Tag: republicans

Letters to the Editor Nov. 11, 2022

The Issue: Former President Donald Trump’s role in the Republican midterm loss and the party’s next move.

Every time former President Donald Trump opened his mouth, another group of Democrats ran to the polls (“Toxic Trump is ballot poison,” John Podhoretz, Nov. 10).

Without his rants, I believe many Democrats would have stayed home. Same for independents.

Peter C. Welch
Carmel

The clearest message from this week’s election results is that it’s time for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to lead the Republican Party.

He can not only bring aboard any disaffected MAGA Republicans, but also can attract back those that Donald Trump turned off — as well as appeal to all those craving freshness on the national level of politics.

Ian Keogh
Toronto, Canada

Stop piling on The Donald, New York Post! He is not to blame for the Red Wave that wasn’t.

Have you considered that blame lies with those who voted for seriously flawed non-Trump candidates like John Fetterman in Pennsylvania? The man needs a computer to process language.

Or what about Gov. Kathy Hochul, who remains in denial on New York’s rampant crime problem?

Both are in the grips of Democrat Derangement Syndrome, which induces automatic support for anything donkey-backed.

Like the rest of us, Trump has his foibles, notably abrasiveness. But with no experience, he proved the best chief executive since Ronald Reagan. Et tu, Brute?

S. Silver
New York

It was very unfair of The Post to turn against our former president and to show a headline saying “Toxic Trump.”

The picture of him on a wall with a headline that says he couldn’t build it ignores the fact that he was sued and delayed every step of the way by the Democrats.

Despite Democrat lawsuits, it was almost finished when Joe Biden became president, and it was Biden’s choice not to finish it and to flood America with illegal immigrants.

Why not put the blame where it belongs: on the corruption of the Democrats and the left-wing media? Why not show some appreciation for Trump’s tireless campaigning for people who, given the chance, might have saved our country?

Gamaliel Isaac
New York

It appears that the key to Georgia GOP Senate hopeful Herschel Wal­ker’s bid against incumbent Raphael Warnock would be to keep Donald Trump’s name, and him personally, away from the campaign.

Trump has become toxic and a liability to all around him with his incessant carrying on over a “stolen election.” It is time for him to put this notion to rest, forget about his ego and do everything possible for the Republicans to win control of the Senate. Everything else is meaningless.

If anything, let Gov. Ron DeSantis go to Georgia to campaign for Walker. But by all means, Trump (given his deep toxicity) must stay away.

Alan Brooks
Brooklyn

The losses on Tuesday had nothing to do with Trump and everything to do with the Dobbs abortion decision and abortion referenda.

With all the 2020 issues, no one seriously considered the impact of Trump’s appointment of Amy Coney Barrett on the vote totals.

Now, after exit polls showed that abortion nearly tied inflation among Pennsylvania voters and that they were willing to vote for a candidate like John Fetterman over it, we have to acknowledge that Trump’s last Supreme Court appointment probably blew up GOP midterm hopes as well.

Joanne Zervos
New York

As Republican voters scramble to place blame for the Red Wave that became a Red Puddle, let’s not lose perspective on what Trump has communicated since day one: the GOP establishment’s inability to pick good candidates and follow through.
From McCarthy to McConnell the GOP is in tatters. What a shame.

Jason Cary
Peekskill

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Time to ditch Trump, GOP Rep-elect Mike Lawler says

The face of a mini-Red Wave in New York on Election Day says it’s time for the Republican Party to ditch former President Donald Trump and back another candidate for the White House in 2024.

“I would certainly like to see the party move forward. There are a lot of rising stars,” congressman-elect Mike Lawler — who rocked the political world by defeating Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman, told The Post Thursday.

“Gov. Ron DeSantis has energized voters in the state of Florida. It’s always good to have new voices,” added Lawler, an assemblyman who will represent the Hudson Valley’s 17th District in congress.

The GOP in New York picked up four House seats, including NY-17, increasing from 7 to 11 and that is being credited with potentially giving Republicans the margin to narrowly regain the House majority.

A former executive director of the state Republican Party, Lawler’s abandonment of Trump in his native New York is sure to raise eyebrows as GOP officials and voters nationally debate whether it’s better to have a fresh face at the top of the ticket in 2024 or Trump, a polarizing figure who has a large devoted following.

Republican Congressman-elect Mike Lawler said he would like to see the party “move forward” from former President Donald Trump.
Douglas Healey
Lawler’s comments come ahead of Trump’s “very big announcement” next week that is expected to be about running in 2024.
Ron Sachs – CNP / MEGA

Lawler’s comments come as Trump is being advised to delay next week’s much-hyped “very big announcement” — during which is he expected to kickoff a White House run for the third straight cycle.

“I’ll be advising him that he move his announcement until after the Georgia [Senate] runoff [Dec. 6],” former Trump adviser Jason Miller said. “Georgia needs to be the focus of every Republican in the country right now.”

Kayleigh McEnany, a former White House press secretary in the Trump administration, also said on Fox News the former president should put his announcement on “pause” until Georgia is sorted out.

Lawler flipped the Hudson Valley seat to Republican after defeating Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney.
Douglas Healey

Trump’s onetime lawyer and personal friend Rudy Giuliani told The Post Thursday he had urged the former president not to announce another White House bid until after midterms, but insisted that Trump has what it takes to win again — and was the most charismatic and appealing GOP candidate since Ronald Reagan.

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Biden worsening ‘root causes’, gov’t agencies failed Paul Pelosi and other commentary

Border watch: Biden Is Worsening ‘Root Causes’

“Critics with regional expertise say Biden administration policies . . . have severely worsened” poverty, crime and political instability in Mexico and the Southern Triangle — his administration’s alleged “root causes” of immigration, reports RealClearInvestigations’ James Varney. How? “The torrent of people moving across the region has delivered billions of dollars to the coffers of human smuggling rings and the drug cartels.” Reports also suggest “more than two-thirds of those making the trek had been victimized by criminals and nearly one-third of the women had been sexually assaulted.” That’s why one expert sees the surge in traffic as something close to an international crime and places “a lot of blood on the hands” of Team Biden “for opening the Southern border on purpose.”

Iconoclast: Dems’ ‘Pro-Democracy’ Morass

Democrats’ message — that only one party in this election is committed to democracy (theirs), and thus there’s only one real choice — “makes little sense,” even if you reject their agenda and record on issues like inflation, crime and immigration, Josh Barro rants at Very Serious. That message “amounts to telling voters that they have already lost their democracy,” and if you insist to voters they “have no choice but you, you had better make yourself a palatable choice — otherwise, they are liable to defy you and choose what you claimed was unthinkable.” Yet “Democrats have not governed” that way. So: “You can see from [Dems’] actions that they are not actually serious about the arguments they’re making now, and I for one am sick of the disingenuous speechifying.”

Libertarian: GOP Should Govern Like Adults

If Republicans win the House and Senate, they’ll face “enormous challenges”: recession, inflation, debt and deficits “as far as the eye could see” — and more, warns Veronique de Rugy at Reason. How can they address them? First, make inflation a “top priority”: Congress and the White House “must trim government spending,” with Republicans avoiding “bloated ‘family friendly’ programs” like child tax credits and paid leave — which studies show “make the lives of families harder.” They should also resist the urge to “pressure [Federal Reserve] chairman Jerome Powell to stop jacking up” interest rates. Oh, and “govern like adults” — and not seek “revenge” by launching probes against Democratic foes. “Investigating the Dems is not on the top of most voters’ concerns this election season.”

From the right: Gov’t Agencies Failed Paul Pelosi

President Biden’s depiction of the assault on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, “ignores the multiple ways that government agencies who have the responsibility to prevent, deter, or quickly intervene in crimes such as this failed in their duties,” huffs National Review’s Jim Geraghty. The intruder who “attacked Paul Pelosi overstayed his visa and had resided illegally in the U.S. for many years.” Pelosi might have been spared the assault “if there were better enforcement of immigration laws,” had his attacker “been deported back to Canada years ago,” if the city and state had better “intervention for those with severe mental-health issues” and if US Capitol Police had “been watching the surveillance monitors.” Government agencies clearly “failed in their responsibility to protect the public.”

Eye on elex: Blake Masters’ Final Sprint

“Less than one week from Election Day,” notes the Washington Examiner’s Selena Zito, “36-year-old venture capitalist-turned-candidate” Blake Masters “has gone from a long shot at best to within the margin of error” against incumbent Dem Sen. Mark Kelly in Arizona. Why? “Democrats’ failure to recognize earlier how angry voters are about the economy, crime, and the border.” Plus, his age: “I’m a whole generation behind, and I actually know what it’s like to be raising a family under current conditions,” notes Masters. Zito adds that Masters has now joined “dynamo” gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake “on the stump,” and it’s helping his numbers. So the race is being closely watched: “If he flips this seat, Masters will almost certainly enter a Republican majority in the upper chamber.”

— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board

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Democrats’ generic ballot lead for midterm elections shrinks: poll

A new poll finds that Democrats’ lead over Republicans in a generic congressional ballot has dropped threefold since August in yet another sign of the GOP’s momentum advantage with less than a week to go until Election Day. 

The Yahoo News/YouGov survey has captured the downward spiral of the Democratic Party since August, when Democrats led by 6 points in the generic congressional ballot. In late September, the same poll saw Democrats’ lead slip to 4 points. And now in the final Yahoo News/YouGov poll before the Nov. 8 midterm elections, the Democrats’ lead is down to 2 points. 

The survey released on Thursday found that among 1,641 registered voters, 46% say they will vote Democrat and 44% say they will vote Republican. It’s effectively a tie, as the poll’s margin for error is 2.7 percentage points. 

Among those who have already voted or say they will “definitely vote” on Election Day, 49% said they would vote for a Democrat, and 47% said Republican.

The poll also found that voter enthusiasm is favoring Republicans despite more early voting participants saying they voted for Democrats. 

Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Secretary Hillary Clinton rallied potential voters at Barnard College yesterday.
Debra L Rothenberg/Shutterstock

Among registered Democratic voters, 74% have either already voted or say they will “definitely” vote. The number is 7 points higher for registered Republicans, with 81% saying they’ve already voted or will definitely vote.

Other recent polls have also shown Republicans surging and overtaking Democrats on the generic congressional ballot. 

The latest Yahoo News/YouGov poll was conducted from Oct. 27-31.
Getty Images

A Wall Street Journal poll released on Tuesday found Republicans leading by 2 points and a Suffolk University-USA Today poll from last week showed the GOP up by 4 points.

The Yahoo News/YouGov poll also measured what issue voters care about the most, and like numerous other surveys, inflation was cited as the top issue by 38% of voters.  

Also spelling trouble for Democrats, a full 63% of voters said that inflation is “getting worse,” and only 17% said that it’s “getting better.” Republicans also beat Democrats by a wide margin, 43% to 34%,  on the question of which party would do a “better job” on inflation.

The poll was conducted from Oct. 27 to Oct. 31.

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Colorado GOP official Hugh McKean dead at 55

A leading Colorado Republican lawmaker died on Sunday at the age of 55, according to statements from his party. 

House Minority Leader Hugh McKean died in his home just days after turning 55, an aide said. No cause of death was provided. 

Funeral services are being planned and details will be made public once finalized. 

McKean was elected to represent Colorado House District 51 in 2016. Four years later he was elected as Leader of the Colorado House Republican Caucus. 

In a Twitter post announcing McKean’s death, Colorado House Republicans said he was “fiercely passionate about serving the great state of Colorado and will be missed dearly.”

Colorado GOP Chairwoman Kristi Burton Brown called McKean “kind” and “positive,” adding that he “took the time to invest in so many lives, including my children.” 

McKean leaves behind his family members Aiden McKean, 21, Hanna McKean, 23, and his “dearest partner and friend Amy Parks,” Colorado House Republicans said. 



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Why New York Democrats should vote for Republican Lee Zeldin

There are a lot of New Yorkers whose parents and grandparents never voted for a Republican, who have themselves never voted for a Republican, and who have long planned to go to their graves never having voted for a Republican. Listen, I get it — I was like that, too, not long ago. But hear me out and consider what the stakes are, here and now, in our once-grand city and state. 

New York is no longer controlled by the Democrats of yesteryear. Hugh Carey, Mario Cuomo, Ed Koch, and even David Dinkins would be aghast at what’s happening right now in the name of their party. They were sensible, pragmatic leaders who were willing squarely to face decline, decay, and despair, call it out for what it was, and demand that we fight against the forces of entropy to build a New York worthy of being called the Empire State, and New York City the Greatest City in the World. 

Kathy Hochul, flanked by other career Democrats Carolyn Maloney and Jerrold Nadler, will not challenge the left-wing stranglehold in Albany.
ZUMAPRESS.com
Efforts by New York State Democrats to “out-progressive” one another have resulted in sky-rocketing crime, particularly in New York City.
Christopher Sadowski

No more. Look at who’s in charge in Albany. Kathy Hochul was a washed-up upstate nobody when Andrew Cuomo plucked her from obscurity because he needed a woman on his ticket—preferably one who would never upstage him. Little did anyone guess he would stumble into scandal and we’d wind up with a tool of the Erie County machine running the state. 

New York is now run as a one-party state, and the problem when one party is in charge is that the usual moderating effects of the primary-and-general election system break down. Typically, candidates can run to the extremes in the primary, but can’t go too far out there because they have to come back towards the center in November. But when the general election is an afterthought, then party extremists tend to dominate the primaries. 

Video outtakes from a random, unprovoked subway pushing earlier this month in Brooklyn.
DCPI

That’s what’s happened in New York. There’s no longer such a thing as being too far to the left, and longtime liberal elected officials tremble in fear that they will be “primaried” by a progressive. Then, a few years later, the progressives get called hacks and sellouts, and are taken out by Democratic Socialists who promise to defund the police, abolish jails and prisons, and seize private property for which they can imagine better uses.  

This game of ideological leapfrog will lead us straight off a cliff.  

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is one of many soft-on-crime politicians who could lose their jobs if Zeldin becomes governor.
Gabriella Bass

Kathy Hochul is no ideologue, but she doesn’t have the backbone to stand up against the crazies in her party. The criminal justice “reforms” of 2019 have created a public safety disaster in New York City, where violent crime and street disorder are off the charts. The people in power know this, which is why they are lying about it so persistently, demanding that we stop looking with our eyes, and substitute their fudged, partial data for our own common sense. 

Governor Hochul could have done something about bail reform last spring, but she didn’t want to anger the left wing of her party. She could have done something about discovery reform, which has hamstrung district attorneys around the state, but she preferred to sneak through a massive stadium giveaway to the folks back home. 

Zeldin rides the subway to his debate with Hochul, who has said she will pick up the cost of some NYPD overtime shifts to help protect New Yorkers underground.
James Keivom

It was only after the latest polls showed that Lee Zeldin was gaining on her that Hochul ventured down into the subway system (standing outside the turnstile, I should add) and promised to pick up the cost of some overtime shifts so the NYPD can — fingers crossed! — dissuade tomorrow’s maniac from throwing a stranger onto the tracks.  

New York is spiraling. There is a huge fiscal crunch looming, the state is losing taxpayers, and the current leadership refuses to admit that we have a problem. Electing Kathy Hochul is only going to confirm her deluded sense of fitness for the job and solidify the current downward direction of the state’s affairs. 

Zeldin and Hochul take to the debate floor earlier this week. Extending Hochul’s unelected tenure would likely cause even more New Yorkers to flee the state — taking their tax dollars with them.
AP

Lee Zeldin may not be your idea of a fun night on the town, but there is no question that he will apply the brakes on this slow-motion train wreck. He will provide counterweight to the extremists in the legislature. He will fire Alvin Bragg and any other DA who refuses to do their job. He is not going to do anything — he can’t do anything — about abortion in New York, whatever Hochul says, and everyone knows it. The right to choose is enshrined in our laws. Meanwhile, making an issue of Zeldin’s support for Trump is, frankly, sour grapes and a distraction on Hochul’s part. Anyone who hates Trump enough to let Hochul destroy New York over it has bigger problems — it’s like burning down your house because you ran out of milk.

The wheels have come off this clown car, and the clowns seem happy to let the car careen down the hill. We can’t go on this way much longer. New York Democrats, this is no time for ballot purity. This state of emergency demands that you look beyond party identification and vote against the candidate who is running us into oblivion. 

Seth Barron is managing editor of The American Mind and author of “The Last Days of New York.”



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Zeldin, Stefanik slam Hochul over gas car ban, denying NYers ‘right to choose’

WASHINGTON — Seven of New York’s Republican members of Congress ripped Gov. Kathy Hochul Friday for attempting to take away the “right to choose” by banning the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035.

A letter organized by upstate Rep. Elise Stefanik and signed by gubernatorial candidate Rep. Lee Zeldin demands that Hochul abandon the plan, citing the prospect of higher costs and fewer consumer options if it takes effect.

“In addition to the fact that this policy will drive up prices each New Yorker must pay for their vehicles, you are also taking away their right to choose what vehicle they want to drive,” the letter says.

“Instead of picking winners and losers from Albany, you should be working to enhance consumer choice and empower New Yorkers to decide how they want to spend their hard-earned money. We urge you reverse this decision and put the needs of all New Yorkers first.”

Hochul’s office did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

Stefanik told The Post “electric vehicles will not serve our communities well, especially because families in my district often have to commute over an hour each way to work” and suggested that the regulation was part of a broader agenda that “shamelessly prioritizes the needs of New York’s urban cities over our hardworking rural communities.”

Zeldin previously accused Gov. Hochul of hypocrisy for seeking to ban gas-powered cars while using state helicopters and planes.
Dennis A. Clark

Hochul faces a tighter-than-expected contest against Zeldin going into the Nov. 8 election. The RealClearPolitics average of recent polls shows Hochul beating the Long Island congressman by just 6.1%, despite President Biden carrying the state by more than 23 percentage points in 2020.

Zeldin previously accused Hochul of hypocrisy for seeking to ban gas-powered cars while using state helicopters and planes 140 times in seven months.

Biden on Thursday visited Syracuse to boost Hochul ahead of Election Day with an event touting plans by the company Micron to build a $100 billion factory generating 9,000 jobs in Syracuse.

At the event, Hochul described herself as “the first upstate governor in 100 years” and said she understood the region’s economic woes as globalization caused high unemployment and stagnation in former industrial areas.

Gov. Hochul is facing a tighter-than-expected contest against Zeldin going into the Nov. 8 election.
Don Pollard

But the Stefanik-led letter says Hochul’s electric vehicle mandate, announced on Sept. 29 to align New York with California’s policies, is more representative of concerns in New York City, where fewer people need to drive.

“Forcing New Yorkers to purchase EVs in 2035 will cause significant financial hardship to the average consumer. Over the last year, electric vehicle prices have skyrocketed approximately 56.7[%], while hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars rose 30.5[%],” the letter says.

“The New York Independent System Operator predicts that approximately 7.7 million EVs will be on the road in New York by 2040, with 160,000 vehicles registered in the state by the end of 2022.

“These EVs are primarily located in the greater New York City area, and it is clear your proposed EV mandate panders to downstate priorities instead of working for all New Yorkers,” the letter to Hochul read. “Rural communities in Upstate New York and the North Country rely on vehicles at much high rates than the urban areas in and around New York City.”

The letter points to a February audit from the New York State Comptroller of the New York Power Authority (NYPA) that found the authority had put EV charging stations in just 32 of 62 counties.

“This out-of-touch mandate will further inhibit New York rural communities’ ability to prosper and maintain stable economies,” the letter says.

Republican Reps. Claudia Tenney, John Katko, Chris Jacobs, Andrew Garbarino, and Joe Sempolinski signed the letter. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, who represents Staten Island and southern Brooklyn, was the lone New York House Republican not to sign.

The Biden administration is pushing federal policies to lower the cost and improve the ease of using electric vehicles. Last year’s $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law included $7.5 billion to build a national network of electric vehicle charging stations and the administration is beginning to disburse funds to install charging stations every 50 miles along major highways.

Stefanik told The Post “electric vehicles will not serve our communities well, especially because families in my district often have to commute over an hour each way to work.”
Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/S

Biden’s $437 billion environmental and healthcare spending bill signed in August included $7,500 in tax credits for buyers of new electric cars.

Hochul cited the threat of global warming when announcing the state’s plan to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars, pickup trucks, and SUVs within 13 years.

“Governor Kathy Hochul today commemorated National Drive Electric Week by directing the State Department of Environmental Conservation to take major regulatory action that will require all new passenger cars, pickup trucks, and SUVs sold in New York State to be zero emissions by 2035,” a press release from her office said.

“This is a crucial regulatory step to achieving significant greenhouse gas emission reductions from the transportation sector and is complemented by new and ongoing investments also announced today, including electric vehicle infrastructure progress, zero-emission vehicle incentives, and ensuring New York’s communities benefit from historic federal climate change investments,” Hochul’s release said.

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Director Christopher Wray’s use of FBI jet amounts to ’embezzlement,’ current, ex-agents allege

Former and current FBI agents are fuming about Director Christopher Wray’s use of the FBI’s private jet, which originally was intended by Congress only to be used for counterterrorism purposes. 

A lot of other Americans would like to know why Wray cut short a Senate oversight hearing on Aug. 4 to fly in the FBI jet to his family holiday destination in the Adirondacks, after telling Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) that he had “business” to attend to. 

Republican members of Congress sent a formal letter to Wray on Aug. 15 asking whether the flight was in “compliance with the applicable federal regulations and requirements” and whether he is “properly reimbursing federal taxpayers for your personal travel aboard government aircraft.” 

The FBI’s Gulfstream G550 doesn’t appear to have visited Saranac Lake again since The Post first reported on that trip, and two other flights on June 2 and June 5, 2022. 

But the jet has been flying back and forth an awful lot to Atlanta, where Wray has a house in the exclusive Buckhead district. 

Atlanta frequent flyer 

According to flight monitoring website FlightRadar24, the Gulfstream has made eight trips in the past four months to Atlanta, most recently last Tuesday, Oct. 11. 

It could be that Wray has important FBI business in Atlanta, but it currently is the No. 1 most popular destination for the FBI jet — and Wray’s roots in the city run deep. 

Wray’s wife, Helen Howell Wray, is from Atlanta, where her family has been part of the elite for seven generations. 

Wray told Sen. Chuck Grassley that he had to leave a Senate oversight hearing on Aug. 4 for “business” — but then flew to a family vacation destination in upstate New York.
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

Although Wray was born in New York and spent summers in the Adirondacks, he began working at the Atlanta offices of the King and Spalding law firm in 1993, after Yale Law School, where he met his wife. 

In 1997, he took a job as a federal prosecutor in the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, and went back to King and Spalding in 2005. 

When he became FBI director, he was described in Atlanta media as a “Buckhead attorney.” 

Perhaps, at 55, Wray is planning for life in Atlanta beyond the FBI, where it is almost certain that his career will be cut short once Republicans take charge of his employment. 

An email to FBI public relations Sunday afternoon was not returned before our deadline, so we are left to speculate. 

What we do know is that on Oct. 11, the FBI jet left its home airport at Manassas, Va., at 12:46 p.m. and landed at 2:10 p.m. at the Fulton County Executive Airport in Atlanta, 16 miles from his Buckhead home. It then flew to Dallas at ­4:17 p.m. 

Perhaps Wray had very fast business in Atlanta during the two hours on the ground, or perhaps he found another mode of transport back to FBI HQ in Washington, DC. 

On Friday, Oct. 7, the jet again flew to Atlanta, this time from Dulles Airport in DC, leaving at 4:21 p.m. and landing at 5:47 p.m., before turning around 52 minutes later at 6:39 p.m. and flying back to Manassas, landing at 7:43 p.m. 

On Friday, Sept. 2, it flew from DC to Atlanta at 4:18 p.m, arriving at 5:43. After a little over an hour on the ground, it flew back to ­Manassas at 6:52 p.m., landing at 8:11 p.m. 

The FBI’s plane has flown frequently to Atlanta where Wray’s wife Helen Howell Wray is from.
SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

On Sunday, Aug. 14, it flew from Manassas to Atlanta at 12:11 p.m., arriving at 1:23 p.m. After two and a half hours on the ground, it flew back to Manassas at 3:42 p.m. 

On Thursday, Aug. 11, it flew from DC to Atlanta, leaving at 2:26 p.m., and landing at 3:43 p.m., spending just 43 minutes on the ground before flying back to Manassas at 4.26 p.m. 

On Thursday, June 30, it flew from Manassas to Atlanta at 7:13 p.m., arriving at 8:27 p.m., before leaving for an undisclosed location at 9:14 p.m., after just 47 minutes on the tarmac.

There were several curious flights logged that month, in which the jet is recorded taking off from DC or Manassas en route to Atlanta and then circles around for a few minutes before ­returning. 

On Sunday June 26, it took off from DC at 9:52 a.m., circled for 15 minutes and landed at 10:07 a.m. 

Two hours later it took off again from Manassas at 12:03 p.m., circled and returned at 12:21 p.m. 

On Monday, June 20 (the Juneteenth holiday), the jet took off from Manassas at 11:31 a.m. and made it all the way to Atlanta, landing at 12:40 p.m. It made the return journey at 2:46 p.m., arriving at 4:37 p.m. 

It made another aborted flight back to Atlanta a little more than an hour later, at 5:22 p.m,, returning after 17 minutes in the air to land at 5:49 p.m. 

On Thursday June 16, the jet took off from DC at 12:24 p.m., en route to Atlanta, then turned around and landed at 12:45 p.m, after flying for 21 minutes. 

Later that afternoon, the jet appeared to take off again from DC at 2:24 p.m. for an unknown destination before turning back and landing at 4:04 p.m. after 21 minutes in the air. 

Finally, at 5:37 p.m., it took off for Atlanta and flew all the way there, arriving at 6:57 p.m.

FBI agents have claimed that Wray’s use of the plane amounts to “embezzlement” of government property.
Andrew W. Sieber via Flickr

Whatever was the purpose of all those flights to Wray’s hometown, they have set tongues wagging among current FBI agents. They have shared with former agents their suspicions that Wray is treating the FBI jet like his own private plane, and allege it amounts to “embezzlement” of government property which is when someone “knowingly converts government property to one’s own use.” 

“The FBI acquired the Gulfstream for the express purpose of moving its own Counterterrorism Rapid Deployment teams to anywhere in the world to deal with an act of terrorism,” says one concerned former agent. 

“At the time of discussions centering on the potential purchase of the FBI’s own Gulfstream aircraft, the Bureau was acutely aware of its need and specific purpose, and the significance of never misusing the aircraft for any other travel, specifically to include the movement of FBI Executives unless directly related to terrorism investigations and incidents.” 

Spelled out in law 

The former agent says embezzlement under Title 18, U.S.C. 641 is distinct from other forms of theft in that “the physical taking of the property is often lawful . . . This can be as simple as using a government-issued vehicle or other device for personal use.” 

The statute was used “to great effect and impact, resulting in the indictment, guilty plea and firing of an FBI inspector, and two former FBI directors, one who resigned short of their term, and the other who was fired by President Bill Clinton.” 

However, Republican members of Congress say that the Government Accountability Office has permitted previous FBI directors to use government aircraft for personal use as long as they reimburse taxpayers at the commercial rate — which is why they have asked Wray for receipts.

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Kathy Hochul slammed for $1B election-year ‘slush funds’

Gov. Kathy Hochul treated herself to nearly $1 billion worth of pork-barrel spending in this year’s state budget — allowing her to freely hand out cash as she runs for election against Republican challenger Lee Zeldin.

Hochul and her Democratic allies in the Legislature added the $920 million worth of outlays to the $220.5 billion fiscal plan in an 11th-hour move in April that government watchdogs warn is wide open to abuse.

“These slush funds are totally unaccountable. It’s not how public dollars should be doled out,” senior policy adviser Rachael Fauss of Reinvent Albany said Friday.

Another nonpartisan nonprofit, the Citizens Budget Commission, said the cash “will go to projects and purposes that primarily will be identified behind closed doors.”

“As such, they are ripe for political allocation rather than a distribution based on sound, holistic capital planning that addresses critical infrastructure needs,” the CBC wrote in a July analysis.

Kathy Hochul gave herself around $1 billion in a slush fund.

The group also noted that the $535 million poured into two of three “lump sum” spending programs — the Long Island Investment Fund and the Local Community Assistance Program — can be spent “for essentially any purpose” and “isn’t subject to any agreement with the Legislature.”

In recent weeks, Hochul announced two expenditures that squarely targeted the Long Island home base of Zeldin, an outgoing, four-term US representative.

One provided $50 million in funding for a competition to “attract and grow companies in the life sciences, health technology and medical device sectors” on Long Island.

The other awarded a $10 million grant to the Northwell Health network’s Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research for 26 new, state-of-the-art laboratories in Manhasset.

Hochul touted both initiatives on the state’s official website, which also says that “the Long Island Investment Fund will focus on large-scale projects that will support and grow the regional economy, enhance communities, and have lasting impacts across the Long Island region.”

And on Sept. 27, Hochul was joined at a news conference about the Feinstein Institutes funding by state Sen. Anna Kaplan (D-Carle Place), who faces Republican Jack Martins, a former state senator, in a race that’s expected to be close due to local outrage over New York’s controversial bail-reform law.

“Kathy Hochul hasn’t simply blurred the line between governing and campaigning — she’s completely erased it,” remarked state Senate Minority Leader Will Barclay (R-Fulton).

“New York has the least transparent budget process imaginable and what we’re seeing now is a product of creating pools of money with no guidelines whatsoever.”

In addition to the “lump sum” funding, the CBC identified six “individual purpose” pork projects, including the controversial $600 million earmarked for a new stadium for Hochul’s hometown football team, the Buffalo Bills.

In Hochul’s budget, $350 million was added as a “Long Island fund.”

The governor’s husband, former Buffalo US Attorney Bill Hochul, is a top executive at the  Delaware North hospitality and food service company that manages the scores of concession and retail outlets at the Bills’ Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park.

Another project with a direct tie to Hochul is the planned $20 million reconstruction of the Carrier Dome sports stadium at Syracuse University, her alma mater.

The planned Universal Hip-Hop Museum in the South Bronx and the planned Mohawk Harbor Events Center in Schenectady were awarded $11 million and $10 million in funding, respectively.

The New York Hall of Science in Corona, Queens, and Pace University’s Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts in Lower Manhattan will also get $10 million and $5 million, respectively, for upgrades.

In its analysis, the CBC said as much as $1.2 billion of the spending could be financed by bonds that would “consume” the state’s ability to issue debt and potentially prevent it from financing other, “critical” projects in the future.

Several critics compared Hochul’s budgetary maneuvers to those of her widely reviled predecessor, ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned amid a sexual harassment scandal last year.

“This is Cuomo crony capitalism 2.0,” said city Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island), spokesman for the pro-Zeldin Save Our State political action committee.

“It’s the same old from the same old Albany crowd. And there’s nothing to address the real issues New Yorkers are concerned about.”

Said GOP political consultant William O’Reilly: “This is a classic Andrew Cuomo tactic — a pre-election Santa Claus giveaway to key voting constituencies. It costs Gov. Hochul nothing, but it costs taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, all to benefit her reelection drive.”

“You can’t get much swampier than this,” O’reilly emphasized.

In an emailed response, Hochul spokesperson Avi Small said, “Gov. Hochul worked with the legislature to craft a fiscally responsible budget, using an influx of federal pandemic relief to make strategic investments in public safety, infrastructure, and tax relief while also making unprecedented deposits in rainy day reserves to protect against future uncertainty – even leading to Moody’s upgrading the state’s credit rating after the budget was passed.”

A spokesman for the Budget Division said the state had $6 billion in cash available to pay for capital projects, but didn’t immediately respond when asked whether that would cover all of the $1.6 billion in spending cited by the CBC.

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Herschel Walker denies paying for abortion, son rips him

Georgia GOP senate candidate Herschel Walker vehemently denied a report that he had paid for a girlfriend to get an abortion in 2009 — blasting the claim as a “repugnant hatchet job.”

Walker, a staunch anti-abortion advocate who has supported a national abortion ban, took to Twitter Monday to forcefully repudiate reporting by the Daily Beast that claims the former NFL player paid for his then-girlfriend to have an abortion in 2009.

“This is a flat-out lie — and I deny this in the strongest possible terms,” the 1982 Georgia Bulldog Heisman Trophy winner turned political candidate said.

“This is another repugnant hatchet job from a democratic [sic] activist disguised as a reporter who has obsessively attacked my family and tried to tear me down since this race started,” Walker, 60, continued.

The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Daily Beast that she and Walker mutually agreed not to go ahead with the pregnancy.

Herschel Walker accused the Daily Beast of targeting his family following their report.
Sean Rayford/Getty Images

She provided a $575 receipt from an abortion clinic as well as a signed personal check for $700 from Walker and a “get well” card purportedly signed by the former Dallas Cowboys star.

The Post has not been able to independently verify the allegations.

Meanwhile, Walker’s statement was slammed by his 23-year-old son Christian Walker, who the former running back shares with ex-wife Cindy DeAngelis Grossman, according to Politico.

Herschel Walker’s son, Christian, blasted his father for pretending to be a “moral, Christian, upright man.”
Megan Varner/Getty Images

“I know my mom and I would really appreciate if my father Herschel Walker stopped lying and making a mockery of us,” Christian Walker said.

“I don’t care about someone who has a bad past and takes accountability. But how DARE YOU LIE and act as though you’re some ‘moral, Christian, upright man.’ You’ve lived a life of DESTROYING other peoples lives. How dare you,” he continued later.

In response to his son’s accusations, the senate hopeful wrote: “I LOVE my son no matter what.”

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has supported Herschel Walker’s Senate campaign.
Marjorie Taylor Greene/Facebook
Herschel Walker is running against Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock.
James Gilbert/Getty Images

Walker is hoping to defeat Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock in November on the strength of an endorsement from former president Donald Trump. It is in one of the nation’s most competitive Senate races.

He was trailing Warnock by two percentage points in the Peach State at the end of September, according to FiveThirtyEight.



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