Free Republic

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) filed another ethics complaint against Judge Juan Merchan on Friday, accusing the acting Manhattan Supreme Court justice of a conflict of interest due to his daughter’s recent work for the Kamala Harris campaign. Stefanik asked the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct to launch “a fresh inquiry” into a $468 payment from the Harris camp to Loren Merchan’s digital political consulting and marketing firm, Authentic Campaigns. The transaction took place July 30, days after the suspension of President Biden’s re-election effort, and was “one of the very first things that Harris did upon taking over...

Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) signed a dumb law requiring some retailers to install panic buttons for store employees. But-but-but I keep being told crime is down in America! But-but-but I keep being told that people like myself are exaggerating the crime that’s destroying Democrat-run cities! Panic buttons are what happens when stupid voters continue to vote for failure in the form of Democrats. “[A]mong other things,” reports Reuters, “retailers with 10 or more employees [are required] to adopt a violence prevention plan and maintain records of violent incidents for at least three years.”

Several New York Republicans are calling for an investigation into New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) after the arrest of a former top aide for working as an agent of influence of China. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), and Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) were among the Republicans who have called for an investigation surrounding Linda Sun, 41, and her husband, Chris Hu, after federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment charging Sun, a naturalized American citizen who was born in China, conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, failure to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, money...

A FORMER deputy chief of staff to New York Governor Kathy Hochul has been arrested by federal authorities. Linda Sun, 40, and her husband, Chris Hu, 41, were arrested on Tuesday morning at their home in Manhasset on Long Island, New York. Details of the charges Sun and Hu face have not been made public. The couple are expected to appear in Brooklyn Federal Court on Tuesday, according to NBC affiliate WNBC.

It currently costs NY about $36 per MWH for energy. But the state demanded wind. Let’s discuss the amazing bottom line results. So Much for So Little The Wall Street Journal asks Why Is New York Paying So Much for Wind Power? New York state signed a contract in June to buy electricity generated by two large wind farms, Empire Wind 1 and Sunrise Wind, off the coast of Long Island. The projects are expected to begin in 2026 and 2027, with power delivered to Brooklyn (Empire) and Long Island (Sunrise). The state will pay $155 and $146 per megawatt-hour,...

Rochester, N.Y. — Teens in two vehicles drove toward a 46-year-old man, prompting him to open fire and shoot one of them Wednesday afternoon, according to police. Investigators said the man approached multiple teens occupying a Kia and Hyundai on Norton Village Lane to "inquire about their presence." The teens left the area in the vehicles, only to circle back and drive at the man, according to police. The man reportedly pulled a legally registered .45-caliber handgun and fired several rounds before the vehicles fled. Police received a call shortly after 3:30 p.m. for a 17-year-old boy shot on South...

he First Amendment does not allow the United States to adopt "Oceania's Ministry of Truth." That line from George Orwell's dystopian novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four" opens U.S. District Judge John Sinatra's order Thursday imposing a preliminary injunction on New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is threatening pro-life pregnancy centers for telling women about so-called abortion pill reversal, as their lawsuit proceeds. Her office may not enforce state consumer fraud laws against the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA), Gianna's House and Options Care Center, which sued in May, for referring to APR, calling it safe and effective or...

The First Amendment does not allow the United States to adopt "Oceania's Ministry of Truth." That line from George Orwell's dystopian novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four" opens U.S. District Judge John Sinatra's order Thursday imposing a preliminary injunction on New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is threatening pro-life pregnancy centers for telling women about so-called abortion pill reversal, as their lawsuit proceeds. Her office may not enforce state consumer fraud laws against the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA), Gianna's House and Options Care Center, which sued in May, for referring to APR, calling it safe and effective or...

The Long Island mom charged in the wrong-way crash that killed her 9-year-old son admitted to taking methamphetamine and was driving on a suspended license before the horrific incident, prosecutors said Friday — as she was held on $1 million bail. Kerri Bedrick, 32, was carted into a Suffolk County courtroom in a wheelchair, clad in a blue hospital gown and handcuffed behind her back, for an emotional arraignment hearing that revealed shocking new details about the tragic crash. Cops found more than 4 grams of pills in Bedrick’s SUV that tested positive for meth — and she ‘fessed up...

He finally ran out of other people’s money. Disgraced Rep. Jamaal Bowman is begging for cash and painting himself as the victim in the wake of his bruising — and losing June primary fight against Westchester County Executive George Latimer. The race was the most expensive in House history, and Bowman — who campaigned with surrogates who publicly celebrated Hamas terrorism –whined to donors about American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which spent $14.5 million to help unseat him. “AIPAC spent more money against us than any other House primary – ever. I was public enemy number one and they spent...

New York State Public Service Commission has approved the implementation of the Energy Affordability Guarantee pilot program. The PSC’s decision provides a plan for the design and implementation of an energy affordability pilot program for low-income households who fully electrify their space and water heating through the EmPower+ program. This pilot program will provide approximately 1,000 EmPower+ program participants with tailored bill assistance to ensure they pay no more than six percent of their annual household income toward electricity costs. To be eligible for the guarantee, the customer’s home must meet the income eligibility standard for low-income programs, which is...

Gov. Kathy Hochul, along with state officials and U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm, announced Thursday that low-income New Yorkers are now eligible to receive rebates for energy efficiency upgrades through a federal program called the Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates (HEAR) Program, which aims to lower household energy costs. The governor, at a press event held at the Andromeda Community Center in Long Island City, unveiled the Biden administration’s new initiative that will help reduce household utility expenses via a rebate program that incentivizes energy efficiency upgrades. The plan, which stems from the Inflation Reduction Act and is...

Governor Kathy Hochul today met with State Commissioner of Education Betty A. Rosa and leaders from the State Education Department to discuss the ongoing development of a ‘Media Literacy’ toolkit for educators to help teach students HOW TO SPOT MIS/DIS/MAL-INFORMATION online. Following a surge in online hate speech in November 2023, Governor Hochul directed the State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services to work with experts to develop and distribute an ideologically neutral product which gives teachers resources to develop students’ ability to analyze, evaluate, and assess all forms of media, including information delivered through social media. “The rising...

A natural gas expansion project spanning portions of New Jersey, Delaware and New York was dealt a legal setback after a federal appeals court vacated the approval of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The U.S. Court of Appeals overturned federal approval of the $1 billion expansion of the Transco natural gas pipeline, which would run through sections of New Jersey and Pennsylvania with extensions stretching into southern New York. The panel ruled that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission overlooked studies that the market for expanded natural gas in New Jersey was low when it granted approval last year to the...

On Thursday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office issued a sweetheart deal to 13 Columbia University Gaza camp defendants and offered them adjournment in contemplation of dismissal for their criminal trespassing charges, as reported by the Columbia Spectator. The 13 defendants, none of whom were enrolled at Columbia University during the Gaza camp occupation, will have their charges dismissed following 6 months of probation and the completion of a class that educates about "peaceful and legal protesting." Each of them was charged with criminal trespass for their alleged participation in the occupation of Hamilton Hall on the private Ivy League...

Lawyers for Donald Trump on Monday appealed a civil fraud judgment from February that found the former president and his company liable for business fraud. The 95-page appeal, filed in the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, accuses state Attorney General Letitia James of an “unauthorized, unprecedented power-grab” and says several loans cited by prosecutors should not have been considered in the case. It also argues that James “seeks to unwind and penalize complex, highly successful transactions between Appellants and sophisticated Wall Street banks that left all parties deeply satisfied and had no impact on the public interest." [snip] "No...

NEW YORK — President Joe Biden has a new problem: a competitive race in deep blue New York. Elected officials, union leaders and political consultants are panicking over polls showing a steady erosion of Biden’s support in a state he won by 23 points four years ago. They’re so worried they’ve been trying to convince the Biden team to pour resources into New York to shore up his campaign and boost Democrats running in a half-dozen swing districts that could determine control of the House. Biden aides have not focused on New York, committing no significant resources to a state...

Manhattan prosecutors said Tuesday they would not oppose Donald Trump’s request to delay the sentencing in his hush money trial as he seeks to have the conviction overturned following a Supreme Court ruling that granted broad immunity protections to presidents. In a letter filed with the New York court, prosecutors with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said they would be open to a two-week delay in the July 11 sentencing in order to file a response to Trump’s motions. “Although we do believe the case to be without merit, we do not oppose his request” to delay the sentencing...

President Biden’s debate debacle has giddy New York and New Jersey GOP leaders believing former President Donald Trump could be the first Republican to win their states in four decades. Even if carrying the blue states is a longshot, party insiders and independent analysts expect Trump will do strongly enough in the suburbs that he can help Republican House incumbents defend seats they won in 2022 – and maybe even make gains. “Trump can win New York just like Ronald Reagan did in 1980,” said New York State Republican Party chairman Ed Cox. A recent Siena College poll had Trump...

Former Harlem Congressman Charles Rangel — who is 94 years old — wondered whether President Biden belongs in a nursing home instead of the White House following last week’s debate disaster. “I have never been more shocked and embarrassed by any presidential debate than I was last Thursday,” Rangel, who served in Congress from 1971 to 2017, said Sunday on 770 WABC radio’s “The Cats Roundtable.” “One [candidate is] a convicted felon who has no respect for the truth, for morality. The other seemed so damned confused I didn’t even know whether he knew where the hell he was at...