New York
Cuomo Sues Ethics Panel to Block It From Seizing Book Profits
![Cuomo Sues Ethics Panel to Block It From Seizing Book Profits Cuomo Sues Ethics Panel to Block It From Seizing Book Profits](https://newspub.live/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/01cuomo-jcope-facebookJumbo.jpg)
Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo sued New York’s ethics fee on Friday, contending that its efforts to power him to show over the proceeds of a $5.1 million e book deal have been a violation of his constitutional rights.
The dispute facilities on the fee’s approval of Mr. Cuomo’s 2020 memoir — a choice it reversed final yr over what it stated have been misrepresentations of, amongst different issues, his use of state sources.
When the panel, the Joint Fee on Public Ethics, ordered Mr. Cuomo to show over the e book’s proceeds, the state lawyer normal’s workplace balked at imposing the directive, saying the fee wanted to conduct an investigation earlier than looking for to recoup the cash.
Within the lawsuit, filed in State Supreme Court docket in Albany, Mr. Cuomo is making an attempt to dam such an investigation, arguing that the fee’s earlier actions and what the go well with characterizes as prejudicial feedback demonstrated that it had already selected his guilt.
“By no means within the historical past of New York has an company so breathtaking and irresponsibly prejudged a matter on which it’s the remaining choice maker,” Mr. Cuomo’s court docket filings say.
A spokesman for the ethics fee declined to remark.
The go well with is the newest instance of the seen and aggressive stance that Mr. Cuomo, who resigned as governor in August, has adopted since his return to public life in current months.
Mr. Cuomo’s resignation got here after a report by the lawyer normal, Letitia James, discovered he had sexually harassed a number of ladies, together with some who labored for him. Mr. Cuomo has denied any harassment.
After a number of months in seclusion, Mr. Cuomo has re-emerged currently. He has spent a whole bunch of 1000’s of {dollars} on tv adverts to advertise his accomplishments as governor, spoken at two church buildings and began to shift from speaking about his private points to broader political themes.
The place he as soon as expressed contrition and stated he had been “too conversant in individuals,” he now blames “cancel tradition” for forcing his resignation.
The go well with filed towards the ethics fee matches that sample, with Mr. Cuomo insisting he has completed nothing flawed.
Mr. Cuomo has repeatedly stated state sources weren’t utilized in making ready his e book, “American Disaster: Management Classes from the Covid-19 Pandemic,” and that any employees members who labored on the undertaking had completed so on their very own time. The fee has taken concern with that assertion.
A large-ranging State Meeting inquiry into whether or not Mr. Cuomo abused his energy has since discovered that Mr. Cuomo “utilized the time of a number of state staff, in addition to his personal, to additional his private achieve throughout a world pandemic.”
After revoking its authorization of the e book deal, saying Mr. Cuomo had gotten it beneath false pretenses, the fee went a step farther.
“Within the absence of JCOPE’s approval of his exterior exercise in reference to the e book, Governor Cuomo is just not legally entitled to retain compensation paid to him,” the panel stated in a December decision by which it ordered him to repay the e book proceeds, which have been reported to complete $5.1 million.
However after the lawyer normal’s workplace refused to implement the order, the fee proceeded with the statutory course of for a proper listening to, which is what Mr. Cuomo’s crew now seeks to quash.
Legal professionals for Mr. Cuomo argue that the fee has prejudged him, saying that its earlier statements — together with in a listening to discover that stated the proof towards the previous governor was “overwhelming,” “incontrovertible” and “past dispute” — had rendered the panel incapable of being neutral on whether or not he had violated the legislation.
For years, the ethics fee has been maligned by authorities watchdog teams for its perceived vulnerability to political affect. Out of energy and at odds with the fee, Mr. Cuomo has taken up that cost.
The go well with comes amid indicators that the fee’s future is shaky. State authorities leaders have signaled that they anticipate to create a substitute physique as part of this yr’s state price range, though the ultimate type of the brand new entity has but to fall into place.
Gov. Kathy Hochul had proposed a brand new method of forming such a panel that will give legislation faculty deans, relatively than lawmakers, remaining say on appointments. An alternate plan has since taken form amongst lawmakers. It will hold appointment energy with them, nevertheless it has been sharply criticized by watchdog teams.
“New Yorkers deserve a very impartial fee, not merely substituting one flawed political entity for an additional,” a coalition of such teams stated in a press release on Wednesday.
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New York
Trump Tries to Move Hush-Money Case to Federal Court Before Sentencing
![Trump Tries to Move Hush-Money Case to Federal Court Before Sentencing Trump Tries to Move Hush-Money Case to Federal Court Before Sentencing](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/08/29/multimedia/29trump-sdny-tzwh/29trump-sdny-tzwh-facebookJumbo-v2.jpg)
Former President Donald J. Trump sought to move his Manhattan criminal case into federal court on Thursday, filing the unusual request three months after he was convicted in state court.
The long-shot bid marks Mr. Trump’s latest effort to stave off his sentencing in state court in his hush-money trial, in which he was convicted of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal.
He is scheduled to receive his punishment on Sept. 18, just seven weeks before Election Day, when he will square off against Vice President Kamala Harris for the presidency.
“The ongoing proceedings will continue to cause direct and irreparable harm to President Trump — the leading candidate in the 2024 presidential election — and voters located far beyond Manhattan,” Mr. Trump’s lawyers, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, wrote in the filing.
Their filing came even as the Trump legal team is awaiting the result of a separate effort to postpone the sentencing; it opened a second front that could complicate the first.
On Aug. 15, Mr. Trump asked the state court judge who presided over the trial, Juan M. Merchan, to delay the sentencing until after Election Day. Mr. Trump’s lawyers argued that they needed more time to challenge his conviction on the basis of a recent Supreme Court ruling granting presidents broad immunity for official acts.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which won the conviction of Mr. Trump on May 30, has argued that the Supreme Court’s ruling has “no bearing” on their case, which centers on Mr. Trump’s cover- up of a sex scandal involving a porn star. But the Manhattan prosecutors deferred to the judge on whether to delay the sentencing, leaving the door open for Justice Merchan to punt until after the election.
Justice Merchan was expected to rule on the delay request next week, and it is unclear whether Mr. Trump’s federal petition would disrupt that. In the federal filing, the former president’s lawyers asked a judge to find that Justice Merchan was barred by law from sentencing Mr. Trump while their attempt to move the case was underway.
It seemed possible that effort might backfire. If the federal judge does not grant the lawyers’ request, they will have further alienated Justice Merchan as he prepares to sentence their client. Mr. Trump faces up to four years in prison, though he could receive a shorter sentence, or merely probation.
There are signs the federal judge might be skeptical. Mr. Trump already tried — and failed — to move the case to federal court. Last year, soon after the former president was indicted, he asked the same federal judge to remove the case from Justice Merchan, arguing that it concerned official acts as president.
The judge, Alvin K. Hellerstein, rejected that argument.
“The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the matter was a purely personal item of the president — a cover-up of an embarrassing event,” Judge Hellerstein wrote in an opinion last year. “Hush money paid to an adult film star is not related to a president’s official acts. It does not reflect in any way the color of the president’s official duties.”
It is unclear how soon Judge Hellerstein might take up Thursday’s request, or whether he will hold a hearing to entertain it. In their filing, Mr. Trump’s lawyers cast aspersions on the New York State court system, saying its procedures had “proven inadequate” to protect federal interests and, if allowed to continue, would “result in further irreparable harm to President Trump.”
The unorthodox filing suggested that Mr. Trump’s lawyers are likely to make any and every attempt they can to delay the sentencing, even if Judge Hellerstein balks.
A spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office declined to comment.
The filing on Thursday captured two of Mr. Trump’s favorite legal strategies: delay, and attacks on Justice Merchan.
The former president has on three occasions sought to oust Justice Merchan from the case, claiming he is biased, and lobbing personal attacks at the judge’s daughter, who is a Democratic political consultant. The judge has rejected each request and assailed the claims as “rife with inaccuracies and unsubstantiated claims.”
New York
Video: Heavy Downpour Floods New York City Streets
![Video: Heavy Downpour Floods New York City Streets Video: Heavy Downpour Floods New York City Streets](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/08/07/multimedia/07hurricane-debby-nycrains1-bwmh/07hurricane-debby-nycrains1-bwmh-facebookJumbo.jpg?video-overlay)
new video loaded: Heavy Downpour Floods New York City Streets
transcript
transcript
Heavy Downpour Floods New York City Streets
Drivers navigated flooded roads, including major highways, as a storm hit the New York City region.
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Announcement: Bainbridge Avenue Jerome Avenue.
Recent episodes in Extreme Weather
New York
Senator Menendez’s Resignation Letter
![Senator Menendez’s Resignation Letter Senator Menendez’s Resignation Letter](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/07/23/doc-4ddf28bf-7055-4adb-bc76-b-promo/doc-4ddf28bf-7055-4adb-bc76-b-promo-facebookJumbo.png)
ROBERT MENENDEZ
NEW JERSEY
COMMITTEES:
BANKING, HOUSING, AND URBAN
AFFAIRS
FINANCE
FOREIGN RELATIONS
The Honorable Phil Murphy
Governor of New Jersey
Office of the Governor
Trenton, N.J. 08625
Dear Governor Murphy,
United States Senate
WASHINGTON, DC 20510-3005
July 23, 2024
528 SENATE HART OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON, DC 20510
(202) 224-4744
210 HUDSON STREET
HARBORSIDE 3, SUITE #1000
JERSEY CITY, NJ 07311
(973) 645-3030
208 WHITE HORSE PIKE
SUITE 18-19
BARRINGTON, NJ 08007
(856) 757-5353
This is to advise you that I will be resigning from my office as the United States Senator from
New Jersey, effective on the close of business on August 20, 2024.
This will give time for my staff to transition to other possibilities, transfer constituent files that
are pending, allow for an orderly process to choose an interim replacement, and for me to close
out my Senate affairs.
While I fully intend to appeal the jury’s verdict, all the way and including to the Supreme Court,
I do not want the Senate to be involved in a lengthy process that will detract from its important
work. Furthermore, I cannot preserve my rights upon a successful appeal, because factual matters
before the ethics committee are not privileged. This is evidenced by the Committee’s Staff
Director and Chief Counsel being called to testify at my trial.
I am proud of the many accomplishments I’ve had on behalf of New Jersey, such as leading the
federal effort for Superstorm Sandy recovery, preserving and funding Gateway and leading the
federal efforts to help save our hospitals, State and municipalities, as well as New Jersey families
through a once in a century COVID pandemic. These successes led you, Governor, to call me the
“Indispensable Senator.”
I thank the citizens of New Jersey for the extraordinary privilege of representing them in the
United States Senate.
Sincerely,
Pabet Menang.
Robert Menendez
United States Senator
New Jersey
cc: The Honorable Kamala Harris, President of the Senate
The Honorable Ann Berry, Secretary of the Senate
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