Dixon Campaign Supporters Caught Spreading Fake Memes

With help from Shawn Ness

New from New York

Happening now:

• Gov. Kathy Hochul and regulators took steps to bolster the failing recreational marijuana industry.
• A Buffalo Senate seat vacated by now-Rep. Tim Kennedy will remain empty through the remainder of the year.
• Mayor Eric Adams kicked off his trip to Italy by offering praise of the Pope.
• Hochul told reporters that she’s hopeful a deal can be reached to address the ills of social media on children.

TROUBLE IN THE WEED WORLD: Chris Alexander, the executive director of the Office of Cannabis Management, will leave at the end of his term to “pursue other opportunities,” Gov. Kathy Hochul told reporters today during a press conference announcing an overhaul of the state’s cannabis agency.

Meanwhile, the Cannabis Control Board was meeting at the same time to approve additional licenses and a shift in how licenses are processed.

The overlapping press conference and agency meeting were the culmination of years of New York’s troubled cannabis rollout amid an effort to redress the harms of past cannabis enforcement.

Entrepreneurs have long spoken out about the botched program, outlining the financial consequences of the slow licensing process.

Hochul acknowledged how those hardships have affected specific applicants who were supposed to be positioned to take advantage of an economic opportunity in the recreational marijuana industry, only to have suffered devastating financial consequences.

She told reporters about an applicant who invested more than $40,000, but still has yet to hear any news on their application — a story that is familiar to anyone who has been listening to public comments at the board meetings.

Staffing issues: Office of General Services Commissioner Jeanette Moy, who led a review released today on the system, told reporters that the state is recruiting additional staffers to review licenses in hopes of speeding up the process.

Agencies need to prioritize requests for staffing, she said.

“If the idea is that the office was sitting there not asking for additional staff … and all of a sudden somebody's saying that we need to ask for additional staff, it sounds like that's not accurate,” said Cannabis Control Board member Adam Perry during Friday’s meeting. “It sounds like the office has asked for additional staff.”

Perry was also critical that the board wasn’t provided with a draft of the report ahead of its public release, as is customary for external reviews.

Board Chair Tremaine Wright said the board had not been presented with a report and that she had requested that it receive an update on the findings of the audit. A spokesperson for the governor said that Wright was briefed on key information from the report on Wednesday.

Other new developments: The governor also announced a task force to crack down on the illicit cannabis market, as well as a $5 million grant program to help entrepreneurs impacted by past cannabis enforcement.

The board approved more than 100 additional licenses today, though only 31 more retailers. Cannabis regulators are also changing the licensing review process, and they plan to review significantly more applications than from the general application window last fall.

Not everyone was happy about the change.

Kassandra Frederique, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, said during the board meeting that the licensing process was supposed to be protected from the whims of the governor.

“People want to ask why folks of color do not stand up to be in these positions as elected officials… It's because we get set up and then they cut our heads off in public. And that is what is happening to the OCM.” Frederique said of the state Office of Cannabis Management.

“It is not lost on me that for the first time we have Black leadership … We're changing the goalposts and the cannabis board was supposed to be independent to protect the intentions of the work.” — Mona Zhang

NO SPECIAL EXPECTED IN BUFFALO: Rep. Tim Kennedy took the oath of office for his new job on Monday evening, which leaves state Senate Democrats one vote shy of the 42-member supermajority they’ve enjoyed since 2021.

But senators are predicting there won’t be a special election to fill the seat before the November elections.

A 2021 law overhauled the rules for calling special elections. Governors now need to quickly call them, but they’re not allowed to do so if a vacancy is created after April 1 of an election year — unless there will be a special session sometime before January, in which case calling one is mandatory.

But that begs the question: How do we know there won’t be a special session later this year?

Albany doesn’t hold special sessions anymore. There are occasional “extraordinary” sessions — when the governor calls lawmakers back to Albany. And there are plenty of times when lawmakers come back to town to vote on issues like pay raises that are colloquially called “special sessions."

But technically, those aren’t special sessions.

Those only occur when the Legislature comes back after adjourning for the year. And the Legislature hasn’t formally adjourned before New Year’s since the 1970s, thanks to members like state Sen. Neil Breslin holding two-minute sessions in the off weeks. — Bill Mahoney

NYC IS THE ROME OF AMERICA: Mayor Eric Adams today lauded Pope Francis’ calls for migrants to be treated humanely as he kicked off a multi-day visit to Italy that will culminate in an audience with the pontiff.

“His voice on these topics will cause those who would probably traditionally ignore the topic to sit up and take note,” Adams said in a news conference from Rome, adding the pope urges people to “just look at your fellow human being as your fellow brother or sister.”

He described the pope ahead of their meeting as a “credible messenger” in parts of the world struggling with influxes of newcomers, including New York City, where 195,000 migrants have come in the past two years.

The pope has challenged anti-immigration postures in Europe and in March penned a letter to migrants in Panama calling them “the face of Christ.”

Day One of Adams’ Roman holiday has been far from restful as he toured a subway tunnel under construction near the Colosseum, a slaughterhouse that was converted into an arthouse and sat with a roundtable of Nobel Peace Prize laureates.

The Democratic mayor is visiting Rome for the World Meeting on Human Fraternity, and his travel bill is being footed by the pope’s Fondazione Fratelli Tutti, according to City Hall. — Emily Ngo

CULTURE CLUB CRIES CUTS: Do you really want to hurt them? The cultural institutions that get direct city funding say Adams didn’t restore nearly enough of their cuts, and they need another $53 million in the upcoming budget.

“Mr. Mayor, our city’s recovery is significant but fragile — and it cannot withstand uncertainty and continued cuts to culture,” reads the Culture for All petition from the Cultural Institutions Group, made up of 34 organizations ranging from Carnegie Hall to the Staten Island Zoo.

Adams cut $12 million from this year’s budget and the next in November, and another $13 million in January. The second cut was restored to fanfare last month, but the institutions want the initial cuts restored too, plus the same $40 million boost to baseline funding they fought for, and got, for last year’s budget.

The city allocated the Cultural Institutions Group about $141 million total in operating expenses for fiscal year 2024 budget.

The mayor’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment, though they have previously defended their commitment to culture, while saying across-the-board cuts were needed to balance the budget.

A City Council spokesperson said the council will be prioritizing the full restoration in the budget. — Jeff Coltin

SCHOOL ENROLLMENT: New figures released by the New York City school system shows a projected increase in enrollment for the 2024-25 year.

An additional 778,000 students are expected to be enrolled, making it the first time enrollment increased year-over-year since before 2016.

"The proof is in the enrollment projections — through a mix of new and innovative programming, engaging academics, and genuine family and student engagement, our system is bouncing back from years of declining enrollment and leading the nation in public school education,” Schools Chancellor David Banks said in a statement.

Banks attributed the increase to three programs: NYC Reads, Student Pathways and the Summer Rising program. — Shawn Ness

JAMES SIMONS, 86: Hedge fund manager James Simons passed away at the age of 86 today. A former math professor at SUNY Stony Brook, Simons made a fortune in hedge funds in recent decades.

He had become a major figure in New York state politics and policy. During Gov. David Paterson’s administration, he lobbied the state for tuition hikes for SUNY to place it on sounder financial footing. He appeared with Gov. Kathy Hochul last year to announce $500 million for Stony Brook, one of the largest charitable donations in American history.

“Jim was a brilliant mathematician and understood the important role science and math play in our future,” Stony Brook alum Carl Heastie, the Assembly speaker, said in a statement. “Throughout his life he donated billions of dollars to support grand scientific endeavors and lower barriers of access to all those dreaming of innovation.”

Simons has also repeatedly been the top donor to New York Democrats.

He and his wife have given at least $7 million to state and local level candidates and parties since 2011, including $3.9 million to the state Democratic Committee, $370,000 to Andrew Cuomo and $205,000 to Hochul. — Bill Mahoney

HOCHUL’S SOCIAL: The effort to limit kids’ exposure to social media algorithms is getting some personal involvement from Hochul.

The governor today told reporters that the measure, which is meant to block social media firms from providing algorithmic feeds to the accounts of children, is her top end-of-session priority.

And unlike some bills that pass without involvement from the governor’s office, Hochul said her legal team is working with lawmakers to craft the final details of a potential agreement by June 6.

“We will find the right balance,” she said. "We want to make sure we protect the interests of children, number one, and make sure we’re creating an environment where these companies can thrive, but within limitations.”

Opponents believe algorithmic-powered feeds can be addicting and lead to mental health problems. But social media companies have warned the proposal would create free speech violations and likely face a court challenge. — Nick Reisman

HER NO WORRIES ERA: New York Democrats want a proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the state constitution to galvanize turnout this election year. A Republican-backed challenge to its ballot status is putting a question mark on those plans.

But Hochul told reporters she is not concerned the amendment would be blocked from the ballot this November over procedural grounds.

The proposal would enshrine a broad array of rights such as the right to an abortion in the state constitution. Republicans won the first round of a lawsuit over the amendment’s placement on the ballot in a ruling that’s almost certain to be appealed.

The amendment is considered a key piece of the Democratic efforts to retake the House with the party trying to flip five seats in New York and take power in the narrowly divided chamber.

But even if the amendment is taken off the ballot, Hochul believes Democrats have a stable of issues to run on, including housing, anti-retail theft measures and cracking down on illegal cannabis businesses.

“There will be plenty of messaging that the Democrats can and will lean on — not the least of which is our strong support of reproductive rights,” she said. — Nick Reisman

— A newer, bigger, better bottle bill is facing the same old problems. (POLITICO Pro)

— Orange County is the latest county to sue the state over proposals to host local elections in even-numbered years. (Times Union)

— State Democrats are sure that the decision to toss out the Equal Rights Amendment will be challenged in the state’s highest court. (POLITICO Pro)

The most powerful elected Republican in America declared war on the rule of law yesterday.

House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that Congress, on behalf of wannabee “day one” dictator Donald Trump, is going to use every power available to him and his colleagues to nullify America’s court system.

“President Trump has done nothing wrong here and he continues to be the target of endless lawfare. It has to stop. And you’re gonna see the United States Congress address this in every possible way that we can, because we need accountability. … All these cases need to be dropped, because they are a threat to our system.”

READ: Governor Kristi Noem didn’t have to shoot her dog — she wanted to

“All these cases” and potential future cases include Trump:

— Sharing secrets with Russia that burned US and US ally spies.
— Inciting rebellion against the United States on January 6th.
— Running his businesses from the White House while multiple foreign governments poured cash into his properties in violation of the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause.
— Stealing national defense secrets from the White House, transporting them to Florida and New Jersey, and then lying to the FBI about them.
— Raping and then threatening and defaming E. Jean Carroll.
— Criminally obstructing investigations into his campaign’s ties to Russia.
— Conspiring with Republicans in multiple states to defraud the American people with forged Electoral College certificates.
— Threatening Georgia’s Secretary of State with criminal prosecution if he wouldn’t “find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have.”
— Violating campaign finance laws on multiple occasions.
— Committing tax and insurance fraud.
— Extorting a foreign leader to manufacture dirt on his political opponent.

And those are just Trump’s commonly known crimes; we haven’t yet begun to dig into other consequential crimes Trump committed to become president in 2016 and during his four years in office.

From his teenage years violating fair housing laws by marking rental applications for his father’s properties with a “C” for “colored” when Black people applied, to decades of business crimes including a fraudulent “university” and fake charity, to stealing money from thousands of employees and contractors, Trump has been a one-man crime wave his entire life.

And now, given the choice between throwing in with a career criminal or defending America’s criminal justice system, separation of powers, and the rule of law, today’s Republicans have chosen to throw in with the crook. Barry Goldwater and Everett Dirksen are rolling over in their graves.

The foundational genesis of the world’s modern democracies was established on June 15, 1215 when the lords and barons of England forced King John to sign the Magna Carta, guaranteeing they could only be imprisoned or stripped of their assets through an open and transparent legal process. It forced the British royal to submit himself to the rule of law.

For four hundred years the right of habeas corpus extended only to the British nobility, but a series of revolts in the 1600s extended it to “commoner” knights working for the king and to a few others. Over the next hundred years, these rights were more broadly applied in Great Britain and other European republics and, in 1789, to citizens of the United States.

And now one of America’s two political parties, following the example of nations like Russia and Hungary — whose leaders earlier this century rejected the rule of law in favor of oligarchy and autocracy — have similarly turned away from this 809-year-long tradition.

Republican democracy, as our Founders defined our nation, can’t survive in the absence of the rule of law.

John Adams was fond of quoting Aristotle’s saying that “no government can stand which is not founded upon justice.” He wrote the first draft of the Massachusetts constitution, and was particularly proud of his authorship of its Article XXX, which he frequently cited:

“In the government of the commonwealth, the legislative department shall never exercise the executive and judicial powers, or either of them; the executive shall never exercise the legislative and judicial powers, or either of them; the judicial shall never exercise the legislative and executive powers, or either of them; to the end that it may be a government of laws, and not of men.”

Republicans and rightwing hate media are hysterical about Stormy Daniel’s testimony yesterday in a New York City courthouse. Fox “News’” Kayleigh McEnany was particularly upset that Daniels was allowed to detail Trump’s extramarital romp:

“Imagine if you’re a juror on this case and you are a female juror and you are hearing these details. You cannot get that out of your mind.”

The simple reality is that all Americans should have heard, in the weeks before the 2016 election, about Trump’s coercing Daniel’s into having sex: If it had come out after the Access Hollywood tape, Hillary Clinton would have been our president, three rightwing cranks wouldn’t have been put on the Supreme Court, abortion would still be regulated by Roe v Wade, our democracy would be intact, and we’d be years ahead on getting climate change under control.

Instead, once Russian Intelligence learned that the Access Hollywood tape was going to be released on October 7, 2016 (fewer than four weeks before the November 5th election), it appears they — along with Donald Trump, Michael Cohen, and David Pecker — choreographed a series of efforts to refocus voters’ attention on Hillary Clinton and prevent the story of Trump’s previous philandering from coming out.

The Access Hollywood tape — which had been held by US news agencies for at least a day and probably several while it was being authenticated — dropped at 3:30 PM ET just 30 minutes after the DHS and DNI reported:

“The U.S. Intelligence Community (USIC) is confident that the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of e-mails from US persons and institutions, including from US political organizations. The recent disclosures of alleged hacked e-mails on sites like DCLeaks.com and WikiLeaks and by the Guccifer 2.0 online persona are consistent with the methods and motivations of Russian-directed efforts.
“These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the US election process. Such activity is not new to Moscow—the Russians have used similar tactics and techniques across Europe and Eurasia, for example, to influence public opinion there. We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russia’s senior-most officials could have authorized these activities.”

Stormy Daniel’s publicist immediately began pushing her story to The National Enquirer, with negotiations settling on $130,000 and a signed non-disclosure agreement executed on October 10th.

That same month, FBI Agent Charles McGonigal, who shared multiple connections to Rudy Giuliani and was later prosecuted and is now in prison for his work on behalf of a Russian oligarch, worked out of the FBI’s New York office and was in charge of the investigation into Trump’s connections to Russia.

His office repeatedly leaked damning false speculation about Hillary’s emails, leading Rudy Giuliani to tell Fox “News” on October 26, two weeks before the election:

“I do think that all of these revelations about Hillary Clinton are beginning to have an impact. I think [Donald Trump’s] got a surprise or two that you’re going to hear about in the next few days. I mean, I’m talking about some pretty big surprises… We’ve got a couple of things up our sleeve that should turn this thing around.”

As The New York Post reported:

“It was agents of that [NY FBI] office, probing Anthony Weiner’s alleged sexting of a minor, who pressed Comey to authorize the review of possible Hillary Clinton-related emails on a Weiner device that led to the explosive letter the director wrote Congress.”

Two days later, James Comey caved to the pressure from McGonigal’s office, the media, Russian Intelligence, and Giuliani: He held a press conference on October 28th to announce a renewed investigation into Hillary’s emails. Trump rushed to the TV cameras and said:

“As you know I’ve had plenty of words about the FBI lately, but I give them great credit for having the courage to right this horrible wrong. Justice will prevail.”

Secretary Clinton was outraged, telling the media:

“We are 11 days out from perhaps the most important national election in our lifetimes. Voting is already under way in our country.”

With the Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal stories safely buried by Trump’s conspiracy with Michael Cohen and David Pecker, as Nate Cohn reported for The New York Times, the “look at Clinton, forget about Access Hollywood” (my phrase, not theirs) campaign was successful:

“Mr. Comey’s letter came about one week after the third presidential debate and less than two weeks before Election Day. At that time, most polling averages showed Mrs. Clinton ahead by around six percentage points in national polls. A week later, her lead had declined to three points. …
“Late-deciding voters broke overwhelmingly for Mr. Trump, the exit polls showed, and the Comey letter and its disclosure of new information in the email investigation was a significant part of the news coverage over the last week of the election.”

Russia’s efforts and Trump’s criminal conspiracy cost Clinton the election and now, as Speaker Johnson told us yesterday, Republicans in the House of Representatives will be doing everything they can to bury that fact and generate a whole new set of distractions as we head toward this November’s election.

When it comes to seizing power, they are telling us that they believe the rule of law, and thus our democracy, is merely an inconvenient impediment to be brushed aside. They clearly understand the importance of yesterday’s testimony and these trials.

American democracy suffers — perhaps fatally — if their efforts (and Aileen Cannon’s) cause Trump to get away with his crimes and return to the White House.

Vote. And tell your friends.

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