Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), a prominent ally of President Donald Trump, would narrowly defeat incumbent New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) in a potential head-to-head matchup, according to a new poll from the conservative Manhattan Institute.
The survey shows Stefanik leading Hochul by one point, 43% to 42%, among registered voters. The same poll found Stefanik with a wider lead — 43% to 37% — over Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado, who is challenging Hochul in the Democratic primary.
An internal poll released earlier this month by a political action committee aligned with Stefanik showed a tighter race, with Hochul leading 48% to 43%. However, that poll also indicated that Stefanik would edge out Hochul, 46.4% to 45.9%, if voters were informed that the governor had endorsed Zohran Mamdani, the progressive frontrunner in this year’s New York City mayoral race.
To be sure, this is nothing short of a political nightmare for Democrats – who, by the way, are in danger of losing the governor’s race in neighboring blue New Jersey too, by the way.
Stefanik is widely expected to enter the New York gubernatorial race but has not yet formally launched a campaign. In response to the Manhattan Institute poll, her congressional campaign issued the following statement:
In a heavily Democrat leaning state, an independent poll that is heavily weighted towards registered Democrat voters shows Republican Elise Stefanik leading Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul in a head to head match up.
This marks the first time in decades that any potential Republican gubernatorial candidate (and in this case, the likely nominee) is polling ahead of a Democrat incumbent Governor, even before any official announcement.
In a decision that she will come to regret, Kathy Hochul lives up to her title as the Worst Governor in America when she chose to bend the knee and put New Yorkers LAST by desperately endorsing the Defund the Police, tax hiking, raging Antisemite Socialist Zohran Mamdani who will destroy New York.
Kathy Hochul and single party Democrat rule have failed New York making it the most unaffordable state in the country with the highest taxes, energy, utility, rent, and grocery bills making it unaffordable to raise a family, work, and start a business.
New Yorkers of all political parties are hungry for new commonsense leadership after decades of Hochul’s failed single party Democrat rule.
Elise Stefanik and the people of New York can and will win this righteous fight to Save New York.
This is happening in the age of MAGA, the age of Donald Trump – and the full-on left-wing meltdown shift currently being embraced by the ‘rising stars’ of the worst political party in the history of our country: Democrats.
The scandal surrounding Jeffrey Epstein continues to cast a dark shadow over America. And now, newly uncovered information reveals a disturbing truth — not only about Epstein’s vast financial empire but also about a federal system that appears unwilling to confront the full extent of his crimes.
At the center of the storm: a hidden file in the U.S. Treasury Department, containing nearly 5,000 secret wire transfers totaling close to $1.1 billion. The question everyone should be asking is: Why is the Biden administration still keeping this information from the public?
4,725 Transfers. Nearly $1.1 Billion. Buried in a Secret Treasury File.
During a recent Senate session, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) revealed the existence of an explosive trove of financial data tied to Epstein — records that had been concealed within a Treasury Department database and kept hidden from journalists, investigators, and even Congress itself.
“This is a file that should never have been hidden,” Wyden said. “It shows thousands of transactions, over $1 billion in movement. That’s not just negligence. That’s deliberate concealment.”
But what’s most alarming is that even under the current administration, access to these documents remains limited — despite growing demands for full transparency.
Russian Banks and International Trafficking Connections
“These weren’t just routine financial transactions,” Wyden explained. “They were deliberate, complicated payments routed through banks that were already sanctioned.”
This opens the door to a much broader concern — that Epstein’s financial empire may have been entangled with transnational crime, money laundering, and trafficking networks that spanned multiple continents.
The Real Story: Biden’s Treasury Is Still Blocking Transparency
What has shocked lawmakers and the public alike isn’t just the content of these files — but the Biden administration’s ongoing refusal to release them in full. According to Wyden, documents provided to Congress have been curated and sanitized, carefully omitting any names or details that could shed light on Epstein’s powerful connections.
“This isn’t just about Epstein anymore,” Wyden said. “It’s about whether our government serves the people or serves the elite who exploit them.”
So far, the Treasury Department has refused to provide unredacted versions of the wire transfer records — prompting concerns of a broader institutional cover-up.
Pam Bondi’s Role: Misplaced Blame?
Much has been made of former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and her office’s handling of the Epstein case during its early stages. But critics now argue that focusing blame on Bondi distracts from the real issue: federal agencies had the information — and never shared it.
Bondi has long maintained that her office acted based on the evidence and legal authority available at the time. There is no public indication that Florida’s Attorney General’s Office had access to Epstein’s complex financial transactions or Treasury records.
“Pam Bondi had every opportunity to protect victims,” Wyden said — but if key evidence was kept from state officials, should they be blamed for what federal authorities chose to hide?
A Systemic Breakdown — Or a System Designed to Protect the Powerful?
What this case now exposes is not just the crimes of one man — but the failings of an entire system.
How was Epstein able to transfer nearly $1.1 billion without triggering alarms at the Treasury Department? Why were these transactions not flagged, investigated, or stopped years ago? Why is the Biden administration
still resisting full disclosure?
If the government can hide this level of criminal financial activity, how many other cases are buried deep within federal agencies?
The full release of the Treasury file could reveal the names of dozens — possibly hundreds — of individuals who benefited from or were complicit in Epstein’s financial network. Yet for now, those names remain
redacted, sealed, and shielded from the public.
Rather than scapegoating past state officials like Bondi, Americans should be demanding answers from those in power today — particularly in
Washington, and especially in the Biden administration, which has had years to bring transparency and justice to this case.
No matter your political affiliation, one truth remains: the American people deserve the full story. Victims of Epstein’s crimes deserve justice. And our institutions must be held accountable — not protected from scrutiny.
If the Treasury Department is still hiding what it knows, then it’s time for Congress and the public to force the truth into the light.
“The truth is in those Treasury files,” Wyden warned. “And the American people have a right to see it.”
Disclaimer: This article is based on public statements, Senate records, and reported allegations. All individuals mentioned are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Certain details remain under investigation
In a letter to Cook, Trump wrote, “Pursuant to my authority under Article II of the Constitution of the United States and the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, as amended, you are hereby removed from your position on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, effective immediately. I have determined that there is sufficient cause to remove you from your position.”
Cook, appointed to the Fed’s Board of Governors by President Joe Biden, has filed a lawsuit challenging her removal.
The suit, assigned to a Biden-appointed federal judge, names Trump, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, and Chairman Jerome Powell as defendants. She is represented by attorneys Abbe Lowell and Norm Eisen.
At the center of the case is a dispute over Cook’s real estate holdings. Pulte’s referral alleges Cook committed mortgage fraud by misrepresenting the occupancy status of two properties.
According to the referral, Cook obtained a mortgage for a Michigan home as her “primary residence” and, within weeks, claimed the same status for a condo in Atlanta.
“We have obtained a document Lisa Cook submitted to the U.S. Government while serving as Federal Reserve Governor. In it, on February 28, 2023, she represents to the U.S. Government that the Atlanta property is her personal residence,” Pulte stated. “However, Lisa Cook, as a then-sitting Fed Governor and six months earlier, on September 1, 2022, appears to have listed that same property for rent.”
Pulte argued that the timing of the two loans indicated Cook’s lenders may not have been aware of each other’s underwriting processes, a situation he described as consistent with occupancy fraud. Such cases typically involve borrowers designating multiple properties as primary residences to obtain lower interest rates or more favorable terms.
Cook’s legal complaint did not directly dispute the timeline of her mortgage filings but framed the allegations as overstated.
The complaint stated that the president’s justification for removal was “the unsubstantiated and unproven allegation that Governor Cook ‘potentially’ erred in filling out a mortgage form prior to her Senate confirmation.”
Her lawyers argued that even if errors occurred, they did not rise to the legal standard of “cause” for removal under the Federal Reserve Act.
The filing further acknowledged that Cook had manufactured certain documents but attributed the matter to clerical mistakes.
“Even if the President had been more careful in obscuring his real justification for targeting Governor Cook, the President’s concocted basis for removal—the unsubstantiated and unproven allegation that Governor Cook ‘potentially’ erred in filling out a mortgage form… does not amount to ‘cause,’” the complaint read.
The case has drawn heightened attention given Cook’s appointment as the first Black woman to serve on the Federal Reserve Board in its 111-year history — an attempt by the former Biden administration to add diversity to the powerful financial body.
Her lawyers emphasized this in their filing, noting: “Governor Cook is the first Black woman to sit on the Federal Reserve’s Board.”
The outcome of the lawsuit could set precedent for how presidents may exercise removal powers over Federal Reserve governors, a body historically viewed as independent from partisan pressures.
Legal experts say the dispute will likely turn on how courts interpret “cause” under the Federal Reserve Act, as well as the weight of the allegations against Cook.
The Federal Reserve has not issued a public statement regarding Cook’s dismissal or the pending litigation. At stake in the lawsuit is a potential federal court ruling clarifying that the Federal Reserve is under the authority of the executive branch or else it is wielding “unconstitutional” authority.