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      F.B.I. Searches $3.5 Million Home of Former Aide to Gov. Hochul

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      The early-morning raid took place on Long Island’s North Shore at the house of Ms. Hochul’s former deputy chief of staff, Linda Sun.Before dawn on Tuesday, F.B.I. agents swept into a small cul-de-sac on Long Island’s North Shore to search a five-bedroom house where a former deputy chief of staff to Gov. Kathy Hochul lives with her husband.The basis for the search at the $3.5 million home of Linda Sun, the former deputy chief of staff, and the crimes under investigation remain unclear. Neither Ms. Sun, 40, nor her husband, Chris Hu, 41, have been accused of wrongdoing. Neither could be reached for comment and they did not respond to voice mail and text messages.A spokesman for the F.B.I. confirmed that agents from the bureau’s New York office had “conducted court-authorized law enforcement activity” at the expansive red brick house in a gated community in Manhasset, but would not comment further. The U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn obtained the warrant for the search, according to people with knowledge of the matter; a spokesman for that office also declined to comment.No arrests were made at the family’s home, according to a person familiar with the investigation. The property was owned by Ms. Sun and Mr. Hu until they transferred it to a trust early this year.Ms. Sun, who earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and government from Barnard College and a Master of Arts from Teachers College at Columbia University, has worked in state government for nearly 14 years, holding a variety of positions, according to her LinkedIn profile.She began her state career in the legislative branch as chief of staff to an assemblywoman, Grace Meng, who is now a congresswoman, and then worked in various positions in the administrations of both Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Ms. Hochul, according to the profile.Ms. Sun’s roles included business development; Asian American affairs; and diversity, equity and inclusion. She left the executive chamber after roughly 15 months, moving on to a position in the Labor Department in November 2022. Five months later, she left the state to serve as campaign manager for Austin Cheng, a Democrat who made an unsuccessful bid for Congress on Long Island.Avi Small, the press secretary for Ms. Hochul, declined to comment.Mr. Hu operates a liquor store in Flushing, Queens, Leivine Wine & Spirits, and has incorporated several other businesses over the last decade, including a company he created in 2020 during the earliest days of the coronavirus pandemic called Medical Supplies USA LLC. He also created Golden Capital Group LLC in 2016 and LCA Holdings LLC in 2023, although the nature of those business could not be immediately determined.It is unclear when the F.B.I. agents first arrived at the gated community where Ms. Sun and Mr. Hu live, which is called Stone Hill, but a security guard there said that agents were there twice.Reporting was contributed by More

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      Trump Appeals $454 Million Judgment in N.Y. Civil Fraud Case

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      Lawyers for Donald J. Trump challenged the judgment handed down by Justice Arthur F. Engoron, who found that Mr. Trump had conspired to manipulate his net worth to receive favorable terms on loans.Lawyers for Donald J. Trump filed an appeal on Monday evening seeking to dismiss or drastically reduce the $454 million judgment levied against him this year in a New York civil fraud case, the latest maneuver in the former president’s multiple legal battles.The filing made a raft of arguments questioning the judgment handed down in February by Justice Arthur F. Engoron, who found that Mr. Trump had conspired to manipulate his net worth and lied about the value of his properties to receive more favorable terms on loans.The suit was brought by Attorney General Letitia James of New York, a Democrat, who hailed her victory over Mr. Trump as having demonstrated that “there cannot be different rules for different people in this country.”In their lengthy appeal to the First Department of the State Supreme Court’s Appellate Division, however, Mr. Trump’s lawyers argued that many of the deals in question in Ms. James’s suit had occurred long ago and that the statute of limitations for violations it cited had run out.They also questioned the size of the judgment awarded by Justice Engoron, calling it disproportionate and suggesting that the judge had overcounted damages and miscalculated the profits from some of the properties named in Ms. James’s suit.Taken as a whole, the appeal — peppered with talking points from Mr. Trump’s campaign and his public criticism of the case — seeks to show that the former president’s dealings were business as usual, and that no harm was caused.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Jamaal Bowman’s Election Loss: 5 Takeaways

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      Representative Jamaal Bowman of New York became the first member of the House’s progressive “squad” to lose a seat in Congress on Tuesday, dealing a stinging defeat to the Democratic left after a brutal intraparty fight.The contest on the outskirts of New York City centered on Democrats’ disagreements over Israel’s war in Gaza. Progressive groups raced to try to save Mr. Bowman, a leading voice against the war. Pro-Israel political groups pumped record-shattering sums into defeating him.But by the end, it devolved into a broader spat over race and class that tested the Democratic coalition. Mr. Bowman’s opponent, the Westchester County executive, George Latimer, also benefited from old-fashioned local alliances and a series of embarrassing missteps by the incumbent.Here are five takeaways from the results.AIPAC notched its first big win.George Latimer capitalized on decades-old political alliances and an alliance with pro-Israel groups that spent more than $15 million on the race.Dave Sanders for The New York TimesAfter the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attacks, political groups aligned with Israel issued a message to its critics like Mr. Bowman: Moderate your views or prepare for stiff political opposition.Tuesday’s result showed that was no idle threat.The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Democratic Majority for Israel and other affiliated organizations ultimately spent more than $16 million to defeat Mr. Bowman, more than any outside group has ever put into a House race.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      John Avlon Defeats Nancy Goroff in Long Island Primary.

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      John Avlon, a former CNN political analyst who helped found the centrist political group No Labels, won the Democratic primary in a House district in eastern Long Island in New York on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.Mr. Avlon only entered the race in February but quickly built up support in the district, which he moved to in 2017.His critics, including his opponent, Nancy Goroff, used his recent move to the area to suggest that he was out of touch with locals, but he won more endorsements from party leaders and local elected officials than did Ms. Goroff, a retired chemistry professor who ran in 2020.Mr. Avlon will now face Representative Nick LaLota, the Republican incumbent, in November. While President Biden eked out a 0.2-point win in the district in 2020, Mr. LaLota cruised to an 11-point victory two years later. The Democratic House Majority PAC has characterized the First Congressional District as “one of the most competitive districts in the country,” while the Cook Political Report has called it “likely Republican.”“Anxieties and emotions hang around this election, but we know that action is the best antidote to anxiety, right?” Mr. Avlon said to his supporters on Tuesday. “The real work — you all know — it starts right now.”Ms. Goroff had seemed to be the presumptive Democratic candidate until Mr. Avlon announced his candidacy. Mr. Avlon said he felt compelled to enter the race because of the partisan division in the country, and referred to the district as a “majority maker.”In the waning weeks of the race, Ms. Goroff and PACs that supported her tried to emphasize Mr. Avlon’s past ties to the Republican Party, particularly Rudolph W. Giuliani, for whom Mr. Avlon worked as a speechwriter and adviser. Mr. Avlon has previously said he worked for Mr. Giuliani “when he was sane.”“We proved that the positive defeats the negative,” Mr. Avlon said in his speech on Tuesday. “We are fighting the good fight together, side by side and unafraid.” More

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      State Senator Wins Swing-District House Primary in Central New York

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      State Senator John W. Mannion won the Democratic primary in New York’s 22nd Congressional District in Central New York on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.Mr. Mannion defeated Sarah Klee Hood, an Air Force veteran and a town councilor in DeWitt. She had drawn upon her experiences as a working mother who has sought abortion care to make her case to voters.The district, currently held by Brandon Williams, a Republican, is widely considered one of the Democrats’ best opportunities for a pickup in the nation.In 2022, Mr. Williams, who has been a vocal champion of former President Donald J. Trump, was narrowly elected by just under one percentage point. Since then, the boundaries of the district have changed to favor Democrats, with the northern part of Herkimer County traded for more of the Finger Lakes region. Cook Political Report labels the seat “leans Democratic.”A former public-school teacher and union representative, Mr. Mannion was elected in 2020 to the State Legislature, where he leads the Senate Committee on Disabilities. His congressional bid was bolstered by the state teachers’ union and the AFL-CIO.The race was colored by 11th-hour accusations from former staff members of Mr. Mannion who claimed that he had created a hostile workplace. Mr. Mannion vehemently denied the claims, which are being investigated by the State Senate. More

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      Unrelenting Heat Stifles Millions of Americans for 3rd Consecutive Day

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      As the heat wave moved east, the Northeast felt the brunt of the conditions. But forecasters provided a glimmer of relief, saying “conditions should improve over New England” this weekend.From the Midwest to the northern tip of Maine, millions of Americans sweltered under a springtime heat wave on Wednesday that stifled the Eastern portion of the United States for a third consecutive day.As the heat wave moved east, the Northeast felt the brunt of the conditions, stemming from a high-pressure system called a heat dome that scorched the Great Lakes region earlier this week.Conditions in a swath of central Maine were particularly brutal, largely because the area was farther from ocean winds, according to Jay Engle, a forecaster at the National Weather Service. The heat index — a measure that includes temperature and humidity to showcase how hot it actually feels — topped 100 degrees in some areas, and temperatures reached as high as 95 degrees in cities like Bangor, Houlton and Millinocket, according to the National Weather Service. In Caribou, in the northeastern tip of the state, it was 96 degrees, tying the highest temperature ever recorded there.More than 78 million people were under heat warnings, watches and advisories on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. Heat waves are not uncommon in mid-June, but the Weather Service warned that this one could last longer than some places have experienced in decades. Heat waves are also hotter, more frequent and longer lasting now because of global warming.But forecasters provided a glimmer of relief: Meteorologists at the Weather Prediction Center said in a post on its website that “conditions should improve over New England” this weekend.Still, in many areas, Wednesday felt more like the height of summer than the last full day of spring. Cities and states helped residents deal with the stifling temperatures by opening more cooling centers, moving some Juneteenth celebrations indoors and pushing up opening hours of pools and beaches.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Bowman and Latimer Use Final Debate to Air Differences on Israel and Race

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      Fighting for his political life ahead of next week’s New York primary, Representative Jamaal Bowman took broad swipes on Tuesday at his opponent in the contest’s final debate, accusing him of failing Black constituents and selling his campaign out to a pro-Israel super PAC.Mr. Bowman, who is Black, charged that George Latimer, his white challenger, had slow-walked desegregation as Westchester County executive and had done too little to close the wealth gap between Black and white families.He repeatedly sought to portray Mr. Latimer as a lackey of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the bipartisan pro-Israel lobby that has spent a record-shattering $14 million trying to defeat Mr. Bowman over his criticisms of Israel.“He claims to be a Democrat, but he is supported by racist MAGA Republicans who support taking your voting rights — gutting your abortion rights,” Mr. Bowman, 48, said, referring to some of the group’s conservative donors.Mr. Latimer, 70, was having none of it. He forcefully denied each claim, saying that Mr. Bowman was “cornering the market on lies” in a desperate attempt to reverse a race that polls indicate he is losing. He trumpeted his own record producing affordable housing and investing in communities of color.“This is an example of using race as a weapon,” Mr. Latimer said at one point. “What we need to do is bring people together.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Hochul Visits an Ancestral Home, 3,000 Miles From the Governor’s Mansion

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      After meeting the pope and the mayors of Rome, London and Dublin, Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York paused to reconnect with her past.For much of her whirlwind tour in Europe, Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York focused on looking forward for solutions to worldwide crises like global warming and a lack of affordable housing.But as she visited County Kerry, Ireland, Ms. Hochul paused to linger in the past.Here in Kilshannig, a small fishing village on a remote stretch of sandy beach, the governor is still known as Kathleen Courtney, the granddaughter of John Courtney and Mary Browne, who emigrated separately to the United States as teenagers over a century ago in search of greater opportunity.They would later meet in Chicago, where they married before moving to Buffalo, the governor’s hometown, to work at the steel mill there. Every so often, as money and time allowed, the family would make the trip back to the Maharees, a peninsula that juts off Ireland’s west coast and contains three small towns: Fahamore, Kilshannig and Candeehy.On Sunday, around 100 local residents, county council members and relatives gathered in Spillane’s Bar in Fahamore for a civic reception to honor Ms. Hochul. Almost everyone who crowded into the low-ceilinged pub looking for a selfie or a handshake with their distinguished American guest claimed to share ancestry with the governor through her grandparents.“My mother and her grandmother were first cousins,” said Mary Harrington-McKenna, 75, who lives in the town. “It’s very exciting to have our cousin, the governor of New York, visit where her grandparents came from.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More