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Year: 2024

NYC mayor Adams to be arraigned on federal corruption charges

NYC mayor Adams to be arraigned on federal corruption charges

Eric Adams says he will fight charges stemming from alleged illegal campaign contributions from Turkish sources. New York City Mayor Eric Adams has arrived at the federal court in Manhattan, where he is set to be arraigned on corruption charges stemming from alleged bribes taken from Turkish diplomats and businesspeople. The court appearance on Friday comes three days after a grand jury moved to indict Adams, a former police officer. The indictment, unsealed on Thursday, said Adams received campaign funding and luxury travel perks – including rooms at opulent hotels and meals at high-end restaurants – in exchange for pressuring city officials to allow Turkey’s new 36-storey consulate to open despite safety concerns. Speaking at a news conference on Thursday, Adams pledged to fight the charges and said he would not respond to calls from some of his fellow Democrats to step down as the top elected official in the largest city in the US, with a population of 8 million people. “I will continue to do my job as mayor,” he said. Prosecutors allege the scheme in question dates back to 2014, when Adams became Brooklyn borough president. The alleged illegal campaign contributions later helped finance his 2021 campaign for mayor. He faces five criminal charges and could face decades in prison if found guilty. Among those calling for Adams to resign is US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represents New York’s 14th congressional district. New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaks during a news conference outside Gracie Mansion [Yuki Iwamura/AP Photo] House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, two influential Democrats from New York, have stopped short of joining that appeal. For her part, New York Governor Kathy Hochul – who has the power to remove Adams from office through a complicated process – said in a statement she would “review my options and obligations as the Governor of New York”. “I expect the Mayor to take the next few days to review the situation and find an appropriate path forward to ensure the people of New York City are being well-served by their leaders,” Hochul said. Hiding campaign funds The indictment alleged Adams hid campaign contributions from Turkish sources by funnelling them through US citizens. That allowed him to receive an additional $10m in public matching for his campaign. US law forbids foreign contributions to American political campaigns. Adams also repeatedly accepted free flights from a Turkish airline, worth tens of thousands of dollars, while staying at luxury hotels at far below market rate. Meanwhile, Adams, at the behest of a Turkish diplomat, pressured city safety inspectors to allow Turkey’s new consulate to open in time for a September 2021 visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the indictment said. That came even though the building would have failed a fire inspection at the time, the indictment said. Amid the pressure campaign from Adams, a senior Fire Department official told a subordinate he would lose his job if he did not allow the consulate to open, according to prosecutors. Adblock test (Why?)

As leader race looms, John Thune takes Senate map by storm to boost GOP candidates

As leader race looms, John Thune takes Senate map by storm to boost GOP candidates

FIRST ON FOX: Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., is blitzing through battleground states in the lead-up to the election, helping boost Republicans in their quest to take the Senate majority as he simultaneously vies to be their next leader.  The Senate is in recess for the month of October and won’t be back until after the election, but Thune doesn’t seem to be slowing down in the meantime. This weekend, the minority whip will be in Nevada for events with Senate candidate Sam Brown, who is taking on vulnerable Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., a source shared with Fox News Digital.  Afterward, he’s heading to New York City to raise money for Brown, Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake, Ohio Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dave McCormick, and Michigan Senate candidate former Rep. Mike Rogers, as well as the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). KAMALA HARRIS ISN’T ALONE: VULNERABLE DEMS WANT CURRENT FILIBUSTER GONE Later in the month, the source told Fox News Digital that Thune would be joining McCormick in Pennsylvania, Senate candidate Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., in Indiana and Senate candidate Tim Sheehy in Montana.  He also has an array of events lined up with several senators who aren’t up for re-election as he looks to lock down more support in the GOP conference.  “It’s an insider’s game,” said Ron Bonjean, a former chief of staff of the Senate Republican Conference told Fox News Digital of the leader race.  “John Thune is playing the inside game while showing enthusiasm—showing public enthusiasm by going to the states.” “They’re going to remember that Thune was there over the last few weeks before the election,” said Bonjean, who was a spokesman for Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott when he was majority leader. “Money is important, but showing up matters. And if you can do both, that really can do wonders . . . for racking up Senate votes.” SENATE PASSES FUNDING BILL WITHOUT SAVE ACT, AVOIDING POTENTIAL SHUTDOWN Thune is one of three announced leader candidates, alongside Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Rick Scott, R-Fla.  Cornyn has established himself as a prolific fundraiser during his tenure, a factor that is certain to play into the race, given outgoing Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s reputation as a fundraising behemoth.  A source familiar with the Texas Republican’s political operation told Fox News Digital, “Sen. Cornyn plans to visit multiple battleground states across the country to campaign with candidates over the October recess and raise valuable hard dollars as he’s done for the last two decades, totaling more than $400 million since 2002.”  His all-time fundraising is something he’s looked to emphasize in recent days, sending his donor network a letter this week highlighting the data and further specifying that he has brought in $500,000 for 33 different Republican senators and candidates over the years and even raised over $1 million each for four senators. This cycle, Cornyn has brought in $26 million for Republicans, $11.8 million specifically for the NRSC. He notably served as NRSC chair twice and was lauded for his leadership in the role.  JOHN CORNYN FLEXES FUNDRAISING CHOPS AS BATTLE TO SUCCEED MITCH MCCONNELL RAMPS UP Thune has raised over $29 million this cycle, and a source familiar shared with Fox News Digital that the South Dakota senator expects to hit $30 million during his October travels.  Recently, he announced a record-breaking $4 million transfer to the NRSC to assist with competitive races. Thune was the previous record-holder, with a prior $2 million transfer. According to the source, the minority whip’s lifetime transfers to the GOP campaign arm now exceed $9 million. The leader hopeful has been the most active senator with the NRSC this cycle, second only to NRSC Chairman Steve Daines, R-Mont. At a recent fundraiser with former president Trump’s campaign in Washington, D.C., Thune brought in $2 million, which was half of the night’s entire fundraising haul, a source familiar with the matter revealed.  The source also detailed that the minority whip has so far headlined or is scheduled to headline nearly 200 events this cycle for either Republican candidates and the NRSC.  Thune has been on the road the most out of the leader candidates ahead of the election, doing a similar battleground blitz during the Senate’s August recess. However, Cornyn has been keeping busy in his state of Texas, known for its fundraising potential.  “Texas has a huge concentration of wealthy donors with conservative values,” one national GOP strategist said. JOE MANCHIN SAYS HE WON’T ENDORSE HARRIS OVER SUPPORT FOR ELIMINATING FILIBUSTER Cornyn has attended a series of in-state fundraisers alongside the Trump-Vance campaign and has additionally made trips to Ohio and Pennsylvania to raise money for Moreno and McCormick. The Texas Republican has been a longtime fundraiser for his colleagues, ramping up his giving roughly around 2008.  Scott faces the disadvantage of being currently in-cycle for his own re-election. As Florida endures a hurricane turned tropical storm, the senator is understood to be spending his time focusing on the storm and his constituents’ safety.  Afterward, Scott is expected to spend the bulk of his time campaigning for his re-election bid in-state, with less ability to travel the country than his out-of-cycle counterparts.  Notably, Thune is the only candidate thus far with public endorsements from colleagues, with the backing of both Sens. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., and Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla.

Vulnerable Dem senator ripped for votes on key 2024 Rust Belt issue: ‘Lockstep’ with Harris

Vulnerable Dem senator ripped for votes on key 2024 Rust Belt issue: ‘Lockstep’ with Harris

As fracking continues to be a key issue in many of the Rust Belt swing states that could decide the 2024 presidential election, incumbent Democratic Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown is facing increased criticism from his GOP opponent for previously held positions on the matter. In 2021, Brown was one of 43 senators to vote against a bill to “establish a deficit-neutral reserve fund relating to prohibiting the Council on Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency from promulgating rules or guidance that bans hydraulic fracturing in the United States.” Brown also voted no on a motion in the Senate in 2022 giving states “sole authority” to permit and enforce fracking regulations. While speaking to CNN in 2020, Brown suggested that most of the fracking jobs in Ohio go to “out of state” workers and that “there just aren’t that many jobs in fracking or, unfortunately, even coal in Ohio now” when answering a question about his level of concern about Ohio workers losing their jobs in the fracking industry.  VULNERABLE DEM SENATOR RIPPED FOR IGNORING QUESTIONS ABOUT BIDEN’S PUSH TO ‘BAN’ GAS-POWERED CARS Some estimates have suggested that fracking supports over 300,000 jobs in Ohio and contributed $55 billion to the state’s economy in 2021.  When confronted by Fox News reporter Hillary Vaughn on the issue of fracking and VP Harris backing away from her position to ban fracking, Brown declined to call Harris out for changing positions and said he believes in an “all of the above strategy.” VULNERABLE DEM SENATOR FLIP-FLOPS ON SUPPLYING ENERGY TO CHINA IN MIDDLE OF RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN Brown, who has been criticized for supporting the Biden administration’s policies nearly 100% of the time according to the VoteView database maintained by UCLA political scientists, has bucked the Biden administration on certain issues related to climate change. However, his critics say he is more in line with the progressive “Green New Deal,” than he is the oil and gas industry in Ohio.  “Sherrod Brown is in lockstep with San Francisco liberal Kamala Harris on all of her radical policies, including a complete ban on fracking. Brown and Harris would rather rely on our adversaries for energy instead of using our resources here at home,” Brown’s GOP opponent, businessman Bernie Moreno, told Fox News Digital in a statement. “In November, Ohioans will reject their radical, anti-energy agenda.” In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Brown campaign spokesperson said the senator “supports fracking” when it’s “done right.” “Bernie Moreno is lying and trying to distract from his long record only looking out for himself — from refusing to pay his employees the overtime they were owed and shredding the evidence to get out of it to selling the Chinese-made Buick Envision, which shipped Ohio jobs overseas,” the spokesperson said.  “Sherrod has been clear that he supports fracking and shale development when it’s done right and supports Ohio workers, has led legislation to connect Ohio workers with jobs in the shale and fracking industry, and has stood up to his own party to protect Ohio jobs.”   The campaign also pointed to a 2012 press release where Brown said, “Shale development has tremendous potential to bring new economic development and new jobs to our state. Not only do we have to protect our public safety and health, but we must make sure that these new jobs are going to Ohioans—not out-of-staters.” The Ohio Senate race will be one of the most highly watched in the country as Republicans view the Buckeye State as a prime location to take back control of the Senate in a state that Trump won by eight points in 2020. The Cook Political report ranks the race as a “toss up.”

North Carolina removes 747,000 from voter rolls

North Carolina removes 747,000 from voter rolls

North Carolina has removed over 700,000 individuals from its registered voter list, officials say.  The State Board of Elections announced Thursday that 747,000 people have been removed from voter rolls in the last 20 months due to ineligibility.  “The county boards follow careful policies to ensure that only ineligible records are removed, not those of eligible voters,” the Board of Elections said in a press release. NORTH CAROLINA GOP FOCUSING ON ‘HAND-TO-HAND POLITICAL COMBAT’ TO RAMP UP GROUND GAME IN BATTLEGROUND STATE “Meanwhile, newly eligible voters are constantly being added to the registration rolls in our growing state,” the board added. “Currently, North Carolina has nearly 7.7 million registered voters.” A common reason for removal from voter rolls was moving residences — either within the state without notifying election officials or to another state altogether. Other removed individuals failed to vote in the last two federal elections and did not respond to follow-up notifications from the government seeking to confirm their registration. NC RALLYGOERS ‘PRAYING’ THAT TRUMP WINS, SLAM DEM RHETORIC CALLING HIM A ‘THREAT’ AFTER ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS Death, felony conviction, requests to be removed, and lack of U.S. citizenship were also listed as reasons for dropping individuals from voter rolls. The Marist Poll released Thursday finds that Harris and Trump are tied at 49% among likely voters in North Carolina who were asked which candidate they were leaning toward. Of those polled who have made up their minds, 91% said they strongly support their choice. North Carolina last voted for a Democratic president in 2008, when then-Sen. Barack Obama won the state by 0.3 points, or 14,177 votes.  Trump pulled out a convincing 3.7 point win in 2016, but that margin shrank to 1.3 points against President Biden in 2020.  North Carolina began absentee voting for registered voters on Tuesday, having begun sending absentee ballots to military and overseas voters on Friday. Applicants do not need to provide an excuse to receive a ballot.  The state must receive a ballot application by Oct. 29, and that ballot must be delivered to county officials by Nov. 5. Fox News Digital’s Chris Pandolfo, Rémy Numa, Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.