Republicans hound Hochul in DC

Politico

12-06-2025

THE GOV PLAYS DEFENSE: Republicans — including Gov. Kathy Hochul's fiercest political foes — used her as a punching bag during her congressional testimony on the state's immigration policies.
Or at least they tried.
The two GOP members of Congress eyeing Hochul's seat in 2026 — upstate Rep. Elise Stefanik and Hudson Valley Rep. Mike Lawler — volunteered to join a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to question the Democratic governor they may challenge one year from now.
Stefanik used her time to ask Hochul if she knew who Sakir Akkan, Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, Raymond Rojas Basilio and Wilson Castillo Diaz were. Each name was an undocumented immigrant accused of a crime.
'We deserve a governor who stands up for law-abiding New Yorkers, doesn't put illegals first, but actually puts New Yorkers first,' Stefanik said from the dais today.
With each name Stefanik listed, Hochul, furtively, pleaded ignorance.
'I don't have the details on every single person in a state of 20 million people,' Hochul said at one point during the hearing, when Ohio GOP Rep. Jim Jordan picked up where Stefanik left off and listed the name of another undocumented immigrant accused of a crime. (Spoiler alert: Hochul did not know that name, either)
While the back-and-forth wasn't pretty, Hochul largely avoided the type of bite-sized moments of Congressional upbraiding that go viral on social media.
'Rather than going after the viral moment, I suggest you look at the facts,' the governor said during the hearing, to an unrelenting Stefanik.
And her team celebrated it as a win: 'Elise Stefanik's attempt at going viral went about as well as her failed UN ambassador stint,' state Democratic party spokesperson Addison Dick said. 'Stefanik is all talk — she knows nothing about how to keep New Yorkers safe.'
Stefanik, an ally of President Donald Trump, has been making moves that would indicate an interest in ousting Hochul from the Executive Mansion, including a recent trip to the state Capitol to decry her as the 'worst governor in America.'
Lawler, who will face a tough reelection challenge in his district if he doesn't run for governor, will likely be questioning Hochul later this evening.
While Hochul spent the day attempting to ward off her potential 2026 rivals — and other Republicans like Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene — she faced another onslaught from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Trump announced he is suing Hochul — again — for state policies that his administration says prevent federal immigration authorities from making immigration arrests at New York courthouses.
The lawsuit comes after ICE officials have arrested undocumented immigrants who show up to courthouses for immigration hearings.
'Lawless sanctuary city policies are the root cause of the violence that Americans have seen in California, and New York State is similarly employing sanctuary city policies to prevent illegal aliens from apprehension,' Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. 'This latest lawsuit in a series of sanctuary city litigation underscores the Department of Justice's commitment to keeping Americans safe and aggressively enforcing the law.' — Jason Beeferman
FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
YOU'VE GOT ('BLATANTLY ISLAMOPHOBIC') MAIL: A proposed mailer from a pro-Cuomo super PAC appeared to thicken mayoral rival Zohran Mamdani's beard — sparking online outrage from his supporters and leading the Muslim lawmaker to slam the incident as islamophobic.
The mailer, which clearly enlarges Mamdani's beard, was never sent out, according to Liz Benjamin, a super PAC spokesperson.
She said the PAC quickly rejected the draft mailer.
'The mailer was proposed by a vendor; upon review it was immediately rejected for production and was subsequently corrected,' she said. 'We are disturbed that this was posted online without our consent.'
The proposed mailer came to light after it was posted on X from Forward reporter Jacob Kornbluh.
Nevertheless an executive for DoorDash — the super PAC's top funder — issued a statement distancing the company from the rejected design and attacking Mamdani for his outrage.
'The Mamdani campaign knows full well DoorDash doesn't make creative decisions for Fix the City, definitely doesn't design mailers, and obviously doesn't condone Islamophobia. We are glad to hear that this design was rejected. This is a cynical attempt to create a controversy where one doesn't exist,' said John Horton, head of North America public policy for DoorDash.
Cuomo's campaign said through spokesperson Rich Azzopardi that 'it's absurd and disrespectful for anyone to attempt to distort anyone else's image in campaign material — period.'
The Mamdani campaign said the Cuomo super PAC was 'trying to buy this election through fear-mongering and ignorance.'
'Thickening and darkening my beard — playing into racist tropes — was meant to make me look threatening, because Andrew Cuomo and the donors propping up his flailing campaign are scared,' the candidate said in a statement. 'This same breed of attacks was lodged against President Barack Obama when he too built a movement based on hope rather than fear. And like President Obama, we will rise above it.'
During Cuomo's 2018 campaign for governor, Cuomo said the state Democratic party — which he controlled — made a 'mistake' when it sent out a mailer linking his Democratic rival Cynthia Nixon to antisemitism and inaccurately stating her position on Israel.
'The mailer was a mistake,' he said at the time. 'I said that as soon as it came to light and as soon as I saw it. The tone was not appropriate.' In this case, the mailer was sent by a committee that is legally barred from coordinating with the campaign it's boosting. — Jason Beeferman
TISCH TOCK: Members of the wealthy Tisch family this week contributed $50,000 each to a super PAC supporting Andrew Cuomo's mayoral bid.
Andrew Tisch, Jonathan Tisch, Ann Rubenstein Tisch and Elizabeth Tisch made the donations, according to state Board of Elections filings. The PAC has raised more than $13.2 million since it was formed in March, making it the best-funded super PAC in city history. Donors include well-heeled executives from finance and real estate as well as Trump-supporting figures like Bill Ackman.
The Tisch donations are notable given that their relative, Jessica Tisch, serves as Mayor Eric Adams' police commissioner. Cuomo has praised Tisch's handling of the job, but has not publicly committed to keeping her if he becomes mayor. — Nick Reisman
LANDER'S LAVISH SPENDING: City Comptroller Brad Lander, still polling in a distant third place in the Democratic primary for New York City mayor, touted his endorsement today by a panel convened by The New York Times as vindication for his campaign's high spend rate.
As POLITICO recently reported, Lander has spent nearly $1 million more than his leading rivals.
The city's financial manager said his campaign's burn rate was money well spent.
Citing his strong showing with the panel, Lander said, 'that says to me that we're running a campaign that's gotten our information out well, and that this set of people have concluded, based on what they've seen, that I would be the best candidate for mayor.'
In a break from tradition, The New York Times opted not to endorse in the local race to pick the Democratic nominee seeking to oust Adams and instead convened a group of New Yorkers to offer their assessments of the candidates. Lander got by far the most support — seven people picked him as their top choice, compared to two for Cuomo, who is leading the race.
With $2.8 million left in the bank as of the latest filing period, Lander said his campaign plans to integrate the newspaper's recommendation into his soon-to-air advertisements.
'It makes sense to me that we would have spent most of our money on the [you know] nearly a year I've been running, and that we've got plenty left to get our message out over the next few days,' he added at today's press conference, held to tout the new support.
With 10 days left in what he termed a 'three man race' — between himself and frontrunners Cuomo and Mamdani — Lander said he will use tonight's debate to zero in on the sexual harassment allegations leveled against the former governor. Cuomo denies the allegations, which were included in a report from the state attorney general that precipitated his resignation in 2021. — Amira McKee
From City Hall
EXTRA PICKLES: A grand jury is still meeting in the bribery and conspiracy case against Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Manhattan prosecutors said today.
The revelation means that more evidence or even new charges could come to light that would further imperil Adams' former top confidante.
'This grand jury investigation is still ongoing,' Assistant District Attorney Kenneth Moore Jr. said during a virtual status hearing.
Moore was referring to a ruling that restricted access to sensitive discovery material. He planned to request an extension of that protective order until Sept. 1, suggesting the grand jury might conclude its work by then.
In December, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Lewis-Martin, her son and two real estate executives with bribery and conspiracy in a case that involved accusations of official government favors proffered in exchange for cash gifts and assistance setting up a Chick-fil-A franchise. All have pleaded not guilty.
Lewis-Martin abruptly resigned days before the charges were unveiled. — Joe Anuta
IN OTHER NEWS
— MAMDANI IN YIDDISH: The mayoral candidate gave an interview to a Yiddish-language newspaper where he said he will work to protect the Jewish community from antisemitism. (The Forward)
— 'FUCKING STOP IT, LAWLER!': Democratic Syracuse Rep. John Mannion appeared to scream at Lawler in the House chamber, causing a hush among the other lawmakers as he told the Republican lawmaker to 'get some fucking balls.' (WATCH)
— SUOZZI FOR CUOMO: Long Island Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi endorsed Cuomo for mayor. (New York Post)
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