San Francisco’s mayor wants drug testing for welfare recipients

SAN FRANCISCO — Recipients of public assistance — in a city once known for its embrace of counterculture drugs — would have to submit to tests for substance use under a proposal announced Tuesday by Mayor London Breed as she faces mounting pressure to address San Francisco’s fentanyl epidemic.

Breed, who is running for reelection in 2024, outlined the plan the same day that an heir to the Levi Strauss & Co. fortune launched his own mayoral bid, arguing that his incumbent opponent had let the drug and homelessness crises fester under her watch.

Her proposal — which progressive critics immediately compared to Republican-style welfare mandates — would require all recipients of locally-funded cash assistance participate in a substance abuse treatment program if screening showed drug use.

“No more handouts without accountability,” Breed said at a City Hall news conference. “People are not accepting help. Now, it’s time to make sure that we are cutting off resources that continue to allow this behavior.”

The proposal from the Democratic mayor of this ultra-liberal city reflects the depth of frustration with a fentanyl crisis that has led to record overdoses, turned parts of downtown into open-air drug markets and is correlated with an increase in car break-ins and other property crime.

It follows similar moves by leaders of other blue cities like New York and Portland, who are pushing forced treatment for mentally ill residents and sweeps of homelessness encampments that were once anathema to the Democratic Party. Breed, and her big city counterparts, are taking more drastic measures around the intertwined problems of drug use, homelessness and mental health to show voters they’re serious about public safety concerns.

Breed has increasingly leaned into tough-on-crime rhetoric in recent months as she faces political headwinds and a growing field of challengers. On Tuesday, she defended her welfare proposal with a Clinton-esque commentary about the need for incentives that make subsidies contingent on personal responsibility.

But she faces a tough road getting the progressive-leaning Board of Supervisors to go along with her proposal. Several were swift to call her plan inhumane and politically-motivated. About a dozen states, mostly deep-red, require drug testing for welfare recipients.

Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, a progressive and potential rival in the mayoral race, said Breed is deflecting because she has failed to work with the police department to effectively close open-air markets for drugs and stolen goods.

“These are serious times in San Francisco — and we need serious ideas, not politicians desperately grasping for a political lifeline,” he said.

Breed announced her proposal on the same morning that Daniel Lurie, a longtime nonprofit executive and Levi Strauss heir, formally announced he will challenge her in next year’s election.

Lurie told a crowd of hundreds of supporters that he would seek to dramatically increase San Francisco’s police presence to respond to the crises that have roiled its streets.

“My administration will finally slam the door shut on the era of open-air drug markets and end the perception that lawlessness is an acceptable part of life in San Francisco,” he said during a rally at a community center in Potrero Hill.

Several details of Breed’s drug testing proposal are unclear, including which specific drugs would be tested for. Her office said she would unveil the text of the legislation in the coming weeks.

Supervisor Matt Dorsey, a recovering addict and former spokesperson for the police department, is carrying the measure with Breed. He said more coercive incentives are needed to get people into treatment, especially amid the “unprecedented loss of life in San Francisco” due to drug overdoses.

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Obernolte: House is still choosing priorities on AI law

Rep. Jay Obernolte said Wednesday his near-term priority as vice chair of the Congressional Artificial Intelligence Caucus is picking a lane on how to legislate the emerging technology.

“Are we going to do a broad-based approach with a new agency? Potentially like the EU has done? Or are we going to adopt a sectoral approach, where we empower our existing sectoral regulators to regulate AI within their sectoral spaces?” Obernolte (R-Calif.) said at POLITICO’s AI & Tech Summit.

Obernolte’s basic questions reflected a Congress still in the early phases of regulation. In the Senate, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer this month convened an “AI Insight Forum” of tech leaders, not long after he laid out a framework in June for Congress to get on a path toward comprehensive regulation. But some lawmakers have urged for more efficiency in the legislative process to match the breakneck pace of innovation.

Michael Kratsios, former U.S. chief technology officer and now managing director of the San Francisco-based Scale AI, said at the summit that the release of ChatGPT “fundamentally changed the dynamic in Washington” and made the conversation around AI more urgent and concrete.

“It is something that everyday Americans can touch, feel and play with personally,” he said. “Before it was just sort of this, you know, 'Terminator' dream in the movies or something that was happening, maybe in some factory somewhere through a robot.”

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Abbott visited New York City. He didn't take pity on its migrant surge.

NEW YORK — Everything’s bigger in Texas — including the humanitarian crisis of helping migrants.

That was the message from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott as he spoke Wednesday in Manhattan, where leaders have blasted his continued efforts to ship migrants from the southern border to blue states, particularly the biggest of them all: New York City.

Abbott both defended his program bussing migrants from the border to sanctuary cities like New York and trivialized Mayor Eric Adams’ complaints about the strain it has put on the city's resources.

“What's going on in New York right now might not be the common circumstance or what you were looking for,” Abbott said at a breakfast hosted by the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank. “But what is going on in New York is calm and organized compared to the real chaos of what we see on the border — not every day, but every hour of every day.”

The Adams administration says nearly 120,000 migrants have come to the city since last summer, many of them without shelter, jobs and support systems. More than 60,000 are currently in the city’s care through a network of shelters in hotels, tents and office buildings.

Adams has blamed Abbott as a catalyst for the recent increase in asylum-seekers coming to the city. Earlier this month, the mayor called him “a madman.” So City Hall saw Abbott’s first visit to the city in years as an insult.

“New Yorkers deserve better than being trapped between a vicious game of political hot potato,” a spokesperson for Adams said. “When thousands of asylum-seekers arrived at Governor Abbott's doorstep in pursuit of the American Dream, he chose to use them as political pawns.”

Abbott, a Republican, put the blame on President Joe Biden, saying that Texas has bussed just 15,800 migrants to New York. That’s a fraction of the migrants who have come to the city through either private transportation or supported by nonprofit organizations. Abbott added that the buses were necessary to relieve overwhelmed small border towns.

The Adams administration has also bussed migrants to hotels in other parts of New York and has lobbied Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul to help the city with more money and resources, along with policies to allow the city more flexibility on where to house them.

In fact, Abbott never directly attacked Adams during the nearly one-hour program, and he was eager at times to note their points of agreement — something that Republicans have done regularly with Adams, who has sparred with the White House over the issue.

“This is something that's unsustainable. I think those are the words of your mayor. Those are the words of the mayor of Chicago and LA. Those are the words of the governor of Texas,” he said.

Abbott echoed New York leaders in saying that the federal government should pay Texas and New York for serving migrants and teased that “you may be able to expect some litigation” on that issue coming soon.

Asked what advice he’d give Adams and Hochul, he said it’s something they’re already beginning to follow: blaming Biden for not limiting migration to the country.

“They must prevail upon their president for more than just money. They need a change in policy,” he said. “They need to demand what all Americans expect and that is the Biden administration will follow the rule of law and stop illegal immigration into the United States.”

The White House has put the onus on Congress to change immigration laws, and it points to the help it has given New York and other states.

Hochul, meanwhile, was unswayed by Abbott’s visit to New York.

“Let me be clear. I will not be taking advice from Greg Abbott,” she told reporters at an unrelated press conference Wednesday.

“This is just pure politics what he is talking about. And if he’s genuine about solving the problem, don’t come to New York and grandstand. Go to Washington and meet with Speaker (Kevin) McCarthy and say you have the key in your hands to solving this problem.”

Abbott isn’t expected to meet with either Hochul or Adams while in New York. He appeared in studio on Fox News Wednesday morning — where he also encouraged New York to “blame Joe Biden” — and met with billionaire donor John Catsimatidis, taping a prerecorded segment for Catsimatidis' radio show.

Abbott adviser Dave Carney said Abbott would be in New York until Friday, including visits to the New York Stock Exchange and attending a celebration for an exchange traded fund of Texas companies.

Where Abbott spoke was also notable. It was at the Yale Club in Midtown Manhattan, which is next door to the Roosevelt Hotel that the city has turned into its main migrant intake center.

The governor didn’t appear to visit and drove away after the event. But one Adams’ deputy mayor leading the migrant response, Anne Wiliams-Isom, suggested Abbott could learn from the way the city has provided shelter and services.

“I hope that when he’s here, he can get a glimpse of what it really looks like to deal with a humanitarian crisis in a humane way,” she said.

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Trudeau apologizes for tribute to vet who fought in WWII Nazi unit

OTTAWA, Ont. — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he is offering “Parliament’s unreserved apologies” to the world, several days following scandalous revelations that lawmakers mistakenly praised a man who fought in a Nazi division in WWII.

“This is a mistake that deeply embarrassed Parliament and Canada,” Trudeau said Wednesday in a televised address ahead of his apology in the House of Commons.

He acknowledged the incident during President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Ottawa visit struck a blow to Ukraine’s public relations efforts as it tries to rally support for its fight against Russia as Moscow uses the debacle to its advantage.

“All of us who were in this House on Friday regret deeply having stood and clapped, even though we did so unaware of the context,” he said.

“It was a horrendous violation of the memory of the millions of people who died in the Holocaust and it was deeply, deeply painful for Jewish people. It also hurt Polish people, Roma people, to LGBTQI+ people, disabled people, racialized people and the many millions who were targeted by the Nazi genocide.”

Trudeau did not take questions from reporters and pointed blame at the House of Commons speaker.

This follows the delayed resignation on Wednesday of the speaker, Anthony Rota, who has assumed responsibility for inviting Yaroslav Hunka, 98, to Parliament and publicly praising him as a Ukrainian and Canadian “hero,” netting Hunka a standing ovation from Canadian politicians and Zelenskyy.

Rota apologized for the incident after it came out that Hunka served in the First Ukrainian Division, also known as the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS under the Nazis.

Trudeau’s Liberals have squarely blamed Rota for causing the incident. But the opposition Conservatives blame Trudeau.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who is surging ahead of Trudeau in the polls, said it has left Canada’s image in tatters.

“This is by far the biggest hit Canada’s diplomatic reputation has ever taken in its history,” he told reporters Tuesday.

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Christie is in on the Taylor Swift hype — and using it to attack Trump

Presidential candidate Chris Christie seized an opportunity to make a playful Taylor Swift reference — while throwing in a jab at former President Donald Trump — hours before the second Republican debate Wednesday.

“I was just a guy in the bleachers on Sunday... but after tonight, Trump will know we are never ever getting back together,” the former New Jersey governor wrote on social media, borrowing from the pop singer’s iconic lyrics.

Christie's dig was in response to a photo posted to social media of Christie sitting alongside Dallas Cowboys owner and Republican donor Jerry Jones during the Cowboys' game against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, accompanied by a user's joking question: “Ooooh who on the Cowboys is Chris Christie dating?!” The question nodded to the internet frenzy over rumors that Swift is dating Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce, fueled by her attendance at a recent game with Kelce’s mother.

Christie has openly attacked Trump since launching his campaign, and the post likely foreshadows more attempts to position himself as a foil to the former president during Wednesday's debate.

The former governor has been polling in the low single digits, and although some of his rivals have breached the low teens in the polls, none come close to clear Republican frontrunner Trump. Unlike several other GOP contenders, Christie has ruled out joining a Trump 2024 ticket as vice president.

Christie’s campaign previously confirmed to POLITICO that he is committed to staying in the race until the New Hampshire primary.

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San Francisco’s mayor wants drug testing for welfare recipients

SAN FRANCISCO — Recipients of public assistance — in a city once known for its embrace of counterculture drugs — would have to submit to tests for substance use under a proposal announced Tuesday by Mayor London Breed as she faces mounting pressure to address San Francisco’s fentanyl epidemic.

Breed, who is running for reelection in 2024, outlined the plan the same day that an heir to the Levi Strauss & Co. fortune launched his own mayoral bid, arguing that his incumbent opponent had let the drug and homelessness crises fester under her watch.

Her proposal — which progressive critics immediately compared to Republican-style welfare mandates — would require all recipients of locally-funded cash assistance participate in a substance abuse treatment program if screening showed drug use.

“No more handouts without accountability,” Breed said at a City Hall news conference. “People are not accepting help. Now, it’s time to make sure that we are cutting off resources that continue to allow this behavior.”

The proposal from the Democratic mayor of this ultra-liberal city reflects the depth of frustration with a fentanyl crisis that has led to record overdoses, turned parts of downtown into open-air drug markets and is correlated with an increase in car break-ins and other property crime.

It follows similar moves by leaders of other blue cities like New York and Portland, who are pushing forced treatment for mentally ill residents and sweeps of homelessness encampments that were once anathema to the Democratic Party. Breed, and her big city counterparts, are taking more drastic measures around the intertwined problems of drug use, homelessness and mental health to show voters they’re serious about public safety concerns.

Breed has increasingly leaned into tough-on-crime rhetoric in recent months as she faces political headwinds and a growing field of challengers. On Tuesday, she defended her welfare proposal with a Clinton-esque commentary about the need for incentives that make subsidies contingent on personal responsibility.

But she faces a tough road getting the progressive-leaning Board of Supervisors to go along with her proposal. Several were swift to call her plan inhumane and politically-motivated. About a dozen states, mostly deep-red, require drug testing for welfare recipients.

Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, a progressive and potential rival in the mayoral race, said Breed is deflecting because she has failed to work with the police department to effectively close open-air markets for drugs and stolen goods.

“These are serious times in San Francisco — and we need serious ideas, not politicians desperately grasping for a political lifeline,” he said.

Breed announced her proposal on the same morning that Daniel Lurie, a longtime nonprofit executive and Levi Strauss heir, formally announced he will challenge her in next year’s election.

Lurie told a crowd of hundreds of supporters that he would seek to dramatically increase San Francisco’s police presence to respond to the crises that have roiled its streets.

“My administration will finally slam the door shut on the era of open-air drug markets and end the perception that lawlessness is an acceptable part of life in San Francisco,” he said during a rally at a community center in Potrero Hill.

Several details of Breed’s drug testing proposal are unclear, including which specific drugs would be tested for. Her office said she would unveil the text of the legislation in the coming weeks.

Supervisor Matt Dorsey, a recovering addict and former spokesperson for the police department, is carrying the measure with Breed. He said more coercive incentives are needed to get people into treatment, especially amid the “unprecedented loss of life in San Francisco” due to drug overdoses.

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Trump expands criminal defense team

Donald Trump has added at least two veteran attorneys to help defend him in his multiple criminal cases.

Emil Bove, a former federal prosecutor who was co-chief of the national security unit at the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office, and Kendra Wharton, a seasoned white collar defense lawyer with Capitol Hill ties, have signed onto the legal team organized by Trump attorney Todd Blanche.

In recent days, Bove joined Blanche’s firm, while Wharton launched her own firm and is expected to partner with Blanche, according to two people close to the legal team granted anonymity to discuss personnel decisions. Bove and Wharton are expected to work on Trump’s criminal matters, including the New York criminal case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and the federal cases filed by special counsel Jack Smith. Trump is also facing a fourth criminal case in Fulton County, Ga., and has hired a separate defense team for that matter.

The additions are the most significant new legal hires in months for Trump as he prepares for multiple criminal trials scheduled for next year. Bove and Wharton are expected to help fill out a team that was, in some ways, hobbled by the abrupt departures of veteran lawyers John Rowley, Tim Parlatore and James Trusty around the time Trump was indicted by a Florida grand jury in June.

Since then, Blanche, also an alumnus of the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office, has emerged as the architect of Trump’s multi-front legal battle, and the new hires further solidify his imprint on some of the most significant criminal cases in American history.

“Emil is an expert in white collar and CIPA-related litigation and his trial skills are among the best in the business,” Blanche said in a statement, referencing the Classified Information Procedures Act, the federal law governing the use of classified documents in criminal cases. “We are thrilled and lucky to have him on our team defending President Trump and all of our other clients."

“Kendra is a brilliant lawyer and clients have trusted her for years,” Blanche continued, “and is providing the same excellent service to our team that has been her signature for many years.”

Blanche’s hires coincide with Smith’s own addition to his team. He recently added Alex Whiting, a longtime war crimes prosecutor who worked as Smith’s deputy at the Hague.

While working as a federal prosecutor, Bove handled matters including the investigation of Guo Wengui, an ally of Steve Bannon who was indicted earlier this year on charges that he and his financier orchestrated a more than $1 billion fraud scheme.

Bove also worked on the prosecution of Cesar Sayoc Jr., who pleaded guilty to mailing pipe bombs to Trump critics. Bove is currently listed as a partner at Blanche’s firm, which notes his “extensive trial and appellate experience.”

Wharton spent a decade working at Blanche’s former firm, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, before launching her own in recent weeks. Before that, she spent four years working for Sen. Mitch McConnell as a legislative aide.

During her tenure at Cadwalader, Wharton defended companies and corporate executives in investigations led by the Justice Department, SEC and other federal agencies. She has also managed internal corporate investigations and their responses to congressional inquiries.

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