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Senate takes step towards passing $1.9 trillion aid invoice

Senate takes step toward passing $1.9 trillion relief bill

The Senate took its first big step Thursday to pass the Democrats’ $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus bailout as lawmakers seek to break a deadline to prevent unemployment benefits from running out.

The board voted to start a debate on the bailout and set the stage for its approval earlier this weekend. Vice President Kamala Harris had to break a 50:50 tie after a party line in the evenly divided Senate.

A tricky process awaits as Senate Republicans who oppose more stimulus spending have tools to delay a final vote on the 628-page bill by hours or even days.

  • The process coordination begins with a debate on the plan of up to 20 hours. Senators may not use all of the time.
  • The debate will not start immediately. Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson forced Senate officials to read the massive laws out loud, which will take at least a few hours. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., said the move would “only delay the inevitable”.
  • At the end of the discussion phase, the Senate will vote on an indefinite number of amendments to the bill as part of the budget comparison, which enables legislation to be passed with a simple majority. Republicans are expected to use amendments to force Democrats into politically sensitive votes and drag out the process.

“No matter how long it takes, the Senate will remain in session this week to finalize the bill,” Schumer said on Thursday.

Senator Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., Attends a Joint Hearing of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs and Senate Rules and Administration Committees on Capitol Hill, Washington, on February 23, 2021, to discuss the May 6 attack on the Capitol Investigate January.

Erin Scott | Pool | Reuters

After the Senate passes the plan, the House plans to approve it by the middle of next week. Democrats want the legislation to be brought to President Joe Biden’s desk before March 14, when a $ 300 weekly unemployment insurance increase and benefit-expansion programs to an additional million people officially expire.

Democrats could pass the bill in the Senate themselves, with Harris breaking a tie.

Republicans have criticized the level of spending as Covid-19 vaccinations spike and the country draws closer to reopening in the coming months.

Senate Minority Chairman Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Said Thursday his problem with the plan was “how poorly this bill is doing what Americans need right now.”

Democrats said the proposal will both boost Americans, who struggle for housing and food after nearly a year of economic restrictions, and prevent future economic troubles once the country resumes normal activities. The party, which must keep every member on board to get the bill through the Senate, discussed a number of last-minute changes to address concerns.

The Democrats’ plan provides a weekly unemployment benefit of $ 400 per week through August 29, and expands programs to allow more people to be eligible for unemployment benefits by the same date. Some Democratic senators had urged that the benefits either be maintained for an extended period or that the additional payment amount be reduced to $ 300 per week.

To gain support from moderate Democrats, party leaders also agreed to limit the number of people receiving direct payments to as much as $ 1,400. New income caps could mean at least 8 million people fewer checks than under the law the House passed on Saturday.

The Senate also removed a provision passed by the House of Representatives to raise the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour by 2025. The Chamber’s legislature, ruled by Parliament, could not do this in the context of the budget vote.

Other changes to the house bill include an increase in the employee loyalty tax credit, an increase in COBRA health insurance subsidies, and increased funding for critical infrastructure and rural health care, according to NBC News.

Democrats considered changing to ensure that more of the $ 350 billion pool went to state, local, and tribal government to small states.

Legislation also provides $ 20 billion for the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, extends the child tax credit by one year, and provides an additional $ 20 billion in rent and utilities.

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Treasury to Make investments $9 Billion in Minority Communities

Treasury to Invest $9 Billion in Minority Communities

WASHINGTON – The Biden government on Thursday unveiled a plan to invest $ 9 billion in minority communities. This is a first step towards ensuring that those hardest hit by the pandemic have access to credit when the economy recovers.

The Treasury Department announced that it is opening the application process for its emergency capital investment program, which will provide large funding to community development financial institutions and minority depositaries to increase lending.

Efforts are a priority for Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen, who has warned that the aftermath of the pandemic is exacerbating inequality in the United States.

“America has always had deserts for financial services, places where it is very difficult for people to get their hands on capital, for example to start a business,” Ms. Yellen said in a statement. “But the pandemic has made these deserts even more inhospitable.”

She added, “The Emergency Capital Investment Program will help these places that the financial sector has not normally served well.”

Ms. Yellen has been an advocate of financial institutions for community development for years, arguing that they are an important tool in promoting a more inclusive economy.

The aid programs introduced in 2020, such as the Small Business Paycheck Protection Program, have been criticized by minorities who say that black and other minority owned companies are at a disadvantage in applying for a limited pool of funds because many had weaker banking relationships than that her colleagues in white possession. A study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York last year found that black-owned companies were hit hardest by closings in the first half of 2020.

Treasury is using funds approved under the $ 900 billion stimulus package passed in December and signed by former President Donald J. Trump.

Community development financial institutions that provide affordable credit options to consumers and low-income businesses have been largely neglected by Mr Trump and his finance department. President Biden and Mrs. Yellen have signaled that they will be vital to improving racial justice in the United States.

The new program will make direct investments in local lenders who support small businesses and consumers in low-income communities. The investments will have low interest rates and provide greater incentives for lenders to offer small loans to the neediest, both in rural areas and in places of persistent poverty.

Finance officials said they wanted the new program to strengthen financial institutions health for community development. The department is also launching two separate programs that provide lenders with additional $ 3 billion in grants and other assistance.

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Capitol Police put together for potential militia plot in opposition to Congress

Capitol Police prepare for possible militia plot against Congress

The US Capitol Police Department said Wednesday it had received information showing a “possible conspiracy to breach the Capitol” on Thursday “by an unidentified militia group”.

“We take this information seriously,” said the Capitol Police in a press release that also said the authorities are prepared for possible violence.

“Due to the sensitive nature of this information, we cannot provide any additional details at this time.”

The warning came a day after the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI sent an intelligence bulletin to state and local law enforcement agencies warning that some domestic groups were “discussing plans to take control of the U.S. Capitol and Democratic lawmakers on or.” to remove March 4th “. “A senior police officer told NBC News on Wednesday.

The exposure of the potential threat comes almost two months after the Capitol uprising on Jan. 6, when thousands of supporters of then-President Donald Trump broke into the halls of Congress and disrupted the confirmation of President Joe Biden’s election.

Five people died in connection with the attack, including Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick.

March 4th is considered a significant date by some extremists, especially among supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory, as it was the date for the presidential inauguration until 1937. Some QAnon supporters believe that that day Trump can take back power.

The joint Homeland Security and FBI bulletin states that “domestic violent extremists” or “militia-violent extremists” were encouraged by the January 6 attack and are therefore at greater risk.

The bulletin states that extremists continue to “perceive electoral fraud and other conspiracy theories related to the presidential transition that can help (domestic violent extremists) mobilize to violence without warning”.

Trump has falsely claimed for months that he lost the election to Biden due to widespread election fraud. No such fraud was found.

The Capitol Police said in their statement on Wednesday that they “know and are prepared to face possible threats to members of Congress or the Capitol complex.”

“We have already made significant security improvements to ensure the creation of a physical structure and increase in the workforce to ensure the protection of Congress, the public and our police officers,” the police said in their statement.

“Our department is working with our local, state and federal partners to halt any threat to the Capitol.”

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Republicans Received Blue-Collar Votes. They’re Not Providing A lot in Return.

Republicans Won Blue-Collar Votes. They’re Not Offering Much in Return.

Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, a Republican, stated on Twitter, “We’re working class party now. That’s the future. “

And with further results showing that Mr. Trump had raised 40 percent of the union budgets and made unexpected strides among Latinos, other Republican leaders, including Florida Senator Marco Rubio, are trumpeting a political realignment. Republicans, they said, were hastening their conversion to Sam’s Club party, not the country club.

But since then, Republicans have offered very little to advance workers’ economic interests. Two important ways for party leaders to present their priorities have emerged recently without nodding to working Americans.

In Washington, Democrats, who are putting nearly $ 2 trillion in a stimulus package, are facing widespread opposition from Congressional Republicans to the package, which is full of measures that will benefit struggling workers a full year after the coronavirus pandemic began come. The bill includes $ 1,400 middle-income American checks with extended unemployment benefits due to expire on March 14.

At a high-profile, high-decibel Conservative meeting in Florida last weekend, potential 2024 presidential candidates, including Texas Hawley and Senator Ted Cruz, barely mentioned a blue collar agenda. They used their twists and turns in the national spotlight to stir up complaints about “culture breakup”, beat up the tech industry, and reinforce Mr. Trump’s false claims of a stolen election.

Inside and outside the party, critics see a familiar pattern: Republican officials, following Trump’s own example, harness the cultural anger and racial resentment of a sizable segment of the white working class, but have not made concerted efforts to help Americans economically.

“This is the Republican identity problem,” said Carlos Curbelo, a former Florida Republican Congressman, referring to the general opposition of the House Republicans to the stimulus plan devised by President Biden and the Democratic Congress. “This is a package that Donald Trump would most likely have supported as President.”

“Here’s the question for the Rubios and the Hawleys and the Cruzes and anyone else who wants to benefit from this potential new Republican coalition,” added Curbelo. “If you don’t take steps to improve people’s quality of life, they will eventually leave you.”

Some Republicans have tried to address the strategic problem. Utah Senator Mitt Romney proposed one of the most ambitious GOP initiatives aimed at fighting the Americans, a move to tackle child poverty by sending parents up to $ 350 per month per child. But other Republicans rejected the plan as “welfare”. Mr. Hawley has approved a Democratic proposal for a minimum wage of $ 15, with the caveat that it only applies to companies with annual sales above $ 1 billion.

Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster whose client included Mr Rubio, criticized the Democrats for failing to compromise on incentive after a group of GOP senators offered a smaller package. “Seven Republican senators voted to condemn a president of their own party,” he said, referring to Mr. Trump’s impeachment. “If you can’t put any of them on a Covid program, you’re not really making an effort.”

As the Covid-19 bailout package, which every Republican in the House of Representatives has rejected, finds its way through the Senate this week, Republicans are expected to come up with further proposals targeting the struggling Americans.

Mr Ayres said the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, last weekend, the first major party convention since Mr Trump left, had been a spectacularly missed opportunity in failing to have a meaningful discussion of politics for workers pick up voters. Instead, the former president waged an intra-party civil war by naming a hit list of all Republicans who voted to indict him in his speech on Sunday.

“You should spend a lot more time developing an economic agenda that benefits workers than retrying a losing presidential election,” Ayres said. “The question is, how long will it take Republicans to find out that driving out heretics rather than attracting new converts is a losing strategy right now?”

Separately, one of the most famous worker uplifting efforts in the country was made this week in Alabama, where nearly 6,000 workers at an Amazon warehouse are voting on whether to unionize. On Sunday, the union-friendly workers were given a nudge in a video from Mr Biden. Representatives of Mr. Hawley, who was one of the leading Republican advocates of working class realignment, did not respond to a request for comment on where he stood on the matter.

The 2020 election continued a long-term trend with parties essentially swapping voters, with Republicans winning with workers while suburban white-collar workers headed for Democrats. The Sam’s Club Conservative idea, launched by former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty about 15 years ago, recognized a constituency of populist Republicans who advocated higher minimum wages and government aid for families in difficulty.

Mr Trump noted a historic level of support for a Republican among white working class voters. But once in office, his greatest legislative achievement was a tax cut, with most of the benefits going to businesses and the rich.

Oceans of ink have been spilled on whether the white working class devotion to Mr Trump had more to do with economic fear or anger against “elites” and racial minorities, especially immigrants. For many analysts, the answer is that this has to do with both.

Its advancement of politics in favor of working class Americans has often been chaotic and unsolved. Manufacturing jobs, which had been slow to recover since the 2009 financial crisis, declined in the year before the Trump pandemic. The former president’s military trade war with China hit American farmers so hard economically that they received large rescue packages from taxpayers.

“There never was a program that looked at the types of displacement,” said John Russo, former co-director of the Center for Working Class Studies at Youngstown State University in Ohio.

He believes American workers will be worse off once the economy returns to pre-pandemic levels as employers accelerated automation and will continue the downsizing introduced during the pandemic. “Neither party is talking about it,” said Mr Russo. “I think this will be a key issue by 2024.”

It is possible that Republicans who do not prioritize economic issues read their rationale carefully. A poll by GOP pollster Echelon Insights last month found that the main concerns of Republican voters were mostly cultural: illegal immigration, lack of police support, high taxes and “liberal bias in the mainstream media.”

Despite Mr Biden’s campaign classifying him as “Bourgeois Joe” from Scranton, Pennsylvania, he made little progress as a candidate in supporting Mr Trump with non-college white voters, disappointing Democratic strategists and party activists. In exit polls, these voters preferred Mr. Trump to Mr. Biden by 35 percentage points.

Among non-college color voters, Mr Trump won one of four votes, an improvement over 2016 when he received one of five votes.

His efforts with Latinos in South Florida and the Rio Grande Valley, Texas shocked many Democrats in particular, and it spurred Mr. Rubio to tweet that the future of the GOP was “a party built on a multi-ethnic, multi-racial coalition of working AMERICANS. ”

After the Trump presidency, it is an open question whether other Republican candidates can win the same intensity of worker support. “Whatever your criticism of Trump – and I have a lot – clearly, he was able to connect with these people and they voted for him,” said Ohio Representative Tim Ryan, a Democrat from the Youngstown area.

Mr. Ryan is preparing to run for an open Senate seat in Ohio in 2022. He agrees with Mr. Trump regarding the takeover of China, but blames him for not following his harsh language with sustainable policies. “I think there is an opportunity to have a similar message but a real agenda,” he said.

As for Republican presidential candidates who want working-class supporters to inherit from Trump, Ryan saw poor prospects for them, especially if they continued to oppose the Biden stimulus package, which the House passed and is now before the Senate.

“The Covid-19 relief bill was aimed directly at workers’ struggles,” Ryan said, adding that Republicans who voted against the package “were facing a rude awakening.”

Maybe. A Monmouth University poll on Wednesday found that six in ten Americans support the $ 1.9 trillion package in its current form, particularly the $ 1,400 checks for those with certain income levels.

But Republicans who vote against may not pay a political price, said Patrick Murray, the poll’s director. “They know the checks will bottom out regardless, and they can continue to rail against democratic excesses,” he said.

“There would only be a problem if they somehow managed to cut the bill,” he added.

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Biden backs decrease revenue cap for checks

Biden backs lower income cap for checks

President Joe Biden has endorsed a plan to lower income caps for Americans in order to receive a direct payment under the $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus aid package due to be passed in the coming days, a Democratic source said on Wednesday with.

The $ 1,400 USD stimulus check exit levels are:

  • $ 75,000 income for single applicant; The limit for receiving a payment is now $ 80,000
  • $ 112,500 for Heads of Household; The cap is now $ 120,000
  • $ 150,000 for shared filers; now limited to $ 160,000

The structure would lower the House-approved ceilings on direct payments income. According to the lower chamber’s bill, individuals earning up to $ 100,000 (and joint applicants earning up to $ 200,000) would have received some amount.

According to a rough estimate by Howard Gleckman, Senior Fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, eight million people who received House Bill payments would lose them under the Senate plan. Even more people are expected to receive lower payments than the House proposed, he added. Gleckman estimates the changes would save about $ 15 billion in one bill of nearly $ 2 trillion.

Another estimate is that around 12 million people could lose checks as a result of the policy change.

When asked if Biden supports the proposal, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, “He is happy with the state of the negotiations.”

President Joe Biden speaks at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, on February 22, 2021, about the American rescue plan and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for small businesses in response to the coronavirus.

Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images

The changes come from moderate Senate Democrats calling for the scope of controls included in the legislation to be reduced. In order to pass the auxiliary law as part of the budget vote, the party leaders must not lose a single vote among the 50 members of the caucus. Democrats are taking advantage of the process that allows laws to be passed by simple majority as Republicans question the need for more spending to boost the economy.

Democrats restricted the authority of the controls to appease the centrist lawmakers.

Disagreements within the party could have threatened Democrats’ plans to get the bill through the Senate and to Biden’s desk by the weekend before the unemployment benefit programs expire on March 14. The House is expected to approve the Senate version of the bill next week.

The Senate plan provides that the same unemployment insurance surcharge passed by the House will be retained. Until August 29th, unemployment benefits of $ 400 per week would be added.

The anticipated change to the Senate law drew the wrath of some progressives in the house. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., tweeted, “Conservative Dems have fought so the Biden administrator is always sending less generous relief checks than the Trump administrator.”

“It’s a move that makes little to no political or economic sense, and is aimed at an element of relief most felt by everyday people. A goal of its own,” she wrote.

The Senate is planning its first procedural vote on Thursday to pass the aid law. But the chamber has days of hurdles to overcome before it can send the legislation back to the house for final approval.

Senator Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., Plans to force Senate officials to read the entire bill aloud, which, according to NBC News, will add hours to the process. Then lawmakers will debate the plan for up to 20 hours, followed by a marathon vote on changes to the plan.

Once the Chamber has voted on all the amendments (with no limit on the number proposed), it can approve the legislation.

In addition to the checks and unemployment benefits, the law passed by Parliament includes funds to promote Covid-19 vaccinations, an increase in tax credits for children, new help for small businesses, money to reopen schools, and relief for state, local and tribal governments .

– CNBC’s Thomas Franck contributed to this report

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Blinken Proposes a Overseas Coverage Not ‘Disconnected From Our Each day Lives’

Blinken Proposes a Foreign Policy Not ‘Disconnected From Our Daily Lives’

WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken used his first major address on Wednesday to rally a constituency for President Biden’s foreign policy at a time when Americans are focused on the coronavirus pandemic, the economy and other domestic issues .

The 28-minute speech, delivered in a largely empty State Department reception room, was intended to demonstrate that the most pressing issues of diplomacy were matters that directly affect Americans.

From defending democracy to fighting climate change to managing the nation’s relations with China – “the greatest geopolitical test of the 21st century,” he said – Blinken outlined eight foreign policy priorities for the Biden government. He said they have to be faced both domestically and abroad, “or we’ll be left behind.”

Mr Blinken’s remarks were a companion to the White House’s release of what is known as the Interim National Security Strategic Guidance, a 24-page document intended to serve as the first foreign policy blueprint until administrative officials come up with their first official national security strategy, a Congressional strategy, which is required Report to be released by each White House later this year.

Briefing reporters of the document, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the guidelines are based on the idea that the United States must be able to compete for “great powers” at the same time as rival powers such as China and Russia are being defended against cross-border threats such as pandemics, climate change and terrorism.

The key to this, Sullivan said, was rebuilding the American economy, democracy and alliances to operate “from a position of strength” worldwide.

Neither Mr Blinken nor Mr Sullivan made any new political announcements. And while the guidance document was intended for government officials, Mr Blinken attempted to connect with average Americans in a speech he would have given to an audience well beyond the Beltway without pandemic restrictions.

“I know that foreign policy sometimes feels disconnected from our daily lives,” said Blinken. “It’s either just about major threats like pandemics, terrorism, or it disappears from view.”

“Those of us who engage in foreign policy have not always done a good job of relating it to the needs and aspirations of the American people,” Blinken said. As a result, he said, “Americans have asked tough but fair questions about what we do, how we lead – in fact, whether we should lead at all.”

(His immediate predecessor, Mike Pompeo, frequently lectured in the U.S. to students, factory workers, and religious groups – though critics noted that he also selected venues and audiences that may be related to his suspected future political aspirations.)

Although Mr Blinken said several countries – including Russia, Iran and North Korea – presented serious challenges, he made it clear that China was America’s main competitor.

Repeating Mr. Biden’s campaign promise to alternate between competitive, collaborative and potentially confrontational positions on China on various issues, he said strong alliances are the best way to balance Beijing. “Where we withdrew, China filled in,” said Blinken.

But he offered few details, a vagueness that warned some former State Department officials that adapting to Beijing’s global influence would require expensive diplomatic and development efforts.

“We cannot confront China cheaply,” said Brett Bruen, former professional diplomat and White House official in the Obama administration.

Mr Pompeo had routinely singled out China during the Trump administration, calling it a rampant human rights abuser whose communist leaders had invaded foreign territories and were unable to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Mr. Blinken repeatedly drew contrasts with the previous administration and President Donald J. Trump’s bombastic “America First” approach. “Real strength isn’t noise or bullying,” he said.

On immigration, Mr. Blinken said the government would continue to secure US borders but also pursue a “just decent solution” to the plight of the thousands of desperate Central Americans trying to enter the United States.

He also noted the deep rifts that have occurred in American politics and helped spark the January 6th uprising at the Capitol. “There is no question that our democracy is fragile,” he said.

However, Mr Blinken also acknowledged that previous administrations – including the Obama presidency in which he served – had failed ordinary Americans at times.

On Free Trade, “We haven’t done enough to understand who would be negatively affected and what it would take to adequately offset their pain or enforce agreements already on the books and help more workers and small businesses to fully benefit of them, ”he said.

Some liberal critics see Mr Blinken as too supportive of previous military interventions, admitting that “we need to remember what we have learned about the limits of violence in order to build lasting peace” – particularly in Afghanistan and the near by East.

“The day after a major military intervention is always more difficult than we imagined,” he said.

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Cuomo refuses to resign over sexual harassment claims in New York

Cuomo refuses to resign over sexual harassment claims in New York

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo refused to resign Wednesday despite saying he regrets three women who claim he sexually molested them.

An emotional cuomo also urged the public to on hold as New York Attorney General Letitia James oversees an investigation into allegations made by women, two of whom had previously worked as his aides.

“I now understand that I acted in a way that made people feel uncomfortable,” said the embattled Democrat in his first public comments on the women’s allegations. “It was unintentional.”

“And I really apologize deeply for it,” he said. “I feel terrible about it.”

“I certainly never plan to offend, hurt or hurt anyone,” said Cuomo. “This is the last thing I ever want to do.”

When asked directly whether he would resign midway through his third term, Cuomo said, “I will not resign.”

“I work for the people of New York,” he added. “I’m going to do the job that the people of the state chose me to do.”

In addition to the sexual harassment scandal, Cuomo has received widespread criticism in recent weeks for covering up statistics on Covid deaths in nursing homes and bullying lawmakers and others from the state.

The governor said he would “fully cooperate with the harassment investigation by any attorney or attorneys that James will appoint”. These lawyers have the power to compel witnesses, including Cuomo, to answer their questions.

“I ask New Yorkers to wait for the attorney general’s facts before forming an opinion,” said Cuomo.

The 63-year-old governor was first accused last week by former adjutant Lindsey Boylan of kissing her without her consent and jokingly suggested a game of strip poker on an official flight. Cuomo’s office strongly declined Boylan’s account at the time of posting on Medium.com.

Within days, another former aide, Charlotte Bennett, 25, told the New York Times that Cuomo had asked her questions last year, including whether she “had ever been with an older man,” whether she was in their relationships being monogamous and other personal questions that made her uncomfortable.

Bennett said it was clear that Cuomo was seeking a sexual relationship with her.

On Monday, the Times published claims by another woman, Anna Ruch, who said that Cuomo, whom she did not know, put his hand on her bare lower back at a wedding. The governor then told her she was “aggressive” when, according to Ruch, he put his hands around her face.

Ruch, who previously worked in the White House during the Obama administration, said Cuomo then asked if he could kiss her.

A photo of an uncomfortable looking Ruch with Cuomo on his face accompanied this article.

Bennett on Monday beat up Cuomo for his “predatory behavior” and asked other women to come forward if they had similar complaints about his behavior.

Ruch’s report increased the number of people who have urged Cuomo to resign, including New York Democratic MP Kathleen Rice.

On Wednesday, Cuomo spoke to reporters for the first time about the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and related developments in New York. Then he turned to the sexual harassment scandal that had plagued him since last week.

“I want New Yorkers to hear from me directly,” he said. “Firstly, I fully support a woman’s right to speak up and I think that should be encouraged in every way.”

After apologizing for making the women uncomfortable, Cuomo said, “I’m embarrassed and it’s not easy to say, but that’s the truth.”

“I want you to know … I’ve never touched anyone inappropriately,” said the governor. “I never knew then that I was making someone feel uncomfortable.”

“And I never plan to offend, hurt, or hurt anyone.”

“I learned an important lesson from an incredibly difficult situation for myself and other people,” said Cuomo.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for the pain I’ve caused someone. I never meant to, and I’ll be better for the experience.”

While interviewing reporters, Cuomo later said, “You can find hundreds of pictures of me kissing people, men, women. It’s my usual and customary way of greeting.”

“By the way, it was my father’s way of greeting people,” he said, referring to his late father, Mario Cuomo, who himself was governor.

Cuomo tried last weekend to see who would investigate Boylan’s and Bennett’s allegations, saying that a former federal judge would do the job.

The governor then sought the state chief magistrate to work with James to oversee the investigation.

Cuomo’s efforts sparked a political backlash, and James explicitly opposed the deal. The governor gave in quickly and his office said James would handle the probe himself.

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Exxon Mobil’s Chief Says It Is ‘Supportive’ of Zero-Emission Objectives

Exxon Mobil’s Chief Says It Is ‘Supportive’ of Zero-Emission Goals

HOUSTON – Darren W. Woods seldom makes headlines despite being the executive director of Exxon Mobil, the oil company that some people consider top environmental villains and others consider it a major engine of the US economy.

Few have taken it seriously, or even noticed, that he is beginning to make promises to respond to climate change, which is at least a rhetorical break, if not a substantial one, with his predecessors.

“What society rightly demands is affordable, reliable energy that does not have the emissions associated with today’s energy systems,” he said Tuesday. “We are working on this development.”

While this may seem like a cautious statement, Mr. Woods, a quiet electrical engineer from Wichita, Kan., Is changing the tone of the company he acquired over four years ago. The bragging rights used by its predecessors in Texas, one of whom openly denied climate change concerns, has grown into something vaguely philosophical.

In an interview that was meant to raise the curtain on an annual presentation that executives will offer financial analysts and investors on Wednesday, Woods, 56, got poetic about the history of technology and the energy industry, and even suggested that there were similarities between him gives emission reduction plans and President Biden’s efforts to combat climate change. He went so far as to promise that Exxon would try to set a goal of not emitting more greenhouse gases than it removes from the atmosphere, though he said it was still difficult to say when that might happen.

“We support that ambition and our goal is to help society achieve it,” said Woods. “To be honest, the recognition of the challenge continues to grow. It’s an evolving conversation that I find very helpful in considering what needs to happen. “

Under pressure from activist investors, Exxon announced this week that it has added two new directors to its board with no prior commitment to fossil fuels. The company recently announced it would create a new company that will capture carbon dioxide from industrial facilities and bury it deep in the ground. It also recently invested in Global Thermostat, a company that aims to suck carbon dioxide out of the air.

Of course, many people are deeply skeptical of the company’s plans and motives. Unlike executives at European oil companies, Mr. Woods does not cut investments in oil and gas to spend money on wind and solar power. He refrained from commenting on BP’s promise made last year to bring net emissions to zero by 2050.

“Unlike their major oil competitors, who have begun to take action against climate change, Woods and Exxon Mobil continue to live in a fairytale world of inactivity while California burns and Texas freezes,” said Peter Krull, chief executive officer of Earth Equity Advisors. a study and investment firm specializing in sustainability.

After spending nearly three decades with a company traditionally known for its island location, rigid culture, and public indifference to global warming, Mr Woods suggested that he be ready to steer it on a different course if also gradually.

Updated

March 3, 2021, 8:05 a.m. ET

With Exxon’s stock price still lower than it was a decade ago, many investors have asked for no less.

“My interactions with investors reflect broader trends in society,” said Woods.

The four years that Mr. Woods spent as chief executive have been a difficult time for the industry. Oil and gas prices have risen and fallen several times in recent years. And last year, demand for petroleum products collapsed when the coronavirus pandemic hit. Exxon lost $ 22.4 billion in 2020, much of it from amortization of assets the company acquired at high prices prior to being acquired by Mr. Woods.

But in the past few weeks, oil and gas prices have rebounded, and Exxon and its stocks are doing better. Mr Woods said the revenue was flowing again, which allowed the company to run down debt and pay for future projects. The company’s dividend, which it has been raising every year for nearly four decades, now seems safe from cuts.

What Exxon doesn’t do is spend much of its assets on companies or ideas that aim to greatly reduce emissions. Only $ 3 billion will be spent on carbon capture from industrial facilities by 2025 – a small fraction of the $ 16 billion to $ 19 billion expected to be spent on oil exploration and capital projects this year.

Mr Woods said he would seek more change by researching breakthrough technologies. However, many of them still have years or decades to have a major impact on emissions.

“Until we know the way to go and what will be required and what the solutions are, it’s hard to know,” he said. “What we can do is make a commitment to find out, and once we find the answers you will see that we are committed and we are actually on our way to net zero.”

While Exxon invests in energy efficiency projects, biofuels and hydrogen, Mr. Woods was particularly excited about his company’s 20 carbon capture and storage projects. Although the technology is not yet widely used because it is very expensive, Woods and Exxon scientists argue that it could play an important role in reducing emissions from cement and steel making and other industrial processes that renewable energy does not can be operated easily.

“The capture and storage of carbon will be required,” he said.

He even suggested that “Exxon’s carbon capture and storage potential certainly has the potential” to fit right in with Mr. Biden’s policies and goals.

“Political support and the right legal framework to support these investments are needed and will be important,” said Woods. “We would like to start this conversation with you. You need an investment permit. You need pipeline systems, laws, regulatory reforms and legal frameworks for storing CO2. “

Mr. Biden has expressed his support for carbon capture and sequestration. It is an environmental policy that Republicans in Congress could support, although many Liberal Democrats are not interested in it because they see it as an extension of fossil fuel use.

Many climate researchers are deeply skeptical that the technology can be used to the extent necessary to significantly reduce emissions. Some energy managers share this skepticism.

Charif Souki, the CEO of Tellurian, a liquefied natural gas company, said carbon capture was one of many potentially promising technologies for combating climate change. But he added, “There is no efficient way of doing this on the scale it takes to do what we need to do.”

But Mr. Woods said he was optimistic about the path Exxon had chosen. “It is very difficult to predict when a breakthrough will occur,” he said, “but when you look back in time, it is consistent.”

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Trump lawyer Michael Cohen pushes podcast as felony probe continues

Trump lawyer Michael Cohen pushes podcast as criminal probe continues

Michael Cohen, former personal attorney for President Donald Trump, leaves the U.S. Capitol after testifying before a closed House Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on February 28, 2019.

Joshua Roberts | Reuters

Podcasts make for strange bedfellows.

Michael Cohen, who worked as Donald Trump’s personal attorney and fixer for years, is now allied with people investigating the former president – and uses a podcast to promote both his criticism and fellow critics of Trump.

Cohen’s ironically titled show “Mea Culpa” – a Latin phrase for “through my fault” – premiered last year with Rosie O’Donnell, a longtime Trump target, who made teenage cracks in her personal looks, among other things.

Cohen, 54, recently featured porn actress Stormy Daniels as a guest on his show. In 2016, Cohen paid her $ 130,000 to buy her pre-election silence over her claim that she had sex with Trump once years ago.

“You and I have both gone through hell and back,” Cohen said to Daniels. “I’m sorry for the unnecessary pain I caused you.”

“Our stories will forever be linked to Donald Trump, but also to each other,” Cohen said.

That’s probably an understatement.

Trump denies Daniels’ claim and also denies allegations of an affair with another woman, Playboy model Karen McDougal, who herself received hush money from the Trump-friendly editor of The National Enquirer before the 2016 election.

Trump and his company, the Trump Organization, reimbursed Cohen for the payoff from Daniels.

A Trump spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on this article.

The discovery of this payment led to a federal criminal investigation into Cohen, a Manhattan resident who pleaded guilty in 2018 to violating the financial rules for organizing the Daniels and McDougal payouts, as well as other financial crimes unrelated to Trump fight.

Cohen, who was sentenced to three years in prison, said Trump directed him to arrange the hush money deals so as not to affect his chances of winning the presidency.

These payments were likely the first issue investigated by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, Cyrus Vance Jr. It examined how the Trump organization accounted for them.

However, court records suggest that the investigation may now have expanded to include potential banking and insurance fraud, as well as tax crimes.

These areas became a focus after Cohen Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., said during a testimony to Congress in early 2019 that Trump provided insurance companies with excessive real estate values ​​and undervalued assets in an effort to cut his taxes.

“They dump the asset’s value and then file a request with the tax department for a deduction,” Cohen told Ocasio-Cortez.

New York attorney general Letitia James credited Cohen’s testimony for launching her own ongoing civilian investigation into the Trump Organization’s asset valuations.

“I’m ashamed because I know what Mr. Trump is. He’s a racist. He’s a cheater. He’s a cheater,” Cohen said during his testimony. He also called himself a “fool” for working for Trump and believing in him for so long.

Even when he was in jail, Cohen helped Vance’s probe, and he reportedly continued to help after being released from jail last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“The concept for creating the podcast came when I was on leave,” Cohen told CNBC in an interview.

“Mea Culpa” promotes its host as a man who “once vowed to take a ball for the president”.

“But that was before the country was brought to its knees by the president’s own lies and personal insanity,” the podcast’s homepage reads.

“Now, locked in his house, his life, reputation and livelihood shattered, Cohen is on a mission to correct the wrongs he committed on behalf of his boss.”

Transport and goods

For someone released from jail less than a year ago, Cohen’s podcast, which now has more than 50 episodes in its archive, has done very well and is at times among the top 10 political podcasts in the US on Apple and other platforms.

“We’re increasing our audience by over 20% week in, week out,” said Cohen.

“Am I surprised?” Cohen replied when asked if it was him. “I’m happy about it. I don’t want to be surprised.”

Rob Ellin, CEO of digital media company LiveXLive, said of Cohen’s podcast, “Traffic is just skyrocketing.

“The competition from podcasts is much tougher than it used to be,” said Ellin. But he added, “I can’t think of anyone who showed up as quickly as him.”

Ellin’s publicly traded company owns PodcastOne, which sells and handles sales for “Mea Culpa,” and another company that does the merchandising for the podcast. Another unaffiliated company, Audio Up, produces “Mea Culpa”.

Cohen’s show this week added a new clothing line for sale that reflects his current take on Trump.

Items include inmate orange jumpsuit that may contain the initials “DJT” – which also happens to be Trump’s initials – or the seal of the President of the United States over the left breast pocket.

Cohen told CNBC the merchandise was inspired by a rift he made about Trump last week after the US Supreme Court ruled against the ex-president to prevent the prosecutor’s office from filing his tax returns and other financial records to receive from his accountants as part of his criminal investigation.

“He should maybe start talking to someone about custom jumpsuit because it doesn’t look good, that’s my prediction,” Cohen told MSNBC’s Katy Tur.

Ellin said Cohen’s criticism of Trump, coupled with the accelerated pace of the DA and New York AG probes, was a justification for his friend and a driver of interest in “Mea Culpa.”

“Michael said a lot of it,” said Ellin.

“A lot of people didn’t believe him before and are starting to believe him.”

Two years before the January 6th invasion of the Capitol by a crowd of Trump supporters seeking to undo the affirmation that day of President Joe Biden’s election, Cohen warned Congress: “Given my experience with Mr. Trump, I’m afraid that if he loses the 2020 election, there will never be a peaceful change of power. “

Trump was indicted by the House of Representatives shortly before he left office on January 20 for instigating the invasion of Congress with false claims of electoral fraud. He was acquitted by the Senate in a lawsuit last month.

Cohen’s podcast discussed the Capitol uprising in an episode that also included an interview with actor and filmmaker Ben Stiller. Another episode was titled “Why Trump Must Be Indicted”.

Friendship and opportunity

Rob Ellin, LiveXLive Media

Source: LiveXLive Media

Ellin has been friends with Cohen since they played tennis together in Long Island High School.

Both Cohen and Ellin describe this period ironically, including playing doubles against opponents that include Patrick McEnroe, brother of tennis legend John McEnroe, and himself a future professional player.

“I think we won 2 points,” Ellin said of the match in which Cohen yelled at him to adjust to McEnroe’s shots.

“Wasn’t that when I smashed the bat?” he asked Cohen while on a call with CNBC.

Cohen and Ellin both remember inventing the phrase “hug it, b —-” to smooth out their sometimes inconsistent arguments on the tennis court.

Ellin’s brother, Douglas Reed Ellin, later used it as one of the signature phrases for the HBO television series “Entourage” which he created.

Despite their four decades of friendship, the connection between Ellin’s company and Cohen’s podcast was the result of chance.

Months after the launch of “Mea Culpa” last summer, the podcast’s distribution platform was moved to PodcastOne. This company, founded by the founder of radio giant Westwood One, Norm Pattiz, has since been taken over by LiveXLive, Ellin’s company.

Cohen said he was on the phone with PodcastOne one day when he was told that Ellin happened to be in the room.

“I said, ‘Put him on the speakerphone with me,'” Cohen said.

Cohen said doing business with Ellin was “incredible”.

“But it brings me back a lot of nostalgia, whichever is the same,” added Cohen.

Ellin also has a warm personal feeling for Cohen, whom he called “a great father and a great husband”.

“I think Michael is humble,” said Ellin. “That was painful.”

But Ellin sees the business opportunity on his friend’s podcast too.

“We now have the opportunity to help Michael,” by attracting more high-profile guests and expanding marketing opportunities, Ellin said. “Who knows? There could be a second podcast.”

Adam Carolla, a radio host and comedian, recently made crossover appearances with Cohen on “Mea Culpa” and his own high-profile podcast, distributed by PodcastOne.

“It was just a great engagement between the two of them,” said Ellin. “Michael did a great job as an initial radio host at staying in the ring with him.”

Ellin credits Cohen for having the moxie to reinvent himself as a podcast host.

“He’s not afraid to take a swing,” said Ellin. “I think he did an exceptional job driving this.”

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Home Terrorism Risk Is ‘Metastasizing’ in U.S., F.B.I. Director Says

Domestic Terrorism Threat Is ‘Metastasizing’ in U.S., F.B.I. Director Says

WASHINGTON – The FBI director warned Senators Tuesday that domestic terrorism “is metastasizing across the country” and reiterated the threat from racially motivated extremists while largely avoiding tough questions about the bureau’s actions prior to the Capitol sieges Has.

Director Christopher A. Wray, largely out of public view since the January 6 riot, condemned supporters of former President Donald J. Trump, who raided the Capitol, resulting in five deaths and numerous police injuries led.

“That attack, that siege was pure and simple criminal behavior, and we, the FBI, consider it domestic terrorism,” Wray said. “It has no place in our democracy.”

He also revealed that the FBI’s domestic terrorism investigations had risen to 2,000 since he became its director in 2017. The Capitol uprising was part of a wider threat that had grown significantly in recent years, Wray said.

He didn’t break the investigation down an ideological divide, but the New York Times reported that agents opened more than 400 domestic terrorism investigations over the past year when racial justice protests broke out, including about 40 cases against possible ones Supporters of the far left anti-fascist movement known as Antifa and another 40 in the Boogaloo, a right-wing extremist movement that wants to start a civil war. The FBI also investigated white supremacists suspected of threatening protesters.

Mr. Wray’s appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee was his first before Congress since the attack on the Capitol. It was free of the drama, according to similar statements last year, when Mr Trump – who named Mr Wray to his post – attacked him for detailing the threat posed by right-wing extremists and fomenting a false narrative that anti-fascists were the real danger. In contrast, the Biden government has made the fight against domestic terrorism a priority.

As a result of last year’s violence, the FBI and the Justice Department decided to increase the threat from anti-government and anti-authority extremists such as militias and anarchists. Still, the bureau officials said the threat is one level below that portrayed by racially motivated violent extremists such as neo-Nazis.

The FBI and Justice Department base these determinations on violent attacks like shootings or bombings and use the levels to decide where to concentrate resources.

Mr Wray pointed to another alarming trend: the number of white supremacists arrested in 2020 had nearly tripled since he headed the FBI three years earlier.

White supremacists have killed dozens of people in the United States since 2015, opened fires at a black church in South Carolina and synagogues in Pittsburgh and California, and targeted Hispanic shoppers at a Walmart in Texas.

The political implications of the threats at the hearing. While Republicans condemned the attack on the Capitol, some were quick to draw attention to riots in Portland, Oregon and other cities over the past year, emphasizing property destruction and attacks on the police. In an attack of violence, an avowed Antifa supporter shot and killed a pro-Trump protester in Portland in August.

Still, it was the first murder in more than 20 years that the office classifies as an “anarchist violent extremist”.

Mr Wray repeatedly responded to questions from Democratic senators that people connected to Antifa were not involved in the storming of the Capitol and that the rioters were true Trump supporters and did not falsely pretend to be them.

Illinois Senator Richard J. Durbin, the Democratic chairman of the committee, accused the Trump administration of downplaying the threat posed by white supremacists while fueling a narrative that left anarchists like those who identify with Antifa are at greater risk for the country represented.

Mr Durbin rattled off the litany of mass shootings, adding, “Let’s stop pretending that the threat from Antifa equals the threat from the white supremacists.”

The Capitol Police have largely assumed the blame for the January 6 attack. Its acting chief, Yogananda D. Pittman, has acknowledged to Congress that the authorities have not done enough to thwart the “terrorist attack.”

In fact, as of January 6, there were several indicators of the potential for violence. Federal law enforcement officials knew members of militias like the Oath Guards and far-right groups like the Proud Boys were planning to travel to Washington, some possibly with guns. Many supporters of QAnon, a dangerous conspiracy theory that has been identified as a potential threat to domestic terrorism, should also attend a protest rally where Mr Trump spoke prior to the attack.

In addition, the day before the FBI’s Norfolk, Virginia office released a report warning of possible violence and mentioned people sharing a map of tunnels in the Capitol complex. The information was not verified, however, and part of it citing a warning of an impending “war” appeared to have come from a single online thread.

The FBI forwarded the report to the Capitol Police, though its former boss, Steven A. Sund, said it never made it.

Mr Wray said FBI officers leaked the Norfolk information to other law enforcement agencies at least three times. He said that he only saw the report after the uprising, but that the handling of it was typical of such intelligence agencies.

South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham asked what Capitol Police leaders should have done after seeing the January 5 report.

“I really want to be careful not to be a chair quarterback,” said Mr. Wray. He later said he did not have a “good answer” as to why Mr Sund did not receive the report.

With the signs of violence or worse on Jan. 6, Connecticut Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal pressed Mr. Wray on why the FBI “did not raise the alarm in a more visible and ringing way.”

Mr Wray said the office had been publishing intelligence reports related to domestic terrorism – some specifically related to the elections – publicly and to other law enforcement agencies such as the Capitol Police for months.

He said the office was reviewing his actions but agreed that the uprising was not an “acceptable outcome”.

“We want to hit a thousand,” said Mr. Wray.

It was clear, however, that on Jan. 6, federal law enforcement agencies underestimated the potential for violence among Trump supporters, many of whom posed as law enforcement supporters.

The focus on Antifa with Mr Trump and some of his cabinet officials and the relocation of law enforcement agencies this past spring and summer may have helped the FBI fail to peak the growing anger among Mr Trump’s supporters over false allegations of electoral fraud that were culminating When he stormed the Capitol, current and former law enforcement officials have said. Mr. Trump himself had promoted this conspiracy theory and influenced his followers with the unfounded notion that the election had been stolen.