to Israel today are malnourished and have lost significant weight during their time in captivity," NBC added.
