I first met @CaseySeiler covering the "Albany on Trial" cases, including that of the governor's former right-hand man Joseph Percoco.
There's a through line between that case and the nursing home and the sexual harassment scandals: how Cuomo tried to handle the investigations.
Before the Percoco case, Cuomo shut down the Moreland Commission, and the Times Union reported how a sexual harassment complaint against Cuomo went to his special counsel.
Casey identifies it as Cuomo's need for control as his "Shakespearean flaw."
Whether you are a Cuomo supporter or sharp critic, how the systems of accountability work in New York is a story that will outlast his governorship.
It's one about the independence of probes touching the powerful, the integrity public health info, and the teeth on ethics rules.
Few have @CaseySeiler's encyclopedic knowledge about that story, the institutionally memory of his Albany Times Union, or can illustrate how power brokers operate in the Empire State like they can.
Watkins rattles off the civil, criminal and congressional actions and inquiries since the Jan. 6th siege.
He calls for a shifting of the dialogue from a "lynch mob" mentality, a phrase Watkins has repeatedly used to describe the *reaction* to the noose-brandishing pro-Trump mob.
Watkins:
"Jacob Chansley is 33 years old. He does not have a passport. He has zero criminal history."
Save for his military history, Chansley has never been out of the country, he adds.
Weeks ago, I pressed Chansley's lawyer Al Watkins on whether his client would renounce QAnon. He first ducked the question and said his client would deliver a statement.
Chansley never did, and as seems clear here, stands by it.
During the ongoing detention hearing, prosecutors said that authorities found that Oath Keeper Jessica Watkins had bomb-making recipes from the "Anarchist's Cookbook."
Watkins just renounced the Oath Keepers during her detention hearing.
"My fellow Oath Keepers have kind of turned my stomach against it," she said, adding that she will cancel her membership when it is over and disband her militia in Ohio.
Jessica Watkins:
"We're done with that lifestyle... I think I'm going to focus on my business, your honor."
She added that she stands "humbled" and "humiliated."
As the Senate Homeland Security Committee probes the Capitol siege, a detention hearing is just about to begin in the case against Oath Keeper Jessica Watkins.
Both Durbin and Grassley brought up Garland's experience prosecuting the Oklahoma City bombing case.
The debut of my podcast "Objection" interviewed attorney Aitan Goelman, who was on Garland's team in that case and spoke about the parallels with Jan. 6. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/was…
Pressed by Grassley on whether he spoke to President Biden about his son Hunter, Judge Garland firmed responded: "The answer to your question is no."
He added that POTUS's public statements about the AG's independence are why he is seeking the position.