The Commentariat -- May 9, 2020

There are weird videos on the Internets:

Chris Boyette of CNN: "The governor of South Dakota has given an ultimatum to two Sioux tribes: Remove checkpoints on state and US highways within 48 hours or risk legal action.Gov. Kristi Noem sent letters Friday to the leaders of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe demanding that checkpoints designed to prevent the spread of coronavirus on tribal land be removed, the governor's office said in a statement.... According to Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe checkpoint policies posted on its social media, its reservation residents may travel within South Dakota to areas the state has not deemed a Covid-19 'hotspot' if it's for an essential activity such as medical appointments or to get supplies unavailable on the reservation. But they must complete a health questionnaire when they leave and when they return every time they go through a checkpoint.South Dakota residents who don't live on the reservation are only allowed there if they're not coming from a hotspot and it is for an essential activity. But they must also complete a health questionnaire. Those from a South Dakota hotspot or from outside the state cannot come to the reservation unless it is for an essential activity -- but they must obtain a travel permit available on the tribe's website." Mrs. McC: Apparently in South Dakota, the Sioux are still expendable.

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Fantasy. Those jobs will all be back, and they'll be back very soon. -- Donald Trump on Fox News, Friday morning ~~~

~~~ Reality. David Lynch of the Washington Post: "Mass unemployment on a scale that recalls the Great Depression has erased the economic gains of the past decade and now threatens to linger for years, fueling social discord and shaking an already-polarized political system.... Barely 51 percent of the population is employed, the lowest mark since records began, the Labor Department reported on Friday.... The unique character of this economic collapse, triggered by an ongoing public health crisis, may lead to an enduring decline in the demand for labor. While the pandemic rages, companies are developing new ways to operate with fewer people, replacing the lost workers with machines that are impervious to illness.... The conditions imposed in some states that are reopening for business make it unlikely that large numbers of ... jobs [in the leisure & hospitality sector] will quickly return.... High unemployment is likely to persist for years."

Lauren Egan, et al., of NBC News: "Two White House aides may have tested positive for the coronavirus in the past two days, but ... Donald Trump still held public events Friday with limited social distancing and without requiring participants to wear masks. Two dozen House Republicans gathered with Trump and other administration officials in the State Dining Room at the White House on Friday afternoon to discuss the country's economic recovery from the pandemic. None of the attendees wore a mask.... Although attendees appeared to be sitting a few feet apart from one another around the State Dining Room, not all stayed at the recommended 6-foot distance. [Also, Louie Gohmert (Texas) was there, and (I supposed it's redundant to say) he said something stupid.]... Neither Trump nor first lady Melania Trump wore face coverings to a wreath-laying ceremony at the World War II Memorial in Washington on Friday morning. Multiple World War II veterans also attended, all of whom are older and particularly vulnerable if infected. When asked if Trump considered wearing a mask around the veterans to protect them, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said 'they made the choice to come here.'..." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Yeah, it's the veterans' fault the Trumps didn't wear masks. In fairness, in the photos I saw, Donnie & Melanie did keep an appropriate distance from the vets at the event. ~~~

     ~~~ HOWEVER. Alex Horton & Adriana Usero of the Washington Post: "President Trump and Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper gathered with World War II veterans in Washington on Friday to mark the 75th anniversary of the Allied victory in Europe. Trump greeted a rank of seven veterans one by one from a distance of a few feet, apparently mindful of coronavirus concerns but not wearing a mask, a White House television pool video of the event shows. The veterans were not wearing masks. Esper, also without a mask, gathered with a few of the men for a photo a few minutes earlier and handed out 'challenge coins' from his pocket. At one point, a veteran grasped his elbow." ~~~

~~~ David Nakamura, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump on Friday continued to eschew key public health guidelines from his own administration -- meeting with Republican lawmakers and World War II veterans without a face mask -- while expressing confidence that he is protected from the coronavirus despite a second White House staffer testing positive this week. The president appeared puzzled that the aide, Katie Miller, the press secretary for Vice President Pence, had contracted the virus' out of the blue' after testing negative several times under a routine White House screening program put in place last month. During the event with GOP members, Trump suggested 'the whole concept of tests isn't great.'... 'We're dealing with an invisible situation. Nobody knows. All you can do is take precaution and do the best that you can.'... Several security officials with executive branch experience said in interviews Friday that the White House has taken a lax and risky approach that, in their view, reflected Trump's consistent efforts to minimize the threat from the virus.... Three visitors to the White House on Thursday said that few officials inside the complex were wearing masks.... Secret Service agents on Trump's protective detail, and officers who are taking the temperatures of all visitors to the White House grounds, also have routinely gone without masks...." ~~~

~~~ ** One Degree of Separation. Christina Wilkie of CNBC: "An aide to Vice President Mike Pence has tested positive for coronavirus, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Friday.... Pence was scheduled to travel to Des Moines, Iowa, in the morning, but his departure from Andrews Air Force Base was delayed by nearly an hour as staff dealt with news of the diagnosis. Reporters traveling with Pence said several staffers disembarked from Air Force Two just before takeoff. Those staffers left the plane because they had been in contact with the staffer who tested positive, NBC News reported." Mrs. McC: As we discussed in yesterday's Comments, pence & friends were delivering masks to a nursing home, for Pete's sake, without wearing masks or practicing social distancing. And now he's off to Des Moines. Look out, Ioway. The virus is coming. ~~~

     ~~~ ** Update. Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post: "Katie Miller, the vice president's press secretary, was notified Friday about the result, according to people familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity.... Miller confirmed to NBC News that she tested positive and said she was asymptomatic. The White House earlier in the day confirmed that a member of Pence's staff tested positive but did not disclose the individual's name. President Trump later appeared to confirm it was Miller.... Miller is a fixture around Pence and has attended the coronavirus task force meetings that he leads. She is married to White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller." Emphasis added. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Obviously the Immigrant Ghoul, who no doubt breathes down Trump's neck regularly, has been exposed to the virus. As Dan Diamond writes (linked next), Stephen Miller "is in constant proximity to ... Donald Trump and White House advisers Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump." This must rattle Trump to no end. It would me. Remember, Trump became "lava level mad" at White House staff for not protecting him when he found out his valet had Covid-19. He's very afraid for his own health. It's ours he doesn't care about. And now. And now. The Immigrant Ghoul, whose plan is to use the coronavirus as an excuse to permanently cut "immigrant infestation" is the guy who probably has the cooties. The coronavirus smites the bad and the good, the just and the unjust. ~~~

~~~ Dan Diamond of Politico: "FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn will self-quarantine for 14 days after exposure to White House spokesperson Katie Miller, who tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday, three administration officials said. The White House is conducting contact tracing and making a case-by-case determination on who else should self-isolate based on exposure to Miller. Hahn is asymptomatic and tested negative for the virus on Friday, two senior administration officials said." Mrs. McC: So why the hell is pence, Katie Miller's boss who certainly has had closer contact with her than Hahn has, jetting around the country instead of self-quarantining? ~~~

~~~ Kaitlan Collins of CNN: "Ivanka Trump's personal assistant has tested positive for coronavirus, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. The assistant, who works in a personal capacity for ... Donald Trump's daughter, has not been around Ivanka Trump in several weeks. She has been teleworking for nearly two months and was tested out of caution, the source said." Mrs. McC: Yeah, I'd like to be "tested out of caution," too. ~~~

~~~ Jane Winter & Hunter Walker of Yahoo! News: "Multiple members of the U.S. Secret Service have tested positive for COVID-19..., according to Department of Homeland Security documents reviewed by Yahoo News.... [There are] 11 active cases at the agency as of Thursday evening, according to a daily report compiled by the DHS.... There are 23 members of the Secret Service who have recovered from COVID-19 and an additional 60 employees who are self-quarantining. No details have been provided about which members of the Secret Service are infected or if any have recently been on detail with the president or vice president." ~~~

~~~ Anne Gearan, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump is increasingly dismissing the consensus of health experts, scientists and some of his Republican allies that widespread testing is key to the safe end of restrictions meant to slow the spread of the deadly coronavirus, saying Friday that 'testing isn't necessary' and is an imperfect guide. The president has played down the need for testing as he overrides public health recommendations that would prolong the closures of schools, businesses and much of daily life. Although he is now tested every day with a rapid-result machine, Trump has questioned the value of extensive testing as the gap between available capacity and the amount that would be required to meet public health benchmarks has become clearer.... '... this is why testing isn't necessary. We have the best testing in the world, but testing's not necessarily the answer because they were testing them,' Trump said of the staff members [who tested positive]." ~~~

We have put in place the guidelines that our experts have put forward to keep this building safe, which means contact tracing. All of the recommended guidelines we have for businesses that have essential workers, we are now putting them in place here in the White House. So as America reopens safely, the White House is continuing to operate safely. -- White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, Friday ~~~

~~~ Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "McEnany claims both that the United States is reopening safely and that the White House is operating safely. But only one of these two -- the White House -- actually has the sort of testing regime the White House itself is now implicitly acknowledging is a prerequisite to safety.... But Trump is urging Americans to resume economic activity without fully deploying the federal government so that the rest of the country can enjoy the protections Trump and those around him do.... Trump is making a choice not to meaningfully take the steps necessary to extend this to the rest of us. Businesses everywhere are reopening in the grip of a level of frightening uncertainty that the White House is being spared, in part because of that very choice." ~~~

~~~ The Biggest Losers. Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "Now is the spring of our disgrace. Around the world, countries are winning the battle against the coronavirus and beginning a responsible return to work, school and leisure.... But the United States..., unwilling to do the hard work needed to beat the pandemic..., [is] quitting: forcing people back to work without protections people in other countries enjoy. The most powerful country in the world is failing.... Trump has abandoned attempts to control the pandemic, though there is no downturn in cases.... This is state-sanctioned killing. It is a conscious decision to accept 2,000 preventable deaths every day, because our leaders believe the victims are the poor schlubs who work in meat-processing plants, not 'regular folks,' as Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Patience Roggensack memorably put it this week. It is deliberately sacrificing the old, factory workers, and black and Hispanic Americans, who are dying at higher rates."

Jason Dearen of the AP: "The decision to shelve detailed advice from the nation's top disease control experts for reopening communities during the coronavirus pandemic came from the highest levels of the White House, according to internal government emails obtained by The Associated Press. The files also show that after the AP reported Thursday that the guidance document had been buried, the Trump administration ordered key parts of it to be fast-tracked for approval. The trove of emails show the nation's top public health experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spending weeks working on guidance to help the country deal with a public health emergency, only to see their work quashed by political appointees with little explanation.... White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said Friday that the documents had not been approved by CDC Director Robert Redfield. The new emails, however, show that Redfield cleared the guidance.... [After continued CDC inquiries about the status of the White House's review,] on April 30 the CDC's documents were killed for good.... Until May 7. That morning The Associated Press reported that the Trump administration had buried the guidance...."

** Adam Serwer of the Atlantic: Trump was convinced that the coronavirus pandemic was a national emergency back when the virus "ensnared many members of the global elite: American celebrities, world leaders, and those with close ties to Trump himself." But when it emerged that the victims were disproportionately minorities, poor people and old folks, "the outbreak was no longer a question of social responsibility, but of personal responsibility."

SNAFU. Jonathan Swan of Axios: "A complete breakdown in communication and coordination within the Trump administration has undermined the distribution of a promising treatment, according to senior officials with direct knowledge of the discussions.... The drug, remdesivir, hasn't made it to some of the high-priority hospitals where it's most needed, and administration officials have responded by shifting blame and avoiding responsibility, sources said.... Gilead Sciences, the company that makes remdesivir, donated hundreds of thousands of doses to the federal government after the Food and Drug Administration authorized it as an emergency treatment for coronavirus patients. More than 32,000 doses of remdesivir were shipped and delivered on Tuesday to Indiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Virginia. But many of these doses went to 'less impacted counties,' an administration official said. 'Some went to the wrong places, some went to the right places,' said one senior official. 'We don't know who gave the order. And no one is claiming responsibility.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Jared's Secret Boondoggle. Amy Brittain, et al., of the Washington Post: "Since the debut of Project Airbridge in March, the Trump administration has promoted the initiative as part of a historic mobilization 'moving heaven and earth' to source and deliver vast amounts of medical supplies from overseas to pandemic hot spots in the United States. Widely credited to ... Jared Kushner, the plan harked back to storied U.S. wartime efforts such as the Berlin Airlift. It called for the federal government to partner with a handful of medical supply companies, which could purchase emergency masks, gowns and gloves in Asia. The government would pay to fly the supplies to the United States ... as long as the companies sold half of the goods in parts of the country hit hardest by the pandemic. Almost six weeks after its launch, Project Airbridge has completed its 122nd flight, having cost taxpayers at least $91 million. But its impact on the pandemic is unclear and shrouded in secrecy: The White House, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the companies involved have declined to disclose where supplies have been delivered.... The White House has on several occasions overstated the amount of supplies the project has delivered.... For example..., Project Airbridge on average has delivered about 2.2 million surgical masks a day over the program's span. Yet Vice President Pence claimed in a news briefing in April that the program delivered 22 million masks daily.... 'The fact is you're using taxpayer dollars to distribute private resources,' said W. Craig Fugate, who led FEMA for eight years under President Barack Obama." ~~~

~~~ Elizabeth Spiers in a Washington Post opinion piece: "Jared Kushner's coronavirus response team, we learned this week, is fumbling because it's largely staffed with inexperienced volunteers. Of course it is. It's being run by one. Kushner's lack of experience and expertise has not been remedied in any way during his now three-plus years in the White House. After bungling many high-profile efforts to address various problems and often making them worse (see, Middle East, peace in), he keeps being handed more responsibilities with higher stakes.... In any normal administration, an adviser with Kushner's string of failures would be fired, but Kushner, like his father-in-law, keeps crediting himself with imaginary successes.... He has also continued to bash the actual experts.... This is basically Kushner's modus operandi, and it's painfully familiar to me because he was my boss when I was the editor in chief of the New York Observer, which he had bought when he was 25." Withering. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Sarah Owermohle of Politico: "A federal watchdog is recommending that ousted vaccine expert Rick Bright be reinstated while it investigates whether the Trump administration retaliated against his whistleblower complaints when it removed him from a key post overseeing the coronavirus response, Bright's lawyers said Friday. The Office of Special Counsel is recommending that Bright be temporarily reinstated for 45 days as director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, a multibillion-dollar agency that funds companies to develop tests, treatments and vaccines. The investigative office said it has found 'reasonable grounds to believe' that that the administration was retaliating against Bright.... Donald Trump, during a White House appearance, called Bright a 'disgruntled employee' when asked about the watchdog decision. 'I don't know who he is, but to me he's a disgruntled employee and if people are that unhappy they shouldn't work,' he said, adding, 'I hadn't heard great things about him.'" ~~~

~~~ Yasmeen Abutaleb of the Washington Post: "OSC recommendations are not binding.... Bright is scheduled to testify before Congress next week about the circumstances of his reassignment."

Aaron Gregg of the Washington Post: "The Small Business Administration did not direct private lenders to prioritize minority- and female-owned businesses as Congress intended when they started implementing a $669 billion loan program under the Cares Act, a federal watchdog concluded in a report released Friday. The findings from the SBA Office of the Inspector General add to growing concerns about whether $2 trillion in Cares Act stimulus funds are being distributed fairly amid the economic fallout from the coronavirus.... 'Because SBA did not provide guidance to lenders about prioritizing borrowers in underserved and rural markets, these borrowers, including rural, minority and women-owned businesses may not have received the loans as intended,' the report reads." Mrs. McC: Whoever wrote the SBA guidance knows what Trump thinks of minorities & women. If he isn't out sick with Covid-19, he'll probably get a promotion.

Alex Daugherty & Ben Wieder of the Miami Herald: "A Fort Myers-based oncology network that was Florida's largest recipient of federal coronavirus relief dollars for healthcare facilities admitted last week to participating in a criminal conspiracy that limited treatment options available to cancer patients in order to maximize profits. Florida Cancer Specialists, which employs 250 doctors in 100 facilities across Florida, admitted in federal court on April 30 that it worked with unnamed co-conspirators to limit cancer treatment options for patients, agreeing to pay a $100 million federal fine -- the largest amount allowed by law -- along with a $20 million state fine. At nearly the same time, Florida Cancer Specialists was awarded $67 million in federal funds from the CARES Act, the $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill passed by Congress in March. The $67 million made Florida Cancer Specialists the largest recipient of funds in Florida from a $30 billion pot of money distributed by the Department of Health and Human Services to help healthcare facilities affected by the pandemic." Mrs. McC: Pretty smart getting the federal government to pay two-thirds of the fine it imposed on you.

California. William Feuer of CNBC: "Community spread of the coronavirus in California began in a nail salon, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday, as other states allow their manicurists to reopen. Newsom has announced a four-phase plan to reopening the state's economy that begins on Friday. Unlike some other states that have announced reopenings, California nail salons won't be allowed to reopen until the state's phase 3. The state is currently shifting from phase 1 to phase 2. 'This whole thing started in the state of California, the first community spread, in a nail salon,' Newsom said at a news briefing. 'I'm very worried about that.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Tal Axelrod of the Hill: "California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced Friday he has signed an executive order that requires county officials to send vote-by-mail ballots to every registered voter in the state. Newsom said California will work with people with disabilities, those experiencing homelessness and voters who do not speak English to ensure that in-person voting is still accessible to those who need it. But he said the access to mail-in voting would ensure that Californians would be able to cast ballots safely during the coronavirus pandemic." Mrs. McC: Gee, I remember when Gavin Newsom was a jerk married to Kimberly Guilfoyle, a woman of such substance she now dates Donald Junior. Newsom was always a liberal, but kind of a flaky one. Now he's growed up to be a good governor. People change. Maybe.

** Michael Isikoff of Yahoo! News: "Former President Barack Obama, talking privately to ex-members of his administration, said Friday that the 'rule of law is at risk' in the wake of what he called an unprecedented move by the Justice Department to drop charges against former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn. In the same chat, a tape of which was obtained by Yahoo News, Obama also lashed out at the Trump administration's handling of the coronavirus pandemic as 'an absolute chaotic disaster.'... [Of the Flynn matter, Obama said,] 'That's the kind of stuff where you begin to get worried that basic -- not just institutional norms -- but our basic understanding of rule of law is at risk. And when you start moving in those directions, it can accelerate pretty quickly as we've seen in other places.' The Flynn case was invoked by Obama as a principal reason that his former administration officials needed to make sure former Vice President Joe Biden wins the November election against President Trump." Read on. Obama gets it.

Michael Crowley of the New York Times: "In an interview with Fox News, Mr. Trump praised Attorney General William P. Barr for the dramatic action announced Thursday that nullified a major case prosecuted by the special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.... 'Bill Barr is a man of unbelievable credibility and courage, and he's going to go down in the history of our country,' Mr. Trump said. The president said the outcome reflected well on Mr. Barr, who has expressed skepticism about Mr. Mueller's investigation. 'He's the opposite of Robert Mueller because you look at Mueller -- that was purely corrupt,' Mr. Trump said.... Mr. Trump gathered a group of 19 conservative House Republicans at the White House, along with senior aides and economic officials, to discuss reopening the American economy. A sizable portion of the session featured the president and his guests denouncing the Russia investigation, or the F.B.I.'s 'effort to create a coup,' as Representative Louie Gohmert of Texas put it." [This was yet another stupid thing Gohmert said.]

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The Justice Department's decision to drop the criminal case against Michael T. Flynn ... even though he had twice pleaded guilty to lying to investigators, was extraordinary and had no obvious precedent, a range of criminal law specialists said on Thursday.... The move is the latest in a series that the department, under Attorney General William P. Barr, has taken to undermine and dismantle the work of the investigators and prosecutors who scrutinized Russia's 2016 election interference operation and its links to people associated with the Trump campaign." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The closest precedent is when Barr advised Bush I to pardon six Iran-Contra co-conspirators. Back then, Barr didn't do as much for Bush as he's been willing to do for Trump: he's saved Trump from having to try to justify an unjustifiable pardon on the eve of an election. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Davd Badash of the New Civil Rights Movement in Raw Story: Legal experts weigh in on Barr's "shadow pardon" of Flynn. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Neal Katyal & Joshua Geltzer in a New York Times op-ed: In the Justice Department's] "view, federal investigators and prosecutors are a deep threat to the American people. That's the narrative about the handling of the Flynn case that began on far-right websites, then migrated to Fox News and has now -- appallingly -- been embraced by President Trump and his attorney general, Bill Barr. They're all peddling the idea that Mr. Flynn was 'set up' by the F.B.I. and the Justice Department.... Mr. Trump said his former adviser was 'tormented' by 'dirty, filthy cops at the top of the F.B.I.'... The point [of dropping the charges against Flynn] ... [is] to impugn federal law enforcement. Here's the tell. The Justice Department's new position isn't that Mr. Flynn didn't lie ... [but] that it was wrong for the F.B.I. to interview him in the first place. Look carefully at who the villain becomes in that narrative: not Mr. Flynn for lying, but the F.B.I. for asking the questions to which he lied in response." The authors recommend that Judge Emmet Sullivan, who must rule on the dismissal, should interrogate the prosecutors. ~~~

~~~ Devlin Barrett & Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "President Trump voiced uncertainty Friday over the future of his FBI director, Christopher A. Wray, a day after the Justice Department moved to throw out the guilty plea of the president's former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn. The president's comments in a phone interview with Fox News highlight the ongoing distrust between the White House and some senior law enforcement officials.... 'It's disappointing,' Trump said when asked about Wray's role in the ongoing reviews of the FBI's handling of the Russia investigation. 'Let's see what happens with him. Look, the jury's still out.' Trump faulted the FBI director for 'skirting' the debate surrounding the Russia investigation, although the agency and the Justice Department have insisted it has cooperated fully with officials reviewing the case." An Axios item is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Presidential Race

Nelson Mandela Is a'Rollin' in His Grave. Asawin Suebsaeng & Erin Banco of the Daily Beast: "With the Justice Department announcing Thursday that it would drop the case against Michael Flynn, officials close to ... Donald Trump are already gaming out ways to bring the former national security adviser back onto the national political stage. Of the nine senior Trump administration officials, campaign staff, outside advisers, and longtime associates of the president reached on Thursday, all said that they wanted Flynn to assume some public-facing role in service of the president, including potentially as an official Trump surrogate as Election Day inches closer.... 'Years ago when Nelson Mandela came to America after years of political persecution he was treated like a rock star by Americans,' John McLaughlin, one of President Trump's chief pollsters, told The Daily Beast on Thursday evening. 'Now after over three years of political persecution General Flynn is our rock star. A big difference is that he was persecuted in America.'" Mrs. McC: I see a Medal of Freedom on Flynn's chest. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. on Friday turned down a request from the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to designate another court to conduct an ethics inquiry into the circumstances surrounding a retirement from what is widely viewed as the second-most important court in the nation. In response to the request from Judge Sri Srinivasan, the circuit's chief judge, a legal adviser to Chief Justice Roberts said the request from last Friday did not meet the standards for transferring the inquiry to another judicial circuit to pursue. The issue arose from a March complaint filed by the progressive advocacy group Demand Justice, which asked the appeals court to determine whether political influence had inappropriately figured into the decision by Judge Thomas B. Griffith to retire, creating an election-year slot on the influential appeals court. The complaint noted that Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, had been encouraging eligible appeals court judges to retire so they could be replaced this year while Republicans still held the White House and Senate. In Judge Griffith's case, his decision to step down opened the way for President Trump to nominate Judge Justin Walker, 37, a federal district court judge in Kentucky who is a protégé of Mr. McConnell's. Judge Walker's confirmation hearing was Wednesday, a month after Mr. Trump named him."

Beyond the Beltway

Georgia. Christian Boone & Bert Roughton of the Atlanta Journal Constitution: "Two Glynn County commissioners say District Attorney Jackie Johnson's office refused to allow Glynn police to make arrests immediately after the Feb. 23 shooting death of Ahmaud Abery. Travis McMichael, 34, and his father Greg McMichael, 64, were arrested Thursday, more than two months after the fatal shooting [and after a video of the (alleged) murder circulated publicly]. 'The police at the scene went to her, saying they were ready to arrest both of them. These were the police at the scene who had done the investigation,' Commissioner Allen Booker, who has spoken with police, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 'She shut them down to protect her friend McMichael.' Greg McMichael, now retired, once worked as an investigator in Johnson's office. Commissioner Peter Murphy, who also said he spoke directly to Glynn County police about the incident, said officers at the scene concluded they had probable cause to make arrests and contacted Johnson's office to inform the prosecutor of their decision. 'They were told not to make the arrest,' Murphy said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

News Lede

New York Times: "Richard Penniman, better known as Little Richard, who combined the sacred shouts of the black church and the profane sounds of the blues to create some of the world's first and most influential rock 'n' roll records, died on Saturday morning. He was 87.... His influence as a performer was immeasurable. It could be seen and heard in the flamboyant showmanship of James Brown, who idolized him (and used some of his musicians when Little Richard began a long hiatus from performing in 1957), and of Prince, whose ambisexual image owed a major debt to his. Presley recorded his songs. The Beatles adopted his trademark sound, an octave-leaping exultation: 'Woooo!' (Paul McCartney said that the first song he ever sang in public was 'Long Tall Sally,' which he later recorded with the Beatles.) Bob Dylan wrote in his high school yearbook that his ambition was 'to join Little Richard.'" ~~~

~~~ Rolling Stone's obituary is here. Rolling Stone names 20 essential Little Richard songs.

The Commentariat -- May 8, 2020

Afternoon Update:

Christina Wilkie of CNBC: "An aide to Vice President Mike Pence has tested positive for coronavirus, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Friday.... Pence was scheduled to travel to Des Moines, Iowa, in the morning, but his departure from Andrews Air Force Base was delayed by nearly an hour as staff dealt with news of the diagnosis. Reporters traveling with Pence said several staffers disembarked from Air Force Two just before takeoff. Those staffers left the plane because they had been in contact with the staffer who tested positive, NBC News reported." Mrs. McC: As we discuss in today's Comments, pence & friends were delivering masks to a nursing home without wearing masks or practicing social distancing. And now he's off to Des Moines. Look out, Ioway. The virus is coming.

Nelson Mandela Is a'Rollin' in His Grave. Asawin Suebsaeng & Erin Banco of the Daily Beast: "With the Justice Department announcing Thursday that it would drop the case against Michael Flynn, officials close to ... Donald Trump are already gaming out ways to bring the former national security adviser back onto the national political stage. Of the nine senior Trump administration officials, campaign staff, outside advisers, and longtime associates of the president reached on Thursday, all said that they wanted Flynn to assume some public-facing role in service of the president, including potentially as an official Trump surrogate as Election Day inches closer.... 'Years ago when Nelson Mandela came to America after years of political persecution he was treated like a rock star by Americans,' John McLaughlin, one of President Trump's chief pollsters, told The Daily Beast on Thursday evening. 'Now after over three years of political persecution General Flynn is our rock star. A big difference is that he was persecuted in America.'" Mrs. McC: I see a Medal of Freedom on Flynn's chest. ~~~

~~~ Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The Justice Department's decision to drop the criminal case against Michael T. Flynn, President Trump's former national security adviser, even though he had twice pleaded guilty to lying to investigators, was extraordinary and had no obvious precedent, a range of criminal law specialists said on Thursday.... The move is the latest in a series that the department, under Attorney General William P. Barr, has taken to undermine and dismantle the work of the investigators and prosecutors who scrutinized Russia's 2016 election interference operation and its links to people associated with the Trump campaign." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The closest precedent is when Barr advised Bush I to pardon six Iran-Contra co-conspirators. Barr didn't do as much for Bush as he's been willing to do for Trump: he's saved Trump from having to try to justify an unjustifiable pardon on the eve of an election. ~~~

~~~ Davd Badash of the New Civil Rights Movement in Raw Story: Legal experts weigh in on Barr's "shadow pardon" of Flynn. ~~~

~~~ Devlin Barrett & Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "President Trump voiced uncertainty Friday over the future of his FBI director, Christopher A. Wray, a day after the Justice Department moved to throw out the guilty plea of the president's former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn. The president's comments in a phone interview with Fox News highlight the ongoing distrust between the White House and some senior law enforcement officials.... 'It's disappointing,' Trump said when asked about Wray's role in the ongoing reviews of the FBI's handling of the Russia investigation. 'Let's see what happens with him. Look, the jury's still out.' Trump faulted the FBI director for 'skirting' the debate surrounding the Russia investigation, although the agency and the Justice Department have insisted it has cooperated fully with officials reviewing the case." An Axios item is here.

SNAFU. Jonathan Swan of Axios: "A complete breakdown in communication and coordination within the Trump administration has undermined the distribution of a promising treatment, according to senior officials with direct knowledge of the discussions.... The drug, remdesivir, hasn't made it to some of the high-priority hospitals where it's most needed, and administration officials have responded by shifting blame and avoiding responsibility, sources said.... Gilead Sciences, the company that makes remdesivir, donated hundreds of thousands of doses to the federal government after the Food and Drug Administration authorized it as an emergency treatment for coronavirus patients. More than 32,000 doses of remdesivir were shipped and delivered on Tuesday to Indiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Virginia. But many of these doses went to 'less impacted counties,' an administration official said. 'Some went to the wrong places, some went to the right places,' said one senior official. 'We don't know who gave the order. And no one is claiming responsibility.'"

Elizabeth Spiers in a Washington Post opinion piece: "Jared Kushner's coronavirus response team, we learned this week, is fumbling because it's largely staffed with inexperienced volunteers. Of course it is. It's being run by one. Kushner's lack of experience and expertise has not been remedied in any way during his now three-plus years in the White House. After bungling many high-profile efforts to address various problems and often making them worse (see, Middle East, peace in), he keeps being handed more responsibilities with higher stakes.... In any normal administration, an adviser with Kushner's string of failures would be fired, but Kushner, like his father-in-law, keeps crediting himself with imaginary successes.... He has also continued to bash the actual experts.... This is basically Kushner's modus operandi, and it's painfully familiar to me because he was my boss when I was the editor in chief of the New York Observer, which he had bought when he was 25." Withering.

California. William Feuer of CNBC: "Community spread of the coronavirus in California began in a nail salon, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday, as other states allow their manicurists to reopen. Newsom has announced a four-phase plan to reopening the state's economy that begins on Friday. Unlike some other states that have announced reopenings, California nail salons won't be allowed to reopen until the state's phase 3. The state is currently shifting from phase 1 to phase 2. 'This whole thing started in the state of California, the first community spread, in a nail salon,' Newsom said at a news briefing. 'I'm very worried about that.'"

Georgia. Christian Boone & Bert Roughton of the Atlanta Journal Constitution: "Two Glynn County commissioners say District Attorney Jackie Johnson's office refused to allow Glynn police to make arrests immediately after the Feb. 23 shooting death of Ahmaud Abery. Travis McMichael, 34, and his father Greg McMichael, 64, were arrested Thursday, more than two months after the fatal shooting [and after a video of the (alleged) murder circulated publicly]. 'The police at the scene went to her, saying they were ready to arrest both of them. These were the police at the scene who had done the investigation,' Commissioner Allen Booker, who has spoken with police, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 'She shut them down to protect her friend McMichael.' Greg McMichael, now retired, once worked as an investigator in Johnson's office. Commissioner Peter Murphy, who also said he spoke directly to Glynn County police about the incident, said officers at the scene concluded they had probable cause to make arrests and contacted Johnson's office to inform the prosecutor of their decision. 'They were told not to make the arrest,' Murphy said."

~~~~~~~~~~

Lucy Bayly of NBC News: "The U.S. economy lost an unprecedented 20.5 million jobs in April and the unemployment rate soared to 14.7 percent, up from 4.4 percent in March after months at a half-century low, according to the monthly employment report, released Friday by the Department of Labor. In just over a month, the coronavirus has wiped out all job gains since the Great Recession and brought the country's decade-long record economic growth streak to an abrupt halt." The Washington Post's story is here.

The New York Times live updates of coronavirus developments Friday are here. "The April job losses alone far exceed the 8.7 million in the last recession, when unemployment peaked at 10 percent in October 2009. The only comparable period came when the rate reached about 25 percent in 1933, before the government began publishing official statistics."~~~

~~~ The Washington Post's live updates Friday are here. "President Trump on Friday downplayed the significance of a Labor Department report showing more than 20 million people lost their jobs in April, calling it 'fully expected' and 'no surprise.' 'Those jobs will all be back, and they'll be back very soon,' Trump said during an appearance on Fox New's 'Fox & Friends' that aired as the report was issued...."

The New York Times live updates of coronavirus developments Thursday are here.

Kaitlan Collins & Peter Morris of CNN: "A member of the US Navy who serves as one of ... Donald Trump's personal valets has tested positive for coronavirus, CNN learned Thursday, raising concerns about the President's possible exposure to the virus. The valets are members of an elite military unit dedicated to the White House and often work very close to the President and first family. Trump was upset when he was informed Wednesday that the valet had tested positive, a source told CNN, and the President was subsequently tested again by the White House physician. In a statement, the White House confirmed CNN's reporting that one of the President's staffers had tested positive.... A White House source said the valet, a man who has not been identified, exhibited 'symptoms' Wednesday morning, and said the news that someone close to Trump had tested positive for coronavirus was 'hitting the fan' in the West Wing.... People can be infectious, meaning they can transmit the virus to somebody else, up to two days before they start showing symptoms.... The White House has not enforced strict social distancing guidelines for staffers and few people inside the building wear masks during the day, including valets." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump will be tested for coronavirus on a daily basis after a military member who serves as the president's valet tested positive. 'So, we test once a week. Now we're going to go testing once a day, Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with the governor of Texas on Thursday.... The president said the daily testing regimen would apply to the vice president and certain high-level White House officials as well." Mrs. McC: That's nice. If my lady's maid gets the virus, can I be tested daily? (Also linked yesterday.)

     ~~~ Say, Maybe This Means Trump Will Self-Quarantine (Ha Ha). Peter Alexander, et al., of NBC News: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people who recently had close contact with a person with COVID-19 should stay home for 14 days since the last exposure, check their temperatures twice a day and stay away from people who are at high risk of getting seriously ill. The White House hasn't indicated whether Trump will follow those guidelines.... After learning that one of his valets was infected, Trump became 'lava level mad' at his staff and said he doesn't feel it is doing all it can to protect him, according to a person close to the White House. The source said the unknowingly infected valet was consistently close to the president throughout the day. Trump publicly disputed that Thursday, telling reporters that he'd had 'very little contact, personal contact, with this gentleman.'" ~~~

    ~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Okay, Trump will not self-quarantine. He's already been out & about sitting close to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) & talking to reporters. And no, Trump was not wearing a mask during the televised meeting. Funny how Trump was "lava level mad" because his staff wasn't protecting him, but he doesn't give a flying fuck about protecting others (Abbott is more than 60 years old & has been in a wheelchair since he was partially paralyzed when he was a young man -- I'd say he's "at risk"). As for you and me, well, he wants us to get back to work in the meat processing plants. ~~~

Just the idea that others should be willing to die, not in war, not to save other lives, not for a noble cause, but so this fat fuck can win a popularity contest, or at least an electoral college test (he didn't actually win that last popularity contest) places him so far outside the realm of decency so as to be somewhere in the vicinity of 'in league with Satan' territory. -- Akhilleus, in today's thread ~~~

~~~ To give you an idea of how concerned the Trump White House is about protecting Americans vulnerable to the virus, Michael Crowley & Michael Shear of the New York Times report, "The [report of the] military aide's illness [comes] ... on the day before eight World War II veterans -- each older than 95, an age group at high statistical risk for serious illness from the virus -- are scheduled to take part in a photo-op at the White House and an event at the World War II Memorial nearby to celebrate the 75th anniversary on Friday of the German surrender, known as V-E Day.... As part of the celebration, the veterans will have their pictures taken at the White House with the secretaries of defense and state as well as the first lady, Melania Trump, and the president, according to a schedule prepared by the Greatest Generations Foundation, which organized the event. The schedule says the men, who range in age from 96 to 100, will be tested before they enter the White House grounds." Mrs. McC: Hugs & kisses, everybody. ~~~

Gaslight Alert. Leave it to the media to question eight brave war heroes for joining the president of the United States at the nation's World War II Memorial on the 75th anniversary of V-E Day. As young men, these heroes stared evil in the eyes. No pandemic will stop them from joining their commander in chief for this momentous occasion. -- Judd Deere, Deputy White House Press Secretary

Toluse Olorunnipa of the Washington Post: "President Trump in recent weeks has sought to block or downplay information about the severity of the coronavirus pandemic as he urges a return to normalcy and the rekindling of an economy that has been devastated by public health restrictions aimed at mitigating the outbreak. His administration has sidelined or replaced officials not seen as loyal, rebuffed congressional requests for testimony, dismissed jarring statistics and models, praised states for reopening without meeting White House guidelines and, briefly, pushed to disband a task force created to combat the virus and communicate about the public health crisis. Several Republican governors are following Trump's lead as an effort takes shape to control the narrative about a pandemic that has continued to rage.... 'If the message were to go out with complete objectivity, it would be disastrous for Trump,' said Max Skidmore, a political science professor at the University of Missouri...."

Abby Goodnough & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "As President Trump rushes to reopen the economy, a battle has erupted between the White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over the agency's detailed guidelines to help schools, restaurants, churches and other establishments safely reopen.... A copy of the C.D.C. guidance obtained by The New York Times includes sections for child care programs, schools and day camps, churches and other 'communities of faith,' employers with vulnerable workers, restaurants and bars, and mass transit administrators. But White House and other administration officials rejected the recommendations over concerns that they were overly prescriptive, infringed on religious rights and risked further damaging an economy that Mr. Trump was banking on to recover quickly.... A spokesman for the C.D.C. said the guidance was still under discussion with the White House and a revised version could be published soon." (A condensed version of this story that was published in the NYT's live updates & a related AP story were linked here yesterday." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I'm not sure the CDC really has to do what the President* says. At any rate, it's worth testing on a matter of life and death.

Mrs. Gates Grades on a Curve. Myah Ward of Politico: "Melinda Gates on Thursday gave the Trump administration low marks for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, adding that more money is needed for testing and vaccine development in the United States and across the world. Gates -- co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has donated billions of dollars to health research -- gave the administration a 'D-minus' grade for its handling of the outbreak, citing a lack of a coordinated, national response. She said governors were stepping up with '50 different homegrown state solutions,' instead of a national response coming from the top."

Frank Rich: "... more testing is now showing us how far the virus has spread in MAGA-land.... William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, has calculated that 813 of the 1,103 counties that have achieved 'high-COVID status' (100 or more cases per 100,000 residents) since March 29 went for Trump in 2016. Many of those counties are in battleground states like Michigan, Florida, and Pennsylvania.... No matter how much he discounts models of the pathogen's spread, he seems dimly aware that the actual death count keeps exceeding his repeated lowball predictions.... His new plan to counter this reality, emerging this week, is to sow confusion among the electorate by attacking the death toll's accuracy.... He will also continue to purge anyone in the government who might say otherwise...[, as he did Rick Bright & Christi Grimm. Now Trump is easing Fauci out.] My guess is that SNL casting Brad Pitt as Fauci was the final straw for Trump." (Also linked yesterday.)

Live & Let Die. Paul Waldman of the Washington Post: "The message from President Trump and Republicans on the novel coronavirus has gone through multiple phases, each as misleading and/or bizarre as the last. First they told us the virus would barely touch us. Then they said it was serious but Trump's management would quickly make it disappear. Then they said it could have been worse, and anyway it isn't Trump's fault. Now they're arriving at what may be the most appalling message of all: Sure, hundreds of thousands of Americans may die. But suck it up, America: We've got to get the economy going.... We're moving toward an utterly horrifying partisan divide, in which Democrats want to contain the virus so that we're able to get the economy back on its feet, while Republicans decide that the only brave and manly thing to do is to stop worrying about the virus and 'get back to normal' immediately, no matter how many Americans it kills."

Conor Finnegan & Josh Margolin of ABC News: "Secretary of State Pompeo is leaning even harder into his attacks on the Chinese government over the novel coronavirus pandemic -- even as he further walks back his claim that the U.S. has 'enormous evidence' a biomedical laboratory in Wuhan, China, is responsible for the outbreak. The change comes as an intelligence official says there is no signals or human intelligence backing up the idea, while lawmakers press the administration to turn over any evidence.... While Pompeo has said he doesn't doubt the intelligence community assessment, he has boosted the unproven theory the first human infection came from an accidental or intentional release at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. But in interviews Thursday, Pompeo shifted again, telling a conservative talk radio host, 'There's evidence that it came from somewhere in the vicinity of the lab, but that could be wrong.' 'We've seen evidence that it came from the lab. That may not be the case,' he said in a second talk radio interview.... Reports from the closest U.S. allies have also cast doubt on Pompeo's statement.... Mitch McConnell wouldn't back Pompeo's statement either...." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I was wondering what nefarious reason Mitch had for dropping the party line. Ken W. illuminates i today's Comments: "... it might have something to do with his wife's business interests."

NiskyGuy thought he was being helpful when he linked the video below of "a real President, urging congress to stock the cupboards and prepare for a health crisis before it is too late." But if you listen to the part of the speech Niskyguy highlighted, you'll hear President Obama predicting that a new strain of flu will crop up in five years. Obama gave the speech in December 2014. Five years to the month later, the coronavirus was spreading in Wuhan, China, and was winging its way to the U.S. This is proof positive that Barack Obama is a sorcerer who tried to wreck Donald Trump's presidency with a deadly virus. Rudy Giuliani should investigate. ~~~

Mrs. McCrabbie: So yesterday I linked to stories about Donald Trump's slamming a nurse the White House had invited to help celebrate National Nurses Day. In the meantime, here's what Real President Barack Obama was up to:

Keith Collins & Lauren Leatherby of the New York Times: "More than half of U.S. states have begun to reopen their economies or plan to do so soon. But most fail to meet criteria recommended by the Trump administration to resume business and social activities. The White House's guidelines are nonbinding and ultimately leave states' fates to governors. The criteria suggest that states should have a 'downward trajectory' of either documented coronavirus cases or of the percentage of positive tests. Public health experts expressed criticism because 'downward trajectory' was not defined and the metrics do not specify a threshold for case numbers or positive rates. Still, most states that are reopening fail to adhere to even those recommendations: In more than half of states easing restrictions, case counts are trending upward, positive test results are rising, or both, raising concerns among public health experts." You can check out your own state with a series of charts incorporated into the report. (Also linked yesterday.)

Arizona. Laurie Roberts of the Arizona Republic: "It's amazing what a day of reflection and 24 hours of brutal public exposure can do. The state has suddenly decided not to fire the university scientists, after all -- the ones whose models suggest that it's not yet safe to reopen Arizona.... University epidemiologists were informed on Monday evening that their services were no longer needed. This, just a few hours after Gov. Doug Ducey [R] announced his plan to begin reopening the state this week. The universities' models -- created by 23 researchers from Arizona State University and the University of Arizona -- have projected that the only way to avoid a dramatic increase in coronavirus cases is to wait to reopen at the end of May. But Ducey ... apparently didn't want to hear it. So the scientists were sacked.... The story blew up on Wednesday as it should when a governor, via his health director, essentially shoots the messenger. The universities' team, meanwhile, vowed to continue working on its models and to release them publicly. By Thursday, state health officials were in full damage control mode, spinning as fast as they could to revise history -- as if they were only trying to spare the universities from further work. Spare them, during the worst global pandemic in more than a century.... Simply put, the governor got caught trying to muzzle the scientists predicting a rather significant chance of rain on his parade."

Florida. Mary Klas & Kevin Hall of the Miami Herald: "For weeks, COVID-19-related deaths and positive cases have been on the rise at nursing homes and elder-care facilities across the state even though those same facilities have been off-limits to visitors since March 15 because of an executive order by the governor. The latest death toll: 577, more than one in three of all COVID-19 deaths in Florida. There is little mystery behind what is considered the main culprit in this grim statistic: asymptomatic carriers -- many of them long-term care staff members, who are getting tested infrequently or too late. Despite state efforts to ramp up testing, administrators at nursing homes and assisted living facilities told the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times it is a piecemeal program that is failing to identify risk and completely contain the virus among the state's most vulnerable. Gov. Ron DeSantis [R] has tried to accelerate the testing at long-term care facilities and the Department of Health has altered its guidance to give workers at long-term care facilities new priority. The governor has ordered the National Guard to conduct on-site tests at elder-care homes." But the state isn't testing everyone who lives and works at the facilities, and it isn't using rapid-results tests. Meanwhile, DeSantis is on the teevee reportedly "boasting that widespread testing is available and being done efficiently."

Lauren Hirsch & Lauren Thomas of CNBC: "Neiman Marcus, saddled with debt and hit by the coronavirus pandemic, filed for bankruptcy on Thursday with a deal to hand its business over to its creditors. The luxury department store chain had been struggling with competition from online rivals and dwindling cash before the pandemic. The health crisis exacerbated its problems, forcing it to furlough most of its 14,000 workers and close its 43 Neiman Marcus stores. It is now the second major retailer to file for bankruptcy during the pandemic, following J. Crew's filing earlier this week. It is likely not the last. J.C. Penney has also been exploring filing for bankruptcy." The Washington Post's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "A woman who had accused Dr. Anthony Fauci of sexual assault now claims she was paid to lie about the public health expert by a pair of ... Donald Trump's supporters. The woman says right-wing provocateur Jacob Wohl and his frequent accomplice Jack Burkman persuaded her to cast Fauci as the assailant using details from an actual sexual assault she survived just after high school, and they paid her to do it, reported Reason." The woman recorded Burkman urging her to find yet another woman to falsely accuse Fauci because Fauci had "shut the country down." As for opening businesses & other institutions while Covid-19 persisted, Berkman said on tape, "So what if 1 percent of the population goes? So what if you lose 400,000 people? 200,000 were elderly, the other 200,000 are the bottom of society." The linked Reason story is written in narrative rather than journalistic form. Thanks to Hattie for the link.

Jake Johnson of RawStory: "...Donald Trump issued an executive order late Thursday that environmentalists warned will accelerate the corporate exploitation of oceans by relaxing regulations on and streamlining the construction of industrial offshore aquaculture facilities, which critics deride as 'floating factory farms' that pump pollution and diseases into public waters.... Rosanna Marie Neil, policy counsel for Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, a member of the coalition, said the Trump White House is 'supporting the corporate takeover of our oceans while they hope we aren’t paying attention.'" --s

** Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department moved to drop charges against former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his Russian contacts during the presidential transition. The unraveling of Flynn's guilty plea marked a stunning reversal by the Justice Department in the case of the former three-star Army general who was convicted in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.... [Flynn] pleaded guilty in December 2017 to making false statements about his Russian contacts during the Trump presidential transition. However..., Flynn's new defense lawyers began moving to void his conviction, alleging he was the victim of a partisan conspiracy by prosecutors, federal investigators and even his initial attorneys." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "The bombshell court filing asking U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan to dismiss the case bore the signature of only one prosecutor: U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Timothy Shea, a former Barr aide named to the post in January. Moments before Shea's filing, the top prosecutor in the Flynn case withdrew abruptly and without explanation. Brandon Van Grack, who served as one of special counsel Robert Mueller's top lawyers and remained on the Flynn case even after Mueller's office closed down, signaled his exit from the case in a terse, one-sentence filing with U.S. [Judge] Sullivan." Mrs. McC: Betsy Swan of Politico said that the single signature was unique, that all filings are also signed by a career prosecutor, and the fact that none would put their name to it shows the discord within DOJ. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Adam Goldman & Katie Benner of the New York Times: "Prosecutors in Mr. Shea's office were stunned by the decision to drop the case, according to a person who spoke to several lawyers in the office.... Mr. Flynn first pleaded guilty in late 2017 to lying to investigators and cooperated extensively before moving to withdraw his plea and fight the case in court. He had also entered a guilty plea a second time in 2018 at an aborted sentencing hearing.... The White House was prepared for the possibility of Mr. Trump pardoning Mr. Flynn last week, according to two people familiar with the discussions. But some advisers urged him to hold off and let the case play out, either with the Justice Department or with the judge in the case, according to the people familiar with the discussions." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Here's Donald Trump, Thursday afternoon, telling multiple lies about the Flynn case: ~~~

~~~ Barr Is Quite the Facile Liar, Too. CBS News: "Attorney General William Barr defended the Justice Department's decision to seek a dismissal of its criminal case against Michael Flynn..., who admitted to lying to federal investigators. In an exclusive interview with CBS News senior investigative correspondent Catherine Herridge, Barr dismissed the notion from critics that he is doing the bidding of Mr. Trump.... 'Well, you know, people sometimes plead to things that turn out not to be crimes. ... And the Department of Justice is not persuaded that this was material to any legitimate counterintelligence investigation. So it was not a crime,' [Barr said].... 'was concerned people were feeling there were two standards of justice in this country. ... I wanted to make sure that we restore confidence in the system. There's only one standard of justice.'" Spit-take required. ~~~

~~~ Andrew McCabe: "We opened the Russia investigation to determine if the Russian government coordinated with the Trump campaign. Mr. Flynn had prominent, high level interaction with Russian officials, so we investigated whether he might be that point of coordination. We received incontrovertible evidence that Mr. Flynn spoke to the Russian ambassador on more than one occasion, and that he actively tried to influence the actions of Russian officials, and that those officials acceded to his requests. The FBI was obligated to interview him to better understand why he was talking to Russian officials. During the interview, he lied about the substance of his conversations with those officials. His lies added to our concerns about his relationship with the Russian government.... [Thursday]'s move by the Justice Department has nothing to do with the facts or the law -- it is pure politics designed to please the president." Full statement at the link. ~~~

~~~ The headline on Eric Levitz' New York post synthesizes the central problem with the whole drop-the-charges thing: "Trump's DOJ Says It Can't Prove Michael Flynn Did the Crime He Confessed To." The subhead is good, too: "The arc of Michael Flynn's case bent toward the debasement of justice." ~~~

~~~ Susan Hennessey, et al., of Lawfare: "The government's 20-page brief is not an honest document.... The brief's account of the history of the Flynn case is not accurate, its account of the government's own conduct equally flawed. And it all leads up to a conclusion so obviously wrong that one does not need to know anything about counterintelligence to see through it: that there is no reasonable basis even to interview a senior government official when that person has engaged over sanctions imposed against a foreign adversary government that interfered in an election -- and who subsequently lied to the Vice President ... about the substance of his conversation with an agent of that government. Based on this position, the Justice Department [Thursday] took an even greater leap: that it is perfectly legal for the official, if interviewed under these circumstances, to lie through his teeth repeatedly to the FBI agents who show up to interview him." ~~~

~~~ David Graham of the Atlantic: "If there is any doubt about the White House's role, the president telegraphed the outcome of this case on April 30, when he was asked whether he'd pardon Flynn. Trump said he didn't think he'd have to. 'Well, it looks to me like Michael Flynn would be exonerated based on everything I see,' he said. 'Look, I';m not the judge, but I have a different type of power. But I don't know that anybody would have to use that power.'... Cooperation deals are supposed to show criminals that returning to the fold and honoring rule of law has its benefits. But the Flynn case shows that those benefits pale in comparison to honoring loyalty to Trump."

~~~ David Ignatius of the Washington Post asks the simplest question: "If Flynn did nothing wrong when he called the Russian ambassador on Dec. 29, 2016, the day President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on Russia for interfering in the presidential election, why did he conceal it?.... There was always a deeper problem, one that still isn't resolved. Why was the Trump administration so eager to blunt the punishment Obama gave to Russia for what we now know was gross interference in our presidential election?... In Flynn's Feb. 13, 2017, resignation letter, he admitted that he had made misleading statements to Vice President Pence about the ... call [to Russia's ambassador to the U.S. Sergey] Kislyak.... [Flynn's message to Kislyak] was the wrong message to be sending in December 2016. And with the accumulation of evidence since then about the scope of Russian subversion, it's even more troubling."

Michael Crowley of the New York Times: President Trump vetoed a Senate resolution on Wednesday that would have required him to seek congressional authorization before taking military action against Iran, rejecting a rare effort by the chamber to curb his authority and reasserting broad power to use military force. In a statement released by the White House, Mr. Trump portrayed the measure as not only an encroachment on his presidential powers but also a personal political attack. 'This was a very insulting resolution, introduced by Democrats as part of a strategy to win an election on November 3 by dividing the Republican Party,' the president said. 'The few Republicans who voted for it played right into their hands.' The resolution was mostly symbolic and not legally binding. And Congress does not stand much of a chance of reversing the veto because the measure passed well short of the two-thirds supermajority needed for an override." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Jordain Carney of the Hill: "The Senate on Thursday failed to override President Trump's veto of a resolution seeking to rein in his ability to take military action against Iran. Senators voted 49-44, falling short of the two-thirds support necessary to nix Trump's veto and send the effort to the House." (Also linked yesterday.)

It's My Wife's Fault. Natasha Bertrand of Politico: "A top GOP lawmaker tapped to lead a House panel scrutinizing China disclosed his family's investment in a major Chinese tech company linked to surveillance and censorship, according to a congressional form filed in his name. A periodic transaction report filed on April 20 in the name of Rep. Michael McCaul, who represents Texas' 10th district and serves as ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, lists the purchase of $50,000-$100,000 worth of shares in Chinese tech behemoth Tencent Holdings in late February. An attorney for McCaul, Elliot Berke, said that the lawmaker is not the owner of the shares. 'Congressman McCaul did not purchase any shares in China's Tencent Holdings or any other Chinese company,' Berke said. 'Congressman McCaul's wife has assets she solely owns and a third party manager made the purchase without her direction.'... McCaul has disclosed family holdings in Tencent for years, even as he has described the company as a threat to U.S. national security and an integral part of the Chinese Communist Party's 'dystopian' system of social control."

Presidential Race

Matt Fountain of the San Luis Obispo (Calif.) Tribune: "A court document from 1996 shows former Senate staffer Tara Reade told her ex-husband she was sexually harassed while working for Joe Biden in 1993. The declaration -- exclusively obtained by The Tribune in San Luis Obispo, California -- does not say Biden committed the harassment nor does it mention Reade's more recent allegations of sexual assault. Reade's then-husband Theodore Dronen wrote the court declaration. Dronen at the time was contesting a restraining order Reade filed against him days after he filed for divorce, Superior Court records show. In it, he writes Reade told him about 'a problem she was having at work regarding sexual harassment, in U.S. Senator Joe Biden's office.'" Includes copy of Dronen's declaration.... Dronen wrote that Reade told him she 'eventually struck a deal with the chief of staff of the Senator's office and left her position.... It was obvious that this event had a very traumatic effect on (Reade), and that she is still sensitive and effected (sic) by it today,' Dronen wrote." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: If a U.S. senator had harassed me, I would not tell my husband that the perp was someone in his office. ~~~

~~~ An Evolving Tale. Laura McGann of Vox: "Reade told me [in April 2019] that she wanted me to think of this story as being about abuse of power, 'but not sexual misconduct.' Her emphasis was on how she was treated in Biden's office by Senate aides, who she said retaliated against her for complaining about how Biden touched her in meetings.... Last year, Reade encouraged me to speak with a friend of hers who counseled her through her time in Biden's office in 1992 and 1993.... 'On the scale of other things we heard, and I feel ashamed, but it wasn't that bad. [Biden] never tried to kiss her directly. He never went for one of those touches. It was one of those, "sorry you took it that way...,"' the friend told me. She went on: 'What was creepy was that it was always in front of people.'" ~~~

~~~ MEANWHILE. Matt Shuham of TPM: "Tara Reade ... on Thursday called for Biden to drop his presidential bid. In an interview with Megyn Kelly, Reade said Biden 'should not be running on character for the President of the United States.'" Mrs. McC: Not sure why Kelly, whom Trump treated badly, is helping his re-election campaign. Anything for a sexsational story. ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Instead of repeatedly upping her claims against Biden from "not sexual misconduct" to -- eventually -- slammed me against the wall & finger-fucked me, Reade should have invented a consistent story from the git-go. A lawyer could help. ~~~

~~~ Alexandra Jaffe of the AP: "Tara Reade ... is being represented by a prominent lawyer and political donor to ... Donald Trump's 2016 Republican campaign. Attorney Douglas Wigdor told The Associated Press he was not currently being paid for his work with Reade. His firm also denied there was a political motivation for his decision to represent Reade in her accusations against Trump's presumptive Democratic opponent in the November election. 'We have decided to take this matter on because every survivor has the right to competent counsel,' the firm said in a statement." Mrs. McC: Yo, Doug, very enlightened of you. I hear there are some two dozen women out there who have accused Trump of all manner of sexual abuse. Why not offer them pro bono representation? ~~~

     ~~~ Wait, Wait. There's More. From the same story: "Over the weekend, another attorney, William Moran, told the AP he was working with Reade. Moran, who works at a law firm in Columbia, Maryland, previously wrote and edited for Sputnik, a news agency founded and supported by the Russian state-owned media company Rossiya Segodnya. A January 2017 report released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Russia's interference in the 2016 campaign said Sputnik was part of 'Russia's state-run propaganda machine,' which 'contributed to the influence campaign by serving as a platform for Kremlin messaging to Russian and international audiences.'" --s

Republicans Against Democracy. Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "... Donald Trump's political operation is expanding its legal effort to stop Democrats from overhauling voting laws in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The Republican National Committee and Trump reelection campaign are doubling their legal budget to $20 million as litigation spreads to an array of battleground states. With the virus likely to complicate in-person balloting in November, Democrats have been pushing to substantially ease remote voting restrictions -- something the Trump campaign and RNC are aggressively fighting in the courts.... More than two dozen Republican operatives are focusing on the legal battles and have been closely coordinating with party officials at the state and local levels. The Trump campaign and RNC recently intervened in Nevada, where Democrats are pushing for the state to ease restrictions by mailing ballots to all registered voters. Republicans have also been active in New Mexico, where they fought back a similar Democratic-led lawsuit."

Ryan Hutchings & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday tossed the federal government's case in the infamous 'Bridgegate' scandal, clearing the convictions of two allies of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. In a unanimous ruling that further chips away at the nation's public corruption case law, the justices concluded that the two defendants -- Bridget Ann Kelly and Bill Baroni -- did not defraud the government of its 'property' by closing off two local access lanes to the George Washington Bridge over three days in September 2013... Justice Elena Kagan said the kinds of decisions Kelly and Baroni made -- and their less-than-candid explanations for them -- could not be prosecuted as fraud under federal law. Kagan sought to make clear that the court was not blessing the conduct of the former officials, only declaring that it was beyond the reach of federal corruption laws. 'As Kelly's own lawyer acknowledged, this case involves an "abuse of power,"' she wrote. 'The evidence the jury heard no doubt shows wrongdoing -- deception, corruption, abuse of power. But the federal fraud statutes at issue do not criminalize all such conduct.' The court's decision, which appears to end one of the strangest political dramas in American history, vacates an earlier ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia that had upheld most of the counts against Baroni and Kelly." Thanks to Ken W. for the link. Update: the New York Times story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Georgia. Russ Bynum & Ben Nadler of the AP: "Georgia authorities arrested a white father and son Thursday and charged them with murder in the February shooting death of a black man they had pursued in a truck after spotting him running in their neighborhood. The charges came more than two months after Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was killed on a residential street just outside the port city of Brunswick. National outrage over the case swelled this week after cellphone video [surfaced] that appeared to show the shooting."

The Commentariat -- May 7, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department moved to drop charges against former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his Russian contacts during the presidential transition. The unraveling of Flynn's guilty plea marked a stunning reversal by the Justice Department in the case of the former three-star Army general who was convicted in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.... [Flynn] pleaded guilty in December 2017 to making false statements about his Russian contacts during the Trump presidential transition. However..., Flynn's new defense lawyers began moving to void his conviction, alleging he was the victim of a partisan conspiracy by prosecutors, federal investigators and even his initial attorneys." ~~~

     ~~~ Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "The bombshell court filing asking U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan to dismiss the case bore the signature of only one prosecutor: U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Timothy Shea, a former Barr aide named to the post in January. Moments before Shea's filing, the top prosecutor in the Flynn case withdrew abruptly and without explanation. Brandon Van Grack, who served as one of special counsel Robert Mueller's top lawyers and remained on the Flynn case even after Mueller's office closed down, signaled his exit from the case in a terse, one-sentence filing with U.S. [Judge] Sullivan." Mrs. McC: Betsy Swan of Politico said that the single signature was unique, that all filings are also signed by a career prosecutor, and the fact that none would put their name to it shows the discord within DOJ. ~~~

     ~~~ Adam Goldman & Katie Benner of the New York Times: "Prosecutors in Mr. Shea's office were stunned by the decision to drop the case, according to a person who spoke to several lawyers in the office.... Mr. Flynn first pleaded guilty in late 2017 to lying to investigators and cooperated extensively before moving to withdraw his plea and fight the case in court. He had also entered a guilty plea a second time in 2018 at an aborted sentencing hearing.... The White House was prepared for the possibility of Mr. Trump pardoning Mr. Flynn last week, according to two people familiar with the discussions. But some advisers urged him to hold off and let the case play out, either with the Justice Department or with the judge in the case, according to the people familiar with the discussions." ~~~

~~~ Here's Donald Trump, Thursday afternoon, telling multiple lies about the Flynn case: ~~~

Kaitlan Collins & Peter Morris of CNN: "A member of the US Navy who serves as one of ... Donald Trump's personal valets has tested positive for coronavirus, CNN learned Thursday, raising concerns about the President's possible exposure to the virus. The valets are members of an elite military unit dedicated to the White House and often work very close to the President and first family. Trump was upset when he was informed Wednesday that the valet had tested positive, a source told CNN, and the President was subsequently tested again by the White House physician. In a statement, the White House confirmed CNN's reporting that one of the President's staffers had tested positive.... A White House source said the valet, a man who has not been identified, exhibited 'symptoms' Wednesday morning, and said the news that someone close to Trump had tested positive for coronavirus was 'hitting the fan' in the West Wing.... People can be infectious, meaning they can transmit the virus to somebody else, up to two days before they start showing symptoms.... The White House has not enforced strict social distancing guidelines for staffers and few people inside the building wear masks during the day, including valets." ~~~

     ~~~ Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump will be tested for coronavirus on a daily basis after a military member who serves as the president's valet tested positive. 'So, we test once a week. Now we're going to go testing once a day, Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with the governor of Texas on Thursday.... The president said the daily testing regimen would apply to the vice president and certain high-level White House officials as well." Mrs. McC: That's nice. If my lady's maid gets the virus, can I be tested daily?

Frank Rich: "... more testing is now showing us how far the virus has spread in MAGA-land.... William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, has calculated that 813 of the 1,103 counties that have achieved 'high-COVID status' (100 or more cases per 100,000 residents) since March 29 went for Trump in 2016. Many of those counties are in battleground states like Michigan, Florida, and Pennsylvania.... No matter how much he discounts models of the pathogen's spread, he seems dimly aware that the actual death count keeps exceeding his repeated lowball predictions.... His new plan to counter this reality ... is to sow confusion among the electorate by attacking the death toll's accuracy.... He will also continue to purge anyone in the government who might say otherwise...[, as he did Rick Bright & Christi Grimm. Now Trump is easing Fauci out.] My guess is that SNL casting Brad Pitt as Fauci was the final straw for Trump."

From today's New York Times live coronavirus updates: "The Trump administration has rejected detailed guidelines from health experts to help schools, restaurants, churches and other establishments safely reopen, saying they are too prescriptive, according to several administration officials. The White House has asked for revisions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, whose public health experts wrote the guidance, but some officials at the C.D.C. have privately expressed concern that the recommendations will never be posted publicly.... The guidance, which the C.D.C. first submitted to the White House in draft form two weeks ago, was meant to help states, local governments and businesses adopt measures that would help keep the virus from spreading once they reopened." Related AP story linked below.

Keith Collins & Lauren Leatherby of the New York Times: "More than half of U.S. states have begun to reopen their economies or plan to do so soon. But most fail to meet criteria recommended by the Trump administration to resume business and social activities. The White House's guidelines are nonbinding and ultimately leave states' fates to governors. The criteria suggest that states should have a 'downward trajectory' of either documented coronavirus cases or of the percentage of positive tests. Public health experts expressed criticism because 'downward trajectory' was not defined and the metrics do not specify a threshold for case numbers or positive rates. Still, most states that are reopening fail to adhere to even those recommendations: In more than half of states easing restrictions, case counts are trending upward, positive test results are rising, or both, raising concerns among public health experts." You can check out your own state with a series of charts incorporated into the report.

Forgot this one. Michael Crowley of the New York Times: President Trump vetoed a Senate resolution on Wednesday that would have required him to seek congressional authorization before taking military action against Iran, rejecting a rare effort by the chamber to curb his authority and reasserting broad power to use military force. In a statement released by the White House, Mr. Trump portrayed the measure as not only an encroachment on his presidential powers but also a personal political attack. 'This was a very insulting resolution, introduced by Democrats as part of a strategy to win an election on November 3 by dividing the Republican Party,' the president said. 'The few Republicans who voted for it played right into their hands.' The resolution was mostly symbolic and not legally binding. And Congress does not stand much of a chance of reversing the veto because the measure passed well short of the two-thirds supermajority needed for an override." ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Jordain Carney of the Hill: "The Senate on Thursday failed to override President Trump's veto of a resolution seeking to rein in his ability to take military action against Iran. Senators voted 49-44, falling short of the two-thirds support necessary to nix Trump's veto and send the effort to the House."

Ryan Hutchings & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday tossed the federal government's case in the infamous 'Bridgegate' scandal, clearing the convictions of two allies of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. In a unanimous ruling that further chips away at the nation's public corruption case law, the justices concluded that the two defendants -- Bridget Ann Kelly and Bill Baroni -- did not defraud the government of its 'property' by closing off two local access lanes to the George Washington Bridge over three days in September 2013... Justice Elena Kagan said the kinds of decisions Kelly and Baroni made -- and their less-than-candid explanations for them -- could not be prosecuted as fraud under federal law. Kagan sought to make clear that the court was not blessing the conduct of the former officials, only declaring that it was beyond the reach of federal corruption laws. 'As Kelly's own lawyer acknowledged, this case involves an "abuse of power,"' she wrote. 'The evidence the jury heard no doubt shows wrongdoing -- deception, corruption, abuse of power. But the federal fraud statutes at issue do not criminalize all such conduct.' The court's decision, which appears to end one of the strangest political dramas in American history, vacates an earlier ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia that had upheld most of the counts against Baroni and Kelly." Thanks to Ken W. for the link. Update: the New York Times story is here.

Lauren Hirsch & Lauren Thomas of CNBC: "Neiman Marcus, saddled with debt and hit by the coronavirus pandemic, filed for bankruptcy on Thursday with a deal to hand its business over to its creditors. The luxury department store chain had been struggling with competition from online rivals and dwindling cash before the pandemic. The health crisis exacerbated its problems, forcing it to furlough most of its 14,000 workers and close its 43 Neiman Marcus stores. It is now the second major retailer to file for bankruptcy during the pandemic, following J. Crew's filing earlier this week. It is likely not the last. J.C. Penney has also been exploring filing for bankruptcy." The Washington Post's story is here.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Thursday are here. ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post's live updates are here. "The U.S. workforce continues to suffer, even as states slowly reopen and business leaders and lawmakers attempt to reboot the economy. More than 33 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits since the economy was largely shut down -- including 3.2 million in the past week, the Labor Department announced Thursday morning. Optimism is high among laid-off workers that they can return to their pre-pandemic jobs, according to a Washington Post-Ipsos poll. But economists warn that over 40 percent of job losses could become permanent." ~~~

~~~ Jeff Cox of CNBC: "Unemployment rolls continued to swell in the U.S. last week, though jobless claims hit their lowest level since the economy went into lockdown made to battle the coronavirus pandemic. First-time filings for unemployment insurance hit 3.17 million last week, bringing the total to 33.5 million over the past seven weeks, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The total was slightly higher than the 3.05 million expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones and below the previous week's 3.846 million, which was revised up by 7,000."

Trump Deep-Sixes CDD Reopening Guidance. Jason Dearen & Mike Stobbe of the AP: "A set of detailed documents created by the nation's top disease investigators meant to give step-by-step advice to local leaders deciding when and how to reopen public places such as mass transit, day care centers and restaurants during the still-raging pandemic has been shelved by the Trump administration. The 17-page report by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention team, titled 'Guidance for Implementing the Opening Up America Again Framework,' was researched and written to help faith leaders, business owners, educators and state and local officials as they begin to reopen. It was supposed to be published last Friday, but agency scientists were told the guidance 'would never see the light of day,' according to a CDC official.... The White House's own 'Opening Up America Again' guidelines released last month were more vague than the CDC's unpublished report.... Behind the scenes, CDC scientists ... are working to get information to local governments."

Justin Baragona of the Daily Beast: "After acknowledging during his Tuesday ABC News interview that deaths will likely rise by quickly reopening the American economy during the coronavirus pandemic..., Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the American people needed to be 'warriors' when asked if the nation needs to accept more casualties. 'We have to be warriors,' the president said during an Oval Office meeting with health-care officials, none of whom were wearing masks. 'We can't keep our country closed down for years.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: This hasn't received much direct media attention, but Trump never directly explains why the country must relax social distances practices now, even though few states have met his own criteria for doing so. His "reason" is "because." "We can't keep our country closed down for years" is not a proper response to "why now?" As far as I can tell, he demands that ordinary Americans be "warriors" and sacrifice their lives so that he can preside over a "winning" economy now. You are supposed to be willing to die to satisfy Trump's need for immediate gratification. Trump himself does not have to do much sacrificing. He is protected by constant testing of himself and those who come in contact with him. Not so for you. His new press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said yesterday that testing ordinary Americans before they return to work was "nonsensical."

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Confronted with America's worst public health crisis in generations, President Trump declared himself a wartime president. Now he has begun doing what past commanders have done when a war goes badly: Declare victory and go home.... With the virus still spreading and no vaccine available until next year at the earliest, though, the president has decided that for life to resume for many, some may have to die.... The president has made little effort to reconcile his increasing pressure to reopen with the increasing death toll, instead boasting that the government is now in better shape to deal with new cases with more ventilators, masks and other equipment."

Jonathan Swan & Sam Baker of Axios: "President Trump has complained to advisers about the way coronavirus deaths are being calculated, suggesting the real numbers are actually lower -- and a number of his senior aides share this view, according to sources.... A senior administration official said he expects the president to begin publicly questioning the death toll as it closes in on his predictions for the final death count and damages him politically.... There is no evidence the death rate has been exaggerated, and experts believe coronavirus deaths in the U.S. are being undercounted -- not overcounted.... Some members of the president's team believe the government has created a distorting financial incentive for hospitals to identify coronavirus cases, the official also said.... Medicare is giving hospitals a 20% bonus for their treatment of coronavirus patients as a way to help them make up for the money they're losing because they've had to postpone a lot of non-coronavirus care." More on this right-wing conspiracy theory linked below.

"Tremendous Supply." Donald Trump, in a rare acknowledgment of the heroic work of healthcare workers during the pandemic, held a White House event Wednesday to honor first responders on National Nurses Day, an occasion which he used to rebuke the president of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. Dan Mangan of CNBC: "A nurse found out Wednesday what happens when you contradict ... Donald Trump on how well coronavirus response efforts are going.... Trump clapped back at that nurse, Sophia Thomas, who said that access to sufficient supplies of personal protective equipment 'has been sporadic.'.... Trump upon hearing a less-than-glowing description of the front lines, quickly shot back, 'Sporadic for you, but not sporadic for a lot of other people.'... After Trump's testy response, Thomas said, 'Oh, no, I agree Mr. President.' But Trump continued, folding his arms, 'Because I've heard the opposite. I've heard that they are loaded up with gowns now. And initially we had nothing..., because it wasn't put there by the last administration,' he said, referring to former President Barack Obama. [He went on.]" ~~~

~~~ Watch the others nurses nodding in agreement with Thomas. Welcome to Trump's Fantasyland, Ladies & Gentlemen. At the end of the tape embedded below, Trump tells another nurse who initially seems to agree with him, "You'll end up being a star." An element of star quality apparently is agreeing with Trump's delusions: ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Let's see -- who's more credible? (1) A nurse who's on the front line (she works in New Orleans) and who is in touch with other nurses all over the country, or (2) a man who lies about everything all the time.

Shannon Pettypiece of NBC News: "... Donald Trump on Wednesday defended his decision not to wear a mask during a tour of a mask production facility in Phoenix the day before, saying he had been told it wasn't necessary. 'I didn't need it, and I asked specifically the head of Honeywell, "Should I wear a mask?" and he said, 'Well, you don't need one in this territory.' And as you know, we were far away from people, from the people making the masks,' said Trump, who also didn't wear a mask Wednesday as he spoke with reporters during a photo opportunity with nurses in the Oval Office. Trump said he did have a mask on 'for a period of time.'... 'I can't help it if you didn't see me, I mean, I had a mask on,' Trump told reporters. When Trump was seen by reporters and photographers touring the Honeywell plant his face was uncovered, and he was less than 6 feet apart from the Honeywell officials giving him the tour, who were also without masks."

Nathaniel Weixel of the Hill: "President Trump on Wednesday blasted a former top federal scientist who filed a whistleblower complaint against his administration.... When asked by a reporter in the Oval Office about Rick Bright, the former head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), Trump said he'd only just learned about him earlier in the day. 'I never met Dr. Bright. I don't know who he is. I didn't hear good things about him. I did not hear good things about him at all,' Trump said. 'And to me he seems like a disgruntled employee that's trying to help the Democrats win an election.' Bright led the agency that was focused on helping fund potential treatments for infectious diseases, including COVID-19, until his ouster late last month. He filed a formal whistleblower complaint on Tuesday....

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Wednesday are here. "President Trump, contradicting his comments from Tuesday, said the White House coronavirus task force would 'continue on indefinitely,' though perhaps with different members. His announcement, made on Twitter, came one day after Vice President Mike Pence, who has led the group for two months, said it would probably wrap up its work around the end of the May. 'We will have something in a different form,' Mr. Trump later told reporters on Tuesday during a trip to Arizona. But in a series of Wednesday morning tweets, Mr. Trump appeared to contradict that, and emphasized his desire to reopen the economy despite a continued rise in coronavirus cases and public health warnings that more commerce will mean more deaths.... 'We may add or subtract people to it, as appropriate' he said.... Mr. Trump frequently reacts to news coverage of his decisions, and reports on Tuesday that he might wind down the task force drew sharp criticism." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I don't know why mean MSNBC host Chris Hayes keeps complaining that Trump has no plan. Could it be because the administration retracts major announcements within 24 hours? Anyhow, I don't think this stuff is up to Trump. I suspect that the entire federal government is being run by a 21-year-old college intern assigned to Jared Kushner's staff. When the intern starts to get the hang of things & makes a sensible decision or two, his term is up, and a new, green intern takes over. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Chris Hayes has changed his tune. Last night he conceded that Trump does have a plan. The plan is to protect himself & pence. The only people he doesn't have a plan for is everybody else. Mrs. McC: I'd say there is an emerging, if still vague, plan for the rest of us: (1) lie about infection & death projections (see esp. Jordan Weissmann's report linked below); (2) argue that actual numbers are overcounts (see Swan & Baker's report linked above); (3) suppress expert advice (see Dearen & Stobbe's report linked above); (4) appeal to Americans' patriotism & ask them to sacrifice their lives to help Trump (see Justin Baragona's item linked above). ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post's live updates Wednesday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Jonathan Chait: "Last night, ABC's David Muir asked Trump, 'What did you do when you became president to restock those cupboards that you say were bare?' Trump replied...: 'Well, I'll be honest. I have a lot of things going on. We had a lot of people that refused to allow the country to be successful. They wasted a lot of time on Russia, Russia, Russia. That turned out to be a total hoax. Then they did Ukraine, Ukraine, and that was a total hoax, then they impeached the president of the United States for absolutely no reason, and we even had 197-to-nothing vote by the Republicans.'... There remains the problem that Trump was fully vindicated of the Ukraine hoax by a unanimous vote of the Republican party -- which of course no longer includes Mitt Romney -- on February 5, yet he continued to dismiss and deny the coronavirus for weeks thereafter. The answer to this will probably come later, when Democrats investigate his incompetent handling of the pandemic, and Trump reveals that the Coronavirus Hoax prevented him from focusing on the coronavirus." (Also linked yesterday.)

Jordan Weissmann of Slate: "A few days ago, the Washington Post published a long, depressing ticktock of the Trump administration's execrable attempts to control the coronavirus and 'reopen' the country for business, beginning with a shocking but not exactly surprising anecdote about how the president's economic advisers [-- led by Kevin Hassett --] had abetted the president's most destructive impulses.... The administration had apparently decided to justify its response to a plague based on the work of someone [Hassett] known above all for making hilariously overoptimistic predictions.... On Monday, the Post filled in a bit more detail about Hassett's handiwork, reporting that he had produced a 'cubic model' that showed deaths from the coronavirus dropping to near zero by May 15.... Economist John Voorheis probably summed it up best[:] 'According to predictions from my "cubic model" fitted on yesterday's data, today's temperature is approaching absolute zero and we are all dead, mercifully.'... [Bottom line:] the Trump administration appears to have found the dumbest possible math it could use to justify letting thousands of people needlessly die."

Jeff Cox of CNBC: "Private payrolls hemorrhaged more than 20 million jobs in April as companies sliced workers amid a coronavirus-induced shutdown that took most of the U.S. economy offline, according to a report Wednesday from ADP [Research Institute]. In all, the decline totaled 20,236,000 -- easily the worst loss in the survey's history going back to 2002 but not as bad as the 22 million that economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting. The previous record was 834,665 in February 2009 amid the financial crisis and accompanying Great Recession." (Also linked yesterday.)

** Benedict Carey & James Glanz of the New York Times: "New York City's coronavirus outbreak grew so large by early March that the city became the primary source of new infections in the United States, new research reveals, as thousands of infected people traveled from the city and seeded outbreaks around the country. The research indicates that a wave of infections swept from New York City through much of the country before the city began setting social distancing limits to stop the growth. That helped to fuel outbreaks in Louisiana, Texas, Arizona and as far away as the West Coast.... Over all, Dr. [Nathan] Grubaugh [of Yale] estimated, viruses spreading from New York account for 60 to 65 percent of the infections identified across the country." Mrs. McC: Although this report is also preliminary, it argues for developing a vaccine that attacks the New York/European strain of the virus; a report linked yesterday says that some developers are working on vaccines against the older Wujan strain, which may not work against the more contagious New York mutation.

Florida. Carol Miller, et al., of the Miami Herald: "Acting under intense pressure from a coalition of Florida news organizations and open-government advocates, the state Wednesday evening released a list of every Florida fatality documented by a medical examiner resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. The information was so riddled with holes, however, that it sparked as many questions as answers. Missing from the data set were the names of those who have perished from COVID-19..., the probable cause of death (there can be multiple factors) and the circumstances of the person's demise.... The head of the Florida Medical Examiner's Commission, which governs the state's 21 medical examiners, has insisted the information -- including the names -- is subject to disclosure under the state's public records law. The administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis [R], which oversees state health regulators, has warned the examiners to keep the information secret.... The DeSantis administration has clashed with open government and public records advocates for much of his 17-month term, but the conflict has become increasingly acute as news organizations and activists have sought information about the state's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic."

Michigan. Allan Smith of NBC News: "Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wants to bar weapons from being taken into the state Capitol after anti-lockdown protesters showed up with firearms, she told NBC News in a wide-ranging interview. Whitmer's comments came after gun-toting militia protesters joined a larger group demanding that she reopen parts of the state's economy in a demonstration last week. The protesters spilled inside the Capitol, where armed demonstrators confronted police officers and insisted on being allowed onto the House floor as lawmakers debated an extension of her emergency powers. Under current state law, it is legal to take firearms inside the Capitol, because Michigan is an open-carry state.... The Michigan Capitol Commission sought legal advice this week about whether guns could be banned inside the Capitol. Some Michigan Republicans criticized the gun-toting demonstrators, while others said they were not interested in such a ban. Republicans control both the House and the Senate."

New York. Noah Higgins-Dunn & Kevin Breuninger of CNBC: "Most new Covid-19 hospitalizations in New York state are from people who were staying home and not venturing much outside, a 'shocking' finding, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday. The preliminary data was from 100 New York hospitals involving about 1,000 patients, Cuomo said at his daily briefing. It shows that 66% of new admissions were from people who had largely been sheltering at home. The next highest source of admissions was from nursing homes, 18%.... [Cuomo] said the information shows that those who are hospitalized are predominantly from the downstate area in or around New York City, are not working or traveling and are not essential employees. He also said a majority of the cases in New York City are minorities, with nearly half being African American or Hispanic.... 'Much of this comes down to what you do to protect yourself. Everything is closed down, government has done everything it could, society has done everything it could. Now it's up to you,' Cuomo said."

Utah. Connor Richards of the (Provo-Orem) Daily Herald: "Nearly half of the employees of a Utah County business tested positive for COVID-19 after the business instructed employees to not follow quarantine guidelines and required staff who had tested positive to report to work, according to a written statement from county executives. The statement, which was ... signed by Utah County Commissioners Tanner Ainge, Bill Lee and Nathan Ivie and the mayors of each city in the county, said that 48% of employees of the unnamed business tested positive for COVID-19. Between this business and another in a different geographic region of the county that 'did not follow COVID-19 best practices,' 68 employees tested positive for coronavirus, Utah County executives said.... Carrie Bennett, chronic disease prevention program manager for the Utah County Health Department, said on Tuesday that the Health Department would not release the names of the businesses or information about the nature of the services they provide due to privacy concerns."

Tina Nguyen of Politico: "An increasing number of conservatives are convinced the medical community and the media are inflating the coronavirus death toll for political purposes, despite nearly all evidence indicating that, if anything, the figure is an undercount. The conspiracy theory started with those who argued the figure was being manipulated, before morphing into a more generalized suspicion about coronavirus modeling among Republicans. Fox News has begun to feature a constant drumbeat of doubt about the reliability of any model, and ... Donald Trump on Sunday called the models 'wrong from day one' and 'out of whack,' but insisted on Tuesday he believed the government's death toll. The uncertainty among some conservatives emanates from a long-standing wariness of health experts and the mainstream news organizations reporting on the fatalities." ~~~

~~~ Ben Collins of NBC News: Healthcare professionals find themselves caring for conspiracy theorists who present in their ERs because they believed social media assertions that the coronavirus was a hoax perpetrated by Bill Gates or Anthony Fauci in a plot to control them, etc., and "sought care too late.... 'Folks delaying seeking care or, taking the most extreme case, somebody drinking bleach as a result of structural factors just underlines the fact that we have not protected the public from disinformation,' [epidemiologist Dr. David] Maru said. The structural factors in this case include Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, which have struggled to contain the spread of misinformation, some of it coming from positions of authority.... Organized harassment campaigns, lies and urban legends targeting doctors are a real-life symptom of what the World Health Organization dubbed the 'infodemic' as the coronavirus started to spread throughout the world earlier this year."

Will Weissert & Jonathan Lemire of the AP: "The decision to wear a mask in public is becoming a political statement -- a moment to pick sides in a brewing culture war over containing the coronavirus.... The mask is increasingly a visual shorthand for a debate pitting those willing to follow health officials' guidance and cover their faces against those who feel it violates their freedom or buys into a threat they think is overblown. That resistance is fueled by some of the same people who object to other virus restrictions. The push back has been stoked by ... Donald Trump -- he didn't wear a mask during a Tuesday appearance at a facility making them -- and some other Republicans, who have flouted rules and questioned the value of masks. It's a development that has worried experts as Americans are increasingly returning to public spaces....

"Moreover, Trump, who is known to be especially cognizant of his appearance on television, has also told confidants that he fears he would look ridiculous in a mask and the image would appear in negative ads, according to one of the officials. 'It's a vanity thing, I guess, with him,' House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said of Trump on MSNBC. 'You'd think, as the president of the United States, you would have the confidence to honor the guidance he's giving the country.' That's left those around him unsure of how to proceed."

Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "President Trump said Wednesday he will continue trying to toss out all of the Affordable Care Act, even as some in his administration, including Attorney General William P. Barr, have privately argued parts of the law should be preserved amid a pandemic. 'We want to terminate health care under Obamacare,' Trump told reporters Wednesday, the last day for his administration to change its position in a Supreme Court case challenging the law. 'Obamacare, we run it really well. ... But running it great, it's still lousy health care.'"

Matthew Choi & Daniel Lippman of Politico: "A major donor to ... Donald Trump will become the next head of the U.S. Postal Service, an institution that has frequently come under criticism from the president amid one of its worst financial crises. Louis DeJoy, a North Carolina businessman, will take over as postmaster general on June 15, according to a news release. He will replace Megan Brennan, whose intention to retire was reported by The Washington Post in October. Brennan had been subject to months of complaints from Trump that the Postal Service was losing too much money, The Post reported at the time.... Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) -- chairman of the House Government Operations Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over the Postal Service -- expressed dismay at the appointment on Wednesday evening. 'President Trump rewards a partisan donor by installing him at the United States Postal Service,' he said in a statement. 'The Postal Service is in crisis and needs real leadership and someone with knowledge of the issues. This crony doesn't cut it.'" ~~~

Photo via Triad Business Journal.~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I was curious to know if Louis DeJoy looked like a fatcat. Yes, yes, he does. And he's proud of it.

     ~~~ According to Jory Heckman of the Federal News Network, the postmaster general is appointed by the USPS Board of Governors. "The board now has six total members: four appointed by ... Donald Trump and confirmed by the Senate, [current Postmaster General Megan] Brennan and Deputy Postmaster General Ronald Stroman." The Googles say there is no fixed term for a postmaster general. ~~~

~~~ Josh Dawsey, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Postal Service's board of governors confirmed late Wednesday that Louis DeJoy, a North Carolina businessman who is currently in charge of fundraising for the Republican National Convention in Charlotte, will serve as the new postmaster general. The action will install a stalwart Trump ally to lead the Postal Service, which he has railed against for years, and probably move him closer than ever before to forcing the service to renegotiate its terms with companies and its own union workforce. Trump's Treasury Department and the Postal Service are in the midst of a negotiation over a $10 billion line of credit approved as part of coronavirus legislation in March.... Three Republicans and one Democrat sit on the board of governors after the vice chairman, David Williams, a Democrat, resigned last week. The departure came after Williams told confidants he was upset that the Treasury Department was meddling in what has long been an apolitical agency...." Mrs. McC: So there's disagreement about how many board members there are, four or six, and how many Trump appointed, three or four.

Daniel Lippman & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The Department of Justice has released a less redacted copy of a memo laying out the scope of former special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) after the current and former Judiciary Committee chairmen requested it. The memo ... was sent on Aug. 2, 2017, to Mueller by Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general at the time.... Donald Trump's allies on Capitol Hill have long sought the memo, which until now has remained classified, arguing it will show that Mueller exceeded his authority." The article describes the topics outlined in Rosenstein's memo.

Robert Faturechi & Derek Willis of ProPublica: "On the same day [Sen. Richard] Burr [R-NC] sold ... off a significant portion of his stock holdings ... ahead of the market crash spurred by coronavirus fears], his brother-in-law also dumped tens of thousands of dollars worth of shares. The market fell by more than 30% in the subsequent month. Burr's brother-in-law, Gerald Fauth, who has a post on the National Mediation Board, sold between $97,000 and $280,000 worth of shares in six companies -- including several that have been hit particularly hard in the market swoon and economic downturn.... As chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the health committee, Burr had access to the government's most highly classified information about threats to America's security and public health concerns. Before his sell-off, Burr had assured the public that the federal government was well-prepared to handle the virus. That month however, according to a recording obtained by NPR, Burr had given a VIP group at an exclusive social club a much more dire preview of the economic impact of the the coronavirus, warning it could curtail business travel, cause schools to be closed and result in the military mobilizing to compensate for overwhelmed hospitals. The timing of Burr's stock sales [in February] drew widespread outrage, allegations of insider trading, calls for his resignation and an FBI investigation." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: What's the problem? Burr's giving his brother-in-law insider info while lying to the general public about the same info is completely consistent with Republicans' definition of family values.

Conrad Swanson of the Denver Post: "Colorado Republican Party Chair Ken Buck, a U.S. representative from Windsor, pressured a local party official to submit incorrect election results to set the primary ballot for a state Senate seat, according to an audio recording of a conference call obtained by The Denver Post. 'You've got a sitting congressman, a sitting state party chair, who is trying to bully a volunteer -- I'm a volunteer; I don't get paid for this -- into committing a crime,' Eli Bremer, the GOP chairman for state Senate District 10, told The Post on Wednesday, confirming the authenticity of the recording. 'To say it's damning is an understatement.'" Bremer refused to sign a false affidavit which allowed Buck's preferred candidate to make the November ballot, in violation of party rules. Mrs. McC: A lawyer & former prosecutor, this is not the first time Buck has run afoul of the law & the Constitution. In fairness to Buck, he's an all-around jerk, too. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The lesson from this story and the Richard Burr stocks stunt: if you're going to meet with a Republican, wear a wire.

Victoria Albert of CBS News: "Ruth Bader Ginsburg was released from a Baltimore hospital on Wednesday, the Supreme Court said in a statement. Her release comes jus a day after the court said she was treated for acute cholecystitis, which was described as a 'benign gallbladder condition.' 'Justice Ginsburg has been discharged from the hospital. She is doing well and glad to be home,' the statement said. 'The Justice will return to The John's Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, for follow-up outpatient visits over the next few weeks to eventually remove the gallstone non-surgically.'"

Beyond the Beltway

Rebecca Klar of the Hill: "Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre will repay Mississippi $1.1 million he was paid for speeches that he never showed up for, the state auditor announced Wednesday. Mississippi State Auditor Shad White said Favre repaid the state $500,000 and has committed to repaying the remainder in installments over the next few months. The money will be held in a clearing account for a period and then will be sent in full to the Mississippi Department of Human Services to be used for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program, known as TANF, White said.... White's announcement comes a few days after his office released a report that found $94 million [of federal taxpayer-funded TANF monies] in total could not be accounted for or had been spent on questionable purposes, including $1.1 million sent to a nonprofit connected to Favre for a speaking arrangement the athlete reportedly never attended.... Favre said in a Facebook post Wednesday night ... he was unaware the money being dispersed was paid for out of funds not intended for that purpose." Mrs. McC: I know nothing about Favre, but I'm going to take him at his word.