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Prime Cuomo aide’s father lobbied the governor’s workplace earlier this 12 months

Top Cuomo aide's father lobbied the governor's office earlier this year

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (L) speaks with Secretary to Governor Melissa DeRosa (R) during his daily press conference on March 20, 2020 in New York City.

Bennett Raglin | Getty Images

A firm run by the father of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s closest adviser was actively lobbying members of the governor’s team for clients earlier this year when former Cuomo advisors made allegations of sexual harassment and the governor was under investigation by the attorney general.

Giorgio DeRosa, the father of the governor’s powerful secretary Melissa DeRosa, is listed in lobbyists ‘disclosure reports as part of a group that actively engaged Cuomo’s staff in the Executive Chamber during Attorney General Letitia James’ investigation into the governor for alleged sexual harassment of several women, as records show.

The disclosure reports show that Giorgio DeRosa, a head of the influential Bolton-St. Johns and his team lobbied the Cuomo Executive Chamber from January through April. Melissa DeRosa’s brother, who also works at the company, is also listed in disclosure reports showing the group targeted the governor’s office during the same period.

Bolton-St. Johns made just over $ 80,000 in that time lobbying Cuomo’s team, the revelations show.

The first former Cuomo adviser went public in December on allegations of sexual harassment against the governor. James announced in late February that he would take over the investigation.

The attorney general’s report found that Cuomo sexually molested eleven women and violated state and federal laws. It is also alleged that Melissa DeRosa was an architect to protect the governor from the allegations. Cuomo continues to deny wrongdoing. A new Quinnipiac poll says 7 out of 10 voters think Cuomo should step down.

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Between January and February, Giorgio DeRosa was part of a team hiring Cuomo’s consultants on a variety of topics for phone giant Verizon, food service company Delaware North and casino giant Caesars Entertainment.

Recent lobbying by the team also targeted members of the attorney general of the Live Nation ticket company later in the year, although those investigating Cuomo were not listed as the people contacted by Giorgio DeRosa and his team.

Melissa DeRosa said she has withdrawn from anything to do with her father and her entire family. Giorgio DeRosa has stood up for Cuomo’s team in the past.

Still, the lobbying reports show that he and his company continued to have access to the governor’s inner circle at the start of and during an investigation highlighting his daughter’s role in the alleged attempt to protect the governor from scrutiny.

After CNBC asked questions about Melissa DeRosa’s father’s recent lobbying efforts, a Cuomo spokesman dismissed CNBC’s coverage as “nonsensical”. The spokesman reiterated that the governor’s secretary had withdrawn from all matters related to her family.

“As has been publicly announced for years, Melissa is being proactively withdrawn on any specific matter that involves members of her family, and the premise of this article is nonsensical,” Rich Azzopardi, a Cuomo spokesman, said in an e- Mail to CNBC on Friday.

Azzopardi is also mentioned repeatedly in the attorney general’s report.

The attorney general’s report shows, among other things, that in March Melissa DeRosa twice requested that Larry Schwartz, who was Cuomo’s Covid vaccine czar at the time, call the Democratic district governments to take her pulse on whether the governor should resign in light of the allegations.

“On the call, Ms. DeRosa asked Mr. Schwartz to contact the Democratic District Councils to clarify their positions on whether the governor should resign in light of the sexual harassment allegations. Mr. Schwartz said he agreed to make the calls because Ms. DeRosa, the governor’s secretary, had asked, “the report said. “Two weeks after Mr. Schwartz made his first round of calls, Ms. DeRosa asked him to make another round of calls to the county boards to review their positions. Mr. Schwartz made those calls again and reported back to Ms. DeRosa.”

Ethics experts have previously questioned Melissa DeRosa’s attempt to distance herself from her father. Susan Lerner, the executive director of the guard dog Common Cause / New York, told CNBC in a telephone interview on Friday that after she and her group initially asked Melissa DeRosa for greater transparency, she received a call from the secretary to the governor.

“She refuses to provide a list of the matters that she has withdrawn from. When she was first appointed we raised this issue and she said she would withdraw herself,” Lerner said. “We said, ‘OK, let the public know which of these customers you are not going to discuss with.’ She refused and called to yell at me and say it was out of my turn to address these issues. “

Lerner said there were always the appearances of ethical issues when Giorgio DeRosa swayed the governor’s office while his daughter worked for the governor.

“It’s built into the situation and that was clear from the start,” she said. “By the time she was selected, there would be at least the semblance of inappropriateness that everyone in the executive who met with her father was very much aware of the relationship between the governor’s secretary and the lobbyist’s meeting with. It certainly is obvious to customers. “

Melissa DeRosa was first appointed secretary in 2017.

Giorgio DeRosa defended the company, saying it always acted in accordance with the laws of the state.

“Bolton-St.Johns has been rated as the top lobbying firm in New York for over two decades. Clients hire our firm to leverage our diverse knowledge and political know-how to support effective results-oriented strategies, ”he said in an email on Friday. “This topic has been covered extensively by other media in the past, and only the impeccable compliance with state law has been reported.”

For Verizon, the Executive Chamber’s lobbying focused, according to the disclosure, on “New York State budget items that affect Verizon’s services” and an “ongoing approval issue at the Verizon workplace.”

During the same period, Giorgio DeRosa and his team, along with members of the state legislature, participated in the Cuomo Executive Chamber on “Sports Betting Issues in NYS”. [New York State]“For Caesars.

In April, Cuomo signed a budget bill for fiscal year 2022 that would enable online sports betting in the Empire State. Giorgio DeRosa’s group supported Cuomo’s team on the same issues for Delaware North, which also owns casinos.

Giorgio DeRosa’s lobbying work towards the Executive Chamber did not end there. It was not until April that he and his company continued to advocate for Caesars on issues related to sports betting.

From March through April, they also got access to the executive chamber of FuelCell Energy, a Connecticut-based clean energy provider.

Giorgio DeRosa and his law firm also targeted state legislators for FuelCell with discussions about the review of the “Definition of Renewable Energy in New York State”.

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U.S.-China Commerce Talks Ought to Resume, U.S. Enterprise Teams Say

U.S.-China Trade Talks Should Resume, U.S. Business Groups Say

A group of America’s most influential corporate groups are urging the Biden government to resume trade talks with China and lower tariffs on Chinese-made goods that remained in effect after the trade war began between the two countries.

The groups, which represented interests as diverse as potato growers, microchip companies and the pharmaceutical industry, said in a letter Thursday that the Biden government should take “swift action” to address “onerous” tariffs. They also urged the White House to work with the Chinese government to ensure it honors the commitments they made in their trade peace signed with the Trump administration in early 2020.

The letter, addressed to the Treasury Department and the United States’ sales representative, comes as relations between the world’s two largest economies remain at odds. A high-profile visit to China by Wendy R. Sherman, the deputy foreign minister, last month started with sharp opening remarks from the Chinese side and ended with little progress. The two have argued over human rights, cyberattacks and China’s military operations in the South China Sea.

While the Biden government has developed a strategy of confronting China on a number of issues, it has said less about the countries’ economic relations.

It has been more than seven months since former President Donald J. Trump signed a January 2020 trade deal with China, along with other national security measures taken by the previous administration. Officials have not yet disclosed the results of this review.

The January 2020 trade stall essentially frozen US tariffs on Chinese imports of $ 360 billion. This deal also did nothing to stop the Chinese government’s subsidies for strategic industries such as computer chips and electric cars that worried American competitors. While some of the provisions of the trade agreement expire at the end of the year, much of the agreement will remain in force.

The industry group’s letter appeared to be an attempt to get the Biden government to act.

“Because of the tariffs, US industry is facing increased costs to manufacture products and provide services domestically, making its exports of those products and services less competitive overseas,” the letter read by the New York Times was reviewed.

Adam Hodge, a spokesman for the US Trade Representative’s office, said, “For the first half of this year, the US economy grew as fast as it has been in nearly 40 years, and more jobs were created in the first six months” than any other Administration in history. ”He added that the government is“ conducting a robust, strategic review of our economic relations with China to create effective policies ”.

The existence of the letter was previously reported by the Wall Street Journal.

The letter said China had met some of its trade deal commitments, including new measures to open up its market to US financial institutions. It added that further talks are the only way to ensure that China meets remaining commitments in other sectors such as intellectual property protection.

Although China has purchased substantial US goods since the trade war, the amount and composition have lagged behind its pledges to purchase US $ 200 billion worth of American goods and services in 2020 and 2021. According to an analysis by the Peterson Institute for International Economically, China lagged 40 percent behind those purchases last year and is 30 percent behind this year.

“We urge the government to work with the Chinese government to increase purchases of US goods through the remainder of 2021 and to implement all structural commitments of the agreement before its two-year anniversary on February 15, 2022,” the letter added added.

While the Biden government has questioned whether the trade deal with China was well designed, it has also signaled that it will continue to press China into unfair trade practices.

In June, President Biden expanded a Trump administration blacklist that prevented Americans from investing in Chinese companies that aid the country’s military or the repression of religious minorities. Mr. Biden put Huawei, a Chinese telecommunications giant, on the list of banned companies. The White House also announced the formation of a trade and technology council with American and European officials to counter China’s influence by coordinating digital policy between Brussels and Washington.

“We will not hesitate to highlight China’s compulsive and unfair trade practices that harm American workers, undermine the multilateral system, or violate fundamental human rights,” said Katherine Tai, the United States trade representative, in a prepared statement for a Senate hearing in May . “We are working on a strong strategic approach to our trade and economic relations with China.”

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Biden might quickly begin reshaping the Fed, and progressives desire a say

Biden may soon start reshaping the Fed, and progressives want a say

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testifies during the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing examining the CARES bill’s quarterly report to Congress on September 24, 2020 in Washington, DC.

Drew Angerer | AFP | Getty Images

We will soon find out what the leadership of the Federal Reserve under President Joe Biden will be.

The president will decide this fall whether to stay with Chairman Jerome Powell, whose term ends in February, or to place one of his distinguished colleagues at the helm of one of the most powerful economic institutions in the world.

Wall Street urges Biden to reappoint Powell for a second term. But the progressives are demanding a new face at the top of the central bank.

The job of chairman of the Fed is not the only role to be won. The term of office of Vice President Randal Quarles, the central bank’s regulatory contact, expires in October. And it all means Fed Governor Lael Brainard could stand up for a promotion.

Political advisors speaking to CNBC about Fed sales said the Biden administration is considering sending its nominations as a bundle to the Senate Banking Committee in September. They stressed that the search is ongoing and the timeline may shift depending on whether Biden decides to re-name Powell.

A strong indication of Wall Street’s fear of a possible replacement by Powell came last month from Mike Feroli, US chief economist at JPMorgan.

“Fed Chairman Powell’s response to the COVID-19 financial crisis and recession has been aggressive, creative and determined.

But Feroli said: “He is now in danger of losing his job.”

Placing the parts

That’s because progressive Democrats want Brainard to replace Powell.

Its proponents say it would urge the Fed to put more emphasis on banking regulation, income inequality and climate change.

Some Democrats, like Biden Treasury candidate Graham Steele, have said it would be a “huge missed opportunity” not to replace Powell with a woman or a minority member to run an institution long used by white men was dominated.

Feroli said Powell delighted the progressives by doubling the Fed’s commitment to maximum employment in all segments of the population, but that the group is still frustrated with the former investment banker’s reluctance to address issues like the economic impact of climate change.

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The White House declined to comment on the story and has not publicly stated whether the government is looking for a new chairman. Perhaps the closest thing the Biden administration got to public comment was Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s comments to CNBC last month.

Yellen, who made history as the first woman to head the Fed, said the central bank “did a good job” under Powell’s tenure.

When asked if she would support Powell for a second term, Yellen said she would keep that opinion a secret for the time being. She is likely to play an oversized role in advising the president, with Powell and Brainard serving as Fed governors while Yellen was chairman of the central bank.

The Treasury Department declined to comment on the story.

Yellen’s praise for the Powell Fed may have invalidated some progressive Democrats who hope Biden will take the opportunity to install a member of his own party.

“There are two dimensions. And one is how much [Powell] has helped the Fed as a whole deregulate further than Congress might have told them to, “said Mike Konczal, director of macroeconomic analysis at the left-wing Roosevelt Institute.

“The second question is whether the Fed could be more creative in using its powers,” he continued. “Can the Fed act much more aggressively against climate change? Could it have acted much more aggressively in consolidating state and local government balance sheets during the crisis.”

“These are two separate questions,” said Konczal. “And progressives believe Powell failed at both of them.”

Despite progressive concerns, Powell has a long list of allies on both sides of the political gang and is still seen on Wall Street as likely to maintain his chairmanship. His commitment to protecting the Fed from political influence and his record during the 2020 recession earned him praise from Republicans and Democrats alike.

Former President Donald Trump, who promoted Powell to Fed chief, repeatedly attacked the Fed chief over what Trump believed was high interest rates. But most Republicans in Congress, including North Carolina MP Patrick McHenry, have signaled their continued support for 68-year-old Powell.

“You deserve and deserve another term as chairman of the Federal Reserve,” said McHenry, senior Republican on the House of Representatives financial services committee, in July. “You have shown that you are a steady hand during this pandemic and the ongoing recovery, and you have defended the independence of the Fed.”

Brainard and Quarles

Progressives disagree on their preferred candidate, but many argue that Brainard is a sweet spot between Powell’s persistently low interest rates and tighter banking regulation.

Brainard has been a key Powell lieutenant throughout the Covid crisis and has for years supported the Fed’s growing emphasis on maximum employment through easy money policies. However, it has regularly objected to his decisions to relax certain banking regulations that were imposed after the 2008 financial crisis.

Lael Brainard, Governor of the US Federal Reserve, listens during an event sponsored by the Economic Club of New York in New York, the United States, on Tuesday, September 5, 2017.

Mark Kauzlarich | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Powell isn’t the only Fed member criticized for simplifying banking regulation, and his fate depends on Biden filling another key position.

Quarles’ term expires in October, offering progressives another great opportunity to put more sophisticated banking supervision in place.

Given his track record at the Fed and pressure from progressives to better regulate banks, Biden will almost certainly seek to replace Quarles as vice chairman of oversight.

Quarles, a former mutual fund manager and former Republican Treasury Department official, has angered Democrats for his industry-friendly and risky approach since joining the Fed in 2017.

Under his leadership, the Fed rolled back liquidity and capital requirements for large U.S. banks in 2019, beyond what many Democrats in Congress intended when the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act was partially withdrawn.

Randal Quarles

Jb Reed | Bloomberg | Getty Images

“Your term as Chair is up in five months and our financial system will be safer when you are gone,” Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Told Quarles during a hearing in May. “I urge President Biden to fill your role with someone who will actually protect our financial system.”

It’s less clear who Biden is considering for Quarles’ job, but Brainard could be a candidate if the President wants to keep Powell with him. Economist Lisa Cook, a favorite of Senate Banking Committee chair Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, is also being considered for a role at the central bank.

A Federal Reserve board spokesman did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

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How Biden’s E.V. Plan May Assist Tesla and Squeeze Toyota

How Biden’s E.V. Plan Could Help Tesla and Squeeze Toyota

Companies that have been slower, like Stellantis, which owns Ram, Jeep and Chrysler, brands that do not yet have vehicles solely powered by batteries, face additional pressure to catch up. Jeep started selling a plug-in hybrid version of its popular Wrangler this year and plans to start selling fully electric vehicles by 2023.

“Automotive industry leaders have seen the writing on the wall for some time now when it comes to electrification and autonomous technologies,” said Jessica Caldwell, a senior analyst at Edmunds, a market researcher.

Ms. Caldwell added that the sales targets set by the Biden administration and the automakers “are certainly not unreasonable, and most likely achievable by 2030 given that automakers have already baked in large numbers of electric vehicles into their future product cycles.”

But many automakers are just beginning to bring electric vehicles to market that have been designed from the ground up to run on batteries. The Mercedes-Benz EQS, a luxury electric sedan, will go on sale in the United States this month. BMW began selling a battery-powered vehicle, the i3, eight years ago but was slow to follow up. The iX, an electric S.U.V., will arrive at American dealers early next year.

And just because companies make electric vehicles does not mean that people will buy them. Volkswagen began selling an electric S.U.V., the ID.4, this year, but sales in the United States so far have been only a fraction of the company’s established models like the Jetta or Tiguan.

By setting a clear target for electric vehicle sales, Mr. Biden is adding momentum to the shift to clean transportation, but he is also unleashing forces that automakers may not be able to control.

Consumers could stampede to electric vehicles as they become less expensive and people realize that gasoline vehicles are in danger of becoming white elephants with plunging resale value. That would strain companies that, with the exception of Tesla and some start-ups, are still mainly in the business of producing cars with internal combustion engines.

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Biden blocks elimination of Hong Kong residents, cites China repression

Biden blocks removal of Hong Kong residents, cites China repression

United States President Joe Biden delivers a speech in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC on July 29, 2021.

Anna Money Maker | Getty Images

President Joe Biden signed an order on Wednesday blocking the forced deportation of many Hong Kong residents from the United States for 18 months and giving them a “temporary safe haven” from ongoing Chinese repression in the region, the White House said.

The order allows Hong Kong residents whose U.S. visas have expired and who are otherwise legally removable to remain in the United States.

Biden on Wednesday also directed the Department of Homeland Security to legally work in the United States for Hong Kong residents subject to the order.

“With politically motivated arrests and trials, media silence, and the shrinking space for elections and democratic opposition, we will continue to take steps to support the people of Hong Kong,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a written statement.

The order imposing memorandum signed by Biden also states that China has undermined “the enjoyment of rights and freedoms” in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, including those protected by the so-called Basic Law and the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

Since June 2020, when China unilaterally imposed its national security law on Hong Kong, police in the semi-autonomous region have detained at least 100 opposition politicians, activists and protesters on charges under the law, the memo said.

In addition, police arrested more than 10,000 people in connection with protests against the government.

China’s action came in response to the anti-government protests that began in Hong Kong in 2019.

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“There are compelling foreign policy reasons to postpone the forced exit of Hong Kong residents currently in the United States,” the memo said.

“The United States is committed to a foreign policy that combines our democratic values ​​with our foreign policy goals that focus on defending democracy and promoting human rights around the world,” the memo reads.

“Providing a safe haven for Hong Kong residents who have been deprived of their guaranteed freedoms in Hong Kong promotes US interests in the region.”

Biden’s order applies to Hong Kong residents currently in the United States, with certain exceptions.

These exceptions include those who cannot be admitted or deported to the United States under immigration law, those convicted of one or more offenses in the United States, and those whose presence is not in the interests of the United States

Senator Ben Sasse, the Republican from Nebraska who tabled a bill last year that automatically grants asylum to Hong Kong residents in the US, said Biden’s order was “a solid step, but we need to go further.”

“We must offer full asylum to Hong Kong people who are fleeing the brutal repression of Chairman Xi,” said Sasse, referring to the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jingping.

“America must stand firmly behind the victims of communism and show the world that we will always stand up for freedom around the world.”

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Greg Abbott Calls Texas Particular Session, in New Voting Rights Struggle

Greg Abbott Calls Texas Special Session, in New Voting Rights Fight

Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas on Thursday called a new special session of the Legislature that is set to begin on Saturday, renewing Republican efforts to overhaul the state’s elections and putting pressure on Democratic lawmakers who left the state for Washington last month to block the legislation.

Mr. Abbott, a Republican, stuck to his pledge “to call special session after special session,” releasing a 17-item agenda for the Republican-controlled Legislature with a new voting bill at the top. The list also included a host of other conservative goals, like restricting abortion access, limiting the ways that students are taught about racism and tightening border security.

His announcement sent national attention swinging back to a hotel in downtown Washington, where several dozen Democrats from the Texas House of Representatives are grappling with a familiar question: Stay or go back?

The Texas Democrats are torn over how much is left for them to accomplish in Washington, with some moderate members of the caucus believing that their point has been made. But more progressive members are pushing to stay in Washington and continue to call attention to voting rights, at least while the U.S. Senate remains in session.

“I’ve been very clear, as it relates to me, that as long as Congress is in town, working on voting rights, I will be here in Washington, D.C., advocating for voting rights,” said State Representative Trey Martinez Fischer, a Democrat who was one of the organizers of the initial flight from Austin.

President Biden’s administration, by contrast, appeared to suggest that it would support a return to Texas by the state lawmakers.

“Certainly, the president believes that, one, they’ve been outspoken advocates and champions of voting rights,” Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said at a news conference, adding that if the legislative calendar “required them to be there, we would support that.”

The lawmakers’ stay in Washington has amounted to a prolonged period of limbo; their trip has delayed Republicans’ attempt to pass an election bill, but it remains unlikely that it will be a fatal blow.

Federal officials celebrated their arrival in Washington, with Vice President Kamala Harris likening their departure from Texas to the voting rights march in Selma, Ala., and other famous civil rights protests of the 1960s. But the group lost momentum when several vaccinated legislators tested positive for the coronavirus.

In video chats, the Texas Democrats did their best to maintain pressure on both the White House and Democratic senators to find a path forward for federal voting legislation, and eventually coaxed more than 100 state legislators from other states to join them in Washington.

And the lawmakers’ visit to Washington has coincided with the renewal of talks toward a compromise voting bill. Eight Democratic senators, including Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, have been moving closer to a final draft to be introduced later this year. What prompted the end of congressional inertia, however, is unclear, and any federal voting bill would remain unlikely to move quickly through the chambers of Congress.

So now, with the Texas Democrats confronting an uncertain future, they are debating their next moves.

If they return, they could be subject to the as-yet-untested powers of the Republican Statehouse leadership to arrest and detain any lawmakers who do not show up for a legislative session while in the state of Texas.

While Speaker Dade Phelan, a Republican, can issue arrest warrants during a session that has been gaveled in, there has never been a test of that authority when a session has been called by the governor but cannot start because enough lawmakers have declined to show up. Mr. Phelan’s office believes he has the authority to request arrest warrants and send law enforcement officers to retrieve absentee lawmakers even if the session has not started.

Back in Austin, Republican members said they had been maintaining informal discussions with their Democratic colleagues in an attempt to re-establish a quorum and get back to work. The partisan strictures in the Texas Legislature are far less rigid than those in Congress, with no dividing aisle between Republicans and Democrats. Members of the opposing parties intermingle more on the House floor and often form working friendships.

“I can tell you they’ve been going on since they left three weeks ago,” State Representative Jim Murphy of Houston, the chairman of the 83-member House Republican Caucus, said of the largely ad hoc discussions. Most of the conversations were “just personal — largely people want to know if they’re going to return,” he added. “How committed are they? Are there some that are willing to come back? Are there things that need to happen to encourage them to return?”

“I’ve done some texting, some phone calling,” he said, though “not a whole lot.”

At least nine Democrats have remained in Austin for varying reasons, though most, if not all, have embraced their colleagues’ opposition to the voting bill.

But as Democrats consider their immediate future, Mr. Abbott did add a surprise item to the agenda that, while unclear in its scope or likelihood of success, could further complicate their calculations: “Legislation relating to legislative quorum requirements.”

Katie Rogers contributed reporting.

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Richard Trumka, head of AFL-CIO union federation, dies at 72

Richard Trumka, head of AFL-CIO union federation, dies at 72

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka addresses the Economic Club of Washington in Washington, DC on April 23, 2019.

Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, a former coal miner who rose to lead the 12.5-million-member labor organization, died Thursday. He was 72.

Trumka, who became leader of the nation’s most powerful labor organization in 2009, died of an apparent heart attack, according to two sources who had been briefed by AFL-CIO aides.

At the time, Trumka “was doing what he loved, spending time, celebrating his grandson’s birthday,” AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler said in a note to staff.

“We are heartbroken,” wrote Shuler, who under the group’s constitution will perform the duties of president until the AFL-CIO’s Executive Council elects a successor to Trumka.

President Joe Biden, whose 2020 run for the White House was endorsed by the AFL-CIO, called Trumka a close friend after learning of the labor leader’s death.

“The labor movement, the AFL-CIO and the nation lost a legend today,” said Tim Schlittner, communications director of the federation, which is comprised of 56 union affiliates and is major force in Democratic politics.

“Rich Trumka devoted his life to working people, from his early days as president of the United Mine Workers of America to his unparalleled leadership as the voice of America’s labor movement,” Schlittner said.

“He was a relentless champion of workers’ rights, workplace safety, worker-centered trade, democracy and so much more. He was also a devoted father, grandfather, husband, brother, coach, colleague and friend. Rich was loved and beloved.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, choked back tears as he spoke on the Senate floor about Trumka.

“I rise today with some sad, horrible news about the passing of a great friend Rich Trumka who left us this morning,” Schumer said, before pausing to compose himself.

“The working people of America have lost a fierce warrior at a time when we needed him most.”

Trumka grew up in the coal-mining town of Nemacolin, Pennsylvania. As a college and law school student, Trumka worked as coal miner, as his father and grandfather had done.

At 33 years old, he ran and won on a reform ticket for the presidency of the United Mine Workers of America, becoming the youngest leader of that union in its history.

In 1995, Trumka was elected secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, which had been formed 40 years earlier by merger of the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organization.

Trumka more recently was a major force in Biden’s selection of Marty Walsh as secretary of the Labor Department.

As Biden was assembling his Cabinet, Trumka’s lobbying for the then-Boston mayor was crucial to cementing Biden’s choice to nominate Walsh over Rep. Andy Levin, the Michigan Democrat who was the preferred candidate of some of the AFL-CIO’s affiliated unions

Trumka was equally influential when Republicans occupied the White House.

In 2019, Trumka convinced several skeptical Democratic House members, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to pass then-President Donald Trump’s revised version of the North American Free Trade Agreement, known as the USMCA.

Labor unions have long criticized NAFTA, claiming it sent tens of thousands of U.S. union manufacturing jobs over the border to Mexico, where wages are lower and labor unions represent industries, and not the workers in them.

Trumka later said that while USMCA was far from perfect, it was a large step toward undoing the harm caused by NAFTA. USMCA passed the House in Dec. 2019, with 41 Democrats voting against it.

While Trumka was influential, his rise in union politics since the 1980s coincided with a marked drop in membership in American unions during that time.

In 1983, about 20% of U.S. workers belonged to a labor union, but by 2019 that had fallen to just above 14%, according to Labor Department statistics.

But in recent years, the labor movement has gained momentum, as employees have pushed for better wages and improved working conditions across industries from fast food to aviation to large retailers such as Amazon. That push has come at the same time as corporate profits have soared.

Trumka noted that shift in momentum during his last major speech on July 27, at the virtual convention of the Texas AFL-CIO.

“My fellow union members, make no mistake about it: The labor movement in Texas is growing more powerful,” Trumka said. ” The anti-worker attacks have not discouraged you! The uphill climb has not stopped you. Since the pandemic hit, you’ve done the hard work. You’ve made your voices louder. And you’ve made your communities and state stronger.”

“So it should come as no surprise that America is turning toward the values of unionism.”

Sara Nelson, a prominent labor leader and president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which represents some 50,000 cabin crew members at more than a dozen airlines, said she was “shocked and saddened” by Trumka’s death.

“The very best way to honor Rich’s legacy is to fight back stronger than ever for American workers,” Nelson said.

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman said Trumka’s death was “truly heartbreaking.”

“We lost a larger than life figure who spent a career fighting for, and defending the Union Way of Life,” Fetterman, a Democrat, wrote in a tweet.

“It’s left to the rest of us to pick up the slack and never stop fighting.  #UnionStrong.”

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy ordered flags in that state flown at half-staff to mark Trumka’s death.

“America’s and New Jersey’s working families have lost one of their most steadfast and dedicated allies,” Murphy said in a statement. “Organized labor has lost one of its most powerful voices.”

– Additional reporting by CNBC’s Kevin Breuninger

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Russia Bans Bard School – The New York Occasions

Russia Bans Bard College - The New York Times

Michael C. Kimmage, a former State Department official who specializes in US-Russian relations, said the bard action sent a terrifying message to academics.

“I can’t think of a responsible administrator at an American college or exchange program who doesn’t take this seriously and is concerned,” said Dr. Kimmage, now professor at the Catholic University of America in Washington.

Russia has taken several steps to reduce educational exchanges between the two countries, despite trying to establish educational partnerships elsewhere and improve the quality of its domestic public universities.

In 2014, the Russian government withdrew from the Future Leaders Exchange program, a US State Department-funded initiative to promote US study by foreign high school students, after a Russian teenager studying in Michigan sought political asylum had. More recently, limited consulate services have made it difficult for Russian students to obtain a visa to study in the United States.

Suspicions have also increased in the USA. In 2019, a program at the American University in Washington was criticized as being too soft on Russia, and the Russian ambassador, Anatoly Antonov, accused the US news media of Russophobia while calling for increased cultural exchange between the countries.

Several American universities set up programs in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but some of them have closed in recent years. In 2018, Stanford University announced that it was suspending its Russian study abroad programs, citing security issues. That same year, Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts began phasing out its program at Astrakhan State University in Astrakhan, Russia, citing the cost and difficulty of managing its program from the United States as reasons.

The decline may be largely symbolic, indicative of the deterioration in relations between countries. Russia has never been a major partner in international study programs with the United States and ranks low on the list of countries whose students come to the United States. And according to the Institute of International Education, the number of Americans studying abroad in Russia fell to 1,305 in 2019, and data is available for the last year, from 1,827 in 2011.

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Mexico sues U.S. gun producers, alleging they trigger huge harm to nation

Mexico sues U.S. gun manufacturers, alleging they cause massive damage to country

Mexican soldiers guard a crime scene.

Guillermo arias | AFP | Getty Images

The Mexican government on Wednesday sued several US arms manufacturers for contributing to the illegal arms trade in Mexico.

The lawsuit was filed in US federal court in Boston. Among the defendants named in the lawsuit are Smith & Wesson, Barrett Firearms, Beretta USA, and Colt’s Manufacturing Company.

The companies did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.

The arms manufacturers are accused of negligent business practices that facilitate the smuggling of arms to Mexico and cause “massive damage” to the country. The lawsuit alleges that they knowingly supply the criminal arms market in Mexico. Military-style companies’ weapons often end up in the hands of drug cartels and other criminals who harm civilians and government personnel.

Mexico has reported historically high murder rates in recent years, some of which in the lawsuit are attributable to the arms trade from the United States in violation of Mexican gun laws.

“The consequences in Mexico were dire. In addition to the exponential increase in the murder rate, the behavior of the defendants has had an overall destabilizing effect on Mexican society,” the lawsuit said.

The Mexican government is demanding compensation for the financial toll and bloodshed caused by the alleged wrongful conduct of the defendants. Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said at a press conference on Wednesday that the government is targeting an estimated $ 10 billion, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

Mexico’s Secretary of State Marcelo Ebrard watches during a press conference to announce that Mexico has sued several arms manufacturers in a U.S. federal court accusing them of negligent business practices that resulted in the illegal arms trade that took place in Mexico in Mexico City, Mexico, on 4th, 2021.

Luis Cortes | Reuters

“For decades, the government and its citizens have been the victims of a deadly flood of military and other particularly lethal weapons that have passed from the United States across the border into criminal hands into Mexico,” the lawsuit said.

“This flood is not a natural phenomenon or an inevitable consequence of the gun business or US gun laws. It is the predictable result of the willful acts and business practices of the defendants, ”it said.

The compensation would cover, among other things, the cost of deaths and injuries to Mexican police and military personnel, social services for victims of gun crimes and their families, and strengthening law enforcement to prevent the gun trade, the lawsuit said.

Laws in Mexico severely restrict the sale of firearms, and the Mexican government issues fewer than 50 gun permits each year, according to the lawsuit.

But the defendants are undermining these laws, the lawsuit says. An estimated half a million weapons are smuggled into Mexico from the United States each year, and the defendants produce over 68% of them, the lawsuit said.

That means they sell more than 340,000 firearms to criminals annually, which flow across the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit states that the defendants do not regulate their gun distribution practices. They sell guns to any distributor or dealer with a US license, regardless of whether they illegally sold guns to Mexico, the lawsuit says.

The defendants are also charged with marketing their weapons in a way that attracts transnational criminal organizations such as Mexican drug cartels. Barrett Firearms, for example, markets one of its rifles as a “weapon of war,” but sells it to the general public without restrictions, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit alleges that it enabled criminals to attack the Mexican military and police, and increased extortion and kidnapping.

Ebrard on Wednesday urged U.S. arms manufacturers to end their business practices which he believes are contributing to violence and deaths in his country, Reuters reported. He said he believed the US government, not mentioned in the lawsuit, was ready to work with Mexico to curb the illegal arms trade.

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Politics

Courtroom Paperwork Establish Sailor Charged With Arson in Fireplace That Destroyed Ship

Court Documents Identify Sailor Charged With Arson in Fire That Destroyed Ship

WASHINGTON — Investigators have identified the Navy sailor accused of starting a fire that engulfed the warship Bonhomme Richard and burned for days at a Navy base in San Diego last year.

The sailor, Ryan Sawyer Mays, 20, joined the service in May 2019 and holds the rank of seaman apprentice, according to Navy records. The Navy formally charged Seaman Mays with aggravated arson and hazarding a vessel last month but declined to provide additional details until federal search warrants were unsealed by a federal court in San Diego on Tuesday.

Documents filed by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service describe a sailor who “hated” the Navy after being sent to a warship following a brief stint as a SEAL trainee in late 2019.

Seaman Mays quit the difficult six-month initial SEAL training course in Coronado, Calif., after just five days, according to the filing.

The fire, one of the worst to engulf an American warship outside combat, rendered the ship inoperative while it was pierside at the base. More than 400 sailors from 16 nearby ships fought the blaze, which reached temperatures of 1,000 degrees and took four days to extinguish.

A lawyer representing Seaman Mays said his client had “maintained his innocence throughout this entire ordeal.”

“He’s presumed innocent, and we look forward for the opportunity to review the evidence and presenting a case on his behalf,” the lawyer, Gary S. Barthel, said in an interview on Wednesday.

Seaman Mays, whose identity was reported earlier by The Daily Beast, was confined in a Navy brig from late August to approximately mid-October 2020 and then released, according to Mr. Barthel. It is unclear why the Navy freed Seaman Mays months before he was formally charged.

After his release from the brig, Seaman Mays reported to the staff of Amphibious Squadron 5 in San Diego, where he is currently assigned.

“He’s expected to perform his duties as he would any other day of the week as any other sailor would,” Mr. Barthel said of his client. “There are no restrictions on his movement.”

Mr. Barthel said his client voluntarily quit the SEAL program, and hopes to re-enter training in the future.

“I think he’d like to go back if given the opportunity, if he meets all the other qualifications,” Mr. Barthel said.

A spokesman for the Naval Special Warfare Command in Coronado, which oversees SEAL training, could not immediately confirm the details described by N.C.I.S.

Navy records show that Seaman Mays left the Naval Special Warfare training center on March 6, 2020, and reported to the Bonhomme Richard on March 23.

The N.C.I.S. report said that the Bonhomme Richard’s command master chief — the ship’s senior-most enlisted sailor and a top adviser to the commanding officer — described Seaman Mays as “a person who showed disdain towards authority and the U.S. Navy.” The report further noted that “the morale and behavior of sailors who had aspired to become a SEAL, and then find themselves serving in a more traditional role on a Navy ship, are frequently very challenging.”

Seaman Mays was assigned to the Bonhomme Richard’s Deck Division, which is responsible for maintaining the physical condition of the ship — a job often involving manual labor such as removing rust and painting.

The warship was undergoing an extended maintenance period and was moored when the blaze broke out on a Sunday morning, when fewer than 200 sailors were aboard. The unsealed documents said that Seaman Mays was on duty aboard the ship that day.

Navy officials deemed the 800-foot-long amphibious warship a total loss after repair estimates rose to more than $3 billion. The ship was decommissioned on April 14, and towed through the Panama Canal. It will be cut into scrap metal in Texas.

According to the N.C.I.S., a witness identified Seaman Mays as the only person who entered a vehicle storage area deep within the ship the morning of the fire, shortly before smoke was seen rising from that compartment. The report said that he may have left the storage area through an escape trunk and returned to his berthing area. A second sailor recalled Seaman Mays coming into the berthing area to “tell everyone to get off the ship because the ship was on fire.”

Seaman Mays filled out a questionnaire for investigators eight days after the fire broke out, and was the only member of the crew aboard the ship on July 12, 2020, who reported smelling a “burning fuel/rubbery smell” from the fire, the documents said. Investigators said the terminology Seaman Mays used to describe the smell of the fire was “consistent with items and materials” that special agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives found in the vehicle storage compartment after the fire was extinguished.

Seaman Mays faces a preliminary hearing known as an Article 32 investigation, the results of which will either recommend he be sent to a court-martial or have the charges dismissed. The final decision on whether Seaman Mays will face trial will be made by the commander of the Navy’s Third Fleet, Vice Adm. Steve Koehler.

Cmdr. Sean Robertson, a spokesman for Third Fleet, confirmed that “Seaman Apprentice Ryan Sawyer Mays is the sailor who was charged July 29,” and said, “I have nothing further to add.”

Seamus Hughes contributed research.