Latest news with #R-N.Y.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Gretchen Whitmer says she spoke to Trump after he said he was considering pardoning men who plotted to kidnap her
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Tuesday that she spoke to President Donald Trump after he said last week he was considering potentially pardoning the men who plotted to kidnap her. 'I will just confirm that I have connected with the president directly on this subject and made my thoughts known," Whitmer told reporters at an event in Detroit, according to her office. "Beyond that, I'm not going to share more about our conversation but hopefully he'll take some of those things into consideration when he makes a decision," she said. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed later Tuesday that Trump and Whitmer, a Democrat, had spoken. She declined to disclose any additional details about the conversation but said, "I will reiterate what he said publicly when he was asked by one of the journalists in this room in the Oval Office a couple of weeks ago about the pardons. He said it's something he would look at, nothing more, nothing less.' The president told reporters at a press event in the Oval Office that he would "take a look" at potential pardons for the men who were convicted in the kidnapping plot. "I'm going to look at it. I will take a look at it. It's been brought to my attention. I did watch the trial. It looked to me like somewhat of a railroad job," he said after a reporter asked about it. Whitmer, who has met with Trump in person multiple times this year, told NBC affiliate WOOD last week that she was 'very disappointed' that he was considering it. 'I'll be making my thoughts known to the White House and I hope they take it into consideration," she said. Over a dozen men were initially charged in the kidnapping scheme, though not all of them were tried in federal court (Trump doesn't have the power to intervene in state cases). Barry Croft Jr., who prosecutors said was the ringleader, is currently serving a nearly 20-year sentence in federal prison. A key co-conspirator, Adam Fox, was given a 16-year prison sentence. Whitmer, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, has faced criticism from members of her party over her amicable relationship with the president. Trump has continued to flex his pardoning powers in his second term, issuing pardons last week to former reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, former Rep. Michael Grimm, R-N.Y., among others. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Opinion - Pipeline of hate: From campus rhetoric to capital murder
Hatred doesn't erupt — it festers, it seeps quietly into our culture through rhetoric, ideology and the institutions we trust to educate our young. Then, one day, it explodes. Last week, that hatred turned lethal in the heart of our nation's capital. Two young Israeli diplomatic staffers were killed — victims not of a random act of violence, but of a deep-seated ideology that has been allowed to metastasize from college campuses to city streets. The depraved act of terror stripped the world of two beautiful souls, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim; two souls filled with love for each other who dreamed of a future together; two souls this world needed so desperately to address the issues confronting the crisis of morality and security we are facing; two souls who strived for peace in the Middle East, on our campuses, and global city streets. This tragedy did not begin with a gunman. It began with a lecture, a slogan, a chant shouted in the quad, a speech at commencement, or a tenured professor's tweet. It began the moment elite institutions chose to confuse academic freedom with moral ambiguity or abdication, and to shelter calls for violence under the banner of 'resistance.' The alleged shooter was none other than a radicalized Elias Rodriguez, who had absorbed such teachings and joined the movements supporting them. What we witnessed on that dark Washington street was not an isolated act. It marked the end of a pipeline of hate that starts in the classroom and ends at a killing scene. This hatred is cultivated, permitted, and even sanctioned, masked under the guise of academic freedom. The killing of Lischinsky and Milgrim personifies when theory kills, and 'academic freedom' incites. It is the deadly price of moral relativism — and of university leaders choosing neutrality and cowardice, of institutions that protect hate speech until it ends in bloodshed. Today's antisemitism is not merely a hatred of Jews. It has evolved into a broader, more insidious ideology and terror — one that disguises itself as human rights advocacy while glorifying violence and demonizing the Jewish state. American institutions have long been dangerously naive about its reach and power. The words of two former university presidents during the most widely viewed congressional hearing in American history echo with new, painful meaning today: Then-Harvard President Claudine Gay declared, 'We encourage the vigorous exchange of ideas, but we will not … permit speech that incites violence…. Antisemitic rhetoric, when it crosses into conduct that amounts to bullying, harassment, intimidation — that is actionable conduct, and we do take action.' When Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) asked then-University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill whether calling for a genocide of Jews violated the university's code of conduct, she responded that it was a 'context-dependent decision.' The rhetoric has crossed into conduct; the context has become terribly and most tragically clear, written in blood that stained the streets of the capital of the free world. The hateful anti-Israel tirades with the same calls for 'free Palestine' aired by students at graduation ceremonies — Logan Rozos at New York University and Cecilia Culver at George Washington University — certainly have origins. Their context is found within a societal culture that has been plagued by perverse notions of social justice that have masked themselves under academic freedom, free expression and context-dependence. It is when calls for 'Global Intifada' are dismissed as student activism; when 'Free Palestine' veils antisemitic hatred; when anti-Zionism is legitimized as academic discourse; and when anti-Israel dogma is turned into moral virtue. What will the faculty who defended these students in the name of Palestine say to the shooter of the two precious souls killed in our nation's capital? Will they plead innocence? They cannot. The words that George Washington University professor William Youmans spoke at last year's anti-Israel encampment take on new weight: 'Students enact what we teach.' His words were extended by an entire group of Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine at George Washington University. They praised Culver, who wielded antisemitic rhetoric for four minutes unchecked at this year's commencement ceremony, calling her 'a stellar example of the type of student GW should seek to cultivate.' Indeed, these faculty have taught their students to conflate the anchor of Jewish identity, Zionism and Israel, with colonialism. They have taught them to see Israel as a moral failing worthy of violent opposition. They have taught that resistance is necessary, and that 'globalizing the intifada' is indeed a call for liberation. Just last week, that ideology pulled the trigger. Thus, it should come as no surprise when some of those radicalized and indoctrinated turn their mission into Jew-hunting on the streets of America. It is too late to bring Lischinsky and Milgrim back, but the reckoning is here. Every university leader still clinging to hesitation must finally decide: Will you defend civilization, or will you excuse the ideologies that lead to its destruction? Please act now, before more lives are lost. Sabrina Soffer is a recent graduate of the George Washington University. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Pipeline of hate: From campus rhetoric to capital murder
Hatred doesn't erupt — it festers, it seeps quietly into our culture through rhetoric, ideology and the institutions we trust to educate our young. Then, one day, it explodes. Last week, that hatred turned lethal in the heart of our nation's capital. Two young Israeli diplomatic staffers were killed — victims not of a random act of violence, but of a deep-seated ideology that has been allowed to metastasize from college campuses to city streets. The depraved act of terror stripped the world of two beautiful souls, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim; two souls filled with love for each other who dreamed of a future together; two souls this world needed so desperately to address the issues confronting the crisis of morality and security we are facing; two souls who strived for peace in the Middle East, on our campuses, and global city streets. This tragedy did not begin with a gunman. It began with a lecture, a slogan, a chant shouted in the quad, a speech at commencement, or a tenured professor's tweet. It began the moment elite institutions chose to confuse academic freedom with moral ambiguity or abdication, and to shelter calls for violence under the banner of 'resistance.' The alleged shooter was none other than a radicalized Elias Rodriguez, who had absorbed such teachings and joined the movements supporting them. What we witnessed on that dark Washington street was not an isolated act. It marked the end of a pipeline of hate that starts in the classroom and ends at a killing scene. This hatred is cultivated, permitted, and even sanctioned, masked under the guise of academic freedom. The killing of Lischinsky and Milgrim personifies when theory kills, and 'academic freedom' incites. It is the deadly price of moral relativism — and of university leaders choosing neutrality and cowardice, of institutions that protect hate speech until it ends in bloodshed. Today's antisemitism is not merely a hatred of Jews. It has evolved into a broader, more insidious ideology and terror — one that disguises itself as human rights advocacy while glorifying violence and demonizing the Jewish state. American institutions have long been dangerously naive about its reach and power. The words of two former university presidents during the most widely viewed congressional hearing in American history echo with new, painful meaning today: Then-Harvard President Claudine Gay declared, 'We encourage the vigorous exchange of ideas, but we will not … permit speech that incites violence…. Antisemitic rhetoric, when it crosses into conduct that amounts to bullying, harassment, intimidation — that is actionable conduct, and we do take action.' When Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) asked then-University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill whether calling for a genocide of Jews violated the university's code of conduct, she responded that it was a 'context-dependent decision.' The rhetoric has crossed into conduct; the context has become terribly and most tragically clear, written in blood that stained the streets of the capital of the free world. The hateful anti-Israel tirades with the same calls for 'free Palestine' aired by students at graduation ceremonies — Logan Rozos at New York University and Cecilia Culver at George Washington University — certainly have origins. Their context is found within a societal culture that has been plagued by perverse notions of social justice that have masked themselves under academic freedom, free expression and context-dependence. It is when calls for 'Global Intifada' are dismissed as student activism; when 'Free Palestine' veils antisemitic hatred; when anti-Zionism is legitimized as academic discourse; and when anti-Israel dogma is turned into moral virtue. What will the faculty who defended these students in the name of Palestine say to the shooter of the two precious souls killed in our nation's capital? Will they plead innocence? They cannot. The words that George Washington University professor William Youmans spoke at last year's anti-Israel encampment take on new weight: 'Students enact what we teach.' His words were extended by an entire group of Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine at George Washington University. They praised Culver, who wielded antisemitic rhetoric for four minutes unchecked at this year's commencement ceremony, calling her 'a stellar example of the type of student GW should seek to cultivate.' Indeed, these faculty have taught their students to conflate the anchor of Jewish identity, Zionism and Israel, with colonialism. They have taught them to see Israel as a moral failing worthy of violent opposition. They have taught that resistance is necessary, and that 'globalizing the intifada' is indeed a call for liberation. Just last week, that ideology pulled the trigger. Thus, it should come as no surprise when some of those radicalized and indoctrinated turn their mission into Jew-hunting on the streets of America. It is too late to bring Lischinsky and Milgrim back, but the reckoning is here. Every university leader still clinging to hesitation must finally decide: Will you defend civilization, or will you excuse the ideologies that lead to its destruction? Please act now, before more lives are lost. Sabrina Soffer is a recent graduate of the George Washington University.
The Hill
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Trump pardons former GOP Rep. Michael Grimm amid clemency spree
President Trump on Wednesday took a slew of clemency actions, including pardoning former Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) and commuting the sentence of a former Chicago gang leader. Trump granted a full pardon to Grimm, a White House official confirmed. The former congressman represented Staten Island parts of Brooklyn from 2011 to 2015. He served seven months in prison after pleading guilty to felony tax fraud. Grimm was seriously injured last September after he was thrown from a horse during a polo event. In addition to Grimm, Trump commuted the sentence of Larry Hoover, who co-founded the Gangster Disciples and had been serving multiple life sentences in prison. Hoover was sentenced to life in prison for murder in the 1970s. He was given another life sentence in the 1990s for operating a criminal enterprise. Hoover and his allies have argued for his release under the First Step Act, a criminal justice law Trump signed in 2018. NOTUS first reported on Hoover's commutation. In addition to those two acts of clemency, Trump pardoned Annabelle Valenzuala, Maryanne Morgan, Kevin Basin and Earl Lamont Smith, according to a White House official. Those pardons were part of a push by Alice Marie Johnson, who Trump has dubbed his 'pardon czar.' Trump has been on something of a pardon spree in recent days. Trump pardoned reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were convicted on tax evasion and bank fraud charges in 2022. He also pardoned Paul Walczak, who pleaded guilty to tax crimes. That pardon came after Walczak's mother attended a major fundraiser at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate last month.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Republicans close in on deal for $40K SALT cap
Republicans Wednesday were closing in a on deal to raise the cap on deducting state and local taxes, or SALT, to $40,000 a year, a key breakthrough that would boost passage of President Trump's sprawling budget bill. Although the deal is not done yet, House Speaker Mike Johnson and a group of GOP lawmakers, mostly from the New York suburbs, reportedly say they agreed to the basic parameters. 'We're on the same ballfield now,' Long Island Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) told reporters as he left a meeting with Johnson late Tuesday night. The agreement would raise the cap to $40,000 from the current $10,000. The cap was imposed by Republicans in Trump's 2017 tax cut that Johnson is seeking to extend in the megabill dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill that includes more deep tax and spending cuts. If the bill fails, the SALT cap would expire altogether, a fact that the suburban lawmakers believe gives them leverage in the talks that have dragged on for several weeks. The tentative new deal would reportedly allow anyone making less than $500,000 a year to claim the SALT deduction but would not be doubled for married couples, a key demand that the suburban lawmakers have apparently now backed away from. The new SALT cap would be permanent with all caps and limits increasing by 1% a year for the first 10 years, reports say. Congressional leaders cautioned that Johnson still needs to win approval for the deal from a separate group of right-wing fiscal hardliners who oppose raising the SALT cap because it increases the cost of the entire megabill. Several Republicans, including LaLota and Westchester County Rep. Mike Lawler, ran for reelection on platforms that called for eliminating the SALT cap completely. Trump endorsed that stand at a MAGA rally on Long Island during his 2024 presidential campaign. But he has now flip-flopped and warned Lawler to end the revolt and get behind the bill at a meeting on Capitol Hill this week. The holdout GOP lawmakers represent affluent districts in high-tax blue states including New York, New Jersey and California, and could face fierce blowback from constituents for failing to eliminate the SALT cap altogether. Democrats are already slamming the Republicans for not standing firm on SALT, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries predicting the Republicans would 'fold like a cheap suit.' Non-partisan analysts say the SALT deduction disproportionately benefits the wealthy. But suburban lawmakers in both parties argue that middle-class taxpayers need the benefit to make ends meet with state, local and property taxes all soaring.
