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Cuomo successor Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul distances herself in first comments since his resignation
CNN
New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday distanced herself from outgoing Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned in disgrace a day earlier with impeachment looming following the release of a report that found he sexually harassed 11 women.
In her first public comments since Cuomo's stunning announcement, Hochul, a Buffalo native who is poised to become the state's first female governor, insisted that she had not been previously aware of the allegations in state Attorney General Letitia James's damning investigation and vowed to clean house in the executive chamber. "I'm going to stand right here at the end of my term, whenever it ends, no one will ever describe my administration as a toxic work environment," Hochul said, while also pledging to purge anyone "who is named as doing anything unethical in the report" from her administration.
The retired Air Force general announced as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by President Donald Trump after the abrupt Friday night firing of his predecessor is a respected career F-16 pilot who is described by current and former officials who served with him as a professional with a “strong moral center.”
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Over the past 10 days, Vice President JD Vance put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on notice, rattled the confidence of century-old allies in Western Europe during his first foreign trip, decamped to Capitol Hill to help in delicate budget talks and delivered a spirited defense of the Trump administration’s first month to a gathering of conservatives outside the nation’s capital.