https://www.longislandpress.com/2021/04/02/how-chris-cuomos-southampton-covid-19-test-became-subject-of-gov-cuomos-impeachment-probe/

How Chris Cuomo’s Southampton Covid-19 Test Became Subject of Gov. Cuomo’s Impeachment Probe…….and the BRIDGE?

TIMOTHY BOLGER APRIL 2, 2021

Two weeks into the coronavirus lockdown in March 2020, as New Yorkers underwent a collective crash course on surviving a 100-year global pandemic, a delivery arrived at CNN anchor Chris Cuomo’s Southampton home. A top aide in the New York State Department of Health, reports say, brought a then-hard-to-secure Covid-19 test, courtesy of the broadcast journalist’s older brother, Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The Cuomo Prime Time host announced on his show March 31, 2020 that he tested positive, and continued broadcasting from his basement to much fanfare, including appearances on the governor’s then-daily, Emmy-winning news briefings. But a year later, that virus test — and the laws possibly broken to make it happen — has joined the snowballing number of accusations of misconduct the New York State Assembly’s judiciary committee is investigating amid another maelstrom that hasn’t enveloped the Empire State in a century: impeachment hearings questioning the governor’s deeds.

“While the Assembly investigation will look into those allegations, the committee’s primary focus remains an investigation into issues related to sexual harassment, the nursing homes and bridge safety,” Assemblyman Charles Lavine (D-Glen Cove), who chairs the committee overseeing the gubernatorial impeachment proceedings, says of the tests.

The bridge inquiry eyes whether the administration glossed over potential structural concerns with the construction of the nearly $4 billion Mario M. Cuomo Bridge,

which replaced the Tappan Zee Bridge and is named for the governor’s father. The sexual harassment allegations — from eight women as of press time, including current and former aides to Cuomo — are also being investigated by New York State Attorney General Latisha James’ office. And the claims that the governor’s team deliberately undercounted the state’s nursing home death toll are additionally targets of federal probes. The governor has bucked calls to resign.

If true, the allegation that the governor fast-tracked virus tests for friends, family, and others raises the question of whether he or his staff violated state laws against public officials granting such favoritism. State law prohibits government officials from using “his or her official position to secure unwarranted privileges or exemptions for himself or herself or others, including but not limited to, the misappropriation to himself, herself or to others of the property, services or other resources of the state for private business or other compensated non-governmental purposes.”

The Albany Times-Union first reported the allegations that the governor prioritized COVID-19 tests for VIPs on March 24. The Washington Post further revealed on March 29 that extra resources were dedicated to the governor’s little brother. Both newspapers cited anonymous sources and reported that state Troopers rushed tests to The Wadsworth Center, the state health department’s lab in Albany, in some of the allegedly prioritized cases.

“Among Cuomo relatives, Chris Cuomo’s family received attention that appeared to go beyond that of others, receiving multiple visits at their Hamptons home from Department of Health physician Eleanor Adams, according to two people familiar with the visits,” the Post reported.

CONT

>>13353681

>How Chris Cuomo’s Southampton Covid-19 Test Became Subject of Gov. Cuomo’s Impeachment Probe CONT

Dr. Adams, an epidemiologist, was promoted in August to special advisor to State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker a month after the state released a report on nursing home data in which she was the lead author. She was accused in March of helping edit out of that report the true death toll statistics that nearly 10,000 nursing home patients died of Covid-19, as opposed to the 6,432 the administration had acknowledged at the time.

“The recent reports alleging there was preferential treatment given for COVID-19 testing are troubling,” a spokesman for the state attorney general’s office said in a statement. “While we do not have jurisdiction to investigate this matter, it’s imperative that [Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE)] look into it immediately.”

State Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt (R-Erie County) agreed, and filed a formal complaint with JSCOPE the day after the news broke.

“It does not take a stretch of the imagination to see a clear connection between Gov. Cuomo using his official position as the head of state government and the unwarranted privileges provided to his own family members and close associates,” Ortt wrote. “Obviously, while these actions would be egregious during normal times, they are particularly unconscionable because they occurred early on during the pandemic, at a time when testing was in short supply and high demand.”

But the Cuomo appointees who run JSCOPE are unlikely to investigate the governor, critics have said. The governor’s office denied the testing allegations.

“We should avoid insincere efforts to rewrite the past,” Cuomo spokesman Richard Azzopardi said in a statement. “In the early days of this pandemic, when there was a heavy emphasis on contact tracing, we were absolutely going above and beyond to get people testing.”

Those efforts included “in some instances going to people’s homes — and door to door in places like New Rochelle — to take samples from those believed to have been exposed to Covid in order to identify cases and prevent additional ones,” the statement added. Among those assisted, “were members of the general public, including legislators, reporters, state workers and their families who feared they had contracted the virus and had the capability to further spread it.”

CNN also downplayed the controversy.

“We generally do not get involved in the medical decisions of our employees,” the network said in a statement. “However, it is not surprising that in the earliest days of a once-in-a-century global pandemic, when Chris [Cuomo] was showing symptoms and was concerned about possible spread, he turned to anyone he could for advice and assistance, as any human being would.”

Chris Cuomo had conducted a series interviews — which some critics called gentle or even comical — on CNN with his older brother during the pandemic. But after the nursing home and sexual misconduct scandals broke, the network said its conflict-of-interest policy meant that Chris Cuomo could not report on the governor. The anchor has remained silent on the testing allegations.

The CNN host’s test came at a pivotal time in the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control was processing all Covid-19 tests in Atlanta until February 29, 2020, when the state got approval to perform tests at the Wadsworth lab. Nine days later, after calls grew louder to expand testing, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration approved private hospitals to perform tests. The first drive-through test site on Long Island opened at Jones Beach State Park on St. Patrick’s Day — the same day restaurants were ordered to serve takeout only for three months amid statewide stay-at-home orders.

It wasn’t until months later that tests became more widely available to the general public. Chris Cuomo acknowledged as much on CNN while discussing his case in a segment that aired two days after he was diagnosed.

“We’re so far behind on testing,” he told Anderson Cooper. “We’re telling ourselves these lies on testing. We’re nowhere near where we need to be and we’re not going to be in this wave.”

The governor has also acknowledged that his family sought his help with testing.

“I knew we were in trouble when four of my family members called asking how they could get tested,” the governor wrote in his book, American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic, which Crown Publishing Group has halted reprints and promotions for following Cuomo’s cascading scandals.

And that trouble appears to have landed right on the doorsteps of the governor’s mansion and Chris Cuomo’s Southampton home.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/fed-up-with-remote-learning-governors-make-a-push-to-reopen-schools/ar-BB1fgQOj?ocid=msedgntp

Fed Up With Remote Learning, Governors Make a Push to Reopen Schools

Kate Taylor 2 hrs ago

AOC and Pelosi rank among least effective Democrats in Congress

Reynolds signs gun bill easing background checks, permits

In Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine offered school districts early access to vaccines for their staff if they committed to opening classrooms by March 1.

In Washington, Gov. Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency related to child and adolescent mental health and banned fully virtual instruction starting in April.

In Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker announced that most elementary schools would be required to offer full-time in-person instruction by April 5, and most middle schools by April 28.

The three are part of a significant and bipartisan group of governors who have decided it is time to flex some muscle and get students back into classrooms, despite union resistance and bureaucratic hesitancy.

The push has come from both ends of the political spectrum. Democratic governors in Oregon, California, New Mexico and North Carolina, and Republicans in Arizona, Iowa, West Virginia and New Hampshire, among other states, have all taken steps to prod, and sometimes force, districts to open.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/aoc-and-pelosi-rank-among-least-effective-democrats-in-congress/ar-BB1fgPvP?ocid=msedgntp

AOC and Pelosi rank among least effective Democrats in Congress

Carly Ortiz-Lytle 2 hrs ago

Despite being some of the most well-known members of Congress, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Speaker Nancy Pelosi rank near the bottom of the table in a measure of legislative effectiveness.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/reynolds-signs-gun-bill-easing-background-checks-permits/ar-BB1ffmtG?ocid=msedgntp

Reynolds signs gun bill easing background checks, permits

By DAVID PITT, Associated Press 12 hrs ago

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill Friday that will make handgun carry permits and background checks on unlicensed sales optional in Iowa.

As of July 1, people can buy handguns from private non-licensed sources such as websites, gun shows and individuals without a permit or background check. People also will be able to carry a gun into public places such as grocery stores and malls without prior safety training or a permit.

Reynolds said in a statement that the bill protects the Second Amendment rights of Iowa’s law-abiding citizens.

"We will never be able to outlaw or prevent every single bad actor from getting a gun, but what we can do is ensure law-abiding citizens have full access to their constitutional rights while keeping Iowans safe,” she said.

Democrats opposed the bill, calling it a dangerous reversal of commonsense safety measures that have helped keep Iowa safer than states that have lifted such restrictions.

“By caving to the gun lobby and extremists in the legislature, Gov. Reynolds has failed her constituents and made clear that she stands with the gun lobby over public safety,” said Erica Fletcher, a volunteer with Iowa Moms Demand Action, a gun safety advocacy group. “We’ve seen what happens when states weaken their gun laws, gun violence goes up and people die.”

Currently 22 states have laws that require background checks for all handgun sales at the point of sale and/or as part of a permit requirement, including Iowa for now. The remaining states, including Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin, do not require background checks on all sales.

Reynolds, a Republican, has spoken in the past in support of Iowa's current background checks and permits to carry handguns. However she has rarely vetoed measures supported by her GOP colleagues.

The bill passed the Iowa Senate with Republican votes only on March 22 at the same as a man was shooting customers at a Boulder, Colorado, grocery store. Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, who bought the Ruger AR-556 he used six days before the attack, is facing murder charges.

It cleared the House with the backing of only one Democrat.

By ending the permit and background requirements, the state will no longer check to ensure a person obtaining a gun from a non-licensed seller or those carrying a gun aren't disqualified from ownership due to past felonies or abuses. The bill also eliminates firearms training now required to obtain a gun permit.

The process for buying guns from federally licensed dealers doesn't change and still requires background checks.

Republicans insisted the measure recognizes that keeping and bearing arms is a fundamental right for law-abiding citizens and that communities are safer when more people have guns to protect themselves.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/vulnerable-dems-fret-after-getting-a-shock-aoc-s-campaign-cash/ar-BB1ffpQU?ocid=msedgntp

Vulnerable Dems fret after getting a shock: AOC's campaign cash

By Sarah Ferris, Ally Mutnick and Olivia Beavers 1 day ago

As the midterm campaign’s first fundraising deadline approached this week, several vulnerable House Democrats got an unwelcome surprise in their accounts: $5,000 from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The New York Democrat sent the contributions to her colleagues to help keep the House majority ahead of a tough cycle without directly contributing to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, with which she’s publicly clashed. But Ocasio-Cortez's largesse — and an oversight at the campaign headquarters — has instead raised awkward questions among her colleagues as some swing-district Democrats fret over whether to return her money before the GOP can turn it into an attack ad.

Some members whose campaigns got unexpected Ocasio-Cortez cash are seeking answers directly from DCCC Chair Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) and his top staffers. DCCC aides gave lawmakers’ wire transfer information to Ocasio-Cortez's aides without the approval of more senior officials, according to multiple people familiar with the contributions.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/at-some-point-litigation-must-end-another-federal-judge-dismisses-another-devin-nunes-lawsuit/ar-BB1fh85s?ocid=msedgntp

‘At Some Point, Litigation Must End’: Another Federal Judge Dismisses Another Devin Nunes Lawsuit

Jerry Lambe 2 hrs ago

In what has become a regularly reoccurring result, a lawsuit filed by Rep. Devin Nunes (R) and his attorney Steve Biss has been tossed out of court — this time for good.

>>13353738

what is your problem, jackass?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/white-house-tells-democratic-investigators-it-no-longer-has-trump-white-house-capitol-attack-documents/ar-BB1ffelT?ocid=msedgntp

White House tells Democratic investigators it no longer has Trump White House Capitol attack documents

By Phil Mattingly, CNN 23 hrs ago

Sarah Jessica Parker Says She Won't Do This Kind of Sex Scene

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The White House says it no longer has custody of the documents House Democratic investigators sought to shed light on the inner workings of then President Donald Trump's top aides in the lead up to, and on the day of, the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, according to a letter obtained by CNN.

"It has been the longstanding practice for all White House records to be transferred to the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration at the end of each President's tenure," White House counsel Dana Remus wrote in a letter to House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat.

"As a result, NARA is the appropriate entity to address your request, and should have any records responsive to your request; we do not have custody of such records at the White House," Remus wrote.

House Democratic committee chairs, on March 25, sent letters requesting documents and communications from before, during and after the attack on the Capitol, from a wide range of entities, including the White House, federal agencies, local law enforcement and the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms.

That request included the National Archives, where Remus said any records responsive to inquiry would now be held.

The request marked a clear ramping up from Democrats into their unilateral investigation into the events that led to the death of five, injured dozens of law enforcement officer and shook the country just two weeks before President Joe Biden was set to be inaugurated.

In the request sent to the White House, specific communications and documents from then-Trump administration employees with any relationship to the events of January 6 were requested – an area that up to this point has remained largely unknown in the investigations into the attack.

Then-President Trump spent the days leading up the January 6 rally that came before the attack on the Capitol urging his supporters to come to Washington as lawmakers prepared to vote to confirm the electoral count of Biden's victory.

Trump, who spoke at the rally, based his calls for supporters to come to Washington on lies about a stolen election. None of Trump's assertions were ever remotely true, and the efforts of his legal team, and lawyers supporting his campaign, to challenge the results were resoundingly dismissed or defeated.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/hunter-biden-dodges-questions-on-laptop-seized-by-fbi/ar-BB1ff0Ur?ocid=msedgntp

Kansas lawmakers revoke Democratic governor's mask mandate

Kristi Noem's statement on pipes not being infrastructure sums up her…

President Joe Biden's son Hunter dodged several questions in a new interview about a controversial laptop that is tied to him and was seized by the FBI in 2019.

Hunter Biden dodges questions on laptop seized by FBI

By Marshall Cohen and Evan Perez, CNN 1 day ago

Kansas lawmakers revoke Democratic governor's mask mandate

Kristi Noem's statement on pipes not being infrastructure sums up her…

President Joe Biden's son Hunter dodged several questions in a new interview about a controversial laptop that is tied to him and was seized by the FBI in 2019.

Hunter Biden told CBS News in an interview clip released on Friday that he has "no idea whether or not" the laptop belongs to him, but acknowledged that it was "certainly" a possibility, before raising several other theories.

"There could be a laptop out there that was stolen from me," Hunter Biden said in the interview. "It could be that I was hacked. It could be that it was the – that it was Russian intelligence. It could be that it was stolen from me. Or that there was a laptop stolen from me."

The comments are some of the only ones made publicly by Biden about the matter. During the 2020 campaign, former President Donald Trump repeatedly cited the laptop and its alleged contents to promote dubious corruption claims against Biden and his father regarding their dealings in Ukraine.

fakenews is using the latest Capitol Hill police killing as another reason to blame Trump for his

'insurrection' rhetoric against government.

Ds are using the talking point that Trump has stirred up hatred against 'government'.

Nobody ever pushes back and says, it's not that we are against 'government'…we are against Democrat policies Noah said the government was the worst thing for black people.

what he meant and we all mean is the Democrat policies are the worst thing for everybody.

it's not necessarily 'government' ….IT IS DEMOCRAT POLICIES.