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NY Governor won't remove NYC Mayor Adams from office, another win for President Trump

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NY Governor won't remove NYC Mayor Adams from office, another win for President Trump

Governor Kathy Hochul and New York City Eric Adams, Democrats and long-time allies, appeared during a parade last year. Hochul says she won’t remove Adams from office despite political and legal scandals that have embroiled city hall.

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New York Governor Kathy Hochul is expected to announce Thursday she won’t use her executive power to remove embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams from office.

Instead, as reported by Gothamist and WNYC, Hochul plans to introduce measures that would boost state oversight over Adamsadministration and city hall.

The monitoring regimen is expected to include the creation of a new state deputy inspector general with broad authority to watch over the city’s dealings, according to sources familiar with the governor’s decision who were not authorized to speak publicly.

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At least some of those actions would require approval from New York’s state legislature.

It’s unclear how many could be implemented before the mayoral election in November. Despite his political and legal troubles, Adams is seeking a second term.

It’s a major victory for Adams at a time when controversy linked to federal corruption charges and his growing ties to the Trump administration have embroiled city hall. Four of his deputy mayors abruptly resigned earlier this week.

It’s also a win for President Donald Trump who will retain a political ally – critics say Adams is “under Trump’s thumb” – at the helm of America’s largest city at a time when the White House is moving aggressively to crack down on migrants without legal status.

Earlier in the week, Hochul herself issued a statement saying “alleged conduct at City Hall that has been reported over the past two weeks is troubling and cannot be ignored.”

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Hochul’s decision not to exercise her authority to remove Adams from office came despite growing pressure from critics within New York’s Democratic Party.

“The last thing the people of New York want is for our city to turn into an annex of the Trump administration, yet that’s exactly what is happening,” said state Sen. Mike Gianaris in a post on social media. “Eric Adams is clearly compromised and can no longer be considered the legitimate leader of our city.”

New Yorkers picketed to urge New York Governor Kathy Hochul to remove New York City Mayor Eric Adams as she met with top Democratic leaders to discuss Adam's fate in New York City on Feb. 18.

New Yorkers picketed to urge New York Governor Kathy Hochul to remove New York City Mayor Eric Adams as she met with top Democratic leaders to discuss Adam’s fate in New York City on Feb. 18.

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U.S. Justice Department officials have been transparent about the fact that they moved to halt criminal proceedings against Adams so that he would be able to assist the Trump administration in pursuing migrants without legal status.

DOJ officials have also made it clear they could revive those criminal charges and re-indict Adams at any point – raising questions about Adams’ ability to make independent decisions without fear of reprisal.

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On Wednesday at a federal hearing about the DOJ case in Manhattan, Judge Dale Ho was asked whether he had been threatened by Trump administration officials. Adams replied, “No, your honor.”

Ho is expected to rule soon on whether five bribery and corruption charges will be suspended.

Meanwhile, during a joint appearance on Fox News last week, Trump’s border czar Tom Homan appeared to warn Adams he would be punished if cooperation in migrant enforcement doesn’t continue.

“If [Adams] doesn’t come through, I’ll be back in New York City…in his office up his butt saying Where the hell is the agreement we came to?” Homan said.

Adams has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, despite evidence gathered by federal investigators that he accepted lavish vacations and improper campaign contributions from agents working for the Turkish government.

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According to Adams, his growing cooperation with Trump on immigration policy, including a decision this month to allow federal authorities to operate at the city’s jail facility on Rikers Island, reflects his desire to improve public safety.

On Thursday, Adams was asked about the possibility of Governor Hochul imposing new restrictions on his power and authority. Adams declined to answer and ended the press conference.

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Trump fires last members of election commission, inciting fears of midterm ‘chaos’

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Trump fires last members of election commission, inciting fears of midterm ‘chaos’

Donald Trump has terminated the remaining members of the independent, federal commission that assists election administration officials nationwide just a few months before the midterm elections, multiple outlets reported Thursday.

The remaining three commissioners of the four-member bipartisan commission ⁠were forced out on Thursday in different ways. The one Republican appointee resigned and the other ⁠two, Democratic appointees were notified of their terminations via email from ​the White House presidential personnel office.

“On ‌behalf of President ‌Donald J Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position ‌as Commissioner of the Election Assistance Commission is terminated, effective immediately. Thank you for your service,” the email, seen by Reuters, said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Election Assistance Commission serves as a “national clearinghouse of information on election ‌administration”, accredits testing laboratories and certifies voting systems, and maintains the national mail-voter registration form developed by the National ​Voter Registration Act of 1993, according to the commission’s website. The terminations follow Trump and top administration officials’ advocacy to change vote-by-mail requirements and investigations into the 2020 election outcome, which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

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“It is ⁠irresponsible and dangerous that this Administration remains dead set on ​causing chaos for ​our election officials across this ​country,” Arizona secretary of state Adrian Fontes said in a ​Thursday statement. “This ‌move undermines the integrity ​of nonpartisan ​election administration.”

The 2002 law that established the commission, the Help America Vote Act, states the president can appoint replacements to the commission.

It is unclear how Trump will move ahead with the commission.

Reuters contributed reporting

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Former Olympian pleads not guilty in reflecting pool vandalism charges

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Former Olympian pleads not guilty in reflecting pool vandalism charges

Former U.S. Olympian David Hearn (left) walks with his attorney Norman Eisen to speak to reporters and protesters gathered after his arraignment at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.

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Former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn pleaded not guilty to damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in D.C. Superior Court Thursday morning.

Federal prosecutors charged Hearn with a single count of destruction of property causing more than $1,000 in damage to the pool.

Hearn has previously claimed, which his attorneys repeated during a short press conference outside the court, that he simply touched the water in the pool out of curiosity.

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The Trump administration had just completed a $14 million renovation of the pool.

But shortly after the work finished, peeling paint and algae gathered in the water. The remodel has been largely criticized as a massive failure and waste of taxpayer dollars.

Superior Court Judge Carmen McLean released Hearn on his own recognizance. His next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 5.

Norm Eisen, one of Hearn’s attorneys, spoke to reporters outside of court following the hearing. He said the administration is using Hearn as a “scapegoat … for their own failures.”

“It is not a crime to touch the reflecting pool, to touch water in the United States of America,” he said.

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Prosecutors say there is a host of evidence against Hearn.

This is a developing story.

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Three more people charged with damaging Reflecting Pool after Trump’s multimillion-dollar restoration | CNN Politics

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Three more people charged with damaging Reflecting Pool after Trump’s multimillion-dollar restoration | CNN Politics

Three more people have been criminally charged with destruction of property at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Officers say they detained Cameron Thiers, Sophie Dennison-Gibby and Justin Carreno one Saturday afternoon in June and described in court documents witnessing them peeling and removing pieces of blue paint from the Reflecting Pool.

One officer “witnessed Carreno reach down into the reflecting pool and pull up a piece of the blue paint,” according to the court documents.

The officer who detained Dennison-Gibby “found 1 additional piece of the reflecting pool liner” in her purse, the documents said.

All three incidents were recorded on the officers’ body worn cameras, they said in the court documents.

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Several “partnering law enforcement agencies assigned to the Reflecting Pool” working with US Park Police were involved in detaining the two men and one woman — including officers from Texas, Oklahoma, Montana and California.

One of the officers said in court documents that Thiers “admitted to removing a piece of blue sealant from the Reflecting Pool and still had it in his hand when I made contact with him.”

The three defendants were arraigned in court Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charges of destruction of property with a value less than $1,000. The judge ordered them to stay away from the Reflecting Pool.

Lawyers for Thiers and Dennison-Gibby declined to comment. CNN has reached out to Carreno’s attorney.

If found guilty of destruction of property, the defendants could be fined up to $1,000 and face a maximum of 180 days behind bars.

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The New York Times first reported that three additional people had been charged with damaging the Reflecting Pool.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that vandals caused major damage to the pool by gashing the lining after his administration spent more than $14 million on renovations, though he has not provided evidence to support that claim. The officers who charged Carreno, Thiers and Dennison-Gibby did not accuse them of gashing the lining.

Former Olympic canoeist David Hearn was indicted by a grand jury in Washington, DC, last week for allegedly damaging the Reflecting Pool. Hearn — unlike Carreno, Thiers and Dennison-Gibby – was charged with destruction of property with a value of more than $1,000 which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, if convicted. He is set to be arraigned in court Thursday.

Crews began draining the Reflecting Pool over the weekend to make repairs, according to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, for the second time in three months.

The move comes after weeks of problems – algae blooms, green-hued water, a chipping bottom and the administration’s allegations of vandalism – that have plagued the iconic landmark, making its woes the subject of national interest.

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