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House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) tried to back up former President Donald Trump's claims that non-citizens were voting in presidential elections during a Wednesday news conference — but his claim was accidentally revealing in a way that is bad for the former president, wrote Aaron Blake for The Washington Post.

This comes as Johnson has also suggested that if he were in a position to block election certification in 2024, under the same "circumstances" as 2020, he would do so.

“'We all know intuitively that a lot of illegals are voting in federal elections, but it’s not been something that is easily provable,' Johnson said. 'We don’t have that number."

This comment is "at least somewhat transparent," Blake said — but it "undercuts the leader of the Republican Party, former president Donald Trump, who has ridiculously pegged the number of illegal votes by undocumented immigrants in the 2016 election at 3 million to 5 million (just enough, as it happens, to explain away his 2.9 million-vote loss in the popular vote).

"After the 2020 election, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani also ridiculously pegged the number of such illegal votes in Arizona alone at between 40,000 and 250,000 — as many as 1 out of every 14 votes cast.

"Johnson, at the very least, is implicitly acknowledging that Trump’s and Giuliani’s numbers are pulled out of thin air. It’s part of a broader and long-standing effort in the GOP to water down Trump’s false voter-fraud claims and repackage them," Blake continued.

"But, given that — and given the continued GOP focus on this issue — it’s worth noting how much Republicans have found or come to admit that actual evidence of widespread voter fraud simply isn’t there."

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This includes Trump ally Rudy Giuliani admitting that there are "lots of theories" but they "don't have the evidence," far-right groups like True the Vote confessing that there's no proof of ballot stuffing when their claims went up in court, and a 2022 report from longtime Republican officials concluding that “there is absolutely no evidence of fraud in the 2020 Presidential Election on the magnitude necessary to shift the result in any state, let alone the nation as a whole."

Ultimately, concluded Blake, "Despite the lack of evidence and the abject failure of Trump’s post-2020 voter-fraud lawsuits, some lawmakers apparently feel compelled to construct a boogeyman to toe Trump’s line on combating voter fraud — even as they freely acknowledge they can’t say what the boogeyman is made of."

With help from Shawn Ness

New from New York

Happening now:

• First the New York City mayor, and now Gov. Kathy Hochul is headed to Rome.
• A ‘Big’ Hall of Famer visited the state Capitol.
• The Adams administration was in Albany today to push for procurement changes.
• Rep. Nicole Malliotakis showed up outside the trial of former President Donald Trump.

THE POPE AND HOCHUL: Gov. Kathy Hochul will be jetting away to Rome this week for a climate conference hosted by Pope Francis.

She’ll be giving a 15-minute talk, titled “Climate Leadership in the Empire State: Building Resiliency for All,” at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Vatican City time.

The pontiff will hold an audience with the governor and other world leaders shortly after Hochul’s speech.

The governor’s trip to the Vatican comes just days after Mayor Eric Adams also visited the Holy See. (Adams and his team flew back from Rome today, after arriving on Friday).

The nearly back-to-back visits to the Vatican seem to be coincidental.

“Our goal for this trip is simple: strengthen international connections that will create economic opportunities for New Yorkers and a cleaner future for the next generation,” Hochul said in a statement.

Hochul, unlike Adams, is Catholic, and she frequently talks about her faith during public addresses.

The three-day summit will also be attended by California Gov. Gavin Newsom; Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey; the mayors of Boston, London, Rome, São Paulo, Paris, Athens and Venice; and other politicians and academics.

A main goal of the summit will be to create a “Planetary Climate Resilience protocol,” fashioned in the likes of the Montreal Protocol, and all the global leaders will sign their names to it. The document will then be submitted to the United Nations.

“This is a great opportunity for New York to discuss their climate bill and all the actions going on right now to reduce our climate footprint,” said Adrienne Esposito, executive director at Citizens Campaign for the Environment. “This is a critically important meeting that can hopefully inspire other leaders to take action.”

It won’t be the first time the governor and the pope are side by side. In 2015, then-Lt. Gov. Hochul visited the White House on behalf of her boss, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, for the pontiff’s first visit to the U.S.

“For me personally, as a Catholic, it was amazing to be in the presence of such a humble but inspirational individual,” Hochul said at the time.

Hochul spokesperson Avi Small said the trip is official business of the governor and will be bankrolled by the state.

“Climate change is a critically important issue to the Holy Father, and we are pleased that Governor Hochul will have a chance to possibly meet him and discuss this pressing matter period,” said Dennnis Proust, the executive director of the New York State Catholic Conference.

“Our hope is it would be a moment of grace for her as a Catholic to meet Pope Francis.” — Jason Beeferman

BIG PAPI TO ALBANY: Famed Yankees beater David “Big Papi” Ortiz stopped by the state Capitol today to be honored for his charitable work.

“My career as an athlete and off the field with the community, this is what people really love about me as a person,” Ortiz said. “It’s not just me as an athlete who was out there doing my thing.”

Sen. Luis Sepulveda – ironically a Bronx resident – invited the former Red Sox player to Albany and lauded his efforts with groups like the Maestro Cares Gala.

Ortiz said he’s always been a fan of the Empire State: “New York is a state that every Dominican has someone related to them here,” he said.

“The only fans worldwide who stop me and say ‘I love and respect you’ are the Yankees fans. No Dodgers fans, no other team’s fans, but the Yankees fans are the only ones who spread that to me.”

While he said he’s “very familiar with the Bronx,” he hadn’t been to Albany before. “I drive by a lot,” he said. The Capitol is “beautiful,” he said. — Bill Mahoney

ADAMS ASK: Adams has another ask for Albany.

Officials with the mayor’s administration were at the Capitol today to push for changes to procurement law to speed up construction of infrastructure and other projects.

“These tools, my colleagues in the rest of the country already have them,” said Tom Foley, commissioner at the New York City Department of Design and Construction, which is responsible for public building projects. “We need these tools… to build better, faster and cheaper.”

The delegation also included Meera Joshi, deputy mayor for operations, and Michael Garner, chief business diversity officer.

Lawmakers supporting the mayor’s agenda indicated they’re willing to give Adams more latitude than previous officials.

State Sen. Jim Sanders also said it might seem late in session for a push, but that Adams was successful last year in a late effort for changes related to minority and women-owned businesses. The session ends the first week of June.

“There’s no waiting for another year, there’s getting it done now,” Sanders said.

But some of the measures Adams’ officials were pushing haven’t even been introduced, including making the Department of Design and Construction into an authority and expanding design-build contracting ability. Two have been introduced: changes to the public hearing requirements (A8864/S7833) which has passed the Senate and changes to the New York State Insurance Fund (A7317/S7975). — Marie J. French

TRUMP ON TRIAL

THERE FOR TRUMP: Rep. Nicole Malliotakis showed her support for former President Donald Trump today at his Manhattan criminal hush money trial, helping to slam key prosecution witness Michael Cohen because a gag order prohibits the former president from doing so.

The Staten Island Republican accompanied Trump in court and then stood alongside Sens. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird and Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall to challenge the credibility of Trump’s one-time fixer.

“He’s a convicted, disbarred perjurer,” Malliotakis told reporters of Cohen outside the courthouse during a break in his testimony.

Prosecutors have said Cohen’s testimony can be corroborated with other evidence.

Malliotakis also assailed Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the Democrat who has become a frequent foil for Republicans. She said Bragg should be focused on “actual crime.”

NYPD statistics show shootings and homicides have been trending downward in Manhattan since Bragg took office. — Emily Ngo

‘SEEING US:’ After a long public engagement campaign, the City of Buffalo and victims’ families of the racially-motived mass-shooting in Buffalo in 2022 have come to a decision on how to honor the lives lost.

“Seeing Us” will consist of 10 unique pillars inscribed with the names of the victims.

"As we approach the solemn two-year anniversary of when our neighbors were senselessly slaughtered solely because of the color of their skin, we rededicate ourselves in supporting the East Buffalo community, remembering those we lost, and supporting those who were injured,” Hochul said in a statement.

Ten Black people were murdered in a Tops grocery store after a white 18-year-old drove over 200 miles from his hometown in Broome County to the predominantly-Black neighborhood.

Twenty designs were submitted to the 5/14 Memorial Commission, which consisted of 11 members. Five were appointed by Hochul, five from local leadership and one agreed on by both. — Shawn Ness

FAITH COMMUNITY SUPPORTS COLUMBIA STUDENTS: The Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York is creating a safe space for Columbia University students in the wake of recent pro-Palestinian protests on campus.

The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Morningside Heights, the seat of the bishop, is providing room for a daily lunch for students currently banned from the university’s dining halls, Bishop Matthew Heyd wrote in a newsletter to parishioners this morning.

The church is also hosting an alternative commencement for students next week.

Ryan Kuratko and Megan Sanders, college chaplains at Columbia and New York University, are also supporting their respective campuses.

“The Cathedral is providing safe and open space for everyone at a time when Columbia University is not safe,” Heyd said, adding that all events at the cathedral “are open to everyone.”

This comes as Columbia kicks off smaller graduation ceremonies in lieu of its university-wide commencement, which the institution canceled last week.

There have been no arrests at the cathedral so far, Heyd added, noting he instructed the church to not cooperate with the NYPD around the demonstrations.

The Commission on Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations — made up of committees that collaborate with representatives for the Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities — is scheduled to meet this week. The General Convention, the governing body of the Episcopal Church that includes bishops, will also weigh resolutions related to the Israel-Gaza war this summer.

“It’s my hope the Commission can facilitate a wider diocesan conversation about the Israel-Gaza war,” Heyd said.

He, along with two other bishops — who have denounced Israel’s deadly Oct. 7 attack on Hamas militants as well as the taking of hostages — called for a cease-fire in Gaza as well as access to humanitarian aid.

The bishop was scheduled to meet with young adults in the diocese who have expressed concerns about the church response to the war later this morning. — Madina Touré

CHECK, PLEASE: The restaurant industry has a bot problem. And state lawmakers may try to crack down on it by the end of the legislative session June 6.

Assemblymember Alex Bores and state Sen. Nathalia Fernandez today pushed a measure that’s meant to address websites that scoop up a restaurant’s reservations and sell them to customers.

That’s costing restaurants, especially those in high-demand in New York City, big when there’s a no-show.

“It’s a lot like ticket scalping, but it’s even worse. Reservation being held by the bot system,” New York State Restaurant Association President and CEO Melissa Fleischut told reporters. “They staff up, they order all the food, they think they’re going to have a full restaurant.”

The measure backed by Bores is meant to differentiate between the legitimate online reservation services like Open Table and the websites — many using automated bots — that have no actual relationship with the eatery.

“It’s so important for us to be protecting not just consumers, but our small businesses and our restaurants,” Bores said. — Nick Reisman

LAWMAKERS SAY ‘NEIGH’ TO HORSE SLAUGHTER: One month after the nation’s strictest anti-horse slaughtering law went into effect in New York, two equine protection groups honored five of the lawmakers that helped get it passed.

The two groups selected chair of the Senate’s Racing and Wagering Committee Joseph Addabbo; Senate Agriculture Chair Michelle Hinchey; Assembly Racing and Wagering Committee Chair Gary Pretlow; Assembly Environmental Conservation Chair Deborah Glick; and Assembly Agriculture Committee Chair Donna Lupardo were the five legislators honored.

The law banned the slaughter of all horses for human and animal consumption.

“After nearly 20 years of carrying this important bill, I am thrilled that New York has finally put an end to the horse slaughter pipeline that has run through our state,” Glick, a Manhattan Democrat and bill sponsor, said in a statement. — Shawn Ness

— An increasing number of school districts on Long Island are hiring armed guards. (Newsday)

— Two advocacy groups are suing the state claiming that inmates with disabilities were placed in solitary confinement. (Times Union)

— New York’s biggest teachers union is celebrating record school aid funding and pension changes. (POLITICO Pro)

Four British women have initiated legal proceedings against social media influencer Andrew Tate in the High Court in London, alleging rape and severe abuse, serving him the civil lawsuit at his home in Romania. The accusations, stemming from incidents between 2013 and 2016, are unrelated to Tate’s ongoing legal troubles in Romania, where he faces […]

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)