A2 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.TUESDAY, MARCH 1 , 2022
HAPPENING TODAY
For the latest updates all day, visit washingtonpost.com.
All day | Mardi Gras celebrations are held in New Orleans. For
developments, visit washingtonpost.com/lifestyle.
10 a.m. | The Commerce Department issues construction spending for
January, which is expected to fall 0.2 percent. Visit washingtonpost.com/
business for details.
10 a.m. | The Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Ruan v. United
Stat es and Kahn v. United States, cases concerning the “good faith” defense
available to those charged under the Controlled Substances Act. For
details, visit washingtonpost.com/politics.
7 p.m. | The Washington Wizards host the Detroit Pistons at Capital One
Arena. Follow the game at postsports.com.
9 p.m. | President Biden delivers his State of the Union address to a joint
session of Congress. Vice President Harris and first lady Jill Biden will also
attend. Visit washingtonpost.com/politics for details.
CORRECTION
l A J an. 13 Metro article about
the D.C. murder trial of Tony
McClam incorrectly said that one
of the charges against McClam,
carrying a pistol without a
license, is a misdemeanor. It is a
felony. The article also should
not have said that the
neighborhood dispute preceding
the fatal shooting involved the
peddling of small items on the
street. There was no evidence in
the trial connecting the street
peddling to the killing.Download The
Washington Post app
Stay informed with award-winning
national and international news,
PLUS c omplete local news coverage
of the D.C. metro area. Create
customized news alerts, save
articles for offline reading in My
Post, browse the daily print edition
and scroll through our the Discover
tab to find stories that interest you.
Free to download on the App Store
and Play Store, subscribers enjoy
unlimited access.
KLMNO
NEWSPAPER DELIVERY
For home delivery comments
or concerns contact us at
washingtonpost.com/subscriberservices or
send us an email at
[email protected] or call
202-334-6100 or 800-477-
TO SUBSCRIBE
800-753-POST (7678)
TO ADVERTISE
washingtonpost.com/mediakit
Classified: 202-334-
Display: 202-334-
MAIN PHONE NUMBER
202-334-
TO REACH THE NEWSROOM
Metro: 202-334-7300;
[email protected]
National: 202-334-7410;
[email protected]
Business: 202-334-7320;
[email protected]
Sports: 202-334-7350;
[email protected]
Investigative: 202-334-6179;
[email protected]
Style: 202-334-7535;
[email protected]
Reader Advocate: 202-334-7582;
[email protected]
TO REACH THE OPINION PAGES
Letters to the editor:
[email protected] or call
202-334-
Opinion:
[email protected]
Published daily (ISSN 0190-8286).
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
The Washington Post, 1301 K St. NW, Washington,
D.C. 20071.
Periodicals postage paid in Washington, D.C., and
additional mailing office.
The Washington Post is committed to
correcting errors that appear in the
newspaper. Those interested in
contacting the paper for that purpose
can:
Email: c [email protected].
Call: 2 02-334-6000, and ask to be
connected to the desk involved —
National, Foreign, Metro, Style, Sports,
Business or any of the weekly sections.
Comments can be directed to The
Post’s reader advocate, who can be
reached at 202-334-7582 or
[email protected].All programs will be streamed live
at washingtonpostlive.com, on
Facebook Live, YouTube, and
Twitter. Email postlive@
washpost.com to submit
questions for our upcoming
speakers.Tuesday, Mar. 1 | 10 a.m.
117th Congress
Rep. John Katko (N.Y.), ranking
Republican, House Homeland
Security CommitteeWednesday, Mar. 2 | 4 p.m.
Capehart
Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.)
Moderated by Jonathan Capehart
Thursday, Mar. 3 | 10 a.m.
117th Congress
Rep. Michael R. Turner (R-Ohio)
Moderated by Jacqueline Alemany
W ashington Post Live
eventsNEW YORK
Cuomo launches TV ad
in bid to clear nameAn unrepentant Andrew M.
Cuomo (D) launched a television
advertisement aimed at clearing
his name on Monday, more than
six months after a torrent of
sexual harassment allegations
drove the New York governor out
of of fice.
The 30-second spot, which
highlights decisions by New York
district attorneys not to press
criminal charges against him,
closes with a picture of the
beleaguered former governor
behind an overlay of the words:
“Political attacks won. And New
Yorkers lost a proven leader.”
Five criminal probes of
Cuomo, 64, closed without
charges, although some
prosecutors said they found
accusations against him credible.
Oswego County District Attorney
Gregory Oakes coupled his
decision with a plea to
lawmakers to tighten sexual
harassment laws.
Cuomo, a three-term governor,
has mostly kept a low profile
since resigning, but he has begun
to poke his head out recently. He
told Bloomberg News in an
interview in February that he
had been “vindicated” by the
decisions of the prosecutors.
In August, state Attorney
General Letitia James (D)
released a bombshell report that
found Cuomo had sexually
harassed at least 11 women. The
probe was met with swift
outrage, and Cuomo quit after its
release rather than face possible
impeachment.
A November state Assembly
report bolstered the findings of
James’s office, saying that the
evidence of Cuomo’s sexual
misconduct was “overwhelming.”
But Cuomo has stridently
denied the claims against him.
His surrogates have painted
James’s report as a partisan
hatchet job.
— New York Daily NewsCALIFORNIA
Feinstein’s husband
dies after cancer fightRichard Blum, husband of
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.),
died Sunday after a long battle
with cancer. He was 86.
Feinstein announced herhusband’s death in a statement
Monday morning that said her
“heart is broken today.”
She said her husband, a
wealthy San Francisco investor,
“left things better than he found
them” and was devoted to his
family. She described his work
for the people of the Himalayas
and noted he was a longtime
friend of the Dalai Lama’s.
In a W hite House statement,
President Biden called Blum “a
successful businessman and
proud son of California who
dedicated much of his public life
to fighting poverty around the
globe.”
Biden said he’d served on the
Senate Judiciary Committee with
Feinstein for 16 years and
“during that time, Jill and I came
to know Dick as a friend.”
Feinstein, 88, has missed votes
in recent weeks as her husband’s
health declined; Democrats hold
a fragile 50-50 majority. Sen. Ben
Ray Luján (D-N.M.) is also absent
after suffering a stroke in
January. He is expected to return
in the coming weeks, ahead of an
expected vote in April on Biden’s
Supreme Court nominee, Ketanji
Brown Jackson.
Several of Feinstein’s
colleagues paid tribute to Blum
on the Senate floor Monday
afternoon. Senate Minority
Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)
said it was always a pleasure
when the two families would
“break bread” together.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a
Democrat who represents SanFrancisco, said Blum was a “dear
friend, a devoted philanthropist
and a proud San Franciscan” who
was a donor to arts and anti-
hunger programs in the city.
Blum was the chairman of
Blum Capital Partners, an equity
investment management firm.
He was also the former chairman
of the University of California
Board of Regents and a former
chairman of the advisory board
for the Haas School of Business
at the University of California at
Berkeley.
He served on then-President
Barack Obama’s Global
Development Council.
— Associated PressGEORGIA
Senate passes bill
to end gun licensingThe Georgia Senate passed a
Republican-backed bill Monday
that would do away with the
need for a license to carry a
handgun in public — eliminating
a current background check
requirement.
Democrats said the measure
would fuel gun deaths and
proposed an amendment that
would expand background
checks, but the GOP-controlled
Senate defeated it. Senate Bill 319
passed 34 to 22 along party lines
and now goes to the state House.
Facing a primary challenge
from Republicans including
former U.S. senator David
Perdue, Gov. B rian Kemp hasbacked the revocation. He says
Georgia residents should have
their constitutional rights
protected and be able to protect
themselves and their families
amid a spike in violent crime.
More than 20 other states
allow concealed weapons in
public without a permit,
according to Stateline, an
initiative of the Pew Charitable
Trusts.
The bill would do away with
the need for a license to carry a
handgun in public — either
openly or concealed on one’s
body.
Georgia currently requires
people to obtain a license to
carry a loaded handgun outside
their own homes, businesses or
cars, although people can carry
rifles and shotguns in many
places without a permit and
carry unloaded guns in cases.
To obtain a weapons license,
state residents must submit an
application and fee and undergo
fingerprinting in addition to a
background check.
People convicted of felonies
and people who have been
hospitalized for mental health
problems or received treatment
for drugs or alcohol in the years
preceding the application are not
eligible.
Also Monday, a H ouse Public
Safety and Homeland Security
subcommittee passed House Bill
1358, its version of the Senate
bill, with little debate.
The subcommittee also passed
House Bill 1378, which would
remove Georgia’s legal
prohibition against carrying
guns in churches.
— Associated PressMan saved after clinging to ice
chunk in Alaska’s Cook Inlet:
An Alaska man walking on a
shoreline wound up clinging to a
chunk of ice for more than 30
minutes in frigid water when the
shoreline ice broke loose and
carried him out into Cook Inlet.
Jamie Snedden, 45, of Homer
was rescued Saturday near the
community of Anchor Point on
the Kenai Peninsula. He was
taken to a hospital, where he was
treated for hypothermia. He was
expected to fully recover, Alaska
wildlife troopers said. S nedden
was swept about 300 yards out
into the inlet, near the mouth of
the Anchor River. He was not
wearing any type of personal
flotation device.
— Associated PressDIGEST
DAVID MCKEOWN/POTTSVILLE REPUBLICAN-HERALD/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ahead of Fat Tuesday, Joe Yurkonis Jr. rolls out dough for fasnachts
— a type of doughnut originating in Germany — at Spring Street
Bakery in Frackville, Pa. Yurkonis co-owns the bakery.BY JONATHAN EDWARDS
AND MARIANA ALFAROSenate Minority Leader Mitch
McConnell (R-Ky.) said Monday
that there is no place in the Repub-
lican Party for “white suprema-
cists or anti-Semitism” after two
House Republicans participated
in a conference organized by a
white nationalist who encouraged
a chant supporting Russian Presi-
dent Vladimir Putin.
McConnell issued a statement
in response to reports that Reps.
Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia
and Paul A. Gosar of Arizona ad-
dressed the America First Political
Action Conference (AFPAC) in Or-
lando. The event was organized by
Nicholas Fuentes.
Fuentes, a w hite-nationalist ac-
tivist, rose to prominence after
attending the deadly Unite the
Right rally in Charlottesville in
2017 and then dropping out of
Boston University because of
“threats” he said he received, ac-
cording to the Anti-Defamation
League. He once hosted the
“America First” podcast.
“There’s no place in the Repub-
lican Party for white supremacists
or anti-Semitism,” said McCon-
nell, who did not identify the law-
makers.
McConnell’s statement comes a
week after Greene told right-wing
podcast host Alex Jones that Mc-
Connell and his wife, former
transportation secretary Elaine
Chao, are “fully bought and paid
for by China.”
“Mitch McConnell, he lies to
your face,” Greene told Jones. “He
says he’s a Republican. He’s the
leader in the Senate of the Repub-
lican Party, but he’s married to
Elaine Chao, and they’re fully
bought and paid for by China on
record. And everyone knows it,
but no one does anything about it.”
Chao, who served as transpor-
tation secretary in the Trump ad-
ministration and as labor secre-
tary under the George W. Bush
administration, was born in Tai-
wan. She was the first Asian Amer-
ican woman to be a member of apresident’s Cabinet.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), a
2012 nominee for president, was
harsher in his criticism of Greene
and Gosar.
“Morons. I have morons on my
team,” Romney said Sunday.
Romney made the remarks on
CNN’s Sunday morning show
“State of the Union” after anchor
Dana Bash asked him about
Greene and Gosar’s connections
to Fuentes.
Romney on Sunday called rac-
ist views “evil.”
“There’s no place in either polit-
ical party for this white national-
ism or racism. It’s simply wrong,”
Romney told Bash. He added:
“Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul
Gosar — I don’t know them, but
I’m reminded of that old line from
the ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sun-
dance Kid’ movie where one char-
acter says, ‘Morons. I’ve got mo-
rons on my team.’ ”
“And I have to think anybody
that would sit down with white
nationalists and speak at their
conference was certainly missing
a few IQ points,” Romney added.
Greene attended the AFPAC
conference in person, according
to CBS News, while Gosar ad-
dressed attendees in a 30-second
prerecorded video. Gosar attend-ed the event last year, The Wash-
ington Post reported.
Before introducing Greene, Fu-
entes told the crowd, “Now they’re
going on about Russia and Vladi-
mir Putin is Hitler — they say
that’s not a good thing.” Fuentes
also asked the crowd to “give a
round of applause for Russia” and
responded, “Absolutely,” as at-
tendees chanted “Putin! Putin!”
After Fuentes introduced
Greene, she told the crowd they
were “canceled Americans,” Huff-
Post reported.
“You’ve been handed the re-
sponsibility to fight for our Consti-
tution and stand for our freedoms,
and stop the Democrats, who are
the Communist Party of the Unit-
ed States of America,” Greene said.
Romney wasn’t the only con-
servative to criticize Greene for
her Friday speech, given hours
before she addressed the Con-
servative Political Action Confer-
ence, which was also held last
week in Orlando. Ronna McDan-
iel, chairwoman of the Republican
National Committee and Rom-
ney’s niece, said, “White suprema-
cy, neo-Nazism, hate speech and
bigotry are disgusting and do not
have a home in the Republican
Party,” comments Romney cited
on “State of the Union.”Romney also denounced for-
mer president Donald Trump and
other Republicans for compli-
menting Putin in what the senator
called “almost treasonous” com-
ments.
The Republican Jewish Coali-
tion quickly condemned Greene’s
attendance at AFPAC as “appall-
ing and outrageous.” Sen. Rick
Scott (R-Fla.) criticized what he
called “racial politics” but said he
“completely disagrees” with
Greene speaking at AFPAC, CBS
News reported.
On Sunday, Greene defended
herself to CBS News, denouncing
the attacks against her as “identity
politics” and an attempt to “can-
cel” her. She also said she didn’t
know about Fuentes’s views and
spoke at the conference not be-
cause she agreed with the organiz-
ers but to engage with an audience
about what she believes.
“It doesn’t matter if I’m spe ak-
ing to Democrat union members
or 1,200 young conservatives who
feel cast aside and marginalized
by society,” Greene said in a state-
ment to CBS News. “The Pharisees
in the Republican Party may at-
tack me for being willing to break
barriers and speak to a lost gener-
ation of young people who are
desperate for love and leadership.”Greene’s CPAC detour is condemned
JABIN BOTSFORD/THE WASHINGTON POST
Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) attend the Conservative Political Action
Conference in Orlando, where Greene also spoke during the America First Political Action Conference.Joined fellow House
Republican in addressing
white nationalist’s event18 MonthsSame asCash
Offer expires 4/2/Home heating to i ncrease up to 54%!INSULATION SALE202-996-3585 DC301-245-2492 MD703-278-9016 VAVA #27 05029456A | MHIC #46744 | DC #67000878 | NC # 77474
***Attics Only - We Do Not Do Crawl Spaces***FREE
Air Sealing
with purchase of t he
Perfect Attic SystemOil Heat Natural Gas
Winter is HERE!
Installing Multilayer Foil Attic Insulation, Blown Insulation and
Air Sealing Can Have an Immediate Impact on Your Energy Bill!Banca do Antfer
Telegram: https://t.me/bancadoantfer
Issuhub: https://issuhub.com/user/book/
Issuhub: https://issuhub.com/user/book/