Zephyr Teachout Profile picture
Author, Fordham Law Prof. Ready for a New Deal and 3rd Reconstruction. Read my book Break 'em Up: https://t.co/wvCvGyrCAb
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Aug 16, 2018 6 tweets 1 min read
Ever since Tish James declared in a New York Times interview that “It’s really critically important that I not be known as the ‘Sheriff on Wall Street,” Sean Patrick Maloney has been touting himself as the next Sheriff of Wall Street. He has even been running digital ads, but his record says otherwise. Donald Trump made deregulating Wall Street a priority and in Congress, Maloney voted 34% of the time with Trump, including to rollback consumer financial protections of the Dodd-Frank Act.
Aug 15, 2018 4 tweets 1 min read
The job of Attorney General is fundamentally different than legislative jobs. As I tell supporters all the time, I support Single Payer, eg, but legislation is different than litigation, what you want to know is how I'll sue big pharma. The job is legal strategy and leadership. When you are used to comparing candidates for Congress, it takes a big shift to think about an AG race. For AG, you want to know about law, strategy, untapped litigation possibilities, general industry concerns and underused powers. Independence and expertise are key.
Jul 29, 2018 4 tweets 1 min read
Powerful men use threats and intimidation--including the threat of litigation--to ensure that accusations are never heard. For instance, Bruce Ratner brought a defamation lawsuit against Melanie Kohler immediately after she went public with her accusations. These can be strategies to burden people who might speak out with expensive litigation and deter future accusations. According to the New Yorker article, Moonves may have used language that hinted at a similar strategy, warning accusers about his “reputation.”
Jul 8, 2018 7 tweets 3 min read
Want to talk about Congressman Jim Jordan? In New York State, powerful insiders have been covering up sexual misconduct for years, enabled by an ethics agency (JCOPE) that protects instead of investigates power. Last month I called for the head of JCOPE, Seth Agata, to resign. The disaster of JCOPE is a walking wound for the women who have been harassed, lost jobs, whose complaints have been shut out by Albany insiders. None of my AG opponents in this race have joined me in calling for Agata to resign. He is too deeply politically connected.
Jul 6, 2018 7 tweets 2 min read
1/ Scott Pruitt has resigned, but the basic facts remain:

The EPA, that is supposed to protect our land, air, water, and health, the EPA, has been corrupted from within. It is run by dirty energy insiders and lobbyists. When you can’t trust the Federal Government to protect our land, our water, our air, and our health, the role of the New York State Attorney General becomes crucial. No matter who runs the EPA, its current mission is not Environmental Protection.
Jul 5, 2018 5 tweets 2 min read
Today we asked Governor Cuomo to make a criminal referral that would allow Attorney General Barbara Underwood to pursue criminal investigations of the activities related to the Trump Foundation. AG Underwood recently filed a civil lawsuit against the Foundation. The Attorney General does not have the freestanding authority to initiate criminal investigations in this case, but could easily gain that authority through a criminal referral issued by Governor Cuomo, the New York State Police, or the State Department of Taxation and Finance.
Jul 3, 2018 4 tweets 1 min read
New York is one of only three states that gives specific protection to police officers’ records. NY's anti-transparency law, CRL 50-a, has been so abused that one committee concluded that police misconduct in New York is more secretive than in any other state in the nation. Four things you can do:

1. Demand De Blasio release the names and unedited footage
2. Support the repeal of 50-a
3. Support a 48-hour rule for all police shootings
4. Follow @Justice4Saheed
Jul 3, 2018 7 tweets 1 min read
When a president is under investigation, they should not be allowed to make an appointment to the Supreme Court. Period. It would be an unprecedented move to pick a deciding vote of our nation’s highest court during an investigation into the legitimacy of the presidency. It has never happened before — not with Bill Clinton, not with Richard Nixon, and not with Andrew Johnson.
Jul 2, 2018 5 tweets 1 min read
On Saturday at a forum hosted by Indivisible Brooklyn, all the candidates for Attorney General were present. We were asked, yes or no, if we would commit to rejecting LLC money; corporate money that a loophole in New York laws allow candidates to accept. I was the only Attorney General candidate to make that commitment. The LLC loophole not only allows for corporate donations, it also allows a single individual to set up multiple LLCs which have a higher contribution limit, circumventing the much lower limits 4individuals.
Jul 1, 2018 4 tweets 1 min read
After Mueller, the New York State Attorney General's office is the most important law enforcement office in the country right now, with the power and independence to investigate Trump's businesses and prosecute associates, to defend against the flood of illegal federal actions. We are in a humanitarian, constitutional, and democratic crisis of epic proportions. The AG must be totally independent of corporate money. She must be totally committed to protecting the people of this state, not the political or power establishment. And clear abt hard truths.
Jun 25, 2018 4 tweets 1 min read
ICE and CBP are rife with substantiated abuse incidents. ICE is so politicized that it’s not credible as a law enforcement, and so deeply riddled with illegal behavior it is not credible as a self-governing agency. ICE is stunningly cruel and unaccountable & must be abolished. Immigration policy should not be conducted by agencies within the Department of Homeland Security, where there is the least review, the least transparency, and the most executive power. ICE is a fairly recent government agency. It was formed post 9/11 by George W. Bush.
May 14, 2018 13 tweets 3 min read
I have decided to form an exploratory committee to consider running for Attorney General of New York State. I will make a final decision in the next few weeks. Thanks for all the encouragement. If you are in, sign up here! zephyr.bsd.net/page/s/join-ou… The next Attorney General of New York should be an independent fighter and a voice for the people, ready to take on corruption and lawlessness at the highest pinnacles of power. She must be ready to pursue aggressive litigation against the lawlessness in the Trump administration
May 10, 2018 12 tweets 2 min read
I cannot think of a single good reason that Barbara Underwood, the brilliant acting Attorney General in NY, should not remain in that office through the elections a few months from now. I am considering running for AG in the fall, but will not be submitting my name to the legislature to be considered for an interim political appointment, and would urge anyone else who is considering running not to do so as well.