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New York City Council members grilled Amazon executives about the company's plan to build a secondary headquarters in New York during a contentious hearing Wednesday that was interrupted several times by jeering protesters. The council members, who have no vote on the project and no apparent path to block it, demanded to know why the city and New York state were offering Amazon up to $2.8 billion in tax breaks and grants to build the new headquarters in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens. "We have a crumbling subway system, record homelessness, public housing that is in crisis, overcrowded...

A series of New York State Attorney Generals have weaponized the Office of Attorney General against Donald Trump, his relatives, and his businesses. AG Eric Schneiderman, who ended up resigning in disgrace after sexual abuse allegations, made a name for himself by threatening Trump, as the NY Times reported just before Schneiderman resigned: For the last 17 months, Eric T. Schneiderman, the attorney general of New York, had held himself up as the anti-Trump: a one-man legal wrecking ball, taking on the president and his agenda in both the courts and the court of public opinion… Some have even held...

Full title: Harvey Weinstein's Lawyer Gave $10,000 To Manhattan DA After He Declined To File Sexual Assault Charges Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer delivered $10,000 to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. in 2015, in the months after Vance’s office decided not to prosecute Weinstein over sexual assault allegations, according to an International Business Times review of campaign finance documents. That contribution from attorney David Boies — who previously headlined a fundraiser for Vance — was a fraction of the more than $182,000 that Boies, his son and his law partners have delivered to the Democrat during his political career....

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in June ordered state Attorney General Barbara Underwood to pause her investigation into Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.’s handling of the Harvey Weinstein case, a spokeswoman for Underwood confirmed Tuesday.

As a native Illinoisan, I can appreciate the wildly corrupt nature of this story. New York Governor Mario Cuomo received a $25,000 donation from the law firm representing Harvey Weinstein just six days before he called off an investigation into the movie mogul's behavior. The explanation from the law firm for the donation could have been lifted from a Chicago alderman's playbook. Page Six: “Neither Mr. Boies, nor anyone from his firm, ever discussed Harvey Weinstein or Mr. Vance with Mr. Cuomo, or anyone from his office, at any time,” the spokesperson told online political publication Capital and Main. “Mr....

New York's highest court has denied a request to dismiss the state attorney general's lawsuit against the Trump Foundation. The New York Supreme Court, in documents made public Friday, denied a request from the defendants — President Trump, Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump and the Donald J. Trump Foundation — to dismiss the lawsuit alleging they used the foundation for private and political gain. New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood welcomed Justice Saliann Scarpulla's decision. "As we detailed in our petition earlier this year, the Trump Foundation functioned as little more than a checkbook to serve Mr. Trump's business and political...

New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood (D) has subpoenaed all eight Roman Catholic dioceses in the state as part of a probe into the church's handling of sex abuse allegations, The Associated Press reported Thursday. A source told the AP that the subpoenas, which went out Thursday, are requesting documents related to sex abuse accusations, payments to victims or findings from internal church investigations. Underwood's office is investigating how the Catholic Church reviewed and "potentially covered up allegations of extensive sexual abuse in NY,"

Fatima Perspectives #1231 As this column goes to press, the news has leaked that New York Attorney General Barbara Dale Underwood “has subpoenaed all New York Roman Catholic dioceses as part of a state-wide investigation into sex crimes committed by the church…”.I wonder if Cardinal Dolan, the endlessly amused Archbishop of New York, is laughing now — just as he belly-laughed when confronted by a staffer of The Fatima Center on the Borgo Pio in Rome, who reminded him of the manner in which he had disgraced the Church by leading a Saint Patrick’s Day Parade knowing full well that it...

AG Barbara Underwood orders Criminal Division into actionALBANY, N.Y. (ChurchMilitant.com) - New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood appears to be laying the groundwork for a grand jury investigation into clerical sex abuse and cover-up in the Empire State. Sources are telling Church Militant that, based on the findings of the Pennsylvania grand jury investigation, various state attorneys general — with Underwood in the lead — are considering launching investigations into clerical sex abuse and cover-up in their own states. On Thursday, Church Militant contacted the New York attorney general's office to inquire about efforts to expose sexual assault and cover-up...

New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood is pretty rankled by President Donald Trump’s pardon of Dinesh D’Souza. Underwood is so irritated, she’s calling for New York to change what she’s calling the “double jeopardy loophole” to prevent things like this from happening again. “President Trump’s latest pardon makes crystal clear his willingness to use his pardon power to thwart the cause of justice, rather than advance it. By pardoning Dinesh D’Souza, President Trump is undermining the rule of law by pardoning a political supporter who is an unapologetic convicted felon. First it was Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Then it was...

Originally shared on social media over the weekend, the video shows New York Attorney General-elect Letitia James, a local politician who started out in the New York City Council 15 years ago, answering questions posed to her by what appears to be an avid supporter. . . When the supporter then asks her whether she plans to sue Trump, she answers, “Oh, we’re definitely going to sue. We’re going to be a real pain in the ass. He’s going to know my name personally.”

Eric Schneiderman, the embattled former New York Attorney General who stepped down from his post after multiple women came forward with allegations of assault, will not face criminal charges for the incidents reported, the prosecutor tasked with overseeing the case told CNN. Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas told CNN Thursday morning that her team interviewed members of Schneiderman’s security detail, employees who worked with him at the New York Attorney General’s office and witnesses. Singas was appointed to be the special prosecutor overseeing the investigation. “I personally interviewed each of the women who cooperated with our investigation along with...

Republicans raged Saturday at the expanding number of top New York Democrats who are giving their challengers the silent treatment rather than debate them. So far, Gov. Cuomo, and two top Dems — Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and attorney general candidate Letitia James — are ducking debates with their darkhorse opponents.

Mayor Bill de Blasio used taxpayer resources to push his national political agenda — at one point even asking his staff to come up with a governmental excuse to justify a political trip to Washington, DC, emails show. In September 2015, Hizzoner was trying to build a coalition of labor and elected officials to support his Progressive Agenda — spending many hours each week peddling his income inequality platform to potential officials.

Mayor Bill de Blasio was in the battleground state of Florida this past weekend campaigning for the Bernie Sanders-backed Democratic nominee for governor, Andrew Gillum, but it is most likely the Republican ticket of Ron DeSantis and Janette Nunez that he helped by being there. Here in New York City, we’re facing record high homelessness, deplorable conditions in city public housing, and a crumbling transit system. Homeowners have also seen a 44% increase in the property taxes since de Blasio took office and now a push to open more homeless shelters, jails and even heroin injection centers in their neighborhoods....

There are a lot of reasons I’m not a Democrat. For example, I believe that… 1. Jesus, America, and capitalism have been the three greatest forces of good in world history. 2. An attractive woman posing with an AR-15 beats a screaming feminist in a pussy hat 10 times out of 10. 3. You can’t #believeallwomen or #believeallmen; you have to #believetheevidence. 4. It’s wrong and disgusting to harass people in restaurants and at their home just because you disagree with them politically. Also if you block traffic to get attention for your cause, whatever it may be, I am...

Andrew Cuomo has some nerve.The New York governor, who two years ago intoned that New Yorkers with pro-life and conservative values weren't "welcome" in the state, is suddenly acting as if he's their most ardent advocate.  At Thursday night's Fox Business debate, GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz (R-TX) defined New York values as "socially liberal, pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage,  and focus around money and the media." Cuomo insisted Cruz should "apologize" for his comments. "I'm always open to give him an education on what New York values are all about," Cuomo said on NY1. "And if he had any class, he would apologize to the people of New...

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo believes that pro-life activists, along with anti-gay activists and supporters of the Second Amendment, are not welcome in his state. During a radio interview on Friday, Cuomo pointed out that Republicans were in the midst of a schism, where conservatives worked against moderate Republicans. "Their problem is not me and the Democrats; their problem is themselves," he said. "Who are they? Are they these extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault-weapon, anti-gay? Is that who they are? Because if that's who they are and they're the extreme conservatives, they have no place in the state of...

New York governor Andrew Cuomo came under fire for criticizing pro-life and pro-Second Amendment citizens of his state -- and saying "that is not who New Yorkers are." Their problem is not me and democrats, their problem is themselves. Who are they? Are they these extreme conservatives, who are right to life, pro assault weapon, anti-gay, is that who they are? Because if that is who they are, and if they are the extreme conservatives, they have no place in the state of New York. Because that is not who New Yorkers are. Now his office is backtracking and insisting...

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo made news last week when during a radio interview he said “extreme conservatives” have “no place” in the Empire State. Who are these people? Among others, he said, those who are “right to life” or “anti-gay.”Later he tried to walk back this naked and nasty bit of intolerance, reassuring us that those who are “anti-choice” (one presumes he got a tongue-lashing from NARAL for saying “right to life” the first time) could stay in New York after all. But that bell, as the saying goes, can’t be un-rung.Catholics, of course, are “right to life”...