“The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation of Andrew Cuomo, a front-runner in the New York City mayoral race, after Republicans accused him of lying to Congress about decisions he made during the coronavirus pandemic as governor,” the New York Times reports.

“The inquiry, begun about a month ago by the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, comes after senior Justice Department officials in February demanded the dismissal of an indictment of the city’s current mayor, Eric Adams, on corruption charges.”

“That puts the Trump administration in the unusual position of having ended a criminal case against the leader of the nation’s largest city and opened one into his chief rival in the span of a few months. Mr. Adams is running for re-election as an independent, and Mr. Cuomo is leading the Democratic primary field in the polls.”

“Mike Donilon, a top adviser to former President Biden, was paid about $4 million to work on the 2024 Biden campaign at the president’s insistence,” Axios reports.

“The sum was orders of magnitude higher than the pay for other top aides — campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon made $300,000 — and illustrates the standing held by Biden’s inner-most circle of advisers.”

“Many former Biden officials remain bitter at Donilon for making so much money and, in their view, guiding the campaign into disaster.”