The Commentariat -- Sept. 11, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Bill Barr's Bad Day ~~~

~~~ ** Sky Palma of the Raw Story: "Nora Dannehy, a federal prosecutor who is a top aide to U.S. Attorney John H. Durham in his Russia investigation, has quietly resigned from the probe, the Hartford Courant reports. Dannehy's resignation was at least partly out of concern that the investigative team is 'being pressed for political reasons to produce a report before its work is done,' her colleagues tell the Courant." Includes commentary from legal pundits. The Courant report, which is firewalled, is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Josh Kovensky of TPM: "... Nora R. Dannehy's ... decision, the [Hartford Courant] says, was at least partly motivated by alleged attempts at speeding up the investigation for political reasons by Attorney General Bill Barr. The report cites colleagues of Dannehy's, who told the paper that, in the Courant's words, she 'has been concerned in recent weeks by what she believed was pressure from Barr -- who appointed Durham -- to produce results before the election.' Citing the same anonymous colleagues, the paper also reports that Dannehy has been considering resignation in recent weeks amid 'concern about politics.' The report offered few specifics about the reasons for Dannehy's concerns. But it notes that other 'Durham associates' believe that Barr has been pressuring him to produce some sort of result before the November election." A breaking CNN story is here. ~~~

~~~ ** Jan Wolfe of Reuters: "A retired judge blasted the U.S. Justice Department's plan to drop the criminal case against ... Donald Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn as corrupt on Friday and urged the judge presiding over the case to reject the move. John Gleeson, a former trial judge and prosecutor, was named by U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan to argue against the department's stance in the high-profile case in Washington. Critics have accused the department and Attorney General William Barr of going light on Flynn, a Trump ally who twice pleaded guilty in the case to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia's former ambassador in Washington. In a court filing, Gleeson said ... the department's effort to [drop the case] was a 'corrupt and politically motivated favor unworthy of our justice system.'... The department unsuccessfully sought to force Sullivan to drop the charges, but an appeals court allowed the judge to consider the matter further." ~~~

The government makes virtually no effort to deny or rebut the powerful evidence that its ... motion improperly seeks to place this Court's imprimatur on a corrupt, politically motivated favor for the president's friend and ally. -- John Gleeson, brief re: Michael Flynn case ~~~

     ~~~ Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "In an unsparing, 30-page brief, John Gleeson ... suggests that the Justice Department's arguments for letting Flynn off the hook conflict with its positions in other cases -- and even in earlier rounds of the Flynn case itself -- and therefore can only be chalked up to Trump's pressure campaign. Gleeson's brief is here, via Politico.

Appeals Court Upholds Racist Florida Poll Tax. Lori Rozsa of the Washington Post: "A federal appeals court on Friday blocked hundreds of thousands of felons in Florida who still owe fines and fees from registering to vote, putting a halt to what was potentially the nation's largest re-enfranchisement of voters in more than 50 years. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta agreed with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) that the payment of fines and fees by ex-felons is part of their 'terms of sentence' and must be satisfied before they can register. The decision comes less than a month before the presidential swing state's Oct. 5 deadline to register to vote for November's general election." Mrs. McC: This is, @ 4:45 pm ET, a fairly incomplete report. There's no link to the decision, no information on who the judges were or if the vote was split. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I did two things Tuesday. I voted. And I convinced the IRS that I did not owe them thousands of dollars. But the first was not dependent upon the second. Whether or not I owed the government a bundle made no difference to my right to vote. The same is true for almost every voter. Being in arrears on property taxes or school taxes or traffic fines or state taxes or federal taxes or whatever does not disenfranchise most Americans.

Kate Conger, et al., of the New York Times: "Officials dealing with catastrophic fires on the West Coast have had to counter social media rumors that the blazes were set by antifascist activists, publicly pleading that people verify information before sharing it. Despite their efforts, misinformation about the origin of the fires -- which have killed at least 15 people and consumed millions of acres -- continues to spread on Facebook and Twitter. Several law enforcement agencies in Oregon said they had been flooded with inquiries about rumors that activists were responsible. On Thursday, several journalists reporting on fires near the city of Molalla, Ore., said they had been confronted by a group of armed people who were worried about unverified reports of arsonists in the area." A CNN story is here. ~~~

~~~ Nicole Wallace of MSNBC pointed out that Donald Trump was obsessed with protecting a federal building in Portland, Oregon, but he has not said word one about protecting Americans from the fires engulfing the West, including Oregon. L.A. Times reporter Eli Stokols said that on Thursday, Trump said he had watched 8 hours of television over the previous 24 hours, yet the governor of Oregon said she could not get through to him about the fires in her state.

Imagine you were an alien who landed on planet Earth, and you saw that our planet was afflicted by an infectious disease and that masks were an effective way to prevent the spread. And yet, when you went around, you saw some people not wearing them and some people wearing them. And you tried to figure out why, and it turned out it was their political party. And you would scratch your head and think, 'This is just not a planet that has much promise for the future, if something that is so straightforward can somehow get twisted into decision-making that really makes no sense.' -- NIH Director Francis Collins on CNN Thursday ~~~

~~~ NIH Director Implies Trump Rally Was an Indicator Trump Has Doomed Earth. Alternate Headline: Scientist Discovers Earth's Biggest Asshole. Quint Forgey of Politico: "Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, said Thursday he was 'pretty puzzled' and 'rather disheartened by ... Donald Trump's crowded campaign rally in Michigan -- at which few of the several thousand attendees could be seen wearing face masks and virtually none appeared to be practicing social distancing. In unusually frank remarks during a CNN town hall event focused on the novel coronavirus, the nation's top public health official lamented that commonsense mitigation measures had become politicized and claimed that aliens from far-off worlds viewing Americans' behavior amid the pandemic would conclude that Earth was all but doomed."

The Truth Shall Get Ye Ousted. Todd Spangler of the Detroit Free Press: "Kathleen Gray, a longtime political reporter for the Detroit Free Press who now works for the New York Times, said she was removed from ... Donald Trump's Michigan rally on Thursday after tweeting that few in the crowd appeared to be wearing masks. 'First for me: Trump campaign tracked me down from pics i tweeted and escorted me out,' Gray said in a post on Twitter. Earlier she had posted photos of the crowd and said 'Maybe 10% have masks.' National media reported that Trump campaign officials said she was removed from the rally at MBS International Airport in Freeland because she did not have campaign-issued credentials and was working in the general audience area rather than in a designated press area. Gray told Bridge Magazine that she had missed the deadline to get credentials but had tried multiple times to contact the campaign to get them after that and received no response. She acknowledged that she entered the general admission section of the rally because she didn't have the campaign-issued media credentials."

Rick Wilson & Molly Jong-Fast discuss "The New Abnormal." Daily Beast: "'No American has killed more of their fellow Americans in this country than Donald Trump, except for Robert E. Lee and Jefferson fucking Davis,' [Wilson] says. 'No one has a body count to rival Trump's. He knew it. He knew it was there. He did it. He let it happen. It is the most unbelievable and horrifying outcome that we can imagine.' Molly adds, 'Mike Pence was at a pro-life event the other day. And I was thinking about the irony, right? This administration has killed 100,000 plus plus plus people. And they're talking about embryos. Like, it's almost beyond parody'":

DHS Caused Virginia Covid-19 Outbreak as Part of Effort to Police D.C. Protests. Antonio Olivo & Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration flew immigrant detainees to Virginia this summer to facilitate the rapid deployment of Homeland Security tactical teams to quell protests in Washington, circumventing restrictions on the use of charter flights for employee travel, according to a current and a former U.S. official. After the transfer, dozens of the new arrivals tested positive for the novel coronavirus, fueling an outbreak at the Farmville, Va., immigration jail that infected more than 300 inmates, one of whom died.... A former ICE official who learned about [the travel arrangements] from other personnel, said the primary reason for the June 2 transfers was to skirt rules that bar ICE employees from traveling on the charter flights unless detainees are also aboard. The transfers took place over the objections of ICE officials in the Washington field office, according to testimony at a Farmville town council meeting in August, and at a time when immigration jails elsewhere in the country had plenty of beds available because of a dramatic decrease in border crossings and in-country arrests."

Lia Eustachewich of the New York Post: "Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and Vice President Mike Pence shared an elbow bump Friday at the annual 9/11 memorial ceremony in New York City. The 2020 presidential ticket foes, each wearing face masks, greeted one another according to coronavirus pandemic protocol and briefly chatted at Ground Zero just before the 19th annual commemoration kicked off. They were among a number of elected officials and dignitaries to attend the event, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Bill de Blasio, NYPD Police Commissioner Dermot Shea, George Pataki, who was governor of New York during 9/11, New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Why didn't Trump go to New York, the city of his birth? Was he afraid of being ambushed by a subpoena-server? Or of being booed? Did he not want to go to his apartment where he would have to look down upon a "Black Lives Matter" street mural? Probably he just thought he'd get more of a campaign boost from going to Shanksville, and unlike Biden, Trump does not have the strength to attend two memorial services.

~~~~~~~~~~

Matt Viser of the Washington Post: "Joe Biden was on an Amtrak train on Sept. 11, 2001, when his wife called to tell him about the attacks on the World Trade Center, and when he reached Washington, he grew frustrated that he couldn't get to the Senate floor for a speech because the U.S. Capitol had been evacuated. Biden nonetheless found ways to make his point -- that institutions like Congress and NATO are bulwarks against such assaults on democracy. 'I refuse to be part of letting these bastards win,' Biden said that day. Hundreds of miles to the north -- and four miles from Ground Zero -- Donald Trump was sitting in a tower bearing his name, watching CNBC and preparing to call a local TV station to offer his own commentary, including a lament that the stock market was forced to close.... Nineteen years later, Trump and Biden are their respective party's presidential candidates, and both will visit Shanksville, Pa., on Friday, the place where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a field.... [Trump will visit in the morning; Biden in the afternoon.] The Sept. 11 attacks targeted the cities that molded the two men, Washington and New York, reinforcing the clashing worldviews they now offer the American electorate: Biden's embrace of U.S. institutions and global alliances, Trump's distrust of foreigners and insistence that America must go it alone." ~~~

~~~ Once Upon a Presidential Campaign. CBS/AP (September 11, 2008): "Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama made ground zero their common ground for one rare day, free of politics and infused with memory. Putting their partisan contest on a respectful hold, they walked together Thursday into the great pit where the World Trade Center once stood and, as one, honored the dead from the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. They walked down a long ramp flanked with the flags of countries, chatting at times, silent other times, and sharing a quick laugh at one point. Right behind them, Cindy McCain clutched Mayor Michael Bloomberg's arm - Michelle Obama was with her daughters in Chicago. At the bottom of the ramp, the two rivals stopped to talk with a small group of family members of the attacks' victims of seven years ago. They laid flowers at the pit's commemorative reflecting pool - a pink rose from Obama, a yellow rose from McCain - bowed their heads and walked off to speak with fire and police personnel. There were no speeches. 'Thanks, we'll see ya,' McCain told Obama as the Democrat patted the Republican's back and they shook hands and parted."

Members of Congress from both parties, on the Capitol steps September 11, 2001, spontaneously sing "God Bless America":

Presidential Race:

Eric Bradner of CNN: "... Joe Biden said ... Donald Trump 'seems to have no conception of what constitutes national security' after Trump revealed in interviews with Bob Woodward the existence of a classified nuclear weapons system. In an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, the former vice president said Trump's comments to Woodward ... were 'not a surprise.' 'You wonder why people in the intelligence community wondered from the very beginning whether you could share data with him, 'cause they don't trust him. They don't trust what he'll say or do,' Biden said. 'He seems to have no conception of what constitutes national security, no conception of anything other than, what can he do to promote himself?'"

~~~ Lauren Gambino, et al., of the Guardian: "Joe Biden has branded Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic 'almost criminal' after book revelations that the US president admitted in early February the disease was 'deadly stuff' but deliberately played it down. As the death toll from Covid-19 nears 200,000 in America, the world's highest, Biden excoriated his opponent in November's election over the way he did not address the defining crisis of his presidency early and comprehensively.... Biden said Trump's public advice downplaying the virus has 'cost lives'. The former vice-president cited a report by Columbia University Medical School that said that if Trump had acted a week earlier in March to curb the virus, about 31,000 lives would have been saved, and if he had acted two weeks earlier, more than 50,000 deaths would have been prevented." ~~~

Bob Woodward had my quotes for many months. If he thought they were so bad or dangerous, why didn';t he immediately report them in an effort to save lives? Didn't he have an obligation to do so? No, because he knew they were good and proper answers. Calm, no panic! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet Thursday ~~~

~~~ Quint Forgey & Matthew Choi of Politico: "By Thursday afternoon, Trump found himself still trying to contain the fallout, aggressively fending off questions during an afternoon news conference. He repeated his Twitter defenses and pinned much of the responsibility on Woodward, saying the journalist should have alerted the appropriate authorities at the time of the interview if he found Trump's words problematic. Trump also watered down his contact with Woodward, portraying the interviews as casual quick chats rather than the hours of wide-ranging conversations that they were.... When a reporter [-- Mrs. McC: Jonathan Karl of ABC News--] asked why he lied to the American people about the severity of the disease, Trump bristled, calling the question 'disgraceful.' 'Such a terrible question and the phraseology,' Trump immediately shot back. 'I didn't lie.'... Biden's campaign ramped up its own assault on Thursday, contending that Trump's excuse of seeking to prevent coronavirus-related 'panic' did not explain his decision to hold a series of mega-rallies in the time between his first conversation with Bob Woodward and March." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Grace Segers & Nicole Sganga of CBS News: "Even after privately acknowledging that COVID-19 was a virus transmitted through the air in early February, President Trump participated in several campaign rallies in indoor venues before states began to shut down in early March to mitigate the spread of the virus, according to revelations from journalist Bob Woodward's upcoming book. In an interview with Woodward on February 7, Mr. Trump said the coronavirus was 'more deadly' than 'even your strenuous flus,' and difficult to address because 'it goes through air.' 'It goes through air, Bob. That's always tougher than the touch. You know, the touch, you don't have to touch things. Right? But the air, you just breathe the air and that's how it's passed,' Mr. Trump told Woodward.... Despite raising these concerns with Woodward, Mr. Trump held six rallies indoors between February 7 and March 2." ~~~

~~~ Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "Unlike most Trump tapes, Woodward's actually tell us something new about the president, rather than just confirming what we think we already know.... What's shocking -- even after more than three and a half numbing years -- is the deliberate, willful nature of the lies.... Because Trump is a prodigious consumer of propaganda, as well as a creator of it, it's not always clear how aware he is of spreading disinformation. People who've spent time with him often conclude that truth has no meaning for him.... Yet in recordings Woodward has released of Trump talking about the coronavirus ... the president doesn't sound ignorant or deluded.... This wasn't just Trump being buffoonish and engaging in magical thinking. It was conscious deception.... When someone's actions lead to the death of another, we evaluate that person's intent and state of mind in order to assign the right measure of blame. When a president's actions lead to the deaths of thousands, we should do the same." ~~~

~~~ Motive Matters. Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "... it's wrong to say that Trump mishandled Covid-19, that his response was incompetent. No, it wasn't; it was immoral, bordering on criminal." ~~~

~~~ Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "Staring down reporters at a White House news conference in the wake of revelations from Bob Woodward's new book, 'Rage,' Trump cast his deception as a virtue -- a president instilling calm to protect the people.... Trump evidently did not feel the same presidential obligation to imbue serenity a few hours earlier, however, when he sounded the alarm on Twitter about a number of other topics. 'If I don't win, America's Suburbs will be OVERRUN with Low Income Projects, Anarchists, Agitators, Looters and, of course, "Friendly Protesters,"' Trump tweeted Thursday morning.... Throughout his five years on the national political stage, Trump has used fear to acquire and keep power. Scare tactics are the hammer and screwdriver of his tool kit.... As president, he has warned darkly -- and with considerable hyperbole -- of dangers he sees everywhere.... 'His political campaign's branding strategy is panic. They should put "PANIC" on a red hat,' said Tim Miller, a longtime GOP strategist who advises Republican Voters Against Trump. Miller said Trump's assertion that he played down the threat of the novel coronavirus because he did not want to panic the public was 'an absurd defense.'"

Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Fox "News" Anchor Fact-checks Trump Flack. Matt Wilstein of the Daily Beast: On Thursday, "as [Trump campaign spokesperson Tim] Murtaugh went on to claim that Trump was saying the 'same things' publicly that he was telling Woodward, Fox "News" anchor Bret] Baier stopped him in his tracks. 'That's not true, Tim' the anchor said.... 'It's not true. When he was saying publicly that the virus would go from 15 to zero and then it was magically going to wash away, that is not the same thing he's telling Bob Woodward, that it's a deadly virus that travels over the air and it's really serious and "I like to downplay it." He was not saying the same things publicly that he was privately to Bob Woodward.' 'It was public knowledge at the time,' Murtaugh replied. 'It was discussed in coronavirus briefings. Everyone knew that it was transmitted through things like coughing and sneezing.' Interrupting his guest again, Baier added, 'But what you just said was that what he was saying privately and publicly was the same. It's not.' And yet Murtaugh still insisted that President Trump 'was being straight with the American people,' adding, 'There is no question of that.'"

David Smiley, et al., of the Tampa Bay Times: "Kamala Harris's first Miami visit as Joe Biden's running mate was an attempt to engage a large group of voters who haven't seen the Democratic ticket in the state for nearly a year. On Thursday, Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, managed to meet with non-Cuban Hispanics, Black voters, college graduates and Jewish voters across Miami-Dade County in a six-hour span. They were courting a diverse group voters with vastly different policy preferences and values -- who are also crucial for Biden's hopes in Florida as the polls show a tightening race two months before Election Day.... Unlike ... Donald Trump, who is betting that his appeal with white voters and Cuban-Americans will put him over the top in Florida, Biden's winning coalition is far more diverse."

Another Killer Trump Rally. Jill Colvin of the AP: "Reeling from another crisis of his own making..., Donald Trump tried to refocus attention on his Democratic rival at a rally in battleground Michigan Thursday as he pushed to move past revelations that he purposefully played down the danger of the coronavirus last winter. But the virus controversy followed him as he faced new pushback from local officials worried about the growing size of his rallies and his campaign's repeated flouting of public health guidelines intended to halt the COVID-19 spread. That includes Michigan's Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who raised alarms about Thursday's event, warning it would make recovery harder. Trump, however, reveled in the crowd of several thousand, packed shoulder-to-shoulder in a cavernous airport hangar, mostly without masks -- with Air Force One on display as his backdrop. 'This is not the crowd of a person who comes in second place,' Trump declared to cheers as he railed against Whitmer for current state restrictions. 'Tell your governor to open up your state!' he demanded, saying Michigan would be better if it 'had a governor who knew what the hell she was doing.'" ~~~

~~~ Another Humongous Trump Lie. David Boucher & Todd Spangler of the Detroit Free Press: "... Donald Trump made wildly inaccurate claims at a rally outside Saginaw on Thursday night, suggesting he has revitalized auto manufacturing in the state when it actually lost jobs even before coronavirus hit in March. 'We brought you a lot of car plants, we brought you a lot ... and we're going to bring you a lot more,' Trump began his speech at MBS International Airport in Freeland. But only one new major assembly facility, a Jeep plant on Detroit's east side, has been announced during Trump's term, while General Motors underwent a divisive 40-day strike last year and announced the idling of four U.S. plants, including two in Michigan. One of those, Detroit-Hamtramck, has since been revived and is being retooled to build electric cars and SUVs. Warren transmission was revived most recently to make face masks, though its future is uncertain.... Trump also said that after speaking with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, officials announced 'five new car companies are coming to Michigan,' but there has been no such announcement that the Free Press is aware of.... He also said no new assembly plants had been built in the state in more than 40 years but at least two new GM plants have opened since 1999.... As of February, there were about 2,400 fewer auto and auto parts jobs in Michigan than when Trump took office in January 2017." ~~~

~~~ It's the Same Lie He Tells in Many Swing States:

Many plants are being built right now -- auto plants -- in Michigan, just like I said. They're being built in Ohio, they're being built in South Carolina, North Carolina, they're being built all over and expanded at a level that we've never seen before. Cause I said to Japan, Germany and others,'Sorry, you've got to come here and build plants, otherwise we're going to have to make it very tough on you with tariffs.' -- Donald Trump, remarks on Labor Day, Sept. 7, 2020

Trump keeps bragging about imaginary auto plants in swing states. Only five new auto plants have been announced since Trump took office, and investment in auto manufacturing was higher under the last three years of Barack Obama's presidency than the first three of Trump's. Three of the four states name-checked by Trump do not have new plants. And there's no evidence that Trump's threat of tariffs led to more auto investment. -- Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post

Will Steakin & Terrance Smith of ABC News: "A new ad released by ... Donald Trump's reelection campaign that looked to capitalize on the August jobs report to portray the country as being in the middle of a 'great American comeback' features foreign stock footage. The ad, which paints an incomplete picture of the American economy amid the coronavirus pandemic, does so in part by featuring stock footage from countries outside the United States, including a warehouse in Ukraine and publicly available footage of two models -- one from Italy and another from Ukraine -- but which appear in the ad to represent images from the U.S." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Rudy, Dumbest Senator Have Been Working with "Active Russian Agent." Noah Schactman of the Daily Beast: "The president's personal lawyer has been working closely with 'an active Russian agent' trying to smear the president's chief political rival. That's the conclusion of the U.S. Treasury Department, which sanctioned on Thursday one of Rudy Giuliani's Ukrainian allies for interference in the upcoming U.S. elections. Andriy Derkach worked closely with Giuliani -- and with the Trump-friendly cable network, OANN -- to push accusations of political misconduct against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. Derkach, a member of Kyiv's parliament and son of a former KGB officer, has also been supplying documents to Republicans on Capitol Hill, where Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) is conducting an election-eve investigation into the Bidens." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Eric Tucker of the AP: "The Trump administration has charged a Russian national in a sweeping plot to create distrust in the American political process. The Justice Department charges were announced Thursday along with sanctions against four people, including a Ukraine lawmaker, accused of election interference[.]... The administration's move was especially notable because the statement announcing it said [Andrii] Derkach's recordings advance anti-Biden claims that rely on 'false and unsubstantiated narratives.' Trump has promoted those recordings by retweeting posts that include them." ~~~

~~~ Joel Schectman, et al., of Reuters: "Microsoft Corp ... recently alerted one of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's main election campaign advisory firms that it had been targeted by suspected Russian state-backed hackers, according to three people briefed on the matter. The hacking attempts targeted staff at Washington-based SKDKnickerbocker, a campaign strategy and communications firm working with Biden and other prominent Democrats, over the past two months, the sources said. A person familiar with SKDK's response to the attempts said the hackers failed to gain access to the firm's networks. 'They are well-defended, so there has been no breach,' the person said." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ David Sanger & Nicole Perlroth of the New York Times: "The Russian military intelligence unit that attacked the Democratic National Committee four years ago is back with a series of new, more stealthy hacks aimed at campaign staff, consultants and think tanks associated with both Democrats and Republicans. That warning was issued on Thursday by the Microsoft Corporation, in an assessment that is far more detailed than any yet made public by American intelligence agencies. The findings come one day after a government whistle-blower claimed that officials at the White House and the Department of Homeland Security suppressed intelligence concerning Russia's continuing interference because it 'made the president look bad,' and instructed government analysts to instead focus on interference by China and Iran. Microsoft did find that Chinese and Iranian hackers have been active -- but often not in the way that President Trump and his aides have suggested. Contrary to an assessment by the director of national intelligence last month that said China preferred former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. win the election, Microsoft found that Chinese hackers have been attacking the private email accounts of Mr. Biden's campaign staff, along with a range of other prominent individuals in academia and the national security establishment.... Notably, only one of the Chinese targets detected by Microsoft was affiliated with Mr. Trump, a former administration official whom Microsoft declined to name." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Politico's report is here. A Microsoft report is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Marshall Cohen of CNN: "Twitter announced Thursday that it is expanding its policies against election-related misinformation, setting new rules that will likely force the platform to more aggressively fact-check ... Donald Trump during the final months of the 2020 campaign. The social media giant rolled out the new policies in a blog post, which said that Twitter ... will either add fact-check labels to or hide altogether tweets that contain 'false or misleading information that causes confusion' about election rules, or posts with 'unverified information about election rigging.' Twitter's porous and subjective policies have enabled Trump to spread a steady stream of misinformation about the election to millions of Americans. The company led the way for Big Tech when it rebuked Trump for a misleading tweet in May, but that watershed moment has ended up looking more like an outlier.... The new rules, which Twitter says will go into effect next week, explicitly prohibit a lot of the material Trump is prone to posting...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Chutzpah, Lies & Corruption, Ctd.

Trump Boasted of Saving MBS's Ass after Khashogi Murder. Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: "Among the 18 interviews with veteran reporter Bob Woodward..., Donald Trump admitted that he protected Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud after the murder and coverup of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashogi. BusinessInsider posted the excerpt Thursday from the book in which Trump bragged he 'saved his ass,' from Congress. 'I was able to get Congress to leave him alone. I was able to get them to stop.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Jeremy Barr of the Washington Post: "USA Today is defending longtime Washington bureau chief Susan Page, after a congressional investigation revealed that she hosted a 'Girls' Night Out' event at her home in honor of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma in November 2018. Page, a longtime member of the D.C. press corps, was recently picked by the Commission on Presidential Debates to host the vice-presidential debate on Oct. 7. Her leading role in hosting the event at her home raised eyebrows on social media from observers who suggested that it conflicted with her ability to cover the administration as an impartial journalist. Reporters are supposed to maintain an arm's-length relationship with their sources, and hosting parties for them arguably compromises this role." See related Politico story on Big Spender (of your money) Verma linked yesterday. ~~~

     ~~~ Elizabeth Williamson of the New York Times now has a story on Verma's $6 million-dollar taxpayer-paid self-promotion tab. "A yearlong investigation by congressional Democrats of Ms. Verma ... exposed not only a shadow operation to polish Ms. Verma's personal brand but also the underside of life in Washington, where the personal and the professional often blend into a mélange of questionable interactions."

The Trumpidemic, Etc.

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Thursday are here: "The coronavirus may be best known for the brutal toll it has taken on older adults, but a new study of hospital patients challenges the notion that young people are impervious. The research letter from Harvard found that among 3,222 young adults hospitalized with Covid-19, 88 died -- about 2.7 percent. One in five required intensive care, and one in 10 needed a ventilator to assist with breathing. Among those who survived, 99 patients, or 3 percent, could not be sent home from the hospital and were transferred to facilities for ongoing care or rehabilitation. The study 'establishes that Covid-19 is a life-threatening disease in people of all ages,' wrote Dr. Mitchell Katz, a deputy editor at JAMA Internal Medicine, in an accompanying editorial." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Thursday are here: "Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has quietly dropped a controversial rule directing states to give private schools a bigger share of federal coronavirus aid than Congress had intended after a federal judge ruled that it violated the law." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Erica Werner, et al., of the Washington Post: "Democrats blocked a pared-down GOP coronavirus relief bill in a bitterly disputed Senate vote Thursday, leaving the two parties without a clear path forward to approve new economic stimulus before the November elections. The vote was 52-47, far short of the 60 votes that would have been needed for the measure to advance. Democrats were united in opposing the legislation; all Republicans voted in favor except Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). For Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), wrangling a majority of the Senate behind the legislation constituted a measure of success, after months when Senate Republicans have been hopelessly divided. But next steps -- if any -- toward the kind of bipartisan deal that would be needed to actually pass a bill to provide new benefits to the public were unclear." The Hill's report is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Tara Bahrampour of the Washington Post: "A federal court on Thursday blocked a memorandum signed by President Trump seeking to exclude undocumented immigrants from being counted in the census for apportionment saying such action would violate the statute governing congressional apportionment. A special three-judge panel out of New York wrote that the president's argument that undocumented immigrants should not be counted runs afoul of a statute saying apportionment must be based on everyone who is a resident of the U.S. The judges found that all residents must be counted for apportionment purposes regardless of their legal status. The ruling came hours after a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to produce internal documents connected to its sudden decision to end the 2020 Census count a month earlier than the Census Bureau had planned. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh gave the government three days to file all documents and communications between mid-April, when the bureau said it would extend the count to Oct. 31 due to the pandemic, and Aug. 3, when it abruptly said the count would end Sept. 30."

Jeff Cox of CNBC: "Weekly jobless claims were worse than expected last week amid a plodding climb for the U.S. labor market from the damage inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic. The Labor Department on Thursday reported 884,000 first-time filings for unemployment insurance, compared with 850,000 expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones. The total was unchanged from the previous week." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Laura Strickler of NBC News: "The Kentucky attorney general is preparing to present evidence from the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor to a grand jury as early as next week, according to two sources familiar with the matter."

Aimee Ortiz & Alan Yuhas of the New York Times: "The Houston Police Department on Thursday fired four officers involved in the fatal shooting of a 27-year-old man in April and released body camera footage of the confrontation, after months of scrutiny by investigators and calls for transparency from protesters. The man, Nicolas Chavez, was shot dead by the police on the night of April 21. The next day the department said it was investigating the shooting and gave an account of what happened that was quickly challenged by Mr. Chavez's family and protesters, especially after cellphone video recorded by a bystander emerged."

Tim Elfrink of the Washington Post: "When police last week surrounded Michael Forest Reinoehl, a self-described anti-fascist suspected of fatally shooting a member of a far-right group in Portland, Ore., the wanted man wasn't obviously armed, a witness to the scene said Wednesday. In fact, according to Nate Dinguss, Reinoehl was clutching a cellphone and eating a gummy worm as he walked to his car outside an apartment complex in Lacey, Wash. That's when officers opened fire without first announcing themselves or trying to arrest him, Dinguss, a 39-year-old who lives in the apartment complex, said in a statement shared with The Washington Post.... Dinguss added officers waited 'multiple minutes' before rendering medical aid to Reinoehl, who died at the scene from several gunshot wounds.... Dinguss's account of the Sept. 3 fatal shooting, first reported by the Oregonian, contradicts details offered by federal authorities, who said Reinoehl, 48, pulled a gun as members of a fugitive task force tried to arrest him. Two other witnesses also told the Olympian they had seen Reinoehl fire a weapon at police." Mrs. McC: I thought from the git-go this was a questionable killing-by-cops. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

News Lede

The New York Times' live updates of West Coast fire developments are here.

The Commentariat -- Sept. 10, 2020

Afternoon Update:

Bob Woodward had my quotes for many months. If he thought they were so bad or dangerous, why didn't he immediately report them in an effort to save lives? Didn't he have an obligation to do so? No, because he knew they were good and proper answers. Calm, no panic! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet Thursday ~~~

~~~ Quint Forgey & Matthew Choi of Politico: "By Thursday afternoon, Trump found himself still trying to contain the fallout, aggressively fending off questions during an afternoon news conference. He repeated his Twitter defenses and pinned much of the responsibility on Woodward, saying the journalist should have alerted the appropriate authorities at the time of the interview if he found Trump's words problematic. Trump also watered down his contact with Woodward, portraying the interviews as casual quick chats rather than the hours of wide-ranging conversations that they were.... When a reporter asked why he lied to the American people about the severity of the disease, Trump bristled, calling the question 'disgraceful.' 'Such a terrible question and the phraseology,' Trump immediately shot back. 'I didn't lie.'... Biden's campaign ramped up its own assault on Thursday, contending that Trump's excuse of seeking to prevent coronavirus-related 'panic' did not explain his decision to hold a series of mega-rallies in the time between his first conversation with Bob Woodward and March."

Will Steakin & Terrance Smith of ABC News: "A new ad released by ... Donald Trump's reelection campaign that looked to capitalize on the August jobs report to portray the country as being in the middle of a 'great American comeback' features foreign stock footage. The ad, which paints an incomplete picture of the American economy amid the coronavirus pandemic, does so in part by featuring stock footage from countries outside the United States, including a warehouse in Ukraine and publicly available footage of two models -- one from Italy and another from Ukraine -- but which appear in the ad to represent images from the U.S."

Joel Schectman, et al., of Reuters: "Microsoft Corp ... recently alerted one of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's main election campaign advisory firms that it had been targeted by suspected Russian state-backed hackers, according to three people briefed on the matter. The hacking attempts targeted staff at Washington-based SKDKnickerbocker, a campaign strategy and communications firm working with Biden and other prominent Democrats, over the past two months, the sources said. A person familiar with SKDK's response to the attempts said the hackers failed to gain access to the firm's networks. 'They are well-defended, so there has been no breach,' the person said." ~~~

~~~ David Sanger & Nicole Perlroth of the New York Times: "The Russian military intelligence unit that attacked the Democratic National Committee four years ago is back with a series of new, more stealthy hacks aimed at campaign staff, consultants and think tanks associated with both Democrats and Republicans. That warning was issued on Thursday by the Microsoft Corporation, in an assessment that is far more detailed than any yet made public by American intelligence agencies. The findings come one day after a government whistle-blower claimed that officials at the White House and the Department of Homeland Security suppressed intelligence concerning Russia's continuing interference because it 'made the president look bad,' and instructed government analysts to instead focus on interference by China and Iran. Microsoft did find that Chinese and Iranian hackers have been active -- but often not in the way that President Trump and his aides have suggested. Contrary to an assessment by the director of national intelligence last month that said China preferred former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. win the election, Microsoft found that Chinese hackers have been attacking the private email accounts of Mr. Biden's campaign staff, along with a range of other prominent individuals in academia and the national security establishment.... Notably, only one of the Chinese targets detected by Microsoft was affiliated with Mr. Trump, a former administration official whom Microsoft declined to name." ~~~

     ~~~ Politico's report is here. A Microsoft report is here.

Rudy, Dumbest Senator Have Been Working with "Active Russian Agent." Noah Schactman of the Daily Beast: "The president's personal lawyer has been working closely with 'an active Russian agent' trying to smear the president's chief political rival. That's the conclusion of the U.S. Treasury Department, which sanctioned on Thursday one of Rudy Giuliani's Ukrainian allies for interference in the upcoming U.S. elections. Andriy Derkach worked closely with Giuliani -- and with the Trump-friendly cable network, OANN -- to push accusations of political misconduct against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. Derkach, a member of Kyiv's parliament and son of a former KGB officer, has also been supplying documents to Republicans on Capitol Hill, where Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) is conducting an election-eve investigation into the Bidens."

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Thursday are here: "The coronavirus may be best known for the brutal toll it has taken on older adults, but a new study of hospital patients challenges the notion that young people are impervious. The research letter from Harvard found that among 3,222 young adults hospitalized with Covid-19, 88 died -- about 2.7 percent. One in five required intensive care, and one in 10 needed a ventilator to assist with breathing. Among those who survived, 99 patients, or 3 percent, could not be sent home from the hospital and were transferred to facilities for ongoing care or rehabilitation. The study 'establishes that Covid-19 is a life-threatening disease in people of all ages,' wrote Dr. Mitchell Katz, a deputy editor at JAMA Internal Medicine, in an accompanying editorial." ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Thursday are here: "Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has quietly dropped a controversial rule directing states to give private schools a bigger share of federal coronavirus aid than Congress had intended after a federal judge ruled that it violated the law."

Erica Werner, et al., of the Washington Post: "Democrats blocked a pared-down GOP coronavirus relief bill in a bitterly disputed Senate vote Thursday, leaving the two parties without a clear path forward to approve new economic stimulus before the November elections. The vote was 52-47, far short of the 60 votes that would have been needed for the measure to advance. Democrats were united in opposing the legislation; all Republicans voted in favor except Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). For Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), wrangling a majority of the Senate behind the legislation constituted a measure of success, after months when Senate Republicans have been hopelessly divided. But next steps -- if any -- toward the kind of bipartisan deal that would be needed to actually pass a bill to provide new benefits to the public were unclear." The Hill's report is here.

Trump Boasted of Saving MBS's Ass after Khashogi Murder. Sarah Burris of the Raw Story: "Among the 18 interviews with veteran reporter Bob Woodward..., Donald Trump admitted that he protected Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud after the murder and coverup of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashogi. BusinessInsider posted the excerpt Thursday from the book in which Trump bragged he 'saved his ass,' from Congress. 'I was able to get Congress to leave him alone. I was able to get them to stop.'"

Marshall Cohen of CNN: "Twitter announced Thursday that it is expanding its policies against election-related misinformation, setting new rules that will likely force the platform to more aggressively fact-check ... Donald Trump during the final months of the 2020 campaign. The social media giant rolled out the new policies in a blog post, which said that Twitter ... will either add fact-check labels to or hide altogether tweets that contain 'false or misleading information that causes confusion' about election rules, or posts with 'unverified information about election rigging.' Twitter's porous and subjective policies have enabled Trump to spread a steady stream of misinformation about the election to millions of Americans. The company led the way for Big Tech when it rebuked Trump for a misleading tweet in May, but that watershed moment has ended up looking more like an outlier.... The new rules, which Twitter says will go into effect next week, explicitly prohibit a lot of the material Trump is prone to posting...."

Jeff Cox of CNBC: "Weekly jobless claims were worse than expected last week amid a plodding climb for the U.S. labor market from the damage inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic. The Labor Department on Thursday reported 884,000 first-time filings for unemployment insurance, compared with 850,000 expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones. The total was unchanged from the previous week."

Tim Elfrink of the Washington Post: "When police last week surrounded Michael Forest Reinoehl, a self-described anti-fascist suspected of fatally shooting a member of a far-right group in Portland, Ore., the wanted man wasn't obviously armed, a witness to the scene said Wednesday. In fact, according to Nate Dinguss, Reinoehl was clutching a cellphone and eating a gummy worm as he walked to his car outside an apartment complex in Lacey, Wash. That's when officers opened fire without first announcing themselves or trying to arrest him, Dinguss, a 39-year-old who lives in the apartment complex, said in a statement shared with The Washington Post.... Dinguss added officers waited 'multiple minutes' before rendering medical aid to Reinoehl, who died at the scene from several gunshot wounds.... Dinguss's account of the Sept. 3 fatal shooting, first reported by the Oregonian, contradicts details offered by federal authorities, who said Reinoehl, 48, pulled a gun as members of a fugitive task force tried to arrest him. Two other witnesses also told the Olympian they had seen Reinoehl fire a weapon at police." Mrs. McC: I thought from the git-go this was a questionable killing-by-cops.

~~~~~~~~~~

Chutzpah, Lies & Corruption, Ctd.

Josh Dawsey, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Trump acknowledged Wednesday that he intentionally played down the deadly nature of the rapidly spreading coronavirus last winter as an attempt to avoid a 'frenzy,' part of an escalating damage-control effort by his top advisers to contain the fallout from a forthcoming book by The Washington Post's Bob Woodward.... Trump said publicly that he did nothing wrong. 'So the fact is, I’m a cheerleader for this country. I love our country. And I don't want people to be frightened,' Trump told reporters at the White House.... Democrats, led by their presidential nominee Joe Biden, denounced Trump's actions as part of a deliberate effort to lie to the public for his own political purposes when other world leaders took decisive action to warn their people and set those nations on a better path to handling the pandemic.... Public health officials have said for months that clearly educating the public on the lethal nature of covid-19 ... is the most important tool in reining in its spread, so that people will adhere to social distancing guidelines and wear masks. Trump, who regularly flouts those guidelines..., rejected the criticism Wednesday that his mistruths helped create a false sense of security in the public and led to a more widespread transmission of the disease than in other leading nations." ~~~

     ~~~ Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post: Trump says he "downplayed" the severity of the coronavirus because he didn't want people to panic. But he's running his campaign for re-election on fear. "His YouTube video channel is filled with apocalyptic images of violence, economic despair and disaster. So are the president's speeches and news availabilities, including at the same venue where he said he did not want to create panic." ~~~

~~~ Kadia Goba of BuzzFeed News: "During Wednesday's press conference, Trump did not deny Woodward's report but called it a 'political hit job' before insisting he was trying to avoid showing a sense of panic. Trump said the same when a reporter asked how the American people can trust what he says. 'Well, I think that's really a big part of trust,' Trump said. 'We have to have leadership. We have to show leadership. And the last thing you want to do is create a panic in the country.'... Trump insisted Wednesday that he didn't expect the coronavirus outbreak would spread to the degree it ultimately did.... 'You didn't really think it was going to be to the point where it was,' Trump told reporters.... 'All of a sudden, the world was infected. The entire world was infected.'" ~~~

~~~ Adam Edelman of NBC News: "Joe Biden and other top Democrats on Wednesday slammed ... Donald Trump over comments he made about the coronavirus to journalist Bob Woodward for an upcoming book, including the president's acknowledgment that he 'wanted to always play it down,' even though he knew it was 'deadly.' 'It was a life and death betrayal of the American people,' Biden said about the revelations during a campaign event in Warren, Michigan. 'It's beyond despicable. It's a dereliction of duty, a disgrace.... He knew how deadly it was. He knew and purposely played it down,' Biden added. 'Worse, he lied.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Steve M.: "If Trump had a conscience, he would have long since resigned in shame and disappeared from public life. As it is, this probably won't make more than a tiny dent in his polling. He'll still be a contender for the presidency in November. He won't alter anything he's doing about the pandemic, and his fans will be fine with that. Trump is a monster. There's no question anymore who the worst president in American history has been. It would take a Hitler to top him. Yet much of the commentary I've read in liberal online circles today has barely focused on Trump at all. Typical of what I've seen is this, from Charlie Pierce: Both the President* and Bob Woodward Knew This for Months and Kept It From the Public[.] Emphasis original. ~~~

~~~ Hillel Italie of the AP: "Bob Woodward, facing widespread criticism for only now revealing ... Donald Trump's early concerns about the severity of the coronavirus, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he needed time to be sure that Trump's private comments from February were accurate." Mrs. McC: IOW, Woodward says he had to check with other sources to determine whether Trump was lying about lying. Personally, I find it a little precious to blame a reporter for not telling all when at least a dozen officials surrounding Trump -- officials who had sworn oaths to the Constitution -- knew the same things and never said a word. A few -- and these may have been lower-level and/or career employees -- have been anonymously leaking bits & pieces of Trump's malfeasance, but none has been willing to walk out the White House door & timely speak on the record about what s/he knows. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post spoke to Bob Woodward about his withholding Trump's remarks: "Woodward said his aim was to provide a fuller context than could occur in a news story: 'I knew I could tell the second draft of history, and I knew I could tell it before the election.'... What's more, he said, there were at least two problems with what he heard from Trump in February that kept him from putting it in the newspaper at the time: First, he didn't know what the source of Trump's information was. It wasn't until months later -- in May -- that Woodward learned it came from a high-level intelligence briefing in January that was also described in Wednesday's reporting about the book.... Second, Woodward said, 'the biggest problem I had, which is always a problem with Trump, is I didn't know if it was true.'... It took months, Woodward told me, to do the reporting that put it all in context.... Still, the chance -- even if it's a slim chance -- that those revelations could have saved lives is a powerful argument against waiting this long." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The people who believe Donald Trump are not going to believe Bob Woodward or anything any journalist writes in the Washington Post. I don't know anyone personally who was hanging on Trump's press briefings to find out how to reorganize their own lives in response to the coronavirus. Everyone I know sought reliable, professional sources of information. The people who did follow Trump's advice did so either because they're part of his cult or because it was convenient for them. It is significant that the reason Trump lied is different from the reason many of us thought: that he was too dumb and too stubborn to acknowledge the science that, had the federal government followed it, would have saved tens of thousands of American lives. Instead, we find out he knew all along what the consequences of his inaction would be, and he just didn't care. That certainly matters, but knowing Trump is a little smarter and more selfish than we thought would not have saved lives. One could argue that Trump would have changed his tune had his Big Lie been exposed, but I doubt it. That's one of those it-might-have-been suppositions that is not provable.

** Robert Costa & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: On January 28, national security advisor Robert O'Brien told Donald Trump that the coronavirus outbreak in China would "'be the roughest thing you face.' Ten days later, [according to Bob Woodward in a new book titled Rage,] Trump called Woodward and ... [said,] 'You just breathe the air and that's how it's passed.... It's also more deadly than even your strenuous flu.' 'This is deadly stuff,' the president repeated for emphasis. At that time, Trump was telling the nation that the virus was no worse than a seasonal flu, predicting it would soon disappear, and insisting that the U.S. government had it totally under control.... Trump admitted to Woodward on March 19 that he deliberately minimized the danger. 'I wanted to always play it down,' the president said.... Woodward's new book ... covers race relations, diplomacy with North Korea and a range of other issues that have arisen during the past two years. The book also includes brutal assessments of Trump's conduct from former defense secretary Jim Mattis, former director of national intelligence Daniel Coats and others." Read on. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update: The WashPo story now includes audio clips. ~~~

~~~ Jamie Gangel & others at CNN also have read Woodward's book. Their report covers much of what the WashPo report does, and it includes recorded clips of Woodward's phone conversations with Trump. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It's worth noting that according to a May 3 CNN report by Jeremy Diamond, "... Donald Trump claimed Sunday [May 3] that the US intelligence community 'did NOT bring up the CoronaVirus subject matter until late into January' and that 'they only spoke of the Virus in a very non-threatening, or matter of fact, manner.'... 'On January 23, I was told that there could be a virus coming in but it was of no real import. In other words it wasn't, "Oh we gotta do something, we gotta do something." It was a brief conversation and it was only on January 23,' Trump said during a Fox News town hall." These would be not just lies, but monstrous, murderous lies. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Aishvarya Kavi of the New York Times: "Here are five takeaways [from Bob Woodward's book Rage]. Mr. Trump minimized the risks of the coronavirus to the American public early in the year.... Two of the president's top officials thought he was 'dangerous' and considered speaking out publicly.... Mr. Trump repeatedly denigrated the U.S. military and his top generals.... When asked about the pain 'Black people feel in this country,' Mr. Trump was unable to express empathy.... Mr. Woodward gained insight into Mr. Trump's relationships with the leaders of North Korea and Russia."

Jeremy Stahl of Slate: "Woodward's recording makes it clear that the president was not simply misinformed or being wishful about the virus, but deliberately lying about what he knew.... During a press conference on Feb. 27, for instance, Trump encouraged the public to 'view this the same as the flu' and to 'treat this like you treat the flu.' Less than three weeks earlier, he told Woodward the disease was 'more deadly than even your strenuous flus.'... In a Fox News appearance on March 4, Trump told Sean Hannity that his 'hunch' was that the deadliness of the disease was being exaggerated.... To Woodward less than one month earlier, he said 'this is more deadly. This is 5 percent [death rate].'... During her press briefing on Wednesday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said, 'The president never downplayed the virus.'"

German Lopez of Vox: “Trump told Woodward that his intent was to avoid a panic. But experts say that Trump's response to the virus -- particularly the magical thinking that colored his public comments -- fueled the outbreak in America.... Once states began locking down, Trump pushed them to reopen too early and too quickly -- to 'LIBERATE' themselves from economic calamity. After his administration suggested people wear masks in public, Trump claimed it was a personal choice, refused to wear a mask himself, and said people wear masks to spite him. He also hyped up unproven and even dangerous treatments, at one point musing about people injecting bleach to treat Covid-19. And he was slow to expand US testing capacity, arguing that more testing made the US look bad by revealing more cases; he instead punted the issue to local, state, and private actors unequipped for the full job.... The result: The US is doing about seven times worse than the median developed country, ranking in the bottom 20 percent for Covid-19 deaths among wealthy nations. If America had the same death rate as Canada, 100,000 more Americans would likely be alive today."

Jerry Lambe of Law & Crime: "It didn't take long for legal commentators to call [Trump's public lies] evidence of a 'clearly impeachable offense.'... [Former U.S. attorney Harry] Litman wrote. 'This is clearly an impeachable offense, albeit not a crime. The POTUS lied to the American people for political purposes & easily tens of thousands deaths ensued. How more stark and harmful a dereliction of public duty can you get?'... Washington, D.C.-based national security attorney Brad Moss similarly said the tapes 'should end [Trump's] presidency,' adding, 'If it doesn't, god help us.'... Former federal prosecutor and top Mueller team lieutenant Andrew Weissmann ... said that Trump's words were an admission to endangering U.S. citizens."

Nancy Cook & Alex Thompson of Politico: "In 2018, White House aides shielded Trump from an interview for his book 'Fury' because they didn't want to give the author more ammunition than he already had. The book was withering -- portraying the Trump administration suffering a 'nervous breakdown.'... Trump learned about the book late in the process and called Woodward in frustration. 'It's really too bad, because nobody told me about it, and I would have loved to have spoken to you,' he said in audio released by The Washington Post at the time. He made clear to aides that he would participate in the next book, convinced that he could charm and cajole a veteran Washington journalist [who had already helped bring down one president] into seeing his point of view. At least two sit-downs with the president occurred in the Oval Office -- and far more frequently, Trump would call Woodward directly at night with the White House call log as a record."

Jennifer Szalai of the New York Times reviews Woodward's book, & she wryly examines Woodward's methodology & worldview: ">Woodward ends 'Rage' by delivering his grave verdict. 'When his performance as president is taken in its entirety,' he intones, 'I can only reach one conclusion: Trump is the wrong man for the job.' It's an anticlimactic declaration that could surprise no one other than maybe Bob Woodward.... What if the real story about the Trump era is less about Trump and more about the people who surround and protect him, standing by him in public even as they denounce him (or talk to Woodward) in private -- a tale not of character but of complicity?"

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "President Trump denigrated senior American military officials when he told his trade adviser, Peter Navarro, during a meeting in 2017 that his top generals were weak and overly concerned with their relationships with allies, according to a new book by the journalist Bob Woodward. And in a discussion with Mr. Woodward, Mr. Trump called the United States military 'suckers' for paying extensive costs to protect South Korea.... In the 2017 meeting, Mr. Woodward quoted Mr. Trump as telling Mr. Navarro that 'my fucking generals are a bunch of pussies. They care more about their alliances than they do about trade deals.'" The part about Prince Jared at the end of Haberman's piece is rich.

Jared Keller of Task & Purpose: "... there's apparently a brand new weapons system that's captured the commander-in-chief's attention -- and it's of the nuclear variety. According to Rage -- a new book published by legendary investigative reporter Bob Woodward on the Trump administration -- the president reportedly disclosed the existence of a new nuclear weapons system during a conversation about relations between the United States and North Korea. 'I have built a nuclear -- a weapons system that nobody's ever had in this country before,' Trump reportedly said.... '... We have stuff that Putin and Xi have never heard about before. There's nobody -- what we have is incredible.'... Woodward later confirmed with several anonymous U.S. officials that the Pentagon had indeed developed 'a secret new weapons system' -- something they were 'surprised' the president had disclosed.... It's likely that Trump's 'secret' nuclear weapon is actually the W76-2, a low-yield variant of the nuclear warhead traditionally used on the Trident missile, according to the Federation of American Scientists.... Then again, he's also made outlandish claims regarding U.S. military tech that haven't stood up under scrutiny, like that the F-35 is totally invisible. So there's a chance, however slight, that the commander-in-chief might be referring to a weapons system we've never heard of -- after all, this is the same guy who wanted to nuke a hurricane at one point."

Katie Benner & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The White House asked the Justice Department to replace President Trump's private lawyers to defend against a woman's accusations that he defamed her last year in denying her claim that he sexually assaulted her a quarter-century ago, Attorney General William P. Barr said on Wednesday. The Justice Department's intervention in the lawsuit means that taxpayer money will be used to defend the president, and it threatens the continued viability of the case of the plaintiff, the author E. Jean Carroll.... Ms. Carroll's lawsuit has been reassigned from a New York State court to a Federal District Court judge in New York, Lewis A. Kaplan. If he signs off on the department's certification that it meets the standards to substitute the government as the defendant, he could dismiss the lawsuit because the government has sovereign immunity and cannot be sued for defamation.... The department's motion to take control of the case came as Mr. Trump's private lawyers were facing a deadline to appeal an order compelling a deposition and a DNA sample. In portraying the Justice Department's intervention this week as unremarkable, Mr. Barr did not explain why the administration had waited more than 10 months to step in." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Neal Katyal, speaking to Lawrence O'Donnell yesterday, noted how ridiculous the DOJ's defense of Trump is. Here they are arguing that a president* is "acting in his official capacity" when he insults a woman & denies raping her 20 years ago. Yet at the very same time, the very same DOJ is arguing before the courts that the very same president* is not acting in his official capacity when he tweets insults, tweets orders to Cabinet officers, tweet-fires a staffer, & tweets new policies he dreamed up in the middle of the night.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Top officials with the Department of Homeland Security directed agency analysts to downplay the threat of violent white supremacy and of Russian election interference, according to a whistle-blower complaint filed by a top intelligence official with the department. Brian Murphy, the former head of the intelligence branch of the Homeland Security Department, said in a whistle-blower complaint filed on Tuesday that he was directed by Chad F. Wolf, the acting secretary of the department, to stop producing assessments on Russian interference. The department's second highest ranked official, Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, also ordered him to modify intelligence assessments to make the threat of white supremacy 'appear less severe' and include information on violent 'left-wing' groups, according to the complaint, which was released Wednesday by the House Intelligence Committee. In so doing, the two top officials at the department -- both appointees of President Trump -- appeared to shape the agency's views around Mr. Trump's rhetoric and interests. Mr. Murphy, who was removed from his post in August after his office compiled intelligence reports on protesters and journalists in Portland, Ore., asserted in the complaint that he was retaliated against for raising concerns to superiors and cooperating with the department's inspector general. He asked the inspector general to investigate." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Murphy's whistleblower complaint is here, via a House committee pdf. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's report, by Zachary Cohen, is here. "A whistleblower is alleging that top political appointees in the Department of Homeland Security repeatedly instructed career officials to modify intelligence assessments to suit ... Donald Trump's agenda by downplaying Russia's efforts to interfere in the US and the threat posed by White supremacists, according to documents reviewed by CNN and a source familiar with the situation. The whistleblower claims that acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf instructed DHS officials earlier this year to 'cease providing intelligence assessments on the threat of Russian interference' and, instead, focus their efforts on gathering information related to activities being carried out by China and Iran." (Also linked yesterday.)

~~~ Kelly Weill of the Daily Beast: &"In October 2018, for example, then-DHS Deputy Chief of Staff Miles Taylor and DHS Counselor Kristen Marquadt allegedly pressured [Brian] Murphy into distorting information on immigrants.... Murphy says he declined to manipulate the data, and that he and a supervisor agreed that doing so would constitute a felony. Nevertheless, he claims, immigration data was distorted on multiple occasions, including oral testimony then-DHS head Kirstjen Nielsen gave to Congress, in which she claimed 3,755 known or suspected terrorists had crossed the southern border. In a meeting with Nielsen and then-DHS Chief of Staff Chad Wolf, Murphy offered documentation showing that no more than three people of that description had crossed the border. Even those descriptions might have been inappropriate, Murphy added, since they simply shared the 'name or phone number of a person who was known to be in contact with a terrorist. At that point, Mr. Murphy was removed from the meeting by Mr. Wolf.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I guess we know now why a DHS draft report that mentions both the threats of white supremacy & Russian cyberattacks recently made it into the hands of several journalists. The reason for the leak/release is spelled C-Y-A.

They're All Corrupt. Dan Diamond & Adam Cancryn of Politico: "When Seema Verma, the Trump administration's top Medicaid official, went to a reporter's home in November 2018 for a 'Girl's Night' thrown in her honor, taxpayers footed the bill to organize the event: $2,933. When Verma wrote an op-ed on Fox News' website that fall, touting ... Donald Trump's changes to Obamacare, taxpayers got charged for one consultant's price to place it: $977. And when consultants spent months promoting Verma to win awards like Washingtonian magazine's 'Most Powerful Women in Washington' and appear on high-profile panels, taxpayers got billed for that too: more than $13,000. The efforts were steered by Pam Stevens, a Republican communications consultant and former Trump administration official working to raise the brand of Verma.... The prices were the amount a consulting company billed the government for her services, based on her invoices, which were obtained by congressional Democrats.... Verma spent more than $3.5 million on a range of GOP-connected consultants, who polished her public profile, wrote her speeches and Twitter posts, brokered meetings with high-profile individuals -- and even billed taxpayers for connecting Verma with fellow Republicans in Congress.... 'Verma and her top aides abused the federal contracting process to Administrator Verma's benefit and wasted millions of taxpayer dollars,' the Democrats concluded in a 53-page summary of the investigation, which ... will be released later Thursday."

Jacob Bogage & Lisa Rein of the Washington Post: "The U.S. Postal Service's Board of Governors signaled strong support for Louis DeJoy on Wednesday after convening a closed-door meeting with the embattled postal chief to discuss congressional investigations tied to the agency's delivery problems and allegations of political fundraising improprieties.... Members of the board, dominated 4 to 2 by Republican members appointed by President Trump, told The Post that the body fully backs the postmaster general, who has held the job for 87 days.... 'He has 100 percent board support,' William Zollars, a Republican governor of the board, said in a phone interview.... 'This man is doing a tremendous job,' fellow Republican board member John Barger said in testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday.... The board's chairman, Republican Robert M. Duncan, and two Democrats, Donald Lee Moak and Ron Bloom, did not respond to requests for comment." ~~~

~~~ Ken Vogel, et al., of the New York Times: "Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, moving to defend himself and top postal officials against suggestions that they are trying to help President Trump win re-election by sabotaging mail-in voting, told colleagues on Wednesday that he planned to hire a veteran Republican lobbyist to work with Congress. Facing calls for his ouster by Democrats and a flurry of investigations on Capitol Hill, Mr. DeJoy informed postal officials that he had selected Peter Pastre, a former Republican congressional aide and insurance lobbyist, to act as a liaison for the agency with Congress and state and local governments, according to people familiar with the discussions."

David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "President Trump's attempt to show that the nation is recovering from the economic damage of the coronavirus pandemic will clash head-on Thursday with his denunciations of social justice demonstrations when the National Football League kicks off its season in prime time. Trump has lobbied heavily for sports leagues to restart despite the threat of the virus, but his demands have been incongruous when it comes to the NFL, an $8.8 billion juggernaut whose television ratings dwarf all competitors'. Ahead of the season opener between the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Texans, the president and his allies have resumed their long-standing bashing of NFL players for kneeling during the national anthem to call attention to police brutality affecting communities of color.... 'President Trump stands with our brave soldiers and patriots who proudly stand for our national anthem and great flag, not those who choose to disrespect it by kneeling or elect to needlessly cover this demonstration -- and the American people agree with him,' said White House spokesman Judd Deere."

Jamie Ross of the Daily Beast: "Fox News got very excited Wednesday morning when announcing its exclusive that ... Donald Trump had been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. What it didn't mention was that hundreds of people are nominated every year, and that Trump's nomination -- for his role in the new Israel-United Arab Emirates agreement -- came from one of Norway's most well-known anti-immigration cranks. The nomination was submitted by Christian Tybring-Gjedde, a member of the Norwegian parliament, who also nominated Trump in 2018.... Any members of a national assembly or national government can put someone forward for the Peace Prize, so a mere nomination is not very significant." (Also linked yesterday.)

Presidential Race

Morgan Chalfant & John Kruzel of the Hill: "President Trump on Wednesday unveiled a list of 20 additional potential Supreme Court nominees that includes three Republican U.S. senators, a White House lawyer-turned-judge and his former solicitor general. Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), as well as Noel Francisco, who departed as solicitor general in June, are among the names added to the current list of candidates for the Supreme Court.... Trump's remarks were hastily scheduled Wednesday afternoon, and punctuated a media frenzy over new revelations from Bob Woodward's book that Trump acknowledged in a February interview that the coronavirus was 'deadly' while minimizing the threat publicly." The report includes the list of Trump's potential nominees. ~~~

     ~~~ Rachel Maddow noted that Trump included Ted Cruz in the list the day after Michael Cohen revealed that in 2016 Trump had insisted that a false report linking Cruz's father to President John Kennedy's assassination appear on the front cover of the National Enquirer. Maddow suggested that Cruz not get himself fitted for a fancy black robe on the basis of this fig leaf.

A Star-Studden QAnon Bash. Brian Slodysko & Michael Kunzelman of the AP: "Vice President Mike Pence and top officials from ... Donald Trump's campaign are slated to attend a Montana fundraiser next week hosted by a couple who have expressed support for the QAnon conspiracy theory, according to an event invitation obtained by The Associated Press and a review of social media postings. The hosts of the fundraiser, Caryn and Michael Borland, have shared QAnon memes and retweeted posts from QAnon accounts, their social media activity shows. The baseless conspiracy theory posits that Trump is fighting entrenched enemies in the government and also involves satanism and child sex trafficking. the Sept. 14 fundraiser in Bozeman, Montana, is expected to draw influential figures in the president's orbit including Kimberly Guilfoyle, a top Trump fundraising official who is dating Donald Trump Jr., GOP chairwoman Ronna [Romney] McDaniel, Republican National Committee finance chairman Todd Ricketts and RNC co-chairman Tommy Hicks Jr., the event invitation shows." Mrs. McC: Hey, QAnon money is just as green as yours & mine. What's the problem? (Also linked yesterday.)

Teo Armus of the Washington Post: "Hours before President Trump arrived in Winston-Salem, N.C., for a campaign rally on Tuesday, the county's top Republican official issued a warning: The president better be wearing a mask. 'It's been ordered by the governor,' David Plyler, a Trump supporter and GOP chair of the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners, told the Winston-Salem Journal.... But when the president emerged Tuesday evening to address a cheering group of supporters, his face was fully exposed, a likely violation of the state's coronavirus rules. The same was true of many of the supporters behind his podium.... And in fact, the whole event appears to have defied restrictions from North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooperto 50 people under the state's current phase of reopening. Trump jeered that crowd cap too...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "Daniel Coats, a former head of the intelligence community, warned Wednesday that the Trump administration's move to roll back in-person briefings to Congress on foreign threats to the 2020 election undermines the agencies' mission and efforts to safeguard the vote. 'It's imperative that the intelligence community keep Congress fully informed about the threats to our elections and share as much information as possible while protecting sources and methods,' the former director of national intelligence said in an interview. Coats's stern warning came in response to Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe's notifying Congress a week and a half ago that he was suspending in-person briefings to lawmakers, though the Senate Intelligence Committee's acting chairman said his panel will continue to receive such updates.... Coats spoke on the heels of the publication of an opinion piece by his former deputy, Sue Gordon, in The Washington Post, in which she decried how 'the national conversation around election security has turned vitriolic, diversionary and unhelpful, and we are doing our enemies' work for them.'"

Laura Vozzella of the Washington Post: "Independent presidential candidate Kanye West is fighting to get back on the ballot in Virginia after a judge threw him off last week, urging the state's highest court to weigh in quickly because ballots are already being printed and absentee voting starts next week. Attorneys for ... [West] filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of Virginia late Tuesday, seeking to overturn Thursday's Richmond Circuit Court ruling that found the West campaign had tricked some voters into helping him get on the ballot." ~~~

~~~ Celine Castronuovo of the Hill: "The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that Kanye West will not appear on the state's Nov. 3 presidential ballot as an independent candidate, despite the rapper's efforts to run in the state. The decision came just hours before eight of Arizona's 15 counties faced a deadline for printing election ballots. The court said in its ruling that West's electors did not file a necessary election document that stated their names and political parties, The Associated Press reported. The justices added that any nominating signatures collected before presidential electors filed their 'statements of interest' are invalid." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Wednesday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Wednesday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Sarah Owermohle of Politico: "A Trump administration appointee at the Department of Health and Human Services is trying to prevent Anthony Fauci ... from speaking about the risks that coronavirus poses to children. Emails obtained by Politico show Paul Alexander -- a senior adviser to Michael Caputo, HHS's assistant secretary for public affairs -- instructing press officers and others at the National Institutes of Health about what Fauci should say during media interviews.... Alexander's lengthy messages, some sent as recently as this week, are couched as scientific arguments. But they often contradict mainstream science while promoting political positions taken by the Trump administration on hot-button issues ranging from the use of convalescent plasma to school reopening. The emails add to evidence that the White House, and Trump appointees within HHS, are pushing health agencies to promote a political message instead of a scientific one.... 'No one tells me what I can say and cannot say,' Fauci said.... Alexander, a part-time professor of health research methods at McMaster University in Canada, joined HHS in March. He was appointed by Caputo, a longtime Trump ally now overseeing HHS's media strategy. In July, the Washington Post reported that Alexander had cracked down on the CDC after it warned pregnant women about the virus."

Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "Patients who rely on the U.S. Postal Service for their prescription drugs may have experienced 'significant' delays in their deliveries, according to a Senate report released Wednesday, which accused Postmaster General Louis DeJoy of jeopardizing the 'health of millions of Americans.' Several major U.S. pharmacies told the two Democratic senators leading the investigation -- Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Robert P. Casey Jr. (Pa.) -- that average delivery times have ticked up since the spring.... Warren and Casey did not identify the pharmacies, but their report comes nearly three weeks after they asked Walgreens, CVS, and other pharmacies and benefit managers to detail the effects of DeJoy's changes to the Postal Service. This summer, DeJoy implemented policies to reduce overtime and mail trips.... Four prescription drug providers told Warren and Casey that delivery times this summer have increased by half a day or more, on average, compared with earlier this year or similar time frames in 2019, according to the Senate report.... The medicine delays, in some cases, appear to have started around May, when DeJoy had been tapped for the job but before he officially took the reins. The timeline raises the possibility that the coronavirus pandemic may have contributed to slowdowns for mailed prescription drugs, particularly as patients put new strain on the system by shifting away from in-person pickup to delivery." (Also linked yesterday.)

Your Tax Dollars at Work -- in Austria. Rick Noack of the Washington Post: "Hundreds of people have cashed U.S. stimulus checks at Austrian banks in recent months. Some of them appeared puzzled by the unexpected payments or were ineligible for the payouts, according to bank officials and Austrian media reports.... It is unclear how many U.S. checks were cashed in Austria by ineligible recipients. Similar instances have been reported in other countries. NPR reported last month that thousands of foreigners who used to temporarily work in the United States had accidentally received stimulus checks.... Representatives of three local branches of banks operating in Austria said they had cashed about 200 U.S. stimulus checks by Wednesday.... 'People initially thought it's a treacherous form of fraud -- but the checks were real,' said a spokeswoman for Austria's Oberbank." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: As someone who spent about three hours on the phone yesterday to try -- ultimately successfully -- to get the IRS to reverse an $11,000+ error in their favor, count me as not surprised that Treasury has been sending checks to foreigners not eligible for payments.

Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "The United States is cutting troop levels in Iraq roughly in half, to 3,000 forces, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East said Wednesday, in a long-expected move that will help fulfill President Trump's goal of reducing the Pentagon's overseas deployments. The decision to reduce the 5,200 troops now in Iraq comes three weeks after Mr. Trump met with Mustafa al-Kadhimi, the Iraqi prime minister, in Washington, in part to finalize details of the drawdown, which will happen this month." (Also linked yesterday.)

William Booth & Karla Adam of the Washington Post: "The family of Harry Dunn, the 19-year-old motorcyclist killed by a car driven on the wrong side of an English roadway by the wife of a U.S. official, filed a U.S. federal lawsuit against the driver, Anne Sacoolas, on Wednesday. The lawsuit, which claims wrongful death and seeks financial damages, represents a significant escalation in the year-long campaign by Dunn's parents to hold Sacoolas accountable. The case has been a source of friction between British and American officials. Sacoolas left Britain shortly after the Aug. 27, 2019, accident, with the U.S. government asserting that she had diplomatic immunity. She returned to her home in Northern Virginia. But in December, British police charged her with causing death by dangerous driving." (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

New York. Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: "A Manhattan gynecologist accused by the wife of former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang of sexually assaulting her now faces federal charges related to the sexual abuse of women, according to a new indictment released on Wednesday. The former doctor, Robert A. Hadden, who has lost his medical license, was charged with six counts of enticing women, including one minor, to engage in illegal sex acts. The indictment says that over more than a decade, Mr. Hadden 'sexually abused dozens of female patients, including multiple minors, under the guise of conducting purported gynecological and obstetric examinations' at his medical office and at hospitals in Manhattan. The indictment identifies six victims of Mr. Hadden only by numbers, and it was not immediately clear whether any of those cases included that of Evelyn Yang, the former candidate's wife, who told CNN in January that Mr. Hadden sexually assaulted her in his exam room in 2012 when she was seven months pregnant with her first child.&" (Also linked yesterday.)

Way Beyond

Afghanistan. Susannah George of the Washington Post: "A deadly assassination attempt on Afghanistan's vice president struck downtown Kabul as U.S. officials in Doha struggle to bring the Taliban and Afghan officials together for peace talks. The bombing hit during rush hour Wednesday morning and targeted First Vice President Amrullah Saleh's convoy. Among the casualties were some of Saleh's bodyguards, but the majority of the 10 killed and 15 wounded were civilians commuting to work, according to the interior ministry. The high-profile assassination attempt comes amid a spike in violence nationwide as talks between Afghan officials and Taliban leaders have faced repeated delays."

U.K. A Foolish Consistency Is the Hobgoblin of Little Minds. Mark Landler & Stephen Castle of the New York Times: "Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain has always taken a seat-of-the-pants approach to governing. But his reversals this week on the two most pressing issues facing the country -- the pandemic and Brexit -- have been breathtaking, even by Mr. Johnson's brashly improvisational standards. On Wednesday, alarmed by a resurgence of the coronavirus, Mr. Johnson announced that the British government would ban gatherings of more than six people, after weeks of encouraging people to go back to work, eat out at restaurants, patronize pubs and send their children back to school. Hours earlier, the government introduced legislation on Northern Ireland that would override a landmark Brexit agreement that Mr. Johnson himself struck with the European Union, shepherded through Parliament and championed during last year's election on his way to a landslide victory. The government admitted that this unexpected move breaks international law, which critics say raises a sticky question: Why should people obey Mr. Johnson's new rules on social distancing when he brazenly flouts a legal treaty?"

News Ledes

AP: "A Northern California wildfire threatened thousands of homes Thursday after winds whipped it into a monster that incinerated houses in a small mountain community and killed at least three people. Several other people have been critically burned and hundreds, if not thousands, of homes and other buildings are believed to have been damaged or destroyed by the North Complex fire northeast of San Francisco, authorities said. Some 20,000 people were under evacuation orders or warnings in Plumas, Yuba and Butte counties. Between Tuesday and Wednesday, the fire -- which had been burning for weeks in forestland and was 50% contained -- exploded to six times its size as winds gusting to 45 mph drove a path of destruction through mountainous terrain and parched foothills."

AP: "Numerous wildfires burned in Oregon's forested valleys and along the coast, destroying hundreds of homes and causing mass evacuations. Farther north, flames devoured buildings and huge tracts of land in Washington state. Officials said the number of simultaneous fires and perhaps the damage caused was unprecedented. Several deaths were reported, including a 1-year-old boy in Washington state. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said communities have been 'substantially destroyed' and warned there could be numerous fatalities. Because of its cool, wet climate, the Pacific Northwest rarely experiences such intense fire activity. But climate change driven by human-caused greenhouse gases is expected to keep warming the region, with most models predicting drier summers, according to the College of the Environment at the University of Washington."

The Commentariat -- September 9, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Today's Comments thread is mighty fine. I particularly appreciate the commentary from those who described how the coronavirus pandemic changed -- and didn't change -- their grocery shopping, cooking & dining habits.

Mrs. McCrabbie: I remember the good ole days of the Trump administration when there was just one breathtaking scandal a day.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Top officials with the Department of Homeland Security directed agency analysts to downplay the threat of violent white supremacy and of Russian election interference, according to a whistle-blower complaint filed by a top intelligence official with the department. Brian Murphy, the former head of the intelligence branch of the Homeland Security Department, said in a whistle-blower complaint filed on Tuesday that he was directed by Chad F. Wolf, the acting secretary of the department, to stop producing assessments on Russian interference. The department's second highest ranked official, Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, also ordered him to modify intelligence assessments to make the threat of white supremacy 'appear less severe' and include information on violent 'left-wing' groups, according to the complaint, which was released Wednesday by the House Intelligence Committee. In so doing, the two top officials at the department -- both appointees of President Trump -- appeared to shape the agency's views around Mr. Trump's rhetoric and interests. Mr. Murphy, who was removed from his post in August after his office compiled intelligence reports on protesters and journalists in Portland, Ore., asserted ... that he was retaliated against for raising concerns to superiors and cooperating with the department's inspector general. He asked the inspector general to investigate." ~~~

     ~~~ Murphy's whistleblower complaint is here, via a House committee pdf. ~~~

     ~~~ CNN's report, by Zachary Cohen, is here. "A whistleblower is alleging that top political appointees in the Department of Homeland Security repeatedly instructed career officials to modify intelligence assessments to suit ... Donald Trump's agenda by downplaying Russia's efforts to interfere in the US and the threat posed by White supremacists, according to documents reviewed by CNN and a source familiar with the situation. The whistleblower claims that acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf instructed DHS offiials earlier this year to 'cease providing intelligence assessments on the threat of Russian interference' and, instead, focus their efforts on gathering information related to activities being carried out by China and Iran."

~~~ Kelly Weill of the Daily Beast: "In October 2018, for example, then-DHS Deputy Chief of Staff Miles Taylor and DHS Counselor Kristen Marquadt allegedly pressured [Brian] Murphy into distorting information on immigrants.... Murphy says he declined to manipulate the data, and that he and a supervisor agreed that doing so would constitute a felony. Nevertheless, he claims, immigration data was distorted on multiple occasions, including oral testimony then-DHS head Kirstjen Nielsen gave to Congress, in which she claimed 3,755 known or suspected terrorists had crossed the southern border. In a meeting with Nielsen and then-DHS Chief of Staff Chad Wolf, Murphy offered documentation showing that no more than three people of that description had crossed the border. Even those descriptions might have been inappropriate, Murphy added, since they simply shared the 'name or phone number of a person who was known to be in contact with a terrorist. At that point, Mr. Murphy was removed from the meeting by Mr. Wolf.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I guess we know now why a DHS draft report that mentions both the threats of white supremacy & Russian cyberattacks recently made it into the hands of several journalists. The reason for the leak/release is spelled C-Y-A.

** Robert Costa & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: On January 28, national security advisor Robert O'Brien told Donald Trump that the coronavirus outbreak in China would "'be the roughest thing you face.' Ten days later, [according to Bob Woodward in a new book titled Rage,] Trump called Woodward and ... [said,] 'You just breathe the air and that's how it's passed.... It's also more deadly than even your strenuous flu.' 'This is deadly stuff,' the president repeated for emphasis. At that time, Trump was telling the nation that the virus was no worse than a seasonal flu, predicting it would soon disappear, and insisting that the U.S. government had it totally under control.... Trump admitted to Woodward on March 19 that he deliberately minimized the danger. 'I wanted to always play it down,' the president said.... Woodward's new book ... covers race relations, diplomacy with North Korea and a range of other issues that have arisen during the past two years. The book also includes brutal assessments of Trump's conduct from former defense secretary Jim Mattis, former director of national intelligence Daniel Coats and others." Read on. ~~~

     ~~~ Update: The WashPo story now includes audio clips. ~~~

~~~ Jamie Gangel & others at CNN also have read Woodward's book. Their report covers much of what the WashPo report does, and it includes recorded clips of Woodward's phone conversations with Trump. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It's worth noting that according to a May 3 CNN report by Jeremy Diamond, "... Donald Trump claimed Sunday [May 3] that the US intelligence community 'did NOT bring up the CoronaVirus subject matter until late into January' and that 'they only spoke of the Virus in a very non-threatening, or matter of fact, manner.'... 'On January 23, I was told that there could be a virus coming in but it was of no real import. In other words it wasn't, "Oh we gotta do something, we gotta do something." It was a brief conversation and it was only on January 23,' Trump said during a Fox News town hall." These would be not just lies, but monstrous, murderous lies. ~~~

~~~ Adam Edelman of NBC News: "Joe Biden and other top Democrats on Wednesday slammed ... Donald Trump over comments he made about the coronavirus to journalist Bob Woodward for an upcoming book, including the president's acknowledgment that he 'wanted to always play it down,' even though he knew it was 'deadly.' 'It was a life and death betrayal of the American people,' Biden said about the revelations during a campaign event in Warren, Michigan. 'It's beyond despicable. It's a dereliction of duty, a disgrace.... He knew how deadly it was. He knew and purposely played it down,' Biden added. 'Worse, he lied.'" ~~~

A Star-Studden QAnon Bash. Brian Slodysko & Michael Kunzelman of the AP: "Vice President Mike Pence and top officials from ... Donald Trump';s campaign are slated to attend a Montana fundraiser next week hosted by a couple who have expressed support for the QAnon conspiracy theory, according to an event invitation obtained by The Associated Press and a review of social media postings. The hosts of the fundraiser, Caryn and Michael Borland, have shared QAnon memes and retweeted posts from QAnon accounts, their social media activity shows. The baseless conspiracy theory posits that Trump is fighting entrenched enemies in the government and also involves satanism and child sex trafficking. the Sept. 14 fundraiser in Bozeman, Montana, is expected to draw influential figures in the president's orbit including Kimberly Guilfoyle, a top Trump fundraising official who is dating Donald Trump Jr., GOP chairwoman Ronna [Romney] McDaniel, Republican National Committee finance chairman Todd Ricketts and RNC co-chairman Tommy Hicks Jr., the event invitation shows." Mrs. McC: Hey, QAnon money is just as green as yours & mine. What's the problem?

Teo Armus of the Washington Post: "Hours before President Trump arrived in Winston-Salem, N.C., for a campaign rally on Tuesday, the county's top Republican official issued a warning: The president better be wearing a mask. 'It's been ordered by the governor,' David Plyler, a Trump supporter and GOP chair of the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners, told the Winston-Salem Journal.... But when the president emerged Tuesday evening to address a cheering group of supporters, his face was fully exposed, a likely violation of the state's coronavirus rules. The same was true of many of the supporters behind his podium.... And in fact, the whole event appears to have defied restrictions from North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D), who has limited outdoor mass gatherings to 50 people under the state's current phase of reopening. Trump jeered that crowd cap too...."

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Wednesday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Wednesday are here.

Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "Patients who rely on the U.S. Postal Service for their prescription drugs may have experienced 'significant' delays in their deliveries, according to a Senate report released Wednesday, which accused Postmaster General Louis DeJoy of jeopardizing the 'health of millions of Americans.' Several major U.S. pharmacies told the two Democratic senators leading the investigation -- Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Robert P. Casey Jr. (Pa.) -- that average delivery times have ticked up since the spring.... Warren and Casey did not identify the pharmacies, but their report comes nearly three weeks after they asked Walgreens, CVS, and other pharmacies and benefit managers to detail the effects of DeJoy's changes to the Postal Service. This summer, DeJoy implemented policies to reduce overtime and mail trips.... Four prescription drug providers told Warren and Casey that delivery times this summer have increased by half a day or more, on average, compared with earlier this year or similar time frames in 2019, according to the Senate report.... The medicine delays, in some cases, appear to have started around May, when DeJoy had been tapped for the job but before he officially took the reins. The timeline raises the possibility that the coronavirus pandemic may have contributed to slowdowns for mailed prescription drugs, particularly as patients put new strain on the system by shifting away from in-person pickup to delivery."

William Booth & Karla Adam of the Washington Post: "The family of Harry Dunn, the 19-year-old motorcyclist killed by a car driven on the wrong side of an English roadway by the wife of a U.S. official, filed a U.S. federal lawsuit against the driver, Anne Sacoolas, on Wednesday. The lawsuit, which claims wrongful death and seeks financial damages, represents a significant escalation in the year-long campaign by Dunn's parents to hold Sacoolas accountable. The case has been a source of friction between British and American officials. Sacoolas left Britain shortly after the Aug. 27, 2019, accident, with the U.S. government asserting that she had diplomatic immunity. She returned to her home in Northern Virginia. But in December, British police charged her with causing death by dangerous driving."

Celine Castronuovo of the Hill: "The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that Kanye West will not appear on the state’s Nov. 3 presidential ballot as an independent candidate, despite the rapper's efforts to run in the state. The decision came just hours before eight of Arizona's 15 counties faced a deadline for printing election ballots. The court said in its ruling that West's electors did not file a necessary election document that stated their names and political parties, The Associated Press reported. The justices added that any nominating signatures collected before presidential electors filed their 'statements of interest' are invalid."

Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "The United States is cutting troop levels in Iraq roughly in half, to 3,000 forces, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East said Wednesday in a long-expected move that will help fulfill President Trump's goal of reducing the Pentagon's overseas deployments. The decision to reduce the 5,200 troops now in Iraq comes three weeks after Mr. Trump met with Mustafa al-Kadhimi, the Iraqi prime minister, in Washington, in part to finalize details of the drawdown, which will happen this month."

Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: "A Manhattan gynecologist accused by the wife of former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang of sexually assaulting her now faces federal charges related to the sexual abuse of women, according to a new indictment released on Wednesday. The former doctor, Robert A. Hadden, who has lost his medical license, was charged with six counts of enticing women, including one minor, to engage in illegal sex acts. The indictment says that over more than a decade, Mr. Hadden 'sexually abused dozens of female patients, including multiple minors, under the guise of conducting purported gynecological and obstetric examinations' at his medical office and at hospitals in Manhattan. The indictment identifies six victims of Mr. Hadden only by numbers, and it was not immediately clear whether any of those cases included that of Evelyn Yang, the former candidate's wife, who told CNN in January that Mr. Hadden sexually assaulted her in his exam room in 2012 when she was seven months pregnant with her first child."

Jamie Ross of the Daily Beast: "Fox News got very excited Wednesday morning when announcing its exclusive that ... Donald Trump had been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. What it didn't mention was that hundreds of people are nominated every year, and that Trump's nomination -- for his role in the new Israel-United Arab Emirates agreement -- came from one of Norway's most well-known anti-immigration cranks. The nomination was submitted by Christian Tybring-Gjedde, a member of the Norwegian parliament, who also nominated Trump in 2018.... Any members of a national assembly or national government can put someone forward for the Peace Prize, so a mere nomination is not very significant."

~~~~~~~~~~

Presidential Race, Etc.

Josh Dawsey, et al., of the Washington Post: "When the announcer at President Trump's recent rally [in New Hampshire] urged a packed airplane hangar of supporters to don their masks, a cacophonous round of boos erupted, followed by defiance. No matter that the attendees' chairs were inches apart, their temperatures had not been taken and masks were required by the state. Joe Biden, meanwhile, has barely left his home without a mask for months, and he makes a point of keeping voters -- when he encounters any -- at a distance from himself and one another. Events at drive-in theaters have been kept under 50 -- people, not cars -- to respect state guidelines. This contrast continued Tuesday, when Trump flew to Florida and North Carolina, addressing crowds in both places, while Biden's camp announced by 9:30 a.m. he would make no public appearances all day. It's a likely snapshot of the race's final eight weeks: one campaign fueled by in-person events, raucous gatherings and defiant crowds flouting health rules; the other driven by quiet, small-bore events with everyone masked and spaced apart."

Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post: "At first glance, little seemed noteworthy as Sen. Kamala D. Harris deplaned in Milwaukee on Monday. She was wearing a mask. She didn't trip. Instead, what sent video pinging around the Internet was what was on her feet: her black, low-rise Chuck Taylor All-Stars, the classic Converse shoe that has long been associated more closely with cultural cool than carefully managed high-profile candidacies. By Tuesday morning, videos by two reporters witnessing her arrival had been viewed nearly 8 million times on Twitter...." Mrs. McC: Looks like smart, relatively inexpensive footware.

So here are Kamala & Barack chatting happily about Joe: ~~~

~~~ AND here is Donald sending out tweets endorsing violence, complete with graphic videos: ~~~

~~~ Michael Scherer of the Washington Post: "President Trump has reverted to using graphic depictions of violence as a centerpiece of his reelection campaign strategy, using his Twitter account, stump speech and even the White House podium as platforms for amplifying domestic conflict.... Over the holiday weekend..., he tweeted video of a melee in Texas between protesters and security officers during an event for a Trump-affiliated group and two celebratory videos of a protester in Portland, Ore., with his feet on fire. One of the videos was scored to the Kenny Loggins song 'Footloose' and the second featured mocking play-by-play commentary by a mixed-martial-arts announcer. 'These are the Democrats "peaceful protests,&"' Trump wrote. 'Sick!' On Monday, he retweeted a prediction that political unrest 'could lead to "rise of citizen militias around the country."'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Brad Reed of the Raw Story: "... Donald Trump's refusal to pointedly denounce right-wing vigilantes has alarmed many national security veterans who are warning that political violence in America could quickly spiral out of control. In an interview with Vanity Fair, former Homeland Security Department Under Secretary for Intelligence John Cohen warned that Trump was setting the stage for sectarian conflict on American streets when he justified his own supporters taking the law into their own hands.... Trump recently told Fox News that he would prefer professional law enforcement control violent protests, but added that 'my supporters are wonderful, hardworking, tremendous people, and they turn on their television set and they look at a Portland or they look at a Kenosha.... They are looking at all of this and they can't believe it.' The president has also defended supporter Kyle Rittenhouse, who has been charged with first-degree murder after he fatally shot two demonstrators in Kenosha, Wisconsin last month." (Also linked yesterday.)

From an Economist cover."Trump Goes Full White Supremacy."* Josh Feldman of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump went on a brief tangent during his North Carolina rally Tuesday night on Kamala Harris.... 'People don't like her,' he said. 'Nobody likes her. She could never be the first woman president, she could never be. That would be an insult to our country.'" (*Headline borrowed from Dean Obeidallah, cited by Ed Mazza in post linked below.) ~~~

~~~ Ed Mazza of the Huffington Post: “Trump also dismissed Harris as 'further left than crazy Bernie,' referring to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and mispronounced her first name three times in a row, with great exaggeration, as his audience jeered[.]" Mrs. McC: Since Harris's views are definitely not "further left than Bernie," we must ask ourselves, "What could he possibly mean?" How about "People, they're both bad, but Black is worse than Jewish"?

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump is the most racist U.S. president* since Woodrow Wilson. If you read Michael Cohen's book, or if you listened to Rachel Maddow's interview of Cohen last night, you'll know that Cohen has made clear that Trump's greatest beef with Obama had little to do with Obama's policies and everything to do with the color of Obama's skin. A Black president is an insult to a country that is rightfully & wholly "owned & operated" by white people.

Tina Nguyen of Politico: "... Donald Trump is adding to his list of items that the 'radical left' will 'destroy' if Joe Biden wins the election. Trump has claimed, at various points, that Biden's ascension to the White House would ruin everything from 'jobs' to 'the Second Amendment' to 'God' to the 'middle class,' offering scant evidence. More recently, he vowed Biden would 'ABOLISH Suburban Communities.' And on Tuesday, he added a new item to his ever-expanding inventory of horrors in Biden's America: the environment. 'The left's agenda isn't about protecting the environment, it's about punishing America, and that's true,' he said in Florida, where he stopped before a North Carolina campaign rally to sign a decade-long ban on oil drilling off the coast of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. In North Carolina hours later, Trump reiterated his check list of items Democrats won't allow, misleadingly describing coronavirus restrictions on large crowds as he bragged about the thousands of people who had shown up to see him speak in recent weeks.... Trump claimed 15,000 people were cheering him on ... -- a number that seemed to far exceed the few thousand people that had gathered." ~~~

     ~~~ David Knowles of Yahoo! News: "President Trump traveled to Florida on Tuesday and pitched himself as a strong defender of the environment, despite his unprecedented moves to overturn regulations put in place to safeguard the country's air, water and natural resources. 'Trump is the great environmentalist,' the president said of himself at a ceremony in Jupiter, where he signed an executive order to extend a ban on offshore oil drilling in three states. 'And I am, I am. I believe strongly in it.' Left unsaid at the ceremony for the executive order, which covers South Carolina, Florida and Georgia, is that it was Trump's own proposal to allow drilling along the coasts of those states that sparked the backlash that led him to reconsider his initial plan."

Charlie Nash of Mediaite: "... Donald Trump has reportedly been weighing whether to invest up to $100 million of his own money in his 2020 reelection campaign. Trump 'has talked about the idea with multiple people, though he hasn't yet committed to any self-funding,' according to a Tuesday report from Bloomberg. 'Trump has sought advice about whether he should self-fund as he scrutinizes heavy spending by his team earlier this year that failed to push him ahead of the former vice president in the polls,' Bloomberg reported, noting that Democrats and ... Joe Biden 'have recently raised more than Trump and his allies.'" Related NYT story linked below. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Quint Forgey of Politico: "... Donald Trump defended his campaign's financial decision-making on Tuesday, after a report provoked new scrutiny of his reelection team's spending habits and squandered cash advantage over ... Joe Biden. 'My Campaign spent a lot of money up front in order to compensate for the false reporting and Fake News concerning our handling of the China Virus,' Trump wrote on Twitter. 'Now they see the GREAT job we have done, and we have 3 times more than we had 4 years ago - & are up in polls. Lots of $'s & ENERGY!'... The president's ... post came after The New York Times published a review on Monday detailing how the Trump campaign has already spent more than $800 million of the $1.1 billion it raised in coordination with the Republican National Committee from the beginning of 2019 through July. The Times report raised questions about former campaign manager Brad Parscale's financial stewardship of Trump's war chest.... Among the campaign's expenses were a car and driver for Parscale, who was replaced atop the campaign in July by Bill Stepien." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Maybe Trump thinks $100MM is the price of a "Stay out of Jail" card; that is, if he is re-elected, his chances of ending up in a New York jail diminish considerably. However, can he afford it? (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Dan Alexander of Forbes: Donald Trump's "net worth has dropped an estimated $600 million since last September, to $2.5 billion. That puts him at No. 339 on The Forbes 400, down 64 spots from a year ago." (Also linked yesterday.)

Ashley Parker & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "President Trump's reelection campaign is paying to replace sod on the White House South Lawn and in the Rose Garden after damage to the greenery late last month from large crowds and heavy equipment used for Republican National Convention festivities, White House and campaign officials said Tuesday. Trump's unprecedented decision to stage overtly political events on public property -- which drew complaints that the Trumps were using 'the people&'s house' for personal gain -- continues to reverberate nearly two weeks later, as work crews re-sod the lawn and make other repairs." More on the Rose Garden linked below.

Trump v. Obama, Then & Now. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "The imminent release of a memoir written by President Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen drew new attention to a weird footnote from the 2012 campaign: a video produced by Trump in which he 'fires' then-president Barack Obama.... Watching the video now is revelatory. It's Trump, making the case to an Obama impersonator for why Obama doesn't deserve a second term. And the metrics he uses to make that case are ones against which Trump himself now fares particularly poorly." (Also linked yesterday.)

Stephanie Saul of the New York Times: "A week after President Trump suggested that voters in North Carolina should cast two ballots -- one by mail and another at the polls -- the authorities in Georgia are threatening criminal action against 1,000 Georgia voters who did just that. Brad Raffensperger, Georgia's secretary of state, announced at a news conference on Tuesday that investigations were underway in 100 of the state's 159 counties after the discovery of 1,000 instances of double voting in the state's June primary and August runoff elections. 'We will prosecute,' said Mr. Raffensperger, a Republican, noting that double voting in Georgia, considered a serious felony, carries a penalty of one to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000. While calling attention to the double votes could add fuel to Mr. Trump's unfounded claim that mail voting opens the door to fraud, Mr. Raffensperger noted that double voting hadn't changed the outcome of any races. The scenario Mr. Raffensperger described appeared to be identical to the one suggested by Mr. Trump last Wednesday, when he told reporters in Wilmington, N.C., that voters should test the integrity of the state's election system by voting by mail and then subsequently appearing at the polls in person." ~~~

     ~~~ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's story is here. A Politico story is here.

Chutzpah, Lies & Corruption, Ctd.

You Are Paying Donald Trump's Defense Attorneys in Alleged Rape-Related Case. Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "In a highly unusual legal maneuver, the Department of Justice moved on Tuesday to replace President Trump's private lawyers and defend him against a defamation lawsuit brought in a New York state court by the author E. Jean Carroll, who has accused him of raping her in a Manhattan department store in the 1990s. Lawyers for the Justice Department said in court papers that Mr. Trump was acting in his official capacity as president when he denied ever knowing Ms. Carroll and thus could be defended in court by government lawyers -- in effect underwritten by taxpayer money.... Ms. Carroll's lawyer said in a statement issued Tuesday evening that the Justice Department's move to intervene in the case was a 'shocking' attempt to bring the resources of the United States government to bear on a private legal matter." Mrs. McC: That's putting it mildly. ~~~

     ~~~ Oh, Wait. It's Worse Than That. Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "The maneuver removes the case -- at least for now -- from state court in New York, where a judge last month had rejected Trump's bid for a delay. It also means that Justice Department lawyers will be essentially aiding Trump's defense, and taxpayers could be on the hook for any potential damages, if the U.S. government is allowed to stand in for Trump.... Citing the Federal Torts Claim Act, the department said that Attorney General William P. Barr has the authority under federal law to move such a case to federal court if he certifies a federal employee was acting within the scope of their job during an incident, though he had delegated that authority to [another DOJ official]." Emphasis added. Here's a CNN story. ~~~

     ~~~ Wait, Wait! It's Even Worse Than That. Scott Lemieux in LG&$: "As Leah Litman explains, this is not only a transparent attempt to deny Carroll a remedy, it seems to rely on an argument that misogyny is a core function of Trump's job[.]... [AND this from Litman:] 'Oh, and of course the FTCA doesn't ALLOW you to sue the United States for defamation, so if Trump's DOJ succeeds in convincing a court to substitute the United States for him as defendant, then that will be the end of the suit -- and E. Jean Carroll will have no remedy at all.'" An AP story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Looks as if Trump has a solid argument here. Based on prior practice, it seems Trump has turned the presidency into a job in which misogyny is indeed a core function. And racism. And xenophobia. And lying. And insulting Americans. And two-hour "work" days. And golfing. And And And.

     ~~~ Another Legal Scholar Agrees with Litman. Dan Berman of CNN: "Should the Justice Department be allowed to take over, it could mean the end of Carroll's lawsuit as the federal government can't be sued for defamation, noted CNN legal analyst and University of Texas law school professor Steve Vladeck."

Fredo's got a convicted lier for a lawyer, who may be going back to jail for an even longer time - additional lies to Congress. Many more tapes of him with Fredo and other media scum reporters. Reveals how deranged & sick they all are! -- Donald Trump, in a fairly incomprehensible tweet Tuesday, where Fredo (I think) is CNN's Chris Cuomo & the "lier" is Michael Cohen

If you're going to call me something, at least have the decency to spell it right. -- Michael Cohen on MSNBC

When Is a Denial Not a Denial? Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "The White House is in full denial mode about the damning report first published last week in the Atlantic that President Trump had repeatedly denigrated members of the military and the nation's war dead. But as allies -- and one prominent erstwhile ally -- stepped forward to offer versions of events similar to the line touted by the White House, it's worth emphasizing that not all denials are created equal. Some address only specific aspects of the report, while leaving open the possibility that others are true or that such things were said at other points. Others vouch for Trump while very notably declining to address anything specific.... Let's look at what [those who supposedly vouched for Trump] ... have said." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Kate Bennett of CNN: "The newly renovated White House Rose Garden is under repair less than three weeks after its official unveiling. The garden is experiencing 'issues with water drainage' and 'some minor complications with updated construction,' a source with knowledge of the garden troubles told CNN. New sod is also being laid down.... First lady Melania Trump on August 22 hosted a private party to celebrate the redone Rose Garden, which the public was told had been completed after approximately three weeks of renovation.... [Donald] Trump on Monday held a news conference on the North Portico, an unusual outdoor location, but the source notes hosting press in seats at the Rose Garden 'would not be doable' in the iconic garden's current status. Trump has also had to motorcade to Andrews Air Force Base of late, again preventing media from seeing the construction in the Rose Garden in recent days." Mrs. McC: So I take it the Trumpists tried to keep secret how badly the renovation had messed up the garden.

All the Best People, Ctd. David Folkenflik of NPR: "The CEO appointed by President Trump to lead the federal agency that oversees the Voice of America and other U.S.-funded international broadcasters has made strict protocols for scrutinizing job candidates a hallmark of his brief tenure there. CEO Michael Pack suspended a slew of senior executives at the U.S. Agency for Global Media and stopped routinely renewing visas for foreign employees over hiring protocols, claiming the executives' lapses threatened national security. In June, Pack hired a lawyer with no background in news to investigate his agency's coverage for potential anti-Trump bias, in a way that appears to violate Voice of America's legal protections of journalistic independence. That investigative attorney has a potentially problematic record himself: he remains under a court order to stay away from his father and to surrender all firearms due to a complaint that he made detailed death threats against his father."

Josef Federman of the AP: "The U.S. Embassy said Tuesday the State Department has sold the ambassador's official residence near Tel Aviv -- a decision that cements the embassy's controversial move to Jerusalem. In an announcement, the embassy did not identify the buyer or disclose the sale price. But Israeli media had said the sprawling seaside compound in the upscale town of Herzliya had an asking price of over $80 million.... A report in the Israeli financial news outlet Globes identified the buyer as U.S. casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, a major supporter and financial backer of ... Donald Trump.... Joe Biden has called the Trump administration's decision to move the embassy 'short-sighted and frivolous,' but he has said he would not move it back to Tel Aviv if elected president in November."

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Tuesday are here: "As senators returned to Washington on Tuesday, their leader, Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, announced that the Senate would vote to advance a scaled-back stimulus plan, which is expected to reinstate lapsed federal unemployment benefits at $300 per week -- half their previous level -- and allocate $105 billion for schools and funds for testing and the Postal Service, according to Republican aides familiar with the discussions. The plan represents an effort to intensify pressure on Democratic leaders, who want to fully restore the $600 unemployment benefits and have refused to consider any measure below $2.2 trillion." (Also linked yesterday.)

Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "Top Senators urged the Trump administration on Tuesday to halt its plans to implement a mandatory payroll tax deferral for millions of federal employees, arguing that these workers should not be treated as political 'pawns.' The issue stems from an order issued by President Trump in August, which allows participating employers to cease withholding their workers' payroll taxes until the end of the year. Private-sector employees may be able to opt out of the plan, but federal workers do not appear to have a choice -- meaning they will see a slight boost to their pay now, then owe more in 2021. The forced nature of the president's order drew frustration from about two dozen lawmakers led by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who called it a 'payroll tax scheme' and demanded answers in a sharply critical letter sent to the Treasury Department and the Office of Management and Budget, which are overseeing the deferral's implementation."

Christopher Rowland of the Washington Post: "The chief executives of nine drug companies pledged Tuesday not to seek regulatory approval before the safety and efficacy of their experimental coronavirus vaccines have been established in Phase 3 clinical trials, an extraordinary effort to bolster public faith in a vaccine amid President Trump's rush to introduce one before Election Day.... Trump has increasingly tied his reelection hopes to introduction of a vaccine before Nov. 3.... The [drugmakers'] statement left open the door for the use of partial data from the massive Phase 3 vaccine trials -- which require the participation of at least 30,000 test subjects -- to seek emergency-use authorization. Such trials typically take years to complete and require lengthy follow-up to see how long protection from a vaccine may last." A Hill report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Rebecca Robbins, et al., of STAT: "A large, Phase 3 study testing a Covid-19 vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford at dozens of sites across the U.S. has been put on hold due to a suspected serious adverse reaction in a participant in the United Kingdom. A spokesperson for AstraZeneca, a frontrunner in the race for a Covid-19 vaccine, said in a statement that the company's 'standard review process triggered a pause to vaccination to allow review of safety data.' In a follow-up statement, AstraZeneca said it initiated the study hold. The nature of the adverse reaction and when it happened were not immediately known, though the participant is expected to recover, according to an individual familiar with the matter."

Katherine Wu of the New York Times: "As the world awaits the arrival of a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine, a team of researchers has come forward with a provocative new theory: that masks might help to crudely immunize some people against the virus.... Masked exposures are no substitute for a bona fide vaccine. But data from animals infected with the coronavirus, as well as insights gleaned from other diseases, suggest that masks, by cutting down on the number of viruses that encounter a person's airway, might reduce the wearer's chances of getting sick. And if a small number of pathogens still slip through, the researchers argue, these might prompt the body to produce immune cells that can remember the virus and stick around to fight it off again."

** Kim Severson of the New York Times: "When the coronavirus hit..., Americans began spending more money at the supermarket than at places where someone else made the food.... Here are seven ways the pandemic has already changed the way Americans shop for food: 1. Trips Are Fewer, Lists Are Better.... 2. Online Aisles Are Bustling.... 3. Orange[s Are] the New Snack.... 4.... Pandemic shopping has ushered in wider aisles, new methods of sanitation and less-crowded stores. And shoppers want these changes to stay.... 5. Choices Are Shrinking.... 6.... Frozen food ... sales [are] up almost 18 percent.... 7. 'Local' Is a Bigger Lure." Mrs. McC: Contributors, I'd be interested to read how the pandemic has affected your own food shopping, preparing & eating habits. You can use a different avatar to reply, if you wish.

Black Lives Matter, Etc.

Let's See if This Draft Report Becomes the Official Report. Geneva Sands of CNN: "White supremacists will remain the most 'persistent and lethal threat' in the United States through 2021, according to Department of Homeland Security draft documents. The most recent draft report predicts an 'elevated threat environment at least through' early next year, concluding that some US-based violent extremists have capitalized on increased social and political tensions in 2020. Although foreign terrorist organizations will continue to call for attacks on the US, the report says, they 'probably will remain constrained in their ability to direct such plots over the next year.' The threat assessment -- which also warns of continued disinformation efforts by Russia -- is especially notable as ... Donald Trump has often employed race-baiting tactics in his quest for reelection and frequently downplayed the threat from white supremacists during his term in office. The Trump administration has portrayed Antifa and anarchists as a top threat to the US, with the President tweeting this summer that the US will designate Antifa as a terrorist organization.... The 2020 draft report also finds that Russian state-affiliated actors will continue targeting US industry and all levels of government with 'intrusive cyber espionage.'"

David Montgomery of the New York Times: "U. Reneé Hall, the police chief in Dallas, abruptly announced her resignation on Tuesday amid eroding support on the City Council stemming from her department's handling of protests over the policing of African-Americans. Her resignation, which becomes effective on Nov. 10, follows a wave of police chief resignations in other cities during a tumultuous summer that has brought intense scrutiny on American law enforcement. Chief Hall, who is African-American, is the first woman to lead the Dallas department and has held the position since 2017.... She gave herself a C-minus when council members asked her to assess her performance in handling the situation, and her report on the department's actions during the protests found problems with operational plans, communications and maintaining a unified command structure. Some council members found fault with the fact that the report emphasized protesters who targeted the police with violence but failed to discuss some of the harsh measures employed by officers against the demonstrators."

New York. Michael Wilson of the New York Times: "The police chief of Rochester, N.Y., and several of his department's highest ranking officials resigned on Tuesday in the aftermath of the death of Daniel Prude, a Black man who suffocated after he had been placed in a hood by city police officers and pinned to the ground. The resignations of the police chief, La'Ron D. Singletary, the deputy chief, Joseph Morabito, and, according to Mayor Lovely Warren, others in the department, came three days after the state attorney general, Letitia James, announced that she would impanel a grand jury to consider evidence in Mr. Prude's death. 'As a man of integrity, I will not sit idly by while outside entities attempt to destroy my character,' the police chief said in a statement. He later added: 'The mischaracterization and the politicization of the actions that I took after being informed of Mr. Prude's death is not based on facts, and is not what I stand for.'" (Also linked yesterday.) An ABC News story is here. ~~~

~~~ Not in My Pricey Neighborhood. Nikita Stewart of the New York Times: "Nearly 300 homeless men who had been temporarily living in a hotel on the Upper West Side of Manhattan will be relocated after weeks of backlash from some residents who said the men had diminished the quality of life in the upscale neighborhood. The city had moved the men into the hotel, the Lucerne, in July as part of an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus in New York's dormitory-style homeless shelters. Over all, thousands of homeless men and women have been placed in hotels around the city. But the decision was met with particular blowback on the Upper West Side, becoming a test of values for a largely white neighborhood with a reputation as one of the most liberal enclaves in New York and elsewhere in the country."

Utah. Jacey Fortin of the New York Times: "A Salt Lake City police officer shot a 13-year-old boy with autism on Friday night, prompting an investigation and raising concerns about officers' use of force in a city that has been reckoning with protests and police accountability. The officer fired at the boy while responding to a call about a 'violent psych issue,' Sgt. Keith Horrocks of the Salt Lake City Police Department told reporters on Saturday morning. 'In this case it was a juvenile that was having a mental episode, a psychological episode, and had made threats to some folks with a weapon,' Sergeant Horrocks said, adding that the officer had fired his gun 'during a short foot pursuit.' The boy's mother, Golda Barton, identified her son to local news reporters as Linden Cameron. She said that he did not have a weapon, and that she had called the police to get help and possibly take him to a hospital."

Donnie Jr. Dismisses Kenosha Double Homicide as a Typical Stupid Kid Thing. Karen Robinson-Jacobs of Forbes: "When asked in an interview with the TV show Extra about the deadly shootings in Kenosha in which 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse has been accused of killing two protesters and wounding a third, Donald Trump Jr. said, 'we're waiting for due process,' and he lamented the tragedy of a 'young kid' putting himself in a volatile situation while armed with a deadly weapon, saying, 'We all do stupid things at 17.'"

Craig Timberg & Elizabeth Dwoskin of the Washington Post: "Facebook software engineer Ashok Chandwaney has watched with growing unease as the platform has become a haven for hate. On Tuesday morning, it came time to take a stand. 'I'm quitting because I can no longer stomach contributing to an organization that is profiting off hate in the US and globally,' Chandwaney wrote in a letter posted on Facebook's internal employee network shortly after 8 a.m. Pacific time. The nearly 1,300-word document was detailed, bristling with links to bolster its claims and scathing in its conclusions.... Chandwaney specifically cited the company's role in fueling genocide in Myanmar and, more recently, violence in Kenosha, Wis.... Tuesday's resignation made Chandwaney the latest Facebook employee to quit amid rising discontent within a company that, just a few years ago, was considered an ideal employer -- exciting, deep-pocketed and, as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg frequently said, animated by the seemingly benevolent mission of connecting the world together. Worker frustration with Facebook's policies on hate and racist speech has risen as protests against racial injustice have swept the country, with thousands of employees demanding that Zuckerberg, who controls a majority of Facebook's voting shares, change his stances."

Way Beyond the Beltway

Robyn Dixon & Ruby Mellen of the Washington Post: "Alexei Navalny, who was poisoned last month with a nerve agent similar to the Soviet-era chemical weapon Novichok, was brought out of an induced coma, and his condition has improved, German doctors said Monday. A statement from the Charité clinic in Berlin said he was responding to voices, but it was too early to know the long-term impact of the poisoning. The clinic's statement said that Navalny, an acerbic critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was being weaned off a ventilator." (Also linked yesterday.)

News Ledes

AP: "Wildfires raged unchecked across parts of the Western U.S on Wednesday, with gusty winds forecast to drive flames into new ferocity. In California, Diablo winds in the north and Santa Ana winds in the south were stoking unprecedented numbers of fires that have already grown explosively. In Washington, more acres burned in a single day than firefighters usually see all year. Fires also forced people to flee in Oregon and Idaho." ~~~

~~~ The New York Times is live-updating developments in the Western wildfires. ~~~

~~~ AND this, from contributor unwashed: "Re: the fires out west. Windy.com provides imagery of how extensive they are. Two are Fire intensity and CO concentration, as measured from space. (Found under menu option for Air quality)"

New York Times: "Diana Rigg, the British actress who enthralled London and New York theater audiences with her performances in classic roles for more than a half-century but remained best known as the quintessential new woman of the 1960s -- sexy, confident, witty and karate-adept -- on the television series 'The Avengers,' died on Thursday at her home in London. She was 82."