US Politics

An aide to Andrew Cuomo says the New York governor groped her in the governor’s residence, marking the most serious allegation among those made by a series of women against the embattled Democrat, according to a report published in a newspaper Wednesday.The Times Union of Albany reported that the woman, who was not identified, was alone with Cuomo when he closed the door, reached under her shirt and fondled her. The newspaper’s reporting is based on an unidentified source with direct knowledge of the woman’s accusation. The governor had summoned her to the Executive Mansion in Albany, saying he needed help with his cellphone, the newspaper reported.The three-term governor faces harassment allegations from five other women, including former aide Charlotte Bennett. The 25-year-old’s attorney, Debra Katz, said in a statement released Wednesday evening that the latest allegations are “eerily similar” to Bennett’s own story.Bennett has said she was summoned to the Capitol on a weekend and left alone with Cuomo, who asked her for help with his cellphone. She has said Cuomo asked about her sex life and propositioned her.“The governor’s sexual harassment, which Charlotte Bennett reported, was buried by his aides and never properly investigated,” Katz’s statement said. “Because of their enablement, another young woman was left in harm’s way.”The woman whose account was reported by the Times Union also indicated that Cuomo had touched her and made flirtatious comments on multiple occasions. According to the newspaper, her allegations came to light as Cuomo staffers watched the governor’s 3 March press conference, his first after initial sexual harassment claims made in late February.In it, he denied ever touching a woman inappropriately. The aide subsequently became emotional, and told a female supervisor who approached her about her encounters with the governor. At least one supervisor reported the allegation to an attorney in the governor’s office Monday, the newspaper reported.Prior to Wednesday’s report, the allegations against Cuomo include a combination of claims that he made the workplace uncomfortable for young women, ranging from flirtatious comments to a nonconsensual kiss.At least five accusers – Bennett, Lindsey Boylan, Anna Liss and Karen Hinton – worked for the governor in Albany or during his time in Bill Clinton’s cabinet. Another, Anna Ruch, told the New York Times that she met Cuomo at a friend’s wedding.The three-term governor has denied inappropriately touching anyone, but said he is sorry if he made anyone uncomfortable and didn’t intend to do so.“As I said yesterday, I have never done anything like this. The details of this report are gut-wrenching,” Cuomo said through a spokesperson Wednesday evening. “I am not going to speak to the specifics of this or any other allegation given the ongoing review, but I am confident in the result of the attorney general’s report.”The state attorney general, Letitia James, has put together an investigative team to probe Cuomo’s workplace conduct. The governor has called on lawmakers and the public to await the results of that investigation. Federal investigators are also scrutinizing how his administration handled data concerning Covid-19 outbreaks at nursing homes.Cuomo has repeatedly maintained he won’t resign.“How can we allow this man to lead our state? We must impeach,” Zohran Kwame Mamdani, a Democratic assembly member, tweeted Wednesday night.The Republican assembly member Mike Lawler on Twitter called Cuomo “a sexual predator” who should be charged.Both lawmakers had previously called for Cuomo’s impeachment. More

The number of migrant children and families seeking to cross the US-Mexico border has increased to levels not seen since before the coronavirus pandemic – a challenge for Joe Biden as he works to undo the hardline immigration policies of predecessor Donald Trump.Statistics released Wednesday by US customs and border protection (CBP) showed the number of children and families increased by more than 100% between January and February.Children crossing by themselves rose 60% to more than 9,400, forcing the government to look for new places to hold them temporarily.Roberta Jacobson, the administration’s coordinator for the southern border and a former ambassador to Mexico, joined the White House press briefing on Wednesday.She said the president is committed to building a fair immigration system, but cannot undo the damage of the Trump administration “overnight”.She sidestepped a question about whether the situation at the border qualifies as a crisis.“Whatever you call it wouldn’t change what we’re doing,” Jacobson said.The secretary of homeland security, Alejandro Mayorkas, previously said he does not consider the situation to be a crisis, which sparked intense criticism among Republicans, including Trump.But Jacobson said: “Surges tend to respond to hope. There was a hope for a more humane policy.”She also argued that the election of Biden allowed human smugglers to spread disinformation about migrants’ ability to enter the US immediately.“The border is not open,” Jacobson said and urged undocumented people not to make the dangerous journey.The Biden administration is turning back nearly all single adults, who make up the majority of border-crossers, under a public health order imposed by Trump at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.And the administration is temporarily holding children and families, mostly from Central America, in government and private facilities for several days while it evaluates claims for asylum or determines if they have any other legal right to stay in the US.Republicans have argued that migrants are drawn by incentives such as the immigration bill backed by Biden and many Democrats that would offer a path to citizenship for millions of people living unlawfully in the US.“We’re seeing a surge of unaccompanied children coming across the border. Why? Joe Biden promised amnesty,” Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, tweeted.There were nearly 29,000 family units or unaccompanied minors in February. The last time it was higher was in October 2019.Biden officials have faced mounting questions about the temporary detention of migrant families, an issue that the two previous presidents had to deal with because of the instability in the region.Jacobson said the administration is asking Congress for $4bn for targeted aid to Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.“Only by addressing those root causes can we break the cycle of desperation and provide hope for families who clearly would prefer to stay in their countries and provide a better future for their children,” she told reporters at the White House.Jacobson said the US is also restoring a program, ended under Trump, that reunited children in the three Central American countries with parents who are legal residents in the United States.The Department of Homeland Security has also begun processing the asylum claims of thousands of people who were forced by the Trump administration to stay in Mexico, often in dangerous conditions for a long time, for a decision on their case.A migrant camp that formed in Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville, in south-east Texas, recently was emptied of migrants as they were allowed into the US to process their immigration or asylum claims. More

Merrick Garland has been confirmed as America’s top law enforcement officer, a boost for Joe Biden’s drive against racial discrimination in the criminal justice system.Garland’s rise to attorney general, approved 70-30 by the US Senate in a strongly bipartisan vote, turns the page on former president Donald Trump’s harsh “law and order” rhetoric and efforts to bend the justice department to his will.It also marks a poignant second chance for the 68-year-old judge who, nominated to the supreme court by then president Barack Obama in 2016, was denied a hearing by Senate Republicans on the pretext that it was an election year.This time around his confirmation had been widely expected, especially after a relatively uneventful hearing where Republicans landed few punches. Mitch McConnell, who was Garland’s nemesis in 2016, told reporters last Tuesday that he would back him for attorney general.“After Donald Trump spent four years – four long years – subverting the powers of the justice department for his own political benefit, treating the attorney general like his own personal defense lawyer, America can breathe a sigh of relief that we’re going to have someone like Merrick Garland leading the justice department,” said Majority Leader Chuck Schumer ahead of the vote. “Someone with integrity, independence, respect for the rule of law and credibility on both sides of the aisle.”McConnell said he was voting to confirm Garland because of “his long reputation as a straight shooter and a legal expert” and that his “left-of-center perspective” was still within the legal mainstream.“Let’s hope our incoming attorney general applies that no-nonsense approach to the serious challenges facing the Department of Justice and our nation,” McConnell said.Garland faces a daunting inbox at a justice department that critics say was left in tatters by Trump and his own attorney general, William Barr. He must attempt to restore morale while addressing demands for racial justice in the wake of last year’s police killing of George Floyd and widespread Black Lives Matter protests.At last week’s confirmation hearing in Washington, Garland stressed his commitment to combating racial discrimination in policing, arguing that America does not “yet have equal justice” as well as confronting the rise in extremist violence and domestic terror threats.He said his first briefing as attorney general would be focused on the insurrection at the US Capitol on 6 January. He told the committee he fears that the riots were “not necessarily a one-off” and pledged to provide prosecutors with all the resources they need to bring charges over the mob violence.“We must do everything in the power of the justice department to prevent this kind of interference with policies of American democratic institutions,” he said.Born in Chicago and educated at Harvard, Garland is a federal appellate judge and former prosecutor. He held senior positions at the justice department including as a supervisor in the prosecution of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, which killed 168 people and led to the execution of Timothy McVeigh.Last week, reflecting on the rise in hate crimes and extremist groups, he said: “I certainly agree that we are facing a more dangerous period than we faced in Oklahoma City.”Garland assured senators that the justice department would remain politically independent – a line that often became blurred under Trump and Barr. He emphasized that he had never spoken to Biden about a federal tax investigation into the president’s son, Hunter Biden, and that he did not expect interference from anyone.“The president nominates the attorney general to be the lawyer, not for any individual, but for the people of the United States,” he said.At one point in the hearing, Garland fought back tears after Cory Booker of New Jersey asked him about his own family’s experience of hateful extremism.“I come from a family where my grandparents fled antisemitism and persecution,” the judge said. “The country took us in, and protected us, and I feel an obligation to the country to pay back, and this is the highest, best use of my own set of skills to pay back.“So I very much want to be the kind of attorney general that you’re saying I could become, and I’ll do my best to become that kind of attorney general.”Associated Press contributed to this report More

The US House on Wednesday passed the huge $1.9tn coronavirus relief and economic stimulus package that represents Joe Biden’s first major legislative victory.The massive legislation, a broadly popular bill with the public, received no Republican support. It aims to fulfill Democrats’ campaign promise to combat the coronavirus and revive a pummeled economy. It also includes sweeping anti-poverty measures that attempt to tackle deep-seated racial and gender inequalities in the American economy.Here are the main elements of the bill:$1,400 stimulus checks: A majority of Americans – as many as 85% of US households, according to Democrats – will receive direct payments of $1,400 per person. Individuals making less than $75,000 and married couples making less than $150,000 collectively would receive the checks. The payments would gradually decrease for those earning more than those income levels, with the benefit capped at $80,000 for individuals and $160,000 for married couples, who won’t receive checks. The threshold is lower than Biden had initially proposed, and was changed to accommodate objections from moderate Democrats in the Senate.Unemployment benefits: The bill extends through early September the $300-a-week federal unemployment benefits approved in a previous aid package. Biden proposed expanding the supplement to $400 a week through August, but the Senate kept it at $300, while extending the benefit through September. It also included a provision to make the first $10,200 of unemployment benefits received in 2020 tax-free for households earning less than $150,000.Child tax credit: The legislation significantly increases – and expands eligibility for – the child tax credit, a longtime progressive priority that Democrats are hoping to make permanent after the pandemic. Under the bill, the tax credit would jump from $2,000 a child under 17 to $3,600 for children up to age five and $3,000 for children aged between six and 17. Taken together with other benefits, it is estimated the expansion will halve the number of children living in poverty in America.Health insurance subsidies: The bill would temporarily increase financial assistance for health coverage purchased through marketplaces established by the Obama administration’s Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. It also aims to help those who are unemployed keep their health coverage, as well as provides additional funding for military veterans’ healthcare and other health programs.Vaccine distribution and testing: The bill provides tens of billions of dollars to speed up vaccine distribution and administration, as well as increase coronavirus testing and enhance contact tracing and genomic sequencing.Pandemic response: The bill sends $350bn to state, local and tribal governments, to help offset deep budget shortfalls as a result of efforts to combat the pandemic. It also includes $130bn to help schools reopen safely by reducing class sizes and modifying classrooms to improve ventilation and social distancing. Colleges and universities would receive $40bn to help cover the cost of pandemic-related expenses. Businesses would also get funding, including under a new program to help bars and restaurants hurt by Covid lockdowns.Rental, mortgage and food assistance: The legislation also includes a number of other provisions that would provide assistance for food and housing, including money for low-income Americans to afford rent and pay their utilities, and aid to homeowners struggling to pay their mortgages because of the pandemic. More

Joe Biden reflected recently on the last time a Democratic administration had to rescue an economy left in tatters by a Republican president.“The economists told us we literally saved America from a depression,” Biden told the House Democratic Caucus last week. “But we didn’t adequately explain what we had done. Barack was so modest; he didn’t want to take, as he said, a ‘victory lap’. I kept saying, ‘Tell people what we did.’ He said, ‘We don’t have time. I’m not going to take a victory lap.’ And we paid a price for it, ironically, for that humility.”The 46th US president is often lauded for his humility but don’t expect him to repeat Obama’s mistake. Once his $1.9tn coronavirus relief bill is signed, he is set to take an extended victory lap by travelling the country to promote it.Biden will have short and long sales pitches. First, that help is on the way after the hellish year of a pandemic that has killed more than 528,000 people in the US and put many millions out of work.The stimulus, among the biggest in history, includes $400bn to fund $1,400 direct payments to most Americans (unlike Donald Trump, Biden’s signature will not appear on the cheques), $350bn in aid to state and local governments and increased funding for vaccine distribution.Politically, it is an open goal. The risks of inaction were immense; the risks of action are modest. Opinion polls show that three in four Americans support the stimulus, making congressional Republicans’ implacable opposition all the more jarring. But given that voters tend to have short memories – academic research and midterm election results suggest that Obama got little credit for the 2009 rescue – Biden is wise to press home his advantage.Second, he will also be on a mission to restore faith in government. Confidence in it “has been plummeting since the late 60s to what it is now”, Biden noted in his remarks last week. His legislation, called the American Rescue Plan, can correct that with the biggest expansion of the welfare state in decades.Advocates say it will cut the number of Americans living in poverty by a third and reduce child poverty by nearly half. It contains, at $31bn, the biggest federal investment in Native American programmes in history. It also delivers the most important legislation for Black farmers in half a century, allocating $5bn through debt relief, grants, education and training.Jim McGovern, the Democratic congressman who chairs the House rules committee, has said: “This bill attacks inequality and poverty in ways we haven’t seen in a generation.”The White House has called it “the most progressive piece of legislation in history”. Biden knows better than anyone what that means.When he was born, in 1942, the president was Franklin Roosevelt, architect of the New Deal, an epic set of programmes, public work projects and financial reforms to provide relief from the Great Depression. When Biden was a student at the University of Delaware, Lyndon Johnson embarked on his project of the “Great Society”, flexing the muscles of government for poverty alleviation, civil rights and environmental protections.But then came the monumental pushback. As a senator, Biden witnessed the Watergate scandal tarnish the political class as Richard Nixon became the first president to resign. Then came Ronald Reagan and his famous quip: “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”Reagan oversaw a major tax overhaul in 1986, resulting in cavernous inequality and a massive budget deficit. He described Johnson’s “Great Society” as a fundamental wrong turn and set about dismantling it. Reagan was so successful in making the political weather that Biden himself bought into the ideology.In 1988 he wrote in a newspaper column: “We are all too familiar with the stories of welfare mothers driving luxury cars and leading lifestyles that mirror the rich and famous. Whether they are exaggerated or not, these stories underlie a broad social concern that the welfare system has broken down – that it only parcels out welfare checks and does nothing to help the poor find productive jobs.”This orthodoxy held and dominated the political centre ground. In 2017, Trump followed Reagan’s lead with a $1.5tn bill that slashed taxes for corporations and the wealthy, including himself and his allies. That was his first big legislative win; Biden’s could hardly be more of a polar opposite.The American Rescue Plan is not without disappointments for progressives, notably the lack of a $15-per-hour minimum wage, a harbinger of how difficult an evenly divided Senate will be for Biden to handle. All the more reason to enjoy his victory lap and celebrate that four decades of Reaganism and “trickle down” economics are at an end. More

Olympic swimming champion Klete Keller has pleaded not guilty to seven charges over the invasion of the US Capitol by a pro-Donald Trump mob in January.The charges against the 38-year-old, who won two relay gold medals as a teammate of Michael Phelps at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, include civil disorder, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds. Keller entered the not-guilty pleas during a video hearing, and his next court appearance is due on 6 April. In a criminal complaint, an FBI agent said the 6ft 6in Keller was easy to identify in video of the riot due to his height and the fact that he was wearing his Team USA jacket, “which also appears to bear a Nike logo on the front right side and a red and white Olympic patch on the front left side.”Keller turned himself into authorities in January and was released without a bond. Keller deleted his social media accounts after news of the charges against him became public. Swimming website SwimSwam reported that prior to the deletion, Keller had written several posts in support of Trump.In recent years, Keller has spoken about his struggles to adapt after his swimming career ended. “I found the real-world pressure much more intimidating and much more difficult to deal with because I went from swimming to having three kids and a wife within a year and so the consequences of not succeeding were very, very real and if I didn’t make a sale or if my manager was ticked off with me, or If I got fired – oh shoot, you have no health insurance. It’s very concrete,” he told an Olympic Channel podcast.Trump became the first president in history to be impeached twice, after he incited the mob to invade the Capitol, although he was later acquitted after the Senate fell 10 votes short of the two-thirds majority required to convict high crimes and misdemeanors. Trump baselessly claimed he lost the presidential election because of voter fraud. Five people, including a Capitol police officer, died as a result of the ensuing violence. More

There are perhaps no more than 10 red wolves left in the wild, and they are all in just one place: North Carolina.
It is an astonishing statistic for a species once hailed as undergoing the most successful reintroduction programme in the US, providing the blueprint for Yellowstone national park’s much-lauded grey wolf rewilding project.
“The [red wolf] programme has almost entirely crumbled since I’ve been working here,” says Heather Clarkson, who works with the environmental charity Defenders of Wildlife. “It took about 20 years to get the programme to a strong place, that’s the really sad part. Because now it’s crashed. Disappointed barely scratches the surface.”
In January, following legal action by conservation groups including Defenders of Wildlife, the district court for the eastern district of North Carolina ruled that the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), which had cancelled the red wolf reintroduction programme, must resume the release of wolves into the wild. This month the USFWS presented a new plan to the judge and he has given the groups that launched the lawsuit two weeks to lodge any objections.
Start of the rewilding scheme
The plan to boost the number of red wolves in the wild began in 1973, when the USFWS set out to capture as many of the remaining wolves as possible to establish a captive-breeding programme.
In 1980, the red wolf was declared extinct in the wild. Seven years later the first reintroduction was made at the 60,000-hectare (152,000-acre) Alligator River national wildlife refuge in North Carolina. A breeding pair was released, and captive-bred pups were later fostered by the pack.
At its peak, in 2011, there were as many as 130 red wolves back roaming the marshes, swamps and coastal prairies. Their recovery was the first time in the US that a large carnivore had been declared extinct in the wild and then successfully reintroduced. More