Cuomo Breaks Silence: Has No Regret about COVID Lies, Groping Women

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Andrew Cuomo, the disgraced Democrat former New York governor, is doubling down on his troubled handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite widespread condemnation and subsequent resignation from office amid a salacious scandal involving several sexual harassment allegations and lying about nursing home deaths.

“There was no sexual harassment,” Cuomo said in an interview with WABC AM Radio’s Rita Cosby. “It was a political report,” he added, according to a write-up by the New York Post.

Cuomo refuted an explosive report by N.Y. Attorney General Letitia James that found that he sexually harassed 11 women. The former governor also dismissed a separate report that revealed the Cuomo administration purposely undercounted COVID-19 deaths of nursing home residents.

James, who ran for governor months after releasing the report, said of her findings, “I believe women, and I believe these 11 women.”

Cuomo resigned from office in August 2021 after the report was released but has remained unapologetic for his actions, which allegedly included groping. “No district attorney brought a case,” Cuomo said of accusations brought against him by a former executive assistant.

Cuomo cited cultural differences between him and his accusers as the reason why they found his actions offensive.

“That’s a fine conversation. That’s cultural boundaries,” Cuomo said. “Your opinion is not the law. The law has to be met and in my case it had to be a state employee— gender discrimination,” he added, referring to the accusers.

The Post reported that Cuomo claimed he resigned because he did not want his daughters to face a “toxic environment and the negative press.”

The disgraced governor also said he did not regret lying about the official COVID-related deaths in nursing homes.

“I was in charge of the state in the middle of this war and I take responsibility for everything that happened,” a nonchalant Cuomo said.

An audit from the N.Y. Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli revealed that top officials in the state, including Cuomo, purposely mislead residents about the negative consequences of allowing COVID-positive individuals into nursing homes. At least 4,100 deaths were hidden by the Cuomo administration.

Listen to the full radio interview below:

DeSantis Campaign Launch Either Broke the Internet or Crippled the Candidate

(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) Setting the stage for what promises to be a brutal slugfest to secure the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, the Twitter Spaces launch announcing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s entry into the race either broke the internet with a massive outpouring of interest, or crippled his campaign before it even got started.

The long-awaited announcement, which unfolded live on Twitter Spaces after DeSantis earlier Wednesday had filed the requisite paperwork to make it official, was sidetracked by technical glitches that delayed the event and hampered the presentation, which DeSantis attributed to a record-high audience and voter enthusiasm.

“We had a huge audience. It was the largest they ever had and it did break the Twitter Space,” he told Fox News in an interview after the event. “We’re really excited about the enthusiasm.”

The numbers were echoed by GOP donor David Sacks, who co-hosted the event with Twitter CEO Elon Musk, and wrote that “This was by far the biggest room ever held on social media.”

Former President Donald Trump, who is by a wide margin leading the GOP presidential pack, had a different take. He blistered DeSantis throughout the event with posts on Truth Social, while Donald Trump Jr. tagged the event on Twitter as a “#DeSaster.”

The braintrust behind GOP presidential hopeful Nikki Haley’s campaign joined the bashing.

“Failed soft launch? Check. Failed announcement? Double check. We look forward to Ron DeSantis’ failed campaign,” cracked Mark Harris, strategist for Haley’s super PAC.

Technical glitches aside, the Twitter Spaces event reportedly reaped rewards for DeSantis, and was a strong enough performance to gain public support from conservative stalwart Mark Levine.

Shrugging off the tech snafus, DeSantis used the event to plug his national agenda and release a video touting his Florida successes, both legislative and electoral, while taking a shot at President Joe Biden.

“Our border is a disaster. Crime infests our cities. The federal government makes it harder for families to make ends meet. And the president flounders,” DeSantis said in the video.“Righting the ship requires restoring sanity to our society, normalcy to our communities and integrity to our institutions. Truth must be our foundation — and common sense can no longer be an uncommon virtue. In Florida, we proved that it can be done.”

DeSantis said it was accomplished by choosing “facts over fear, education over indoctrination, law and order over rioting and disorder.”

“We held the line when freedom hung in the balance,” DeSantis said of his time as governor. “We showed that we can — and must — revitalize America. We need the courage to lead and the strength to win.”

While never mentioning Trump by name during the Twitter Spaces event, DeSantis took a swipe at a midterm red wave that the former president had said he would lead, but never materialized.

“There is no substitute for victory. We must end the culture of losing that has infected the Republican Party in recent years,” DeSantis said. “We must look forward, not backwards.”

Soros-Funded DA Has Backlog of 10K+ Cases as Prosecutors Flee His Office

(Headline USA) Soros-funded Los Angeles district attorney George Gascon has a backlog of more than 10,000 cases, in part because he can’t keep a full staff, according to a new report.

Multiple sources who worked with Gascon said the woke leftist is an “authoritarian” who has driven away talent and punished prosecutors who disagree with his political views. Gascon’s office has more than 200 positions open, according to the employees.

“The reputation of the office has been destroyed and people know he’s hostile to his employees,” said Eric Siddall, vice president of the LA County Association of Deputy District Attorneys. “He has an authoritarian management style, and engages in retaliatory acts against employees who don’t share his ideology.”

Gascon’s office disputed the number of open positions, claiming they only have a total of 139 positions available due to “retirement and a previous hiring freeze.” His office would not comment on the backlog of cases.

“You have mid-career-level prosecutors doing the heavy lifting and are tired of being treated like s**t,” said one prosecutor, according to the New York Post. “The problem is, people started leaving because they became so fed up with his policies, so those of us who stayed are carrying two or three times the caseload.”

At least 20 complaints have been filed against Gascon by high-ranking members of the DA’s office who claim they were removed from their posts because they criticized Gascon’s soft-on-crime policies.

Shawn Randolph, former head of the juvenile division, was one such plaintiff and won a $1.5 million settlement last month after a jury agreed that Gascon’s decision to transfer her to the parole division, which came after she spoke out against his decree banning prosecutors from trying minors as adults, was retaliatory.

Another former LA prosecutor said the community hates Gascon and distrusts his office.

“In my career as a prosecutor, I’ve never had victims’ families actually hate us until I came into this office,” a former deputy DA said. “We are hated by all the victims because of lack of prosecution and low sentences because of his policies.”

Pro-Abortion Group Has a Long History of Opposing Parental Rights

(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) A leftist organization that is pushing for an amendment that would establish a “right” to murder a baby in the womb in the Ohio constitution also has a record of statements against parents.

According to the Daily Caller, Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity is part of a ballot committee lobbying to pass an amendment to the state constitution that would support murdering an unborn baby.

“Every individual has a right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions,” the amendment that may become the law states.

URGE is part of “an official partnership to get a measure on the ballot that would amend the Ohio Constitution to explicitly protect reproductive freedom for all,” along with Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio, ACLU of Ohio and others.

Aside from pushing the legalization of murder, URGE also has a record of being anti-parent. Women’s groups have previously accused the organization of cutting parents out of a child’s decision to potentially murder her unborn baby.

“Your daughter’s young. Vulnerable. Online,” a narrator says in one anti-amendment ad. “You fear the worst. Pushed to change her sex. Or to get an abortion. You have some right to help her through this. But activists want to take all that away.”

URGE itself put out a statement, in which they called to end parental involvement in decisions for matters like abortion.

“It’s time to END parental involvement laws. We’re ALL worthy of self-determination!” the group wrote in a tweet last year.

The group also made similar statements previously.

“Young ppl face unique barriers when trying to access abortion,” URGE wrote in a 2019 tweet. “We need policies that get rid of parental involvement laws so that young people can access abortion without unnecessary restrictions.”

In July 2020, the group also advocated abolishing parental involvement when it comes to abortion.

Texas AG Paxton Sues Mayorkas, Garland over CBP One App

(By Bethany Blankley. The Center Square) Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Attorney General Merrick Garland over a new policy their agencies have implemented to facilitate expanded entry into the U.S. using a mobile application.

“The Biden Administration deliberately conceived of this phone app with the goal of illegally pre-approving more foreign aliens to enter the country and go where they please once they arrive,” Paxton said in a statement. “Joe Biden, Alejandro Mayorkas, and the entire Biden Administration have prioritized creating and protecting new ways for illegal aliens to stream into this country, no matter the cost or consequence to struggling American citizens. Time after time, my office has shown that we will fight back in court to defeat their unlawful open-borders policies. We intend to stop this rule from wreaking further havoc on the people of Texas.”

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Texas Del Rio Division on Tuesday. The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice are named as defendants.

In February, DHS and DOJ jointly issued a notice of proposed rulemaking, the Circumvention of Lawful Pathways, ahead of the public health authority Title 42 ending on May 11. The rule, which went into effect May 11, created significant changes to the asylum and immigration process established by Congress. Under the rule, foreign nationals must present themselves “at a port of entry at a pre-scheduled time using the CBP One app” to be considered eligible for entry, with some exceptions.

The CBP One app, a free mobile application available through the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, “enables noncitizens without appropriate documents for admission who seek to travel to the United States through certain southwest border land ports of entry … the ability to submit information through a module within the application instead of coming directly to wait at a POE,” CBP explains.

Foreign nationals must be physically located in central or northern Mexico when they request an appointment through the app to enter the U.S. The app allows them to request and schedule an appointment where they can go in person to eight ports of entry. Five are in Texas: Brownsville, Paso Del Norte in El Paso, Eagle Pass, Hidalgo, and Laredo. Two are in California: Calexico and San Ysidro. One is in Arizona: Nogales.

On May 10, the app expanded to allow appointments to be made 23 hours a day. On May 12, the number of available appointments increased to roughly 1,000 a day, prioritizing noncitizens who’ve waited the longest, according to CBP.

The CBP One App, CBP says, “remains a key part of the Department of Homeland Security’s multi-pronged strategy to address migrant flows at the southwest border. By using CBP One for these appointments, we have increased our capacity to process noncitizens at ports of entry, a critical part of our commitment to safe, orderly, and humane migration processes.”

However, Paxton argues in the complaint, “In a farcical attempt to address the invasion of illegal aliens across the southern border following the end of Title 42, the Biden Administration published a new Final Rule inviting migrants to download an app to schedule a convenient time and place to cross the border illegally. Neither the app nor the border patrol officers at the southern border ask if the illegal aliens are seeking asylum, nor do they validate any claim for protection.

“The Biden Administration is inviting tens of thousands of aliens into Texas, releasing them into the country, and inflicting serious costs on the State of Texas. The Biden Administration’s attempt to manage the southern border by app does not meet even the lowest expectation of competency and runs afoul of the laws Congress passed to regulate immigration.”

The app is a way for the Biden Administration “to circumvent federal law to ‘streamline’ the process of illegal aliens entering the United States unlawfully,” Paxton argues.

Federal immigration law stipulates that foreign nationals illegally entering the U.S. should be processed for expulsion, with very rare exceptions. But the app “does not and cannot verify” that anyone using it to apply for entry “would qualify for an exception, which would prevent them from being deported,” he notes.

Facilitating entry through the app, Paxton argues, encourages “illegal aliens to come to the United States, even if they do not qualify to stay in the country.”

The lawsuit argues the rule exceeds statutory authority, violates federal law, and is arbitrary and capricious. It asks the court to rule that the DHS/DOJ rule is unlawful, declare DHS/DOJ actions unlawful, and issue a preliminary and permanent injunction to prohibit the rule from being implemented.

He filed the complaint after the number of people who’ve been apprehended or been reported evading capture at the southern border in the first four months of this year is greater than the population of six states, and after fiscal 2023 illegal northern border crossings surpassed the previous four fiscal years combined.

McCarthy Says Debt Deal Will Require Spending Cuts

(By Brett Rowland, The Center Square) U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said Wednesday that the White House must agree to spending cuts as part of a debt deal.

“You have to spend less than you did last year,” McCarthy said at a news conference. “That’s not that difficult to do, but in Washington, somehow, that is a problem.”

McCarthy said he was hopeful negotiators would make progress although he described the two sides as “far apart.”

“I’m sending our negotiation team down to the White House to try to finish up the negotiations with the White House,” McCarthy said. “There are a number of places where we’re still far apart.”

The debt ceiling is the maximum amount of debt the U.S. Department of the Treasury can issue. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has repeatedly said lawmakers must raise the debt ceiling by June 1 or risk a default on U.S. debt obligations, but when exactly U.S. coffers will run dry remains uncertain. In a letter to McCarthy on Monday Yellen again said the money could run out as early as June 1.

“With an additional week of information now available, I am writing to note that we estimate that it is highly likely that Treasury will no longer be able to satisfy all of the government’s obligations if Congress has not acted to raise or suspend the debt limit by early June, and potentially as early as June 1,” she wrote.

She noted that things could change: “These estimates are based on currently available data, and federal receipts, outlays, and debt could vary from these estimates. I will continue to update Congress as more information becomes available.”

House Republicans passed a bill to reduce spending by $4.8 trillion and increase the debt limit by about $1.5 trillion, or until March 31, 2024, whichever comes first. The Republican bill would strip energy and environmental tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act and formally block Biden’s student loan cancellation. It also would put work requirements in place for some federal social programs, such as requiring Medicaid recipients to work 80 hours per month.

The Limit, Save, Grow Act would return total discretionary spending to the fiscal year 2022 level in fiscal year 2024 and cap annual growth at 1% for 10 years, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the measure would reduce budget deficits “by about $4.8 trillion over the 2023–2033 period.”

President Joe Biden has said that any agreement must have support from both parties.

House GOP Votes to Overturn Biden’s Student Loan Cancellation

(By Casey Harper, The Center Square) House Republicans voted 218-203 Wednesday to overturn President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness even as the U.S. The Supreme Court considers the legality of the measure.

Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., led the effort to overturn Biden’s loan cancelation via the Congressional Review Act, a provision that allows Congress to overturn recently enacted federal rules. The Government Accountability Office recently said that the student loan rule fell within Congress’ authority to overturn under the CRA.

“President Biden’s student loan transfer scheme shifts hundreds of billions of dollars of payments from student loan borrowers onto the backs of the American people,” Good told The Center Square.

“I am proud to lead the fight against President Biden’s reckless, unilateral, and unauthorized action that would unfairly penalize those who worked hard to pay off their loans or who never took them out in the first place,” Good said. “I am pleased that my Republican colleagues overwhelmingly supported my legislation on the House Floor this week.”

Biden announced last year his administration would “forgive” $10,000 in federal student loan debt for those making less than $125,000 per year. For Pell Grant recipients, the debt cancelation would total $20,000, and the plan would allow debtors to to cap repayment of their loans at 5% of their income.

“Whether you want it or not—and you don’t—thanks to Biden’s student loan bailout every man, woman, and child in America will be taxed $3,527 to foot the bill for someone else’s debt,” Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., said Wednesday.

The U.S. Congressional Budget Office estimated the provision would cost taxpayers about $400 billion.

Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget Senior Vice President and Senior Policy Director Marc Goldwein testified before Congress in March, raising the alarm about runaway federal spending, inflation, and the rise of the national debt.

“Unfortunately, the Administration’s policies have contributed to this inflation and cancellation could further exacerbate inflationary pressures if allowed by the Supreme Court to go forward,” Goldwein testified before the House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development. “This in turn puts more pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates, which disrupts the financial, housing, and labor markets and risks pushing the economy into a recession.”

Biden has defended his plan, saying it is helping Americans struggling to pay back their debt. Student loans have been deferred several times because of the COVID-19 pandemic, first by former President Donald Trump and then by Biden. The House bill would also put an end to that delay and restart repayments for borrowers.

Critics of Biden’s plan say it unfairly punishes poorer Americans who could not afford to go to college, forcing them to subsidize wealthier Americans with degrees and more earning potential.

“President Biden is not forgiving debt, he is shifting the burden of student loans off of the borrowers who willingly took on their debt and placing it onto those who chose to not go to college or already fulfilled their commitment to pay off their loans,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said after introducing the Joint Resolution of Disapproval earlier this year in conjunction with Good.

“It is extremely unfair to punish these Americans, forcing them to pay the bill for these irresponsible and unfair student loan schemes,” he added.

Whether the measure can get traction in the Senate, especially before the Supreme Court issues their ruling, is unlikely. A favorable court ruling, though, could push the issue for some Senate Republicans in particular.

Biden has made clear he opposes the House’s move to overturn his Department of Education rule, meaning it would almost certainly be vetoed.

The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling on the debt forgiveness in the coming weeks.

Target Pulls Some LGBT Items, Claims Threats after Panic over Boycotts

(Corine Gatti, Headline USA) Target is facing backlash for its new efforts to force sexual deviancy and Satanic merchandise on children, removing only certain items from stores across the country, while the company struggled to deal with its own promotional campaign.

Target executives hit the panic button on the pushback ahead of the consumer campaign for June Pride month to avoid a “Bud Light situation” as consumers were livid about the store displays, the Gateway Pundit reported.

While Target did not disclose which items were being removed, the “tuck friendly” swimsuits designed for trans women and occult- and satanic-themed clothing from the London-based company Designs by Abprallen have been the most contentious and repulsive to buyers. 

Abprallen’s trans designer Eric Carnell addressed the criticism of the brand’s “Satan respects pronouns” messaging, saying, “This is simply a nod to the fact that we believe in respecting everyone’s chosen gender identities. It has nothing to do with Satanism.” 

Abprallen mixes satanism with its pro-LGBT activism, asserting on its Instagram page that “Satan loves you and respects who you are; you’re important and valuable in this world and you deserve to treat yourself with love and respect.”

Some southern Target stores were forced to move LGBTQ Pride merchandise away from the front of their locations after customer “outrage.” Target stores in South Carolina, Arkansas and Georgia moved its Pride sections due to backlash from customers.

Spokeswoman Kayla Castaneda said the stores are making adjustments to plans, including removing items that have been at the center of the “most significant confrontational behavior,” she said in a recent statement. But she did not expand on what items were being moved.

Target’s response is a reminder of Bud Light’s attempt to redeem itself after their Dylan Mulvaney disaster.

And “the criticism has been widespread,” Castaneda added. “Folks are reaching out with feedback…and while some are sharing it with constructive criticism, they disagree with product decisions that we made.”

Some Target managers and district senior directors were reportedly given “emergency” calls on Friday, instructing them to take action on the Pride sections immediately, Fox News Digital reported.

“We were given 36 hours, told to take all of our Pride stuff, the entire section, and move it into a section that’s a third the size,” an insider told the outlet. 

According to the same insider, the first 10 minutes of the call focused on keeping the employees safe and not having to advocate for the company. But then came the surprising instruction: “Move this to the back, take down the mannequins and remove the signage.” 

Reactions from the public is resulting in Target losing money since the outcry first started.

Target shares were down more than 3% at Tuesday’s close before the company announced it was ditching some LGBTQ merch. On May 17, Target had a $74.29 billion market cap as of May 24, it’s $65.95B.

“The Target Satanic Groomer boycott has already shaved off more than $8B in company value,” tweeted Rogan O’Handley.

House Republican Pushes to Fine Schiff $16M for Russia Hoax Lies

(Headline USA) A House Republican introduced a resolution this week to fine Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., $16 million for his role in the Russiagate hoax.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., who moved to remove Schiff from the House last week following release of the Durham report, argued that Schiff’s false claims of Russian collusion did irreparable damage to the country, including financial damage since millions of taxpayer dollars went toward funding the subsequent investigations.

“The GOP Conference agrees that Adam Schiff has betrayed the trust of the American people, purposely abused positions of extreme authority, lied continuously, and as such, must be held to account,” Luna said. “Accordingly, the resolution requires Rep. Schiff to pay a $16 million dollar fine, half of the cost American taxpayers were forced to pay for the Russia hoax investigation.”

Luna said Schiff knowingly lied about the Russia collusion hoax, lending “credibility” to the Steele dossier even though it was clear from high-ranking intelligence officials that the dossier could not be verified.

Schiff also tried to personally profit from the Russian collusion lies, Luna said.

“Representative Schiff exploited his positions on HPSCI to encourage and excuse abusive intelligence investigations of Americans for political purposes,” the resolution reads. “Representative Schiff used his position and access to sensitive information to instigate a fraudulently based investigation, which he then used to amass political gain and fundraising dollars.”

Last week, Luna filed a motion to expel Schiff from Congress, calling the Democrat a “dishonor to the House of Representatives.”

“Knowingly using your position on House Intel to push a lie that ripped apart our country, cost taxpayers millions of dollars, and authorized spying on a US President and then proceeding to double down on the lie within days of the Durham report coming out makes you unfit for office. Ethics should investigate,” she tweeted.

Schiff responded by attacking Luna as a “MAGA Republican.”

“I stood up to Donald Trump and held extreme MAGA forces accountable. Now they want payback. They’ll go after anyone who defends the rule of law,” he said.

More Details Revealed about IRS Targeting Twitter Files Reporter

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, revealed in a letter Wednesday that the IRS opened an investigation into acclaimed journalist Matt Taibbi last Christmas Eve—the same day Taibbi published a bombshell story about the incestuous relationship between the FBI and social media companies.

This news follows another strange coincidence, where an IRS agent visited Taibbi’s home the same day he was testifying to the House Weaponization Subcommittee about his reporting on the Twitter Files, which are a trove of internal documents about the social media company’s censorship decisions.

Taibbi didn’t owe the IRS taxes, and in fact was due a refund, according to him and Jordan.

Nevertheless, the IRS conducted an extensive probe of Taibbi, checking to see if he had a concealed-carry permit, checking his voting registration records and running his name through numerous databases.

Jordan discovered this after demanding information from the IRS about its visit to Taibbi’s home. This new information raises more questions than it answers, Jordan said.

“The circumstances of the IRS’s visit to Mr. Taibbi’s home as he was testifying before Congress about government abuse and censorship raise troubling questions that demand additional information,” he said in his Wednesday letter.

Jordan asked the IRS for all documents relating to its decision to investigate Taibbi, its decision to visit his home and all documents related to the Twitter Files. In addition, he requested a transcribed interview with the IRS agent who visited Taibbi’s home.

Taibbi and Jordan both think the IRS’s visit to the reporter’s home was retaliatory.

“When the IRS checks to see if you have a carry permit and visits your home, at a time when they owe you money, it’s time to worry,” Taibbi said.

Publications such as the Wall Street Journal agreed with Jordan and Taibbi, noting that the IRS visit came on the heels of the Federal Trade Commission demanding that Twitter turn over personal details about Taibbi and other Twitter Files reporters.

The IRS visit also took place around the same time as the Democrats on the Weaponization Subcommittee were demanding Taibbi to release details about his confidential sources.

“The fear of many Americans is that, flush with its new $80 billion in funding from Congress, the IRS will unleash its fearsome power against political opponents,” WSJ’s editorial board said. “Mr. Taibbi deserves to know why the agency decided to pursue him with a very strange house call.”

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.