By NICHOLAS RICCARDI

President Donald Trump has long spread conspiracy theories about voting designed to explain away his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Now that he’s president again, Trump has stocked his administration with those who have promoted his falsehoods and in some cases helped him try to overturn his loss.

Those election conspiracists now holding official power range from the attorney general to lawyers filing lawsuits for the Justice Department. Kurt Olsen, a lawyer who unsuccessfully pushed the Justice Department in 2020 to back the president’s false claims, is now leading a sweeping probe of the vote from that election.

The most dramatic action from that mandate was the seizure in late January of ballots and 2020 election records from Fulton County in Georgia, a Democratic stronghold that includes Atlanta. The county has long been a target of election conspiracy theorists aligned with Trump, and the affidavit for the search warrant shows the action was based on 2020 claims that in many cases had been thoroughly investigated.

Election officials across the country, especially those in states controlled politically by Democrats, are bracing for more turmoil during this year’s elections, when control of Congress is on the line.

“The election denial movement is now embedded across our federal government, which makes it more powerful than ever,” said Joanna Lydgate, chief executive officer of States United Democracy Center, which tracks those who promote election conspiracy theories. “Trump and his allies are trying to use all of the powers of the federal government to undermine elections, with an eye to the upcoming midterms.”

Trump has remade the federal government as an arm of his own personal will, and his attorney general, Pam Bondi — who helped try to overturn Trump’s 2020 loss — has declared that everyone working at the Justice Department needs to carry out the president’s demands. Even with all the issues facing him in his second term, from persistent concerns about the economy to his immigration crackdown, Trump continues to push the false claim that he won the 2020 presidential election.

Some of the people who populate his administration are, like Bondi, longtime supporters who continued to help Trump even as he sought to overturn an election. Some played minor roles in supporting the false claims about the 2020 presidential election. Still others have pushed conspiracy theories, often fantastical or debunked, that have helped persuade millions of Republicans that Trump had the 2020 election stolen from him.

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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A Portland, Oregon, company is recalling nearly 3.4 million pounds of frozen chicken fried rice products sold at Trader Joe’s stores and in Canada because they may contain pieces of glass, U.S. Agriculture Department officials reported.

Ajinomoto Foods North America Inc. pulled Trader Joe’s Chicken Fried Rice from stores nationwide. The frozen product — containing fried rice, vegetables, chicken meat and eggs — is sold in 20-ounce plastic bags. The affected packages have best-by dates of Sept. 8 through Nov. 17, 2026. The products are stamped with the establishment number P-18356 inside the USDA mark of inspection.

The company also recalled cardboard packages containing six bags of frozen Ajinomoto Yakitori Chicken with Japanese-Style Rice with best by dates of Sept. 9 to Nov. 12, 2026. Those products were sold only in Canada.

The problem was detected after four consumers complained of finding glass. No injuries have been reported. Consumers should avoid eating the product and throw it away or return it to the store where it was purchased.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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By STEPHEN WHYNO, AP Hockey Writer

MILAN (AP) — Quinn and Jack Hughes watched in person as the U.S. women’s hockey team rallied to beat Canada in the gold medal game at the Olympics on Thursday night in an overtime thriller that showcased the face of the sport in Hilary Knight and her likely successor in that spot, Laila Edwards.

The Hughes brothers had a family stake in the matter. Their mom, Ellen, had a role in the women’s championship as a player development consultant.

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“Happy for her, happy for the whole team, everyone on the coaching staff,” Quinn Hughes said. “You knew that game was going to be tough, but I think they deserved it.”

Players from either team have also gotten to know each other from hanging out in the athletes’ village, Jack said, giving the men even more rooting interest.

“All of us, we were obviously really pumped up for them,” Jack Hughes said. “That was all about the girls, and we were super excited for them.”

J.T. Miller also took his daughter, Quinn Hughes said, and the rest of the men’s team watched at the end of their hall in the treatment room in the village they share with the women. Megan Keller’s OT goal was a cause for celebration.

“We were going nuts,” Dylan Larkin said. “It’s a pretty cool moment and great for them. For Megan Keller, that’s a great story: a Michigan girl, very proud for her. Great moment for USA Hockey.”

Coach Mike Sullivan opened his remarks following the team’s game day skate by congratulating the women’s team. There’s also a staff connection: Assistant John Hynes worked with women’s coach John Wroblewski at the U.S. National Team Development Program.

“We were talking about it last night; we were talking about it again this morning,” Sullivan said. “It’s a great thrill. Those girls, what a terrific hockey team and they’ll be an inspiration for the next generation of girls growing up in the United States. … We couldn’t be more proud of them.”

The U.S. women outscored opponents 33-2 on the way to gold. The also-unbeaten U.S. men face Slovakia in the semifinals on Friday night, and Sullivan hopes his team is inspired by what the women accomplished.

“Without a doubt,” Sullivan said. “You look at how dominant they’ve been throughout the course of their tournament and before, that’s one of the best women’s teams I think I’ve seen. We certainly aspire to do the same on the men’s side.”

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Mamdani said his administration will handle public encampments differently from Mayor Eric Adams, with extra emphasis on engaging street homeless individuals to direct them to services and housing. But advocates condemned any use of sweeps, calling them “inhumane” and futile.

New Yorkers experiencing homelessness who were camping out on a Lower Manhattan sidewalk in 2021 near Tompkins Square Park, where officials later carried out a cleanup. (Adi Talwar/City Limits)

For the second straight week, Mayor Zohran Mamdani is under fire from advocates who accuse him of changing course on homelessness policies.

The mayor announced Wednesday that the city would resume homeless encampment clean ups, known as “sweeps,” a practice he’d previously vowed to stop. He paused the practice in January, saying he wanted to develop his own approach to street homelessness.

Mamdani said that the key difference between how his administration will handle public encampments and Mayor Eric Adams’ approach—which he called a “failure”—is an emphasis on engaging street homeless individuals to direct them to services and housing.

He said that the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) would take the lead, not the Police Department (NYPD), and that outreach staff will make daily visits to encampments for a week before removing anyone, an effort to build trust and convince those who are wary of the shelter system to come indoors. 

“Not only will this work be housed in a different agency, but the work itself is far different,” said Mamdani at an unrelated press conference Wednesday.

But advocates for the homeless condemned reintroducing sweeps at all, saying the approach only terrorizes street homeless people rather than helps them. 

“There’s no new version of sweeps or a better version of sweeps,” said Marcus Moore, who was street homeless prior to the pandemic and is now an organizer with Safety Net Activists. “Sweeps does not help anybody.”

Mamdani’s new policy comes after his decision last week to hold up the expansion of the city’s housing voucher program known as CityFHEPS due to budget concerns.

“Like Mayor Mamdani’s pledge to expand CityFHEPS, his pledge to discontinue homeless sweeps is another broken promise,” said the Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless in a joint statement.

Mamdani’s approach to the sweeps will go something like this:

On day one, DHS will place notices on encampment sites saying that the location will be cleaned by the Sanitation Department (DSNY) seven days later

Each day after, DHS outreach staff will go to the site and engage the people there to offer shelter placements or other services

On day seven, DSNY will clean up the site, with NYPD on hand if the situation escalates

A flyer near Tompkins Square Park in 2021 notifying homeless New Yorkers about a planned city “clean up,” of the site. ((Adi Talwar/City Limits)

City Hall said the mayor’s preliminary budget includes additional funding for homeless street outreach to facilitate the policy, with $31 million for DHS and $11.9 million for NYC Health + Hospitals’ support.

But homeless advocacy groups said they see little difference between Mamdani’s plan and those of past city leaders. While the NYPD led encampment sweeps during the Adams administration, Mayor Bill de Blasio also centered DHS outreach workers, with similarly poor results, critics say.

“These sweeps failed on multiple fronts: they were inhumane, stripping unhoused New Yorkers of their few belongings and eroding trust in city services, and they were ineffective, doing little more than pushing people out of sight,” Legal Aid and the Coalition for the Homeless said in a statement.

City Hall said that the seven days of “relentless” engagement makes their approach unique. 

But resistance to entering shelter, Moore said, is not about how many times people receive outreach services, but what the city actually offers those it wants to come inside. Many unhoused New Yorkers have cited concerns about safety and poor conditions in city shelters, especially large congregate facilities. “If all you can offer them is kind of a shelter and dehumanize them, that’s not good enough,” said Moore.

City Hall said that they made over 1,400 placements to shelters and Safe Havens—sites with more privacy and fewer restrictions than traditional shelters—during the recent cold snap. They also opened a new 106-bed Safe Haven shelter in lower Manhattan on Feb 3.

But Moore was disappointed in the administration for resuming the sweeps. “That’s the same talk and philosophy that I’d been hearing when I was actually out there,” he said. “Same script, different time, different year.”

Here’s what else happened in housing this week —

ICYMI, from City Limits:

Gov. Hochul wants to expand eligibility that freezes rents for seniors and people with disabilities, offsetting the costs with tax breaks. But advocates and tenants themselves say more reforms are needed to ensure the programs actually help those who need it, citing a low uptake rate and stagnant enrollment.

A workforce training program in Queens teaches immigrants more than how to get a job, helping them navigate the city’s rental market, public transit system and other how-tos of life in New York.

ICYMI, from other local newsrooms:

Mamdani unveiled his first preliminary budget proposal this week, where he reiterated his call for the state to raise taxes on the wealthy—and if it doesn’t, he said, the city would pursue a property tax hike “as a last resort” to plug its budget deficient, City & State reports.

A court has temporarily halted NYCHA’s plan to demolish and rebuild the Fulton and Elliott-Chelsea Houses, as it reviews a lawsuit filed by a group of tenants looking to block the controversial plan, The City reports.

The Mamdani administration will close the city’s last remaining emergency migrant shelter by the end of the year, Gothamist reports.

The mayor appointed a slew of new members this week the city’s Rent Guidelines Board, as he seeks to fulfill his campaign pledge to freeze rents for tenants in stabilized units across the city, NY1 reports.

To reach the reporter behind this story, contact Patrick@citylimits.org. To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org

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The post Mamdani’s Approach to Homeless Sweeps, And What Else Happened This Week in Housing appeared first on City Limits.