Latest news with #CoronavirusPandemic
New York Post
14-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Sen. Rand Paul renews push for criminal probe of Fauci after startling Biden autopen use revealed
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul announced a long-shot bid to get the Justice Department to launch a criminal probe of Dr. Anthony Fauci over accusations that he lied to Congress, despite former President Joe Biden's preemptive pardon. Paul (R-Ky.) alleged that Fauci lied to lawmakers when he denied knowledge of US-funded coronavirus research in Wuhan, China. The re-upped criminal referral comes amid new details about how Biden's team used autopen on a swath of clemency. 'Today I will reissue my criminal referral of Anthony Fauci to Trump DOJ!' Paul declared on X Monday. 'Perjury is a crime. And Fauci must be held accountable.' Presidential pardons cannot be revoked once issued; however, Paul is banking on the seemingly unlikely chance that the courts may nullify Biden's clemency because of autopen potentially being used to sign it. Biden had issued a pardon for Fauci and a slew of other former high-ranking officials on his way out of the White House, fearing that the incoming Trump administration might target them. 4 Sen. Rand Paul previously pushed for the Justice Department to look into Dr. Anthony Fauci. AP 4 Dr. Anthony Fauci has laid low since exiting government. REUTERS But Paul's renewed push for a criminal investigation into Fauci comes in the wake of a stunning New York Times piece, which confirmed that the 46th president did not personally sign off on every name that received clemency — while simultaneously insisting, 'I made every decision.' Furthermore, emails obtained by the outlet show that then-White House chief of staff Jeff Zients approved the autopen use and that staff secretary Stefanie Feldman, who wielded the device, did so using written accounts confirming that Biden supposedly gave verbal orders to use the autopen. President Trump has repeatedly cast doubt on the validity of the documents Biden signed via autopen. The Kentucky Republican has repeatedly called on the feds to probe Fauci's May 2021 Senate testimony regarding US grants for gain-of-function research in Wuhan labs. Gain-of-function research entails risky experimentation to enhance the virality and effectiveness of viruses. 4 Former President Joe Biden insisted that he made the decisions behind the pardons he issued despite the use of autopen. AFP via Getty Images During his testimony, Fauci told Paul that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) 'has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute.' However, in 2023, the since-defunct House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic divulged a batch of emails showing that Fauci acknowledged that type of risky research was happening in the Wuhan lab. That panel later concluded that Fauci was at least misleading in his testimony. After the testy May 2021 hearing, Paul later tangled with Fauci again and gave him a chance to recant his claim about gain-of-function research, but the doctor declined to do so. Lying to Congress carries penalties of up to five years behind bars and criminal fines. 4 Sen. Rand Paul has long had Dr. Anthony Fauci in his crosshairs. REUTERS Fauci has argued that the research funded 'was judged by qualified staff up and down the chain as not being gain-of-function.' Complicating the matter is the fact that scientists appear to have differences of opinion on what can be classified as gain-of-function research. Critically, Wuhan is where the earliest known cases of the COVID-19 respiratory illnesses have been traced and the Chinese city his home to the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which has been doing research on coronaviruses. Fauci and Paul repeatedly clashed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in fiery Senate hearings. The former National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director officially exited that post and his role as chief medical adviser to the president at the end of 2022. The Post reached out to Paul's office for more specifics and an attorney to Fauci for comment.
New York Post
14-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Post
Fox promoting Allison Williams to replace Laura Okmin on NFL sidelines after abrupt exit
Fox is promoting college football sideline reporter Allison Williams to Laura Okmin's NFL sideline reporter role, according to Front Office Sports. The news comes nearly one month after Okmin told the outlet that she turned down a contract extension with Fox following 23 years with the network. It's unclear which announce team Williams, who also covers MLB and college basketball for Fox, will work alongside this fall. 5 Fox Sports sideline reporter Allison Williams covering college football. Instagram/Allison Williams Okmin worked the 'NFL on Fox' sidelines with play-by-play announcer Kevin Kugler and color analyst Daryl 'Moose' Johnston for the 2024 NFL season. Okmin will continue covering the NFL postseason and Super Bowl for Westwood One Sports radio. 5 Drake Maye #10 of the New England Patriots during an interview with Laura Okmin of Fox Sports fafter a game against the Bears at Soldier Field on November 10, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. Getty Images FOS said Fox declined to comment on their story. Williams has not yet addressed the promotion news. 5 Fox Sports NFL sideline reporter Laura Okmin during the NFL game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field on September 28, 2014 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Getty Images She landed at Fox in 2022, following her contentious split from ESPN the year prior over the company's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. In September 2021, Williams announced in a statement on Twitter that she was opting out of the college football season as a sideline reporter with ESPN because she had not received a vaccine against COVID-19, as she and her husband were trying for a second child at the time. Williams, who had been with ESPN since 2011, said she decided not to receive the COVID-19 vaccine after consulting with her doctor as well as a fertility specialist — adding that she is 'so morally and ethically not aligned with this' in a tearful Instagram video. In 2023, Williams and former producer Beth Faber, sued ESPN in a joint lawsuit, which claimed the network and its parent company Disney violated their religious beliefs for firing them for refusing to comply with the vaccine policy. 5 Allison Williams appears before a House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic hearing 'Because I Said So: Examining the Science and Impact of COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates' in Washington on July 27, 2023. Shutterstock Both Williams and Faber dropped the lawsuit in May 2024, according to Law360. Okmin said she will focus on her company, GALvanize, which trains and mentors young women entering the sports world on and off camera after her departure from Fox. The news of Williams' promotion comes after Fox reportedly locked down veteran NFL sideline reporter Erin Andrews and Charissa Thompson, who hosts the 'Fox NFL Kickoff' show, to lucrative contract extensions. 5 Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson discusses the team's victory with Fox Sports reporter Allison Williams after defeating the UNLV Rebels in the Mountain West Championship at Albertsons Stadium on December 6, 2024 in Idaho. Getty Images Andrews is a part of Fox's top NFL broadcast team, which includes analyst Tom Brady and play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt. Fox's roster of NFL sideline reporters includes Tom Rinaldi, Pam Oliver, Megan Olivi, Kristina Pink and Jen Hale.
New York Post
09-07-2025
- Health
- New York Post
Biden doctor Kevin O'Connor pleads Fifth rather than answer questions about ex-prez's health
WASHINGTON — Ex-White House Dr. Kevin O'Connor pleaded the Fifth Amendment and ducked out of his high-profile congressional deposition Wednesday over the purported shielding of former President Joe Biden's cognitive decline. Biden's longtime personal physician exited the House Oversight Committee grilling just an hour after it started, with O'Connor's attorney David Schertler telling reporters, 'No comments to press.' 'Dr. O'Connor pleaded the Fifth Amendment,' Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) later revealed. 'I'm gonna read the first two questions that were asked.' Advertisement Dr. Kevin O'Connor — seen here with Biden while serving as vice president — pleaded the Fifth to the question, 'Were you ever told to lie about the president's health?' White House Photo Office 'Were you ever told to lie about the president's health? He pleaded the Fifth Amendment,' the chairman said. 'Did you ever believe President Biden was unfit to execute his duties?' 'I think that this adds more fuel to the fire that there was a cover-up,' he declared. Advertisement The Trump White House had declined Tuesday to invoke executive privilege over any of the former White House doctor's testimony. 'There's more and more evidence that comes out every day that would suggest that the president was in a pretty severe mental decline, so we're going to ask about that,' Comer had said before the deposition. Getty Images 'We can't have the physician's office not being truthful about the health condition of the president,' he added, noting that this was part of a larger investigation into who in the Biden White House was authorized to use an autopen that signed executive actions and pardons. Advertisement Schertler, a top criminal defense lawyer, also represented former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci during his testimonies before the Oversight's Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic last year.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Andrew Cuomo admits he saw COVID nursing home report — and may have amended it after DOJ probe into testimony
Mayoral hopeful Andrew Cuomo admitted Thursday that he not only saw a controversial report on nursing home COVID deaths while he was governor, but may have doctored the document – a bombshell confession that contradicts his sworn Congressional testimony. 'I did not recall seeing the report at the time. I did see the report, it turns out,' Cuomo told PIX11 News. 'I'm sure if I read the report I made language changes.' The mea culpa comes after the Department of Justice earlier this year reportedly opened a criminal investigation into whether Cuomo lied on Capitol Hill when he adamantly denied that he drafted, reviewed, discussed or consulted on a nursing home report on Empire State nursing home deaths. The controversial report downplayed the consequences of Cuomo's now-infamous March 25, 2020 directive that forced recovering COVID patients into senior care facilities without mandated testing to see if they could still infect others. When he revoked the order, thousands of sick New Yorkers had been either admitted or readmitted into nursing homes. Yet, the state underreported the deaths by nearly 50%. Emails obtained by a congressional subcommittee show that Cuomo aides discussed his role in drafting the report, and include the former governor's own handwritten edits. But during his grilling by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic in June 2024, he denied accusations of mishandling the COVID response and pointed to federal guidance as having hampered his administration's response. During private questioning by House members, Cuomo claimed he didn't review a draft of the nursing home before it was released, and didn't remember editing or speaking about it before it was released on July 7, 2020, according to a transcript. 'I do not recall reviewing,' Cuomo said. When he was asked if he had edited the report, he said 'I don't recall seeing it.' Rep. James Comer, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, took issue with the ex-governor's new stance on Thursday. 'It's remarkable that former Governor Cuomo now admits he read and edited the COVID nursing home report, only after facing a federal investigation for lying to Congress about it,' Comer (R-KY) said in a statement. 'Cuomo's deadly order forcing COVID-positive patients into nursing homes led to the deaths of thousands of seniors,' he added. 'He must be held accountable for the order, the cover-up and the lies.' Relatives of nursing home patients who died as a result of the botched call also slammed Cuomo's new 'weasel answer' Thursday. 'I hope it's a smoking gun,' said Vivian Zayas, who lost her mom to COVID inside a Long Island nursing home in 2021. 'I hope it's the tip of the iceberg of the accountability that will come,' Zayas said. 'Cuomo wants to be mayor, but he has selective memory.' Peter Arbeeny, whose father died in another home during the pandemic, said Cuomo has 'selective memory.' 'Cuomo said he wrote a 320-page book from memory, but can't remember reading and writing a health department report,' Arbeeny told The Post,, calling the wannabe mayor 'slick.' 'They were suppressing a narrative about nursing home deaths because they were writing a book,' he said. Despite his new admission, a spokesman for Cuomo claimed the ex-governor has always been up front about the 'politicized' controversy. Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi defended his boss and claimed in a statement that he has been consistent when addressing the controversy in the past. 'Despite attempts to paint this otherwise, Governor Cuomo's comments are consistent with what he has said all along,' Azzopardi told The Post Thursday. 'He testified truly and to the best of his recollection. 'He also offered, in good faith, to review any additional documents the [congressional] committee may have had in its possession to refresh his recollection, which they declined to present,' he said. 'That's because this was never about fact-finding. It was all politics from day one.' Cuomo's tenure in Albany was marred by allegations of sexual harassment and charges that his administration undercounted nursing home deaths during the pandemic — claims he has denied. A former HUD secretary and New York State attorney general — and son of former Gov. Mario Cuomo — Andrew Cuomo was elected governor in 2011 and served until the mounting sex harassment claims forced him to resign in 2021. He is considered the front-runner to replace Eric Adams as mayor of the Big Apple.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Done Deal – Ex Lazio & Man City Star On Joining Inter Milan As Assistant To Christian Chivu: 'Sudden But Very Significant Offer'
Done Deal – Ex Lazio & Man City Star On Joining Inter Milan As Assistant To Christian Chivu: 'Sudden But Very Significant Offer' Former left-back Aleksandar Kolarov is one step away from returning to Inter Milan, albeit in a different capacity. Speaking to Serbian outlet Mozzart Sport, the 39-year-old admitted he received a 'very significant offer' from his former club. Advertisement Aleksandar Kolarov called time on his professional career three years ago. Interestingly, he spent the final two years at San Siro, working under Antonio Conte and Simone Inzaghi. Since retiring from football, he has occupied various roles. Indeed, he briefly served as Pisa's sporting director before taking over Serbia's U21 squad. Despite commencing his coaching career with back-to-back wins, he then lost three internationals on the trot. However, after only five games in charge, he decided to cut short with the national team and return to Giuseppe Meazza. Inter's offer proved too tempting to resist as he prepares to join forces with Cristian Chivu in the Nerazzurri dugout. Aleksandar Kolarov Returns to Inter Milan as Assistant Coach TURIN, ITALY – FEBRUARY 09: Aleksandar Kolarov of FC Internazionale controls the ball during the Coppa Italia semi-final match between Juventus and FC Internazionale at Allianz Stadium on February 9, 2021 in Turin, Italy. Sporting stadiums around Italy remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by) 'I have accepted a sudden, but for me, very significant offer to become the first assistant coach at Inter,' Kolarov said. 'It's one of the most prestigious clubs in Europe. Advertisement 'This decision was not easy, as I began my coaching career with great dedication and pride on the bench of Serbia's U21 national team. 'I thank the Football Association for the trust they placed in me, especially General Secretary Branko Radujko. 'He gave me the opportunity to take my first steps in the coaching profession. 'Furthermore, I would like to express my gratitude to all the players of the U21 national team. 'It was a true pleasure to work with you, and I believe a bright future lies ahead for you. 'I leave with great respect and gratitude but also with excitement for the new challenges that await me.' Kolarov's return signals the beginning of a new era, with Inter seemingly oriented toward bringing former stars to San Siro.
