Northeast
America's newest governor looking forward 'to working with' Trump administration
EXCLUSIVE: CONCORD, N.H. — Kelly Ayotte becomes the nation’s newest governor on Thursday when she’s inaugurated at the New Hampshire State House.
The former U.S. senator, who previously served as a state attorney general, takes office in the key New England swing state a week and a half before President-elect Trump is inaugurated.
And Ayotte, who succeeds fellow Republican Gov. Chris Sununu in steering the Granite State, says she looks forward to working with the Trump administration.
“I’ll work with the administration on behalf of New Hampshire and advocate for the Granite State on important priorities here: keeping the state safe, making sure that when it comes to federal resources that we’re advocating for New Hampshire, so I look forward to working with the administration,” Ayotte said in a national exclusive interview with Fox News Digital ahead of her inauguration.
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Former Sen. Kelly Ayotte, the Republican gubernatorial nominee in New Hampshire, celebrates her election victory for governor on Nov. 5, 2024. (Kelly Ayotte campaign)
During last year’s gubernatorial campaign, which culminated with Ayotte defeating Democrat gubernatorial nominee and former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig by nearly 10 points in November’s election, the issue of illegal immigration and border security was often in the spotlight in a state that shares a border with Canada and has long dealt with an acute fentanyl crisis.
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Ayotte, who pledged on the campaign trail to prevent New Hampshire from becoming a sanctuary state for illegal migrants, will have what Sununu didn’t enjoy the past four years: a Republican in the White House.
“President Trump is going to enforce the laws, and that’s important to me. And we have a northern border,” she said.
Republican Gov.-elect Kelly Ayotte, a former U.S. senator, is interviewed by Fox News Digital at the State House in Concord, New Hampshire, on Tuesday. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Noting her tenure as a state attorney general, Ayotte said, “I believe it’s important that criminals are held accountable. And as we look at New Hampshire, we’re not going to allow New Hampshire to become a sanctuary state. And so it’s important that we enforce our laws. We welcome legal immigration, but those who come here illegally and especially those who commit crimes need to be held accountable.”
Ayotte was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010 and was a rising star in the GOP and regarded as a leader on national security and foreign policy. But she lost re-election in 2016 by a razor-thin margin of just over 1,000 votes at the hands of then-Democrat Gov. Maggie Hassan.
Gov.-elect Kelly Ayotte and Gov. Chris Sununu meet in the New Hampshire governor’s office at the State House in Concord on Nov. 7, 2024. (Office of New Hampshire governor)
Now, as Ayotte takes over running the Granite State, she said that “my No. 1 priority is being a governor for everyone in New Hampshire, for all the people, and being accessible to the people of New Hampshire.”
“Making sure that we continue to grow our economy, our prosperity, our freedom here in New Hampshire, having a responsible budget where we live within our means but serve the people of New Hampshire effectively, those will be my priorities on day one,” she added.
Ayotte, who made history nearly two decades ago as the state’s first female attorney general, made history again in November as the first Republican woman to win election as New Hampshire governor.
“We have so many strong women that have served in this state, a great history,” Ayotte said. “There are so many examples of women who have led and great men who have led, too.”
She said her “hope is that every young girl out there understands that whatever position she strives to attain, it’s available to her, and that we aren’t even having these discussions about whether a woman’s elected or a man’s elected because it’s just equal for everyone to understand that those opportunities are there, and I think that’s what’s happening in New Hampshire.”
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Northeast
High-profile real estate brother misses hearing after mix-up in identical twins' sex trafficking case
One of three wealthy brothers accused last month of drugging and then sexually assaulting and raping dozens of women in multiple states reportedly missed his court hearing on Tuesday after a mix-up in the case.
Tal, 38, and Oren Alexander, 37, two prominent jet-setting brokers in New York and Miami, and their brother Alon Alexander, Oren’s identical twin, were arrested in Miami Beach on Wednesday, Dec. 11 and have since been taken into federal custody.
Prosecutors allege that the Alexander brothers “worked together, and with others known and unknown to repeatedly and violently drug, sexually assault, and rape” victims in New York, Miami and elsewhere, according to indictment records obtained by Fox News Digital.
Federal prosecutors said they have identified at least 40 victims.
LUXURY REAL ESTATE BROTHERS LURED DOZENS OF WOMEN OVER TWO DECADES WITH PROMISE OF LAVISH LIFESTYLE: FEDS
Oren and Alon Alexander attend Jeff Gordon’s Last Lap on Nov. 22, 2015 at The Villa, Casa Casuarina in Miami Beach, Florida. (Aaron Davidson/Getty Images for J Group)
Oren Alexander failed to show up for his bail hearing on Tuesday in Miami federal court after the U.S. Marshals Service nearly flew the luxury real estate agent to New York City, where all three brothers have been charged, the Miami Herald reported, originally alleging either a clerical error or a possible mix-up between Oren and his twin brother Alon.
U.S. Marshals in New York mistakenly issued a transportation order to bring Oren Alexander from a federal lock-up in Miami to a detention center in New York City, according to a spokesman for the agency, the outlet added.
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The chief judge of a magistrate court in Miami said on Tuesday in court that there was a “miscommunication of orders” with the Marshals in New York, saying Oren had been accidentally “shipped to New York” and could “not make” his own bail hearing, according to the outlet. The judge ordered that Oren be brought back to Miami for his bond hearing Wednesday.
The U.S. Marshals Service did not immediately respond for comment.
‘DIDDY’ MAKES 3RD BAIL ATTEMPT AFTER PROSECUTORS ALLEGE HE BLACKMAILED VICTIMS FROM BEHIND BARS
Oren Alexander, 37, center, and his twin brother, Alon, center-right, speak to their attorney Joel Denaro during their bond hearing after being charged with multiple state and federal crimes, including sex trafficking and rape, at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, in Miami. (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald via AP, Pool)
Oren Alexander and his twin brother, Alon, attend a bond hearing after being charged with multiple state and federal crimes, including sex trafficking and rape, at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, in Miami. (Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald via AP, Pool)
All three brothers were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and a separate count of sex trafficking of one woman by force, fraud or coercion. In addition, Tal Alexander was charged with the sex trafficking of a second victim.
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According to the charges in the indictment, the three brothers had conspired in the sex-trafficking scheme since at least 2010, but prosecutors filed a letter alleging that their sexual violence against women actually spans more than 20 years, dating as far back as when the men were in high school in Miami.
SEAN ‘DIDDY’ COMBS SEEKS BAIL, CITING NEW EVIDENCE
Real estate brokers Tal Alexander and Oren Alexander at their home on Miami Beach on Feb. 1, 2019. (Patrick Farrell/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The Alexander brothers “arranged for these sexual assaults well in advance, using the promise of luxury experiences, travel, and accommodations to lure and entice women to locations where they were then forcibly raped or sexually assaulted, sometimes by multiple men,” including themselves, according to the indictment.
The brothers, along with a number of other individuals, arranged to transport women to Tulum, Mexico in 2016. The brothers engaged in a group WhatsApp chat titled “Lions in Tulum,” referring to the Mexican resort town, in which they and other men discussed “imports” of women and splitting the cost of lodging and flights for the women and providing drugs “that would make them more likely to engage in sex.”
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A display showing images of Alon, Oren, and Tal Alexander prior to a news conference in New York, US, on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. Luxury real estate brokers Oren and Tal Alexander and their brother Alon were arrested and charged with sex-trafficking by federal prosecutors in New York. (Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Oren and Tal Alexander co-founded the real estate firm Official, which offers luxury listings in places like New York City, the Hamptons, Miami and Los Angeles, in 2022 after rising through the ranks at Douglas Elliman, one of the largest real estate brokerages in the country, according to prosecutors.
Their past clients include Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, Liam Gallagher, and Lindsay Lohan, according to CBS News.
“Mr. Alexander will enter a not guilty plea and addressing these charges in the appropriate forum – a courtroom,” Isabelle Kirshner, representing Alon Alexander in connection with the indictment, previously told Fox News Digital in a statement regarding the indictment and charges.
Susan Necheles, representing Oren Alexander, did not immediately respond for comment regarding the alleged error made, causing her client to miss his hearing Tuesday. Deanna Paul, representing older brother Tal Alexander, did not previously respond for comment regarding the indictment and charges.
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Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York on Thursday proposed several measures that would restrict hedge funds and private-equity firms from buying up large numbers of single-family homes, the latest in a string of populist proposals she intends to include in her State of the State address next week.
The governor wants to prevent institutional investors from bidding on properties in the first 75 days that they are on the market. Her plan would also remove certain tax benefits, such as interest deductions, when the homes are purchased.
The proposals reflect a nationwide effort by mostly Democratic lawmakers to discourage large firms from crowding out individuals or families from the housing market by paying far above market rate and in cash, and then leasing the homes or turning them into short-term rentals.
Activists and some politicians have argued that this trend has played a role in soaring prices and low vacancy rates — though low housing production is widely viewed as the main driver of those problems.
If Ms. Hochul was inviting a fight with the real estate interests who have backed her in the past, she did not seem concerned. She even borrowed a line from Jimmy McMillan, who ran long-shot candidacies for governor and mayor as the founder of the Rent Is Too Damn High Party.
“The cost of living is just too damn high — especially when it comes to the sky-high rents and mortgages New Yorkers pay every month,” Ms. Hochul said in a written statement.
James Whelan, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, said his team would review the proposal, but characterized it as “another example of policy that will stifle investment in housing in New York.”
The plan — the specifics of which will be negotiated with the Legislature — is one of several recent proposals the governor has made with the goal of addressing the state’s affordability crisis. Voters have expressed frustration about the high costs of housing and basic goods in the state. This discontent has led to political challenges for Ms. Hochul, who is likely to face rivals in the 2026 Democratic primary and in the general election.
In 2022, five of the largest investors in the United States owned 2 percent of the country’s single-family rental homes, most of them in Sun Belt and Southern states, according to a recent report from the federal Government Accountability Office. The report stated that it was “unclear how these investors affected homeownership opportunities or tenants because many related factors affect homeownership — e.g., market conditions, demographic factors and lending conditions.”
Researchers at Harvard University found that “a growing share of rental properties are owned by business entities and medium- and large-scale rental operators.”
State officials were not able to offer a complete picture of how widespread the practice was in New York. They said local officials in several upstate cities had told them about investors buying up dozens of homes at a time and turning them into rentals.
The New York Times reported in 2023 that investment firms were buying smaller buildings in places like Brooklyn and Queens from families and smaller landlords.
Ms. Hochul’s concern is that these purchases make it harder for first-time home buyers to gain a foothold in the market and can lead to more rental price gouging.
“Shadowy private-equity giants are buying up the housing supply in communities across New York, leaving everyday homeowners with nowhere to turn,” she said in a statement on Thursday. “I’m proposing new laws and policy changes to put the American dream of owning a home within reach for more New Yorkers than ever before.”
Cracking down on corporate landlords became a prominent talking point in last year’s presidential election. On the campaign trail, Vice President Kamala Harris called on Congress to pass previously introduced legislation eliminating tax benefits for large investors that purchase large numbers of homes.
“It can make it impossible then for regular people to be able to buy or even rent a home,” Ms. Harris said last summer.
In August, Representative Pat Ryan, Democrat of New York, called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate price gouging by private-equity firms in the housing market. He cited a study that estimated that private-equity firms “are expected to control 40 percent of the U.S. single-family rental market by 2030.”
Statehouses across the country have recently looked at ways to tackle corporate homeownership. One effort in Nevada, which passed the Legislature but was vetoed by Gov. Joe Lombardo, proposed capping the number of units a corporation could buy in a calendar year. It was opposed by local chambers of commerce and the state’s homebuilders association.
A bill was introduced in the Minnesota State Legislature that would ban the conversion of homes owned by corporations into rentals. It has yet to come up for a vote.
At the federal level, Senator Jeff Merkley, Democrat of Oregon, and Representative Adam Smith, Democrat of Washington, introduced joint legislation that would force hedge funds to sell all the single-family homes they own over 10 years.
No two trials are the same — and it appears that’ll be true for the high-profile Karen Read case as well.
Prosecutors have been working to keep several defense witnesses off the stand in the upcoming retrial over the killing of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe.
“It’s not surprising to me to at all that, with new lawyers on the case and fresh looks at the evidence, that they’re making a determination as to which pieces of evidence they think they have real chance of excluding,” NBC10 Boston legal analyst Michael Coyne said.
The witnesses whom the prosecution moved to exclude from the case are a doctor whose expertise includes dog bites, a forensic expert who challenged the now infamous Google search, “hos long to die in the snow,” as well as two accident reconstruction experts whose testimony under cut the state’s version of how O’Keefe died.
Prosecutors in the Karen Read trial spent the day in court trying to discredit the expertise of the defense’s dog bite expert, Dr. Marie Russell, so she can’t testify in the retrial.
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Judge Beverly Cannone will decide if the witnesses testify. She allowed them at the first trial and Coyne said it could create problems if she says no for the next trial.
“It does put her in a difficult point to be able to now reverse herself, and I don’t think that’s likely to happen,” he said.
Special Assistant District Attorney Hank Brennan is now leading the state’s case, and he plans to cut down the number of witnesses while bringing a different style than the original lead prosecutor, Adam Lally.
“Hank’s approach is like an everyman’s approach,” said Coyne, who knows the experienced defense lawyer. “He’s understated. He’s very quick on his feet. I think he’ll be well received by the jury.”
Read’s team remains intact, but she said Tuesday outside one of the witness hearings that they’re taking a second look, too.
“We’re going to re-tool everything. Maybe something will stay similar but we’re gonna shuffle a lot of things around,” she said.
Much of this preparation could be moot if the state’s Supreme Judicial Court decides to throw out two of the charges against Read.
The Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office says one of Karen Read’s key arguments has been “debunked” in a legal filing seeking to prevent testimony from a defense witness in the upcoming retrial.
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