The Commentariat -- August 24, 2020

Afternoon Update:

David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "The New York attorney general is investigating President Trump's private business for allegedly misleading lenders by inflating the value of its assets, the attorney general's office said Monday in a legal filing. In the filing, signed by a deputy to Attorney General Letitia James, the attorney general's office said it is investigating Trump's use of 'Statements of Financial Condition' -- documents Trump sent to lenders, summarizing his assets and debts. The filing asks a New York state judge to compel the Trump Organization to provide information it has been withholding from investigators -- including a subpoena seeking an interview with the president's son Eric. The attorney general's office said it began investigating after Trump's former lawyer and 'fixer,' Michael Cohen, told Congress in February 2019 that Trump had used these statements to inflate his net worth to lenders. The filing said that Eric Trump had been scheduled to be interviewed in the investigation in late July, but abruptly canceled that interview. The filing says that Eric Trump is now refusing to be interviewed...." A New York Times story is here.

Valerie Strauss of the Washington Post: "A Florida judge Monday granted a temporary injunction against the state's order requiring school districts to reopen schools during the novel coronavirus pandemic, saying in a harshly worded decision that safety concerns had been ignored. Circuit Court Judge Charles Dodson, in a 16-page decision, granted the request in a lawsuit filed by the Florida Education Association to block the order issued by state Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran on July 6 compelling schools to reopen five days a week for families who did not want their children to do all virtual learning. Districts were threatened with loss of state funding if they did not comply. Dodson said, however, that parts of the order were unconstitutional and that state officials 'have essentially ignored the requirement of school safety by requiring the statewide opening of brick-and-mortar schools to receive already allocated funding.' He also said the state had wrongly removed the right of local districts to decide for themselves on safe reopening plans." The Tampa Bay Times story is here.

The New York Times' live updates of Monday's Trump Show are here. The Washington Post's live updates are here. The Republicans have already held a live rollcall in Charlotte, N.C., but MSNBC played it on mute (Trump just complained that CNN didn't cover the rollcall at all; who knows if that's true); the audio was the House hearing on the USPS. Mrs. McC: Fortunately, I had already read a preview of the rollcall, thanks to historian Kevin Kruse (linked below), so I didn't miss a thing.

The Washington Post's live updates of the DeJoy hearing are here. "In one tense exchange, Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) asked DeJoy 'what the heck are you doing,' complaining that the postmaster general had ended a 'once-proud tradition' of the Postal Service. Lynch asked, 'Will you put the machines back?' DeJoy said he would not." Here's the rant that contributor Jeanne mentions in today's Comments, which preceded his question of DeJoy:

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Molly Redden of the Huffington Post: "... Donald Trump's selection for a key Postal Service position, Robert M. Duncan, once ... steer[ed] the Republican Party while it undertook some of its most brazen voter suppression schemes. Duncan is now the chair of the Postal Service board of governors, but he previously served as general counsel and then chair of the Republican National Committee from 2002 to 2009, a time when the committee and its state counterparts oversaw an unprecedented escalation of voter disenfranchisement efforts in swing states. From 2004 to 2006, when Duncan was the committee's general counsel, party officials challenged the eligibility of at least 77,000 voters, a 2007 report by the nonpartisan group Project Vote found. As it happens, one of the party's favored tactics relied on the U.S. mail. In 2004, Republicans in Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania sent thousands of nonforwardable letters and postcards to select voters -- particularly minority voters -- and used the mail returned as undeliverable to come up with voter registration challenge lists."

The Washington Post's live updates of coronavirus developments Monday are here.

Jerry Likes to Watch. Aram Roston of Reuters: "In a claim likely to intensify the controversy surrounding one of the most influential figures in the American Christian conservative movement, a business partner of Jerry Falwell Jr has come forward to say he had a years-long sexual relationship involving Falwell's wife and the evangelical leader. Giancarlo Granda says he was 20 when he met Jerry and Becki Falwell while working as a pool attendant at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel in March 2012. Starting that month and continuing into 2018, Granda told Reuters that the relationship involved him having sex with Becki Falwell while Jerry Falwell looked on.... Becki Falwell, 53, is a political figure in her own right. She served on the advisory board of the group Women for Trump...." ~~~

     ~~~ ** Update. Susan Svrluga, et al., of the Washington Post: "Jerry Falwell Jr. has agreed to resign as president of Liberty University on Monday, according to a school official.... Opposition to his presidency had been growing but came to a dramatic head after two new reports about a young man Falwell and his wife befriended at a Florida pool, went into business with and who allegedly was sexually connected to the couple.... Falwell had been placed on paid leave Aug. 7 after he posted a provocative picture of himself and his wife's assistant on social media." ~~~

~~~ Paul Campos in LG&$ righteously provides the Christian response: "Let he who has not made [a] fortune running a billion dollar non-profit boiler room cum 'Christian University' that obsessively monitors the romantic inclinations of its marks students, while recording three-ways between his wife, his wife's hot young Latin lover, and himself, cast the first stone." Mrs. McC: Thanks, Paul. Now I'm so ashamed of snickering.

** William Glucroft & Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post: “Alexei Navalny, the prominent Russian opposition figure and Kremlin critic, was poisoned, Berlin's Charité hospital said in a statement Monday, citing clinical results. Although the exact substance that poisoned Navalny is not yet known, it is believed to be a cholinesterase inhibitor, Charité's statement said, adding that the effect of the toxin -- blocking cholinesterase, an enzyme needed for the proper functioning of the nervous system -- was confirmed several times by independent laboratories.... Navalny remains in a medically induced coma but 'there is no acute danger to his life.' He is being given atropine, a medication used to treat certain types of nerve agent and pesticide poisonings."

Nick Schwellenbach & David Szakonyi of the Project on Government Oversight (POGO): "Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov owns four coal mining operations sprinkled across Appalachia that received loans intended to help small businesses keep workers on payroll during the pandemic. They received a total of $21 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, according to a statement Akhmetov's company provided to the Project On Government Oversight (POGO).... [T]he oligarch's United Coal Company and its subsidiaries had estimated sales of $1.5 billion last year.... Akhmetov ... reportedly owns two of the planet's most expensive homes and ... had a cameo in ... Robert Mueller's report last year.... The total value of the loans also exceeds the amount of civil penalties United Coal has racked up [$13.4 million for 14,030] for federal worker health and safety violations.... Unlike past Small Business Administration programs, it does not matter if PPP loan recipients are owned by a wealthy foreign national." --s

Brazil. Tom Phillips of the Guardian: "A gospel-singing Brazilian congresswoman [Flordelis dos Santos de Souza] has been accused of masterminding the 'barbaric' murder of her preacher husband after at least six failed or aborted attempts to kill him with poison or in staged robberies. Anderson do Carmo was 42 when he was shot dead in June 2019 as he returned to the home he shared with the church crooner-turned-politician Flordelis dos Santos de Souza.... [A]llegations of a bizarre and lurid family plot to murder the evangelical preacher emerged on Monday as police arrested five of Flordelis' children and one granddaughter for involvement in the crime.... The 59-year-old lawmaker -- who has made records for one of Brazil's top gospel labels and was elected to congress in 2018 -- could not be arrested because she enjoys parliamentary immunity.... Do Carmo's grisly murder -- he was reportedly shot more than 30 times, predominantly in the groin and thighs -- made nationwide headlines and has continued to do so since." --s

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Presidential Race, Etc.

Annie Linskey of the Washington Post: "Joe Biden and Kamala D. Harris on Sunday night pushed back on accusations that they would defund police departments and increase taxes on the middle class or that the presidential nominee is facing mental decline, three narratives that Republicans have promoted and are expected to focus on as their convention begins Monday. In the Democratic duo's first joint television interview, aired Sunday night on ABC, Biden reiterated his support for increasing funding to police departments -- and noted that President Trump's budget would cut grants to local law enforcement.... The former vice president laughed as ABC anchor David Muir, noting Trump's criticisms, asked whether the 77-year old possessed the mental capacity to lead the country. 'Watch me,' he said. Biden also said he is 'absolutely' leaving open the idea of trying to serve two terms in the White House." ~~~

~~~ The Lout & the Gentlemen. Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: In the interview, Muir asks Harris about Trump's attacks on her. As Chris Lamb of the Indy Star wrote last week, "Two minutes after the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee selected U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate..., Donald Trump returned to the seventh grade. Trump called Harris 'nasty' several times and then used the words 'meanest' and 'most horrible' in his characterization of her." So I got to wondering what, if anything, candidates Obama & Biden had said about Sarah Palin after John McCain announced she was his V.P. pick in 2008. Here's the answer: John Harwood of CNBC (August 28, 2008) wrote: "In a joint statement, Obama and Biden congratulated Palin on her selection. 'It is yet another encouraging sign that old barriers are falling in our politics,' their statement said. 'While we obviously have differences over how best to lead this country forward Governor Palin is an admirable person and will add a compelling new voice to this campaign.'"

Sister Acts. Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Days before publication of Maryanne Trump Barry's scathing assessment of her brother Donald as lying, cruel, phony, unprincipled and unprepared (see yesterday's Commentariat for link), Joe Biden's sister Valerie Biden Owens told Bill Barrow of the AP what a smart, kind, decent person Joe had always been. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Washington Post Sounds the Alarm

** Washington Post Editors: "President Trump will make this argument [link fixed] to the American people: Things were great until China loosed the novel coronavirus on the world. If you reelect me, I will make things great again.... But, fittingly for a president who has spoken more than 20,000 lies during his presidency, [the argument] rests on two huge falsehoods. One is that the nation, his presidency and, above all, Mr. Trump himself are innocent victims of covid-19. In fact, his own negligence, ignorance and malpractice turned what would have been a daunting challenge for any president into a national disaster. The other is that there was anything to admire in his record before the virus struck. It is true that the economic growth initiated under President Barack Obama had continued, at about the same modest rate. Mr. Trump achieved this growth by ratcheting up America's deficit and long-term debt to record levels, with a tax cut that showered benefits on the wealthy.... History will record Mr. Trump's presidency as a march of wanton, uninterrupted, tragic destruction.... And so, over the coming weeks..., we will publish a series of editorials on the damage this president has caused -- and the danger he would pose in a second term." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ ** David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "Trailing in the polls and struggling to find a message, President Trump is leveraging one of the most powerful assets he has left -- his White House office -- in service of his reelection bid, obliterating the lines between governing and campaigning and testing legal boundaries.... In recent weeks, Trump has acknowledged he was opposed to funding for the U.S. Postal Service because he does not want the money used for universal mail-in voting. He sent Homeland Security authorities to quell social justice protests in what he termed 'Democrat cities.' He signed a stream of executive orders that circumvented Congress and delivered overtly partisan speeches at official White House functions, including a 54-minute Rose Garden monologue blasting Democratic rival Joe Biden last month. Trump also has used federal resources and personnel to re-create the enthusiasm of his campaign rallies.... He invited patrons at his private golf resort in Bedminster, N.J., to attend news conferences there, with many of them heckling reporters. And he held a campaign rally in Yuma, Ariz., last week with 200 off-duty Border Patrol union members, many wearing masks emblazoned with 'TRUMP' and 'MAGA.'&" Read on. A related NBC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ "Trump Has No Idea How to Run for Reelection." Ashley Parker of the Washington Post: "Typically, presidents run for reelection on the achievements of their first term.... But Trump has, from that first golden-escalator ride, campaigned, governed and wallowed in grievance, never once wavering from his outsider ethos.... Trump appears unwilling -- or unable -- to abandon his burn-it-all-down cri de coeur, even when the establishment he lambastes is run by himself and his appointees.... The decision to position himself as a permanent outsider is less strategic than pathological, say people close to the president, reflecting a man who since childhood has lusted after an elite that never truly welcomed him." (Also linked yesterday.)

Mrs. McCrabbie: Many news outlets are reporting on plans for the upcoming Big Trump Show, like this New York Times story on how two "Apprentice" producers are stage-managing the hoohah, or several reports that a whole lot of the featured speakers are either Trump or a member of the Crime Family Trump (although for some reason, Trump's sister Judge Maryanne Barry is not among them). But historian Kevin Kruse has the scoop on plans for the roll call. Here's how it starts: "ALABAMA: Roy Moore, legally standing a hundred feet outside a mall. ALASKA: Hunters lighting up caribou with AK-47s. ARIZONA: Joe Arpaio licking a taser." Many thanks to RAS for the link. Worth reading Kruse's roll call, so you won't have to watch whatever comes up on the teevee. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Donie O'Sullivan, et al., of CNN: "Twitter on Sunday slapped a label on a tweet from ... Donald Trump for 'making misleading health claims that could potentially dissuade people from participation in voting.' Trump claimed in posts on Twitter and Facebook early Sunday morning that mail drop boxes for voting 'are not Covid sanitized,' as well as a 'voter security disaster.' Hours after Trump sent the tweet, Twitter took action, saying, 'We placed a public interest notice on this Tweet for violating our Civic Integrity Policy for making misleading health claims that could potentially dissuade people from participation in voting.' Now accompanying the tweet is the full following security notice: 'This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about civic and election integrity. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public's interest for the Tweet to remain accessible.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Fadel Allassan of Axios: "Former Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, along with more than two dozen former GOP members of Congress, signed onto a 'Republicans for Biden' effort, Fox News reports.... The group is part of the Biden campaign's strategy to appeal to moderate Republicans currently on the fence about backing President Trump. Its Monday launch was timed to coincide with the first day of the Republican National Convention."

Tim Alberta in Politico Magazine: "... Donald Trump's party is the very definition of a cult of personality. It stands for no special ideal. It possesses no organizing principle. It represents no detailed vision for governing. Filling the vacuum is a lazy, identity-based populism.... When I called one party elder, he joked that it's a good thing Republicans decided not to write a new platform for the 2020 convention -- because they have produced nothing novel since the last one was written.... The party is now defined primarily by its appetite for conflict, even when that conflict serves no obvious policy goal. The result is political anarchy.... At this week's Republican convention..., the party of rugged individualism will spend as much time whining as reveling."

Catie Edmondson & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Postmaster General Louis DeJoy will appear before lawmakers again on Monday, this time testifying to the House Oversight Committee, where he is expected to face much tougher questioning from lawmakers on the Democratic-run panel than he did during his Senate hearing on Friday.... Robert M. Duncan, the chairman of the Postal Service's board of governors, will also testify on Monday, the first public remarks he has given on the state of the embattled agency.... A central line of questioning on Monday is expected to focus on how the board of governors selected Mr. DeJoy, a logistics executive whose name was not on an initial list of candidates provided to the board."

** Massachusetts Congressional Race. Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "On Aug. 7, the student newspaper at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst reported that the state chapter of the College Democrats had disinvited [Alex] Morse, a congressional candidate and former guest lecturer at the university, from its future events, claiming 'numerous incidents' of unwanted and inappropriate advances toward students.... Mr. Morse is a 31-year-old, gay, small-city mayor and a rising star in national progressive politics.... He quickly apologized to anyone he made uncomfortable..., while also acknowledging some consensual sexual relationships with college students over the years. He said none were with anyone he taught or supervised. Nevertheless, within hours after the story broke, Mr. Morse went from role model to pariah.... But then the story flipped.... Messages between some of the students that were published by The Intercept showed they had discussed how they might damage Mr. Morse's campaign, with one suggesting it might help his career prospects with Mr. Morse's opponent, Representative Richard E. Neal, the chairman of the ... Ways and Means Committee.... The Massachusetts Democratic Party acknowledged that it had provided legal advice to the College Democrats about the letter, leading Mr. Morse to accuse Mr. Neal and his allies in the state's Democratic leadership of having a hand in a homophobic plot to smear him. Mr. Neal has denied any involvement. Today, Mr. Morse is still in the race and says the allegations have only helped his campaign."

Kansas State Legislature. Marie Fazio of the New York Times: "The 19-year-old candidate for the Kansas Legislature who admitted to sending revenge porn and bullying girls online when he was in middle school plans to withdraw as the Democratic nominee, he announced on Sunday. The candidate, Aaron Coleman, said on Twitter that he had decided to withdraw from the race to 'focus on taking care of my family & surviving the COVID Great Depression.'"

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Sunday are here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) "Trump administration officials met with congressional leaders [July 30] and told them they would probably give emergency approval to a coronavirus vaccine before the end of Phase 3 clinical trials in the United States, perhaps as early as late September, according to two people briefed on the discussion. The move would be highly unusual and would most likely prompt concerns about whether the administration is cutting corners on approvals for political purposes. The two-hour meeting involving Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin; the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; and Senator Chuck Schumer.... The projected timeline shows the administration's hopes for a major victory against the pandemic before the election.... Senior administration officials disputed the account, saying Mr. Meadows and Mr. Mnuchin were either being misrepresented or had been misunderstood on every major point." Mrs. McC: I guess we're supposed to think that Pelosi & Schumer are dumb as rocks and Meadows & Mnuchin are reliable truth-tellers.

Trump's Fake Covid-19 "Breakthrough." Sharon LaFraniere, et al., of the New York Times: "The Food and Drug Administration on Sunday gave emergency approval for expanded use of antibody-rich blood plasma to help hospitalized coronavirus patients, allowing President Trump, who has been pressuring the agency to move faster to address the pandemic, to claim progress on the eve of the Republican convention. Mr. Trump cited the approval, which had been held up by concerns among top government scientists about the data behind it, as welcome news.... At a news briefing, he described the treatment as 'a powerful therapy' made possible 'by marshaling the full power of the federal government.'... But the F.D.A. cited benefits for only some patients. And, unlike a new drug, plasma cannot be manufactured in millions of doses.... [Trump's unfounded claim] that the F.D.A.['s 'deep state'] was deliberately holding up decision-making until after the election ... exacerbated concerns among some government scientists, outside experts and Democrats that the president's political needs could undermine the integrity of the regulatory process, hurt public confidence in safety and introduce a different kind of public health risk. No randomized trials of the sort researchers consider most robust have yet shown benefit from convalescent plasma." ~~~

~~~ (Earlier.) Zachary Brennan of Politico: "The Food and Drug Administration will issue an emergency authorization for blood plasma as a coronavirus treatment..., Donald Trump is set to announce Sunday evening, according to three administration officials. The agency held off on the decision last week over concerns from government scientists that evidence for the treatment's effectiveness is thin -- prompting Trump to accuse the FDA of slow-walking the therapy to harm his re-election chances without offering any evidence to support his claim. It is not clear whether the FDA has received additional clinical trial data in the last week that would support the therapy's use.... Plasma treatment ... has not yet been proven to work against the coronavirus." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

A Patsy Runs the FDA. Sheila Kaplan of the New York Times: "... as head of the agency that will decide what treatments are approved for Covid-19 and whether a new vaccine is safe enough to be given to millions of Americans, Dr. [Stephen] Hahn may be pressured like no one else. Unlike Dr. Anthony S. Fauci or Dr. Francis S. Collins, leaders at the National Institutes of Health who have decades of experience operating under Republican and Democratic administrations, Dr. Hahn was a Washington outsider.... Last week Mr. Trump speculated that [a vaccine] could be ready by Election Day -- a timeline that is unrealistic, according to scientists, and shows the strain Dr. Hahn may be under. Many medical experts -- including members of his own staff -- worry about whether Dr. Hahn, despite his good intentions, has the fortitude and political savvy to protect the scientific integrity of the F.D.A. from the president. Critics point to a series of worrisome responses to the coronavirus epidemic under Dr. Hahn's leadership.... Dr. Hahn is not allowed to speak to the press without [a Trumpy babysitter] on the phone."

Republicans Really Don't Care. Do You? Hannah Denford & Taylor Telford of the Washington Post: "One of the most successful elements of the government's response to the coronavirus recession -- protecting people on the margins from falling into poverty -- is faltering as the safety net shrinks and federal benefits expire. Major recessions are especially fraught for low-income earners, whose finances can veer from tenuous to dire with one missed paycheck. But as the economy cratered this spring, economists and poverty experts were mildly surprised to discover that the torrent of government support that followed -- particularly the $600 a week in expanded unemployment benefits and one-time $1,200 stimulus checks -- likely lowered the overall poverty rate.... Now, data show, those gains are eroding as federal inaction deprives Americans on the financial margins of additional support. If the unemployment rate stays around 10 percent and no new stimulus is delivered, 'we can expect poverty rates to rise and climb higher than those observed in the Great Recession,' [Zach] Parolin [of Columbia University] said."

Annals of "Journalism" -- Literary Corner, Ha Ha

David Bauder of the AP: According to Brian Stelter in his book Hoax, "Several people at Fox privately expressed worry to him about the growing power of prime-time opinion hosts Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham at the expense of Fox's news operation, he said. 'There is a real resistance inside Fox News,' Stelter told The Associated Press. 'Nobody there would use that term. But there are many people there who are uncomfortable with Sean Hannity's lies and Tucker Carlson's xenophobia. It's just that they are powerless, or feel powerless, and the prime-time stars have all the power. There are Trump true believers at Fox, but there are many others who are concerned about the damage being done....'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

"Fox's Frankenstein." Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post: "Not surprisingly, almost everyone spoke to [Brian Stelter] only on the condition of anonymity.... Still, the insider details are believable and often stunning -- like ultimate Trump loyalist Sean Hannity reportedly calling Trump 'bats--t crazy' when speaking privately. Or this, from someone identified as a Fox News star: 'Trump is like Fox's Frankenstein. They helped make him and he's out of control.' The book's depiction of the feedback loop between media company and president is undeniable.... 'Trump granted pardons because of Fox. ... He raged against migrant 'caravans' because of Fox. He accused public servants of treason because of Fox. And he got the facts wrong again and again because of mistakes and misreporting by the network,' [Stelter] writes." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

David Enrich of the New York Times: "... Fox News ... has spawned some of the defining myths of this presidency and spurred Trump to adopt positions so hard-line as to be unpalatable even to congressional Republicans.... 'Hoax,' the new book by the CNN journalist Brian Stelter..., provides a thorough and damning exploration of the incestuous relationship between Trump and his favorite channel -- and of Fox's democracy-decaying role as a White House propaganda organ masquerading as conservative journalism.... Stelter shows, for example, how spurious attacks by Fox hosts led Trump to fire cabinet secretaries and shut down the federal government. It is the type of old-school media muscle-flexing that would be impossible under a stronger president." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump's weakness is something I've been thinking about lately. He presents himself as an authoritarian strongman, but he's a 240-pound weakling, so beholden to Putin, Hannity, et al., that he will make foolish, embarrassing policy reversals at the first knock by a Fox "News" personality. He think firing staff makes him look strong, but -- as Stelter point out -- many of those chaotic staff shuffles are the product of Fox criticism. I hope the Biden campaign (or the Lincoln Project!) will run ads portraying Trump not just as a person with no convictions, but as someone whose lack of conviction is a product of the whims of jerks & enemies.

** All the Best People, Ctd. Career Setback for SNL's Kate McKinnon. Ashley Parker of the Washington Post: "Kellyanne Conway, a senior adviser to President Trump and one of his longest-serving aides, is leaving the White House at the end of the month. Conway, whose title is counselor to the president, was Trump's third campaign manager in 2016 and the first woman to successfully manage a presidential bid to victory. She joined the White House at the start of Trump's term and has been one of his most visible and vocal defenders. Conway informed Trump of her decision Sunday night in the Oval Office. Her husband, George T. Conway III, a conservative lawyer and outspoken critic of the president, is also stepping back from his role on the Lincoln Project, an outside group of Republicans devoted to defeating Trump in November. He will also take a hiatus from Twitter, the venue he has often used to attack the president. In a statement, Conway called her time in the Trump administration 'heady' and 'humbling,' and said she and George were making the decision based on what they think is best for their four children." A CNN story is here. ~~~

~~~ Adam Silverman of Balloon Juice, in a comment: "George and KellyAnne Conway's eldest daughter, Claudia, who is 15, went on twitter late last night and earlier today alleging that 1) her mother has been emotionally and physically abusing her for years, 2) her father is just as bad politically as her mom, except on Trump so no one should be giving him any credit, and 3) this is why she was seeking to be legally emancipated from both of her parents.... Conway [is] ... quitting because her eldest daughter ... has publicly accused her of being emotionally and physically abusive. And that this is the reason she is seeking to be legally emancipated.... George is a very, very, very good attorney. He knows exactly the jeopardy that has been created for them. As an officer of the court he's a mandatory reporter, so if there was abuse and he didn't report it, he's in almost as much trouble as KellyAnne may well be in if Claudia's allegations are substantiated. If they actually care about her and their other kids they're quitting the White House (KellyAnne) and the Lincoln Group (George) to try to get her help. If they're as transactional and psychopathic as I actually expect and believe, they're trying to figure out how to stay ahead of the authorities and how to keep Claudia from going forward with the emancipation she said she's pursuing and that would bring everything into the open. I expect someone flagged Claudia's tweets for DC's child protective services."

Erin Banco of the Daily Beast has a long piece on Jared Kushner's secret dealings with Vladimir Putin's money-man, Kirill Dmitriev, who is CEO of the "Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), one of the country's sovereign wealth funds, which is under U.S. sanctions."

Jerry, Becki, and the Pool Boy. Paul Bedard of the Washington Examiner: "Jerry Falwell Jr., suspended as president of Virginia's Christian-focused Liberty University after a string of embarrassing acts, today said that he has suffered depression caused by a former family friend who had an affair with his wife and has been threatening to expose it. In a statement exclusively to Secrets, Falwell revealed his wife Becki's affair for the first time, said it was short lived and that the two reconciled quickly. But, they claimed, her former lover has threatened them over the past several years and they are done with it hanging over their heads." Includes a long, self-serving statement by Jerry.

~~~ A New York Post story is here. "Although Falwell Jr. did not name the employee, the [Washington] Examiner identified him as [the pool boy] Giancarlo Granda.... Following the affair, the Falwells invested 1.8 million in a property deal with Granda to open up a youth hostel in Miami Beach.... Years later, Falwell Jr. claimed Granda became 'increasingly angry and aggressive,' and tried to extort the family by threatening to publicly reveal the relationship.... Granda ... denied making any threats toward the family, and told the Examiner in an email, 'The Falwell's attempt to sandbag me, and the Examiner, with a last-minute story without providing the Examiner clear evidence that this was not simply an "affair" with concocted allegations of extortion reeks desperation. The WHOLE truth will come out.'" --s

Wisconsin. Meg Jones of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Kenosha police shot a man Sunday evening, setting off unrest in the city after a video appeared to show the officer firing several shots at close range into the man's back. The shooting victim has been identified as Jacob Blake, a Black man, by Wisconsin officials. He was in serious condition at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee as of early Monday morning.... Police had been called to a domestic incident ... at 5:11 p.m. where the shooting later occurred.... The Kenosha News reported that neighbors said Blake was trying to break up a fight between two women. Bystanders said he was Tased and then shot several times.... As the man opens the door [of a van] to get in, an officer grabs his shirt to hold him still, then appears to shoot him in the back at close range."

Sidney Fussell of Wired: "Earlier this month, Amazon said it had received more than 3,000 requests from police for user data [from smart devices] in the first half of this year, and complied almost 2,000 times. That was a 72 percent increase in requests from the same period in 2016, when Amazon first disclosed the data, and a 24 percent jump in the past year alone.... Google's Nest unit reported increasing police demands for data from its smart speakers through 2018. Google then stopped reporting Nest data separately, including such requests in its broader corporate transparency report, which shows increased requests for Google user data. In their terms of service, most major apps and websites include a clause warning users that companies may hand over their data if requested by the government." --s

Way Beyond the Beltway

Brazil. Tom Phillips of the Guardian: "The Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has told a journalist he would like to 'smash your face in' after being questioned over reports of a series of mystery payments into his wife's bank account [of at least 89,000 reais (about £12,000)] by a former police officer with alleged links to the Rio de Janeiro underworld.... As he stood outside the Catholic Cathedral of Brasília, Bolsonaro then branded the journalist a safado (dirtbag).... The mystery deposits were allegedly made by Fabrício Queiroz, a longtime friend of Bolsonaro who was recently arrested as part of a corruption investigation into one of the president's sons, and Queiroz's wife, Marcia Aguiar. Flávio Bolsonaro and Queiroz have denied the corruption allegations." --s

News Ledes

Weather Channel: "Tropical Storm Laura could strengthen quickly into a major hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico with a dangerous threat of storm surge along parts of the Louisiana and Texas coasts, and threats of flooding rain and strong winds extending well inland later in the week. Laura has prompted hurricane and storm surge watches for the Gulf Coast. A hurricane watch has been posted from Port Bolivar, Texas, to west of Morgan City, Louisiana. This means hurricane conditions are possible within 48 hours in the watch area. A storm surge watch has also been issued from San Luis Pass, Texas, to Ocean Springs, Mississippi. This watch, meaning life-threatening inundation of water moving ashore over land is possible within the area in 48 hours or less. The watch includes Galveston Bay, Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Maurepas and Lake Borgne for areas outside of the southeast Louisiana Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System. Tropical storm warnings continue from parts of Cuba into the Middle and Lower Florida Keys[.]"

~~~ The New Orleans Times-Picayune has several stories linked on its front page. The Times-Picayune's live updates are here. Their coverage of the storms is free to nonsubscribers, but the links didn't seem to be working @9:30 pm ET Monday. The Washington Post has live updates here, but there's no indication the page is free to nonsubscribers.

The Commentariat -- August 23, 2020

Afternoon Update:

The Washington Post Sounds the Alarm

** Washington Post Editors: "President Trump will make this argument [link fixed] to the American people: Things were great until China loosed the novel coronavirus on the world. If you reelect me, I will make things great again.... But, fittingly for a president who has spoken more than 20,000 lies during his presidency, [the argument] rests on two huge falsehoods. One is that the nation, his presidency and, above all, Mr. Trump himself are innocent victims of covid-19. In fact, his own negligence, ignorance and malpractice turned what would have been a daunting challenge for any president into a national disaster. The other is that there was anything to admire in his record before the virus struck. It is true that the economic growth initiated under President Barack Obama had continued, at about the same modest rate. Mr. Trump achieved this growth by ratcheting up America's deficit and long-term debt to record levels, with a tax cut that showered benefits on the wealthy.... History will record Mr. Trump's presidency as a march of wanton, uninterrupted, tragic destruction.... And so, over the coming weeks..., we will publish a series of editorials on the damage this president has caused -- and the danger he would pose in a second term." ~~~

~~~ ** David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "Trailing in the polls and struggling to find a message, President Trump is leveraging one of the most powerful assets he has left -- his White House office -- in service of his reelection bid, obliterating the lines between governing and campaigning and testing legal boundaries.... In recent weeks, Trump has acknowledged he was opposed to funding for the U.S. Postal Service because he does not want the money used for universal mail-in voting. He sent Homeland Security authorities to quell social justice protests in what he termed 'Democrat cities.' He signed a stream of executive orders that circumvented Congress and delivered overtly partisan speeches at official White House functions, including a 54-minute Rose Garden monologue blasting Democratic rival Joe Biden last month. Trump also has used federal resources and personnel to re-create the enthusiasm of his campaign rallies.... He invited patrons at his private golf resort in Bedminster, N.J., to attend news conferences there, with many of them heckling reporters. And he held a campaign rally in Yuma, Ariz., last week with 200 off-duty Border Patrol union members, many wearing masks emblazoned with 'TRUMP' and 'MAGA.'" Read on. A related NBC News story is here. ~~~

~~~ "Trump Has No Idea How to Run for Reelection." Ashley Parker of the Washington Post: "Typically, presidents run for reelection on the achievements of their first term.... But Trump has, from that first golden-escalator ride, campaigned, governed and wallowed in grievance, never once wavering from his outsider ethos.... Trump appears unwilling -- or unable -- to abandon his burn-it-all-down cri de coeur, even when the establishment he lambastes is run by himself and his appointees.... The decision to position himself as a permanent outsider is less strategic than pathological, say people close to the president, reflecting a man who since childhood has lusted after an elite that never truly welcomed him."

Mrs. McCrabbie: Many news outlets are reporting on plans for the upcoming Trump convention, like this New York Times story on how two "Apprentice" producers are stage-managing the hoohah, or several reports that a whole lot of the featured speakers are either Trump or a member of the Crime Family Trump (although for some reason, Trump's sister Judge Maryanne Barry is not among them). But historian Kevin Kruse has the scoop on plans for the roll call. Here's how it starts: "ALABAMA: Roy Moore, legally standing a hundred feet outside a mall. ALASKA: Hunters lighting up caribou with AK-47s. ARIZONA: Joe Arpaio licking a taser." Many thanks to RAS for the link. Worth reading Kruse's roll call, so you won't have to watch whatever comes up on the teevee.

Trump's Fake Covid-19 "Breakthrough." Zachary Brennan of Politico: "The Food and Drug Administration will issue an emergency authorization for blood plasma as a coronavirus treatment..., Donald Trump is set to announce Sunday evening, according to three administration officials. The agency held off on the decision last week over concerns from government scientists that evidence for the treatment's effectiveness is thin — prompting Trump to accuse the FDA of slow-walking the therapy to harm his re-election chances without offering any evidence to support his claim. It is not clear whether the FDA has received additional clinical trial data in the last week that would support the therapy's use.... Plasma treatment ... has not yet been proven to work against the coronavirus."

Donie O'Sullivan, et al., of CNN: "Twitter on Sunday slapped a label on a tweet from ... Donald Trump for 'making misleading health claims that could potentially dissuade people from participation in voting.' Trump claimed in posts on Twitter and Facebook early Sunday morning that mail drop boxes for voting 'are not Covid sanitized,' as well as a 'voter security disaster.' Hours after Trump sent the tweet, Twitter took action, saying, 'We placed a public interest notice on this Tweet for violating our Civic Integrity Policy for making misleading health claims that could potentially dissuade people from participation in voting.' Now accompanying the tweet is the full following security notice: 'This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about civic and election integrity. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public's interest for the Tweet to remain accessible.'"

Sister Acts. Mrs. McCrabbie: BTW, days before publication of Maryanne Trump Barry's scathing assessment of her brother Donald as lying, cruel, phony, unprincipled and unprepared, Joe Biden's sister Valerie Biden Owens told Bill Barrow of the AP what a smart, kind, decent person Joe had always been.

David Bauder of the AP: According to Brian Stelter in his book Hoax, "Several people at Fox privately expressed worry to him about the growing power of prime-time opinion hosts Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham at the expense of Fox's news operation, he said. 'There is a real resistance inside Fox News,' Stelter told The Associated Press. 'Nobody there would use that term. But there are many people there who are uncomfortable with Sean Hannity's lies and Tucker Carlson's xenophobia. It's just that they are powerless, or feel powerless, and the prime-time stars have all the power. There are Trump true believers at Fox, but there are many others who are concerned about the damage being done....'" ~~~

~~~ "Fox's Frankenstein." Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post: "Not surprisingly, almost everyone spoke to [Brian Stelter] only on the condition of anonymity.... Still, the insider details are believable and often stunning -- like ultimate Trump loyalist Sean Hannity reportedly calling Trump 'bats--t crazy' when speaking privately. Or this, from someone identified as a Fox News star: 'Trump is like Fox's Frankenstein. They helped make him and he's out of control.' The book's depiction of the feedback loop between media company and president is undeniable.... 'Trump granted pardons because of Fox.... He raged against migrant 'caravans' because of Fox. He accused public servants of treason because of Fox. And he got the facts wrong again and again because of mistakes and misreporting by the network,' [Stelter] writes." ~~~

~~~ David Enrich of the New York Times: "... Fox News ... has spawned some of the defining myths of this presidency and spurred Trump to adopt positions so hard-line as to be unpalatable even to congressional Republicans.... 'Hoax,' the new book by the CNN journalist Brian Stelter..., provides a thorough and damning exploration of the incestuous relationship between Trump and his favorite channel -- and of Fox's democracy-decaying role as a White House propaganda organ masquerading as conservative journalism.... Stelter shows, for example, how spurious attacks by Fox hosts led Trump to fire cabinet secretaries and shut down the federal government. It is the type of old-school media muscle-flexing that would be impossible under a stronger president." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump's weakness is something I've been thinking about lately. He presents himself as an authoritarian strongman, but he's a 240-pound weakling, so beholden to Putin, Hannity, et al., that he will make foolish, embarrassing policy reversals at the first knock by a Fox "News" personality. He think firing staff makes him look strong, but -- as Stelter point out -- many of those chaotic staff shuffles are the product of Fox criticism. I hope the Biden campaign (or the Lincoln Project!) will run ads portraying Trump not just as a person with no convictions, but as someone whose lack of conviction is a product of the whims of jerks & enemies.

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

~~~~~~~~~~~

Presidential Race, Etc.

John Walton of the Lincoln (Nebraska) Journal Star: State "Sen. John McCollister of Omaha said Friday he's joining a number of fellow Republicans in deciding to formally endorse Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in his bid to unseat ... Donald Trump. Biden would be 'a real president,' McCollister said, 'not the disaster' that occupies the White House today." (Also linked yesterday.)

Meghan Roos of Newsweek: "Vermont Governor Phil Scott said Friday that he has decided he will not vote for ... Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Scott, a Republican, has been a vocal critic of Trump for years and said previously that he did not vote for Trump in the 2016 presidential election, according to the Associated Press.... 'I have not decided at this point whether to cast a vote for former Vice President Biden,' Scott said. 'But it's something that I would consider. I just haven't made that decision at this point.' Earlier this year, Scott said that he believed Trump 'shouldn't be in office,' according to the Associated Press.... 'I believe that the president abused his powers,' Scott said when asked about the impeachment inquiry during a news conference in February." (Also linked yesterday.)

Today's Trumpy Distraction. Colleen Long of the AP: "TRUMP: 'The Democrats took the word GOD out of the Pledge of Allegiance at the Democrat National Convention. At first I thought they made a mistake, but it wasn't. It was done on purpose. Remember Evangelical Christians, and ALL, this is where they are coming from-it's done. Vote Nov 3!' -- tweet Saturday. THE FACTS: That's a misleading accusation. The central programming of the convention featured the entire pledge, complete with 'under God.'... 'Under God' was in each rendering. The convention also devoted a segment to showcasing Biden's religious faith. During two caucuses before the evening conventions started, the Muslim Delegates and Al lies Assembly and the LGBTQ Caucus meeting, both Tuesday, left out 'under God,' from the pledge. The party's series of caucus meetings was livestreamed but not part of the prime-time convention broadcast." Mrs. McC: Do you think Trump was watching livestreams of the Muslim & LGBTQ caucuses? Anyhow, it's encouraging to know that Trump, renowned Man of God, is protecting us from Heathen Joe and the Devilcrats. (Also linked yesterday.)

Jonathan Lemire of the AP: "The White House Rose Garden has been spruced up in time for its moment in the campaign spotlight. First lady Melania Trump will deliver her Republican National Convention speech Tuesday night from the garden.... The three weeks of work on the garden, which was done in the spirit of its original 1962 design, were showcased to reporters on Saturday. White House officials said the renovations were paid for by private donations. They declined to reveal the cost of the work. The location of the first lady's speech will be just one of the ways that the Republican National Convention will break with political norms. Federal rules prohibit the White House from being the setting for expressly political events.... Donald Trump will deliver his speech Thursday night from the White House's South Lawn, where a stage was being constructed over the weekend." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs McCrabbie: No need to listen, especially if you heard or read Michelle Obama's remarks at the Democratic convention. As Akhilleus pointed out a few days ago, Melanie lifts all her best material from Michelle.

Rachel Bade & Donna Cassata of the Washington Post: "The House voted Saturday on legislation to provide $25 billion to the U.S. Postal Service and explicitly prohibit any operational changes amid widespread Democratic fears that the Trump administration is trying to disenfranchise millions of Americans casting mail ballots this November. The 257-to-150 vote was largely along party lines as Republicans accused Democrats of manufacturing 'baseless conspiracy theories' about delays in postal deliveries to undermine President Trump's reelection bid. The Republican-led Senate is unlikely to act on the legislation, which the White House has threatened to veto. Shortly before the vote, Trump tweeted: 'Vote NO to the Pelosi/Schumer money wasting HOAX which is taking place now.' Twenty-six Republicans broke ranks with Trump and the GOP leadership and joined Democrats in backing the bill. ~~~

~~~ "Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), chairwoman of the House Oversight panel, released internal U.S. Postal Service documents Saturday that show steeper declines in on-time deliveries than lawmakers had previously been told about. The drop in service standards since early July is across all categories of mail, including priority mail, periodicals, marketing and first class, the documents show." The Hill's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) An AP story is here. ~~~

~~~ Maloney's statement is here. Includes links to supporting data.

Daniel Cassady of Forbes: "Postal workers in Washington State have reinstalled high-speed mail sorting machines -- dismantled after controversial orders from the U.S. Postal Service -- despite USPS orders not to put machines back in use.... 40 percent of the high-speed mail sorting machines in the Seattle-Tacoma area were disconnected or dismantled since the changes went into effect, according to NPR, with workers in the Tacoma, Washington sorting plant saying eight of their 18 machines that sort and postmark letters were disconnected and pushed into a corner. Sorting machines in Wenatchee, Washington were also reconnected, against the orders of the Postal Service's head of maintenance, Kevin Couch. Only two facilities, Seattle-Tacoma and one in Dallas, seem to be ignoring the Postal Service's directive to leave decommissioned sorting machines out of use." Thanks to Ken W. for the link.

Odious DeJoy. Lisa Rein, et al., of the Washington Post: Louis "DeJoy's short tenure leading the Postal Service has quickly engulfed an apolitical corner of the government first led by Benjamin Franklin in a controversy that's fueling alarm over the reliability of vital services and the integrity of voting in November. People familiar with his rocky 69 days in the job say DeJoy came into office not adequately focused on the two biggest challenges facing the post office -- the pandemic and the upcoming election. Instead, he absorbed himself with making long-term changes that Republicans have long sought to run the money-losing agency more like a business, while also addressing one of President Trump's obsessions: what the Postal Service charges Amazon for the 'last mile' delivery of packages.... [DeJoy] moved quickly to cut costs, targeting overtime that had exploded during the pandemic as postal workers fell ill and quarantined, while continuing the removal of blue mailboxes and dismantling mail-sortin machines that had begun before his tenure."

Ken Vogel, et al., of the New York Times: "In early February, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin invited two Republican members of the Postal Service's board of governors to his office to update him on ... the search for a new postmaster general. Mr. Mnuchin had made clear before the meeting that he wanted the governors to find someone who would push through the kind of cost-cutting and price increases that President Trump had publicly called for and that Treasury had recommended in a December 2018 report as a way to stem years of multibillion-dollar losses.... Since 1970, the Postal Service had been an independent agency, walled off from political influence.... The postal chief is picked by a board of governors, with seats reserved for members of both parties, who are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate for seven-year terms. Now, not only was the Trump administration ... involving itself in the process for selecting the next postmaster general, but the two Democratic governors who were then serving on the board were not invited to the Treasury meeting.... In interviews, documents and congressional testimony, Mr. Mnuchin emerges as a key player in selecting the board members who hired the Trump megadonor now leading the Postal Service and in pushing the agenda that he has pursued." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ At the top of today's Comments, Akhilleus outlines Trump's business plan for the Postal Service.

Arizona Senate Race. Hungry for Martha. Ronald Hanson of the Arizona Republic: "Sen. Martha McSally jokingly suggested to supporters to 'fast a meal' and use the savings to donate to her campaign, but the move drew guffaws on Friday from the left, who cast it as a sign of fundraising desperation. McSally, R-Ariz., made the pitch at a campaign event in northern Arizona that made plain a financial reality that has dogged her throughout her race against Democrat Mark Kelly: McSally is way behind in campaign money and is trailing in the polls.... The comment drew instant ridicule and bewilderment on social media." (Also linked yesterday.)

Connecticut House Race. Mark Pazniokas of the Connecticut Mirror (Aug. 18): "A recount Tuesday flipped the results of the Republican primary in Connecticut's 2nd Congressional District, giving Justin Anderson an 81-vote victory over Thomas Gilmer, the party-endorsed candidate arrested last week on domestic violence charges. The results spare the party an awkward debate over how to fill the vacancy expected had Gilmer won a primary roiled by news that broke as voters went to polls a week ago: Gilmer had been arrested the previous night, and he intended to decline the nomination if victorious. Anderson, whose only previous elective experience was winning a spot on the Planning and Zoning Commission in East Haddam, began the day as the loser by fewer than 20 votes. It ended with him the official winner by less than one-half of a percentage point, 9,483 to 9,402[.]" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ This Is Perfect. Cassandra Basler of Connecticut Public Radio: "A high-powered Manhattan lawyer with ties to ... Donald Trump tried to keep abuse allegations against Connecticut Republican congressional candidate Tom Gilmer from getting out. Gilmer stopped his campaign for Connecticut's eastern shoreline congressional district after he was arrested on domestic violence charges. Marc Kasowitz represented Gilmer and used to be ... Donald Trump's personal lawyer, according to the New York Times." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Saturday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Saturday are here. (Also linked yesterday.) The Washington Post's live updates for Saturday are here: "Novel coronavirus infections are trending upward across the Midwest, raising concerns that those states are struggling to contain their outbreaks even as the nation's total daily caseload continues to decline. Seven-day averages for new cases rose over the past week in the Dakotas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Wyoming, according to tracking by The Washington Post."

Famous Snake-Oil Salesman to Announce Breakthrough Treatment. Kyle Balluck of the Hill: "President Trump< will announce a 'major therapeutic breakthrough' on the novel coronavirus at a news conference Sunday evening, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany tweeted..., adding that Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Dr. Stephen Hahn, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, would attend the event."

Trump's War on Science, Ctd. Orion Rummler of Axios: "President Trump on Saturday baselessly accused the Food and Drug Administration -- which he likened to the 'deep state, or whoever' -- of making it harder for drug companies to distribute coronavirus treatments and vaccines.... Trump's tweet comes on the heels of a policy change by the Department of Health and Human Services to block the FDA's ability to regulate lab-developed tests, including for the coronavirus -- which has public health experts worried that unreliable COVID-19 tests could go to market." (Also linked yesterday.)

Georgia teachers are poppin':

Donald is cruel.... You can't trust him. -- Maryanne Trump Barry, Donald Trump's sister ~~~

~~~ ** Caught on Tape. Michael Kranish of the Washington Post: "In response to a question from The Washington Post about how she knew the president paid someone to take the SATs, Mary Trump revealed that she had surreptitiously taped 15 hours of face-to-face conversations with [Donald Trump's sister, Maryanne Trump] Barry, in 2018 and 2019.... Barry was serving as a federal judge when ... children were being separated from their parents and put in cramped quarters.... 'All he wants to do is appeal to his base,' Barry said [of Donald]. 'He has no principles. None. None. And his base, I mean my God, if you were a religious person, you want to help people. Not do this.' Barry, 83, was aghast at how her 74-year-old brother operated as president. 'His goddamned tweet and lying, oh my God,' she said. 'I'm talking too freely, but you know. The change of stories. The lack of preparation. The lying. Holy shit.'... At one point Barry said to her niece, 'It's the phoniness of it all. It's the phoniness and this cruelty. Donald is cruel.'..." The article includes audio clips. Politico has a summary story here.

Trump Deputlized Notorious Bigot Lou Dobbs. Mary Papenfuss of the Huffington Post (Aug. 21 -- reposted in Yahoo! News): "... Donald Trump told officials from the Department of Homeland Security to get their marching orders by listening to Fox Business host Lou Dobbs 'every night,' former DHS chief of staff [Mrs. McC: and Trump appointee] Miles Taylor told Anderson Cooper on Friday. Dobbs, an effusive supporter of Trump, was basically the 'shadow chief of staff' for the department, Taylor said in the CNN interview. 'The president would call us and ... he would say, "Why the hell didn't you watch Lou Dobbs last night? You need to listen to Lou. What Lou says is what I want to do,"' Taylor said. 'So if Lou Dobbs peddled a conspiracy theory ... or made an erroneous claim about what should be done ... at the border ... the president wanted us to be tuning in every night,' he added.... Taylor served in the Department of Homeland Security from 2017 to 2019, including as chief of staff to former Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. He has blasted the Trump administration and is endorsing DemocratJoe Biden for president."

Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "The attorney general, William Barr, told Rupert Murdoch to 'muzzle' Andrew Napolitano, a prominent Fox News personality who became a critic of Donald Trump, according to ... Hoax: Donald Trump, Fox News and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth, by CNN media reporter Brian Stelter.... 'The criminal behavior to which Trump has admitted,' Napolitano wrote, in a column dated 3 October, 'is much more grave than anything alleged or unearthed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and much of what Mueller revealed was impeachable.' Citing an unnamed source, Stelter writes that Trump 'was so incensed by the judge's TV broadcasts that he had implored Barr to send Rupert a message in person ... about "muzzling the judge"'" ~~~

~~~ Storytime: Rachel Maddow reads excerpts from Brian Stelter's new book Hoax. Maddow's interview of Stelter is here. Thanks to PD Pepe for the heads-up. (Also linked yesterday.)

This Week in Washington, D.C. Marissa Lang of the Washington Post: "Hours after the thick smoke of President Trump's fireworks show dissipates from the Mall, a crowd of thousands is expected to march Friday to the Lincoln Memorial for a civil rights protest calling on the nation to fulfill unkept promises of racial justice and equality. The march -- on the 57th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s seminal 'I Have a Dream' speech -- will conclude a week of large-scale events in the nation's capital.... Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) has doubled down on instructions to out-of-state visitors: Wear a mask, keep your distance and, if you're traveling from one of the 29 states deemed a hot spot, quarantine for two weeks upon arrival.... Some [protesters] found a possible loophole in the mayor's order: Demonstrators ... said they intend to stay in Maryland or Virginia and only travel into the District for the protest. Any visit less than 24 hours is considered 'essential travel,' according to the mayor's office, and would sidestep the quarantine requirement. Bowser's order also exempts those two neighboring states."

Oregon. Katie Shepherd of the Washington Post: "On Saturday afternoon, a large crowd of more than 100 far-right activists, including Proud Boys and armed militia members, descended on Portland, Ore., staging a 'Back the Blue' rally in front of the Justice Center that houses the downtown police precinct. Hundreds of antifa and Black Lives Matter protesters gathered to oppose the far-right crowd. People in the far-right crowd came armed with paintball guns, metal rods, aluminum bats, fireworks, pepper spray, rifles and handguns. Some people in the opposing left-leaning crowd brought rocks, fireworks and bottles filled with chemical solutions. Both crowds sported shields and helmets.... As the brawls unfolded, Portland police officers remained at a distance ... even as people beat others with sticks, and at least two right-wing activists brandished handguns.... Police said they did not stop the violence ... because too few officers were available to respond and they deemed it too dangerous to intervene." A New York Times story is here.

Tennessee. Stephanie Mencimer of Mother Jones: "On Friday, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) signed a controversial bill that enhances penalties for certain crimes related to political protests and makes it a felony to illegally camp on state property. In Tennessee, a felony conviction automatically revokes an individual's right to vote. The law also increases penalties for assaulting a first responder, obstructing emergency vehicles, and rioting. The bill follows two months of anti-racism protests in Nashville, during which activists have camped outside the state capitol building in an effort to secure a meeting with Lee. According to the Associated Press, state legislators claimed the law was needed after some protesters set fire to a courthouse in May. But civil libertarians were quick to criticize the measure as detrimental to free speech and criminal justice reform in a state that already uses felon disenfranchisement laws to bar large numbers of Black residents from voting." (Also linked yesterday.)

News Ledes

Weather Channel: "It's likely that [Tropical Storms] Marco and Laura will make rare back-to-back landfalls in the mainland United States over the next few days.... Tropical Storm Marco will be the first part of the one-two punch for the Gulf Coast. This system is likely to make landfall along the Louisiana Gulf Coast on Monday as a strong tropical storm or hurricane.... Tropical Storm Laura is forecast to reach the Gulf of Mexico early this week, where significant intensification into a hurricane is expected. The area with the highest chance of seeing a hurricane strike from Laura by midweek is along parts of the northern and western Gulf Coast, but this forecast is still uncertain."

Guardian: "Firefighters made progress against three massive and destructive wildfires in California during a calm overnight, but they were preparing Sunday for high winds and thunderstorms that could spark new blazes and further spread the existing fires."

The Commentariat -- August 22, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Rachel Bade & Donna Cassata of the Washington Post: "The House voted Saturday on legislation to provide $25 billion to the U.S. Postal Service and explicitly prohibit any operational changes amid widespread Democratic fears that the Trump administration is trying to disenfranchise millions of Americans casting mail ballots this November. The 257-to-150 vote was largely along party lines as Republicans accused Democrats of manufacturing 'baseless conspiracy theories' about delays in postal deliveries to undermine President Trump's reelection bid. The Republican-led Senate is unlikely to act on the legislation, which the White House has threatened to veto. Shortly before the vote, Trump tweeted: 'Vote NO to the Pelosi/Schumer money wasting HOAX which is taking place now.' Twenty-six Republicans broke ranks with Trump and the GOP leadership and joined Democrats in backing the bill. ~~~

~~~ "Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), chairwoman of the House Oversight panel, released internal U.S. Postal Service documents Saturday that show steeper declines in on-time deliveries than lawmakers had previously been told about. The drop in service standards since early July is across all categories of mail, including priority mail, periodicals, marketing and first class, the documents show." The Hill's story is here.

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

Trump's War on Science, Ctd. Orion Rummler of Axios: "President Trump on Saturday baselessly accused the Food and Drug Administration -- which he likened to the 'deep state, or whoever' -- of making it harder for drug companies to distribute coronavirus treatments and vaccines.... Trump's tweet comes on the heels of a policy change by the Department of Health and Human Services to block the FDA's ability to regulate lab-developed tests, including for the coronavirus -- which has public health experts worried that unreliable COVID-19 tests could go to market."

Ken Vogel, et al., of the New York Times: "In early February, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin invited two Republican members of the Postal Service's board of governors to his office to update him on ... the search for a new postmaster general. Mr. Mnuchin had made clear before the meeting that he wanted the governors to find someone who would push through the kind of cost-cutting and price increases that President Trump had publicly called for and that Treasury had recommended in a December 2018 report as a way to stem years of multibillion-dollar losses.... Since 1970, the Postal Service had been an independent agency, walled off from political influence.... The postal chief is picked by a board of governors, with seats reserved for members of both parties, who are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate for seven-year terms. Now, not only was the Trump administration ... involving itself in the process for selecting the next postmaster general, but the two Democratic governors who were then serving on the board were not invited to the Treasury meeting.... In interviews, documents and congressional testimony, Mr. Mnuchin emerges as a key player in selecting the board members who hired the Trump megadonor now leading the Postal Service and in pushing the agenda that he has pursued."

John Walton of the Lincoln (Nebraska) Journal Star: State "Sen. John McCollister of Omaha said Friday he's joining a number of fellow Republicans in deciding to formally endorse Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in his bid to unseat ... Donald Trump. Biden would be 'a real president,' McCollister said, 'not the disaster' that occupies the White House today."

Meghan Roos of Newsweek: "Vermont Governor Phil Scott said Friday that he has decided he will not vote for ... Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Scott, a Republican, has been a vocal critic of Trump for years and said previously that he did not vote for Trump in the 2016 presidential election, according to the Associated Press.... 'I have not decided at this point whether to cast a vote for former Vice President Biden,' Scott said. 'But it's something that I would consider. I just haven't made that decision at this point.' Earlier this year, Scott said that he believed Trump 'shouldn't be in office,' according to the Associated Press.... 'I believe that the president abused his powers,' Scott said when asked about the impeachment inquiry during a news conference in February."

Today's Trumpy Distraction. Colleen Long of the AP: "TRUMP: 'The Democrats took the word GOD out of the Pledge of Allegiance at the Democrat National Convention. At first I thought they made a mistake, but it wasn't. It was done on purpose. Remember Evangelical Christians, and ALL, this is where they are coming from-it's done. Vote Nov 3!' -- tweet Saturday. THE FACTS: That's a misleading accusation. The central programming of the convention featured the entire pledge, complete with 'under God.'... 'Under God' was in each rendering. The convention also devoted a segment to showcasing Biden's religious faith. During two caucuses before the evening conventions started, the Muslim Delegates and Al lies Assembly and the LGBTQ Caucus meeting, both Tuesday, left out 'under God,' from the pledge. The party's series of caucus meetings was livestreamed but not part of the prime-time convention broadcast." Mrs. McC: Do you think Trump was watching livestreams of the Muslim & LGBTQ caucuses?

Jonathan Lemire of the AP: "The White House Rose Garden has been spruced up in time for its moment in the campaign spotlight. First lady Melania Trump will deliver her Republican National Convention speech Tuesday night from the garden.... The three weeks of work on the garden, which was done in the spirit of its original 1962 design, were showcased to reporters on Saturday. White House officials said the renovations were paid for by private donations. They declined to reveal the cost of the work. The location of the first lady's speech will be just one of the ways that the Republican National Convention will break with political norms. Federal rules prohibit the White House from being the setting for expressly political events.... Donald Trump will deliver his speech Thursday night from the White House's South Lawn, where a stage was being constructed over the weekend." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs McCrabbie: No need to listen, especially if you heard \Michelle Obama's remarks at the Democratic convention. As Akhilleus pointed out a few days ago, Melanie lifts all her best material from Michelle.

Ronald Hanson of the Arizona Republic: "Sen. Martha McSally jokingly suggested to supporters to 'fast a meal' and use the savings to donate to her campaign, but the move drew guffaws on Friday from the left, who cast it as a sign of fundraising desperation. McSally, R-Ariz., made the pitch at a campaign event in northern Arizona that made plain a financial reality that has dogged her throughout her race against Democrat Mark Kelly: McSally is way behind in campaign money and is trailing in the polls.... The comment drew instant ridicule and bewilderment on social media."

Mark Pazniokas of the Connecticut Mirror (Aug. 18): "A recount Tuesday flipped the results of the Republican primary in Connecticut's 2nd Congressional District, giving Justin Anderson an 81-vote victory over Thomas Gilmer, the party-endorsed candidate arrested last week on domestic violence charges. The results spare the party an awkward debate over how to fill the vacancy expected had Gilmer won a primary roiled by news that broke as voters went to polls a week ago: Gilmer had been arrested the previous night, and he intended to decline the nomination if victorious. Anderson, whose only previous elective experience was winning a spot on the Planning and Zoning Commission in East Haddam, began the day as the loser by fewer than 20 votes. It ended with him the official winner by less than one-half of a percentage point, 9,483 to 9,402[.]" ~~~

~~~ This Is Perfect. Cassandra Basler of Connecticut Public Radio: "A high-powered Manhattan lawyer with ties to ... Donald Trump tried to keep abuse allegations against Connecticut Republican congressional candidate Tom Gilmer from getting out. Gilmer stopped his campaign for Connecticut's eastern shoreline congressional district after he was arrested on domestic violence charges. Marc Kasowitz represented Gilmer and used to be ... Donald Trump's personal lawyer, according to the New York Times."

Stephanie Mencimer of Mother Jones: "On Friday, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) signed a controversial bill that enhances penalties for certain crimes related to political protests and makes it a felony to illegally camp on state property. In Tennessee, a felony conviction automatically revokes an individual's right to vote. The law also increases penalties for assaulting a first responder, obstructing emergency vehicles, and rioting. The bill follows two months of anti-racism protests in Nashville, during which activists have camped outside the state capitol building in an effort to secure a meeting with Lee. According to the Associated Press, state legislators claimed the law was needed after some protesters set fire to a courthouse in May. But civil libertarians were quick to criticize the measure as detrimental to free speech and criminal justice reform in a state that already uses felon disenfranchisement laws to bar large numbers of Black residents from voting."

Storytime: Rachel Maddow reads excerpts from Brian Stelter's new book Hoax. Maddow's interview of Stelter is here. Thanks to PD Pepe for the lead.

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Presidential Race, Etc.

Katie Glueck of the New York Times: "After nearly five decades in national politics and in his third run at the presidency, Joseph R. Biden Jr. accepted his party's nomination on Thursday with one of the most forceful speeches of his career -- given to a dark and empty room here, save for a smattering of journalists who watched him live as he addressed the nation by camera. It was a final, surreal scene in an extraordinary virtual Democratic convention week that showcased a party unified around Mr. Biden and his running mate, Senator Kamala Harris -- even as sharp differences remain below the surface. Here are seven key takeaways from an unprecedented gathering[.]"

Tom McCarthy of the Guardian: "... Joe Biden 'hit a home run' with an 'enormously effective' speech that blew 'a big hole' in Donald Trump's efforts to paint him as a mentally faltering captive of his party's left wing. And that was to hear Fox News hosts Dana Perino and Chris Wallace tell it. 'It was a very good speech,' added Karl Rove, a Republican strategist respected and reviled on either side of the aisle.... The Trump campaign deployed Vice-President Mike Pence on five morning shows, where he argued that Biden, a known quantity in Washington for 50 years, was a lurking socialist. 'It's a choice between President Trump's record and agenda of freedom and opportunity, versus a Democrat agenda driven by the radical left and Joe Biden's vision that will result in socialism and decline for America,' Pence told Fox News.... 'The president keeps telling us the virus is going to disappear,' Biden said in his speech. 'He keeps waiting for a miracle. Well, I have news for him, no miracle is coming.' Pence told CNN: 'We think there is a miracle around the corner.'"

Maureen Dowd's column, which is a bit scattershot, has its moments. It's titled, "Joe's Fearsome Weapon Against Trump: Simple Decency."

Several media have stories about Braydon Harrington, the 13-year-old boy who endorsed Joe Biden on the final night of the Democratic National Convention. Here's one by Will Weissert of the AP. CNN's story, by Kate Sullivan, is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Eric Bradner of CNN: "Joe Biden's campaign, the Democratic National Committee and their joint fundraising committees raised $70 million over the party's four-day convention this week, Biden's campaign told CNN on Friday. The haul comes the week after raising $48 million in the first two days after Biden selected Sen. Kamala Harris of California as his running mate, setting up August to become an enormous fundraising stretch for Democrats after Biden in recent months all but eliminated ... Donald Trump's cash-on-hand advantage."

Dan Merica & Sarah Mucha of CNN: "Democrats hope to convince voters around next week's Republican National Convention that the only thing ... Donald Trump has accomplished is sowing chaos, using a series of ads, television appearances and briefings to counter-program the convention. It's a difficult task: Conventions dominate coverage and Trump has shown a unique ability to control the conversation -- for better or for worse -- happening across the country. But the party hopes to use momentum from a well-reviewed convention to diminish the Republican counterpart."

Trump's Threat to Intimidate Voters, Ctd. Rosalind Helderman, et al., of the Washington Post: "Nearly 30 years ago, a Republican Party program that dispatched off-duty police officers to patrol polling places in heavily Black and Latino neighborhoods in New Jersey triggered accusations of voter intimidation, resulting in a federal agreement that restricted for decades how the national GOP could observe voting. Now, two years after [a federal judge revoked a 1982 RNC consent decree]..., President Trump has revived the idea of using law enforcement officers to patrol polling places, invoking tactics historically used to scare voters of color.... 'We're going to have everything,' the president said. 'We're going to have sheriffs, and we're going to have law enforcement, and we're going to hopefully have U.S. attorneys and we're going to have everybody, and attorney generals....' Trump's remarks are part of a pattern of comments in which he has suggested he is willing to take actions to impede how people cast their ballots this fall.... Sheriff's deputies and police officers are commanded at the local level, and a federal law bars U.S. government officials from sending 'armed men' to the vicinity of polling places. But civil rights advocates said they feared Trump's words could inspire local officials to act on his behalf." Mrs. McC: Another reminder that it ain't just Trump; Republicans have long tried to keep you from voting. ~~~

~~~ "It Was Great." Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "In a private meeting inside Trump Tower days before his inauguration, Donald Trump told a group of civil rights leaders ... [that] lower turnout among Black voters did, in fact, benefit him in the 2016 presidential election. 'Many Blacks didn't go out to vote for Hillary 'cause they liked me. That was almost as good as getting the vote, you know, and it was great,' the president-elect said, according to an audio recording of the meeting shared with Politico. Three-and-a-half years later, those comments take on new weight, as Democrats and Republicans battle over restrictions on voting.... At one point, Trump left the room to take a call. 'Off the record, that was your friend Barack (Obama),' he told attendees upon his return. "We actually have a very good relationship....'"

Sam Levin of the Guardian: "Donald Trump's campaign failed to produce any evidence of vote-by-mail fraud in Pennsylvania after a federal judge ordered it do so, according to a 524-page court filing obtained by the Guardian. The order came from US district judge Nicholas Ranjan, a Trump appointee, earlier this month amid a lawsuit in Pennsylvania over several voting policies. The Trump campaign is suing to block the widespread use of official ballot dropboxes in the state in locations other than an election office, and to allow poll watchers to work in counties other than the ones they live in. The campaign also wants to block election officials from counting mail-in ballots if a voter forgets to put their mail-in ballot in a secrecy sleeve within the ballot return-envelope. The campaign argued in court that the current practices will lead to voter fraud without these changes."

Miriam Khan of ABC News: "The House is set to vote on a bill related to the ailing U.S. Postal Service in an unusual Saturday session amid an ongoing political controversy over mail-in voting. The chamber will vote on the 'Delivering for America Act,' which would provide $25 billion in new funding for the agency, and it would explicitly prohibit any operational changes made this year. The bill would also require that all official election mail be treated as 'first-class mail,' prohibit the removal of mail sorting machines and mailboxes, and reverse any already implemented changes that could delay mail delivery."

Nicholas Fandos & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "Louis DeJoy, the embattled postmaster general whose cost-cutting and operational changes have prompted widespread concern about mail-in voting, said on Friday he was 'extremely, highly confident' the Postal Service could handle the largest vote-by-mail program in American history. He said it was 'outrageous' for Democrats to suggest that he might intentionally slow ballot delivery to help President Trump.... Under intense pressure from Democrats, however, he refused to reverse ... steps like removing hundreds of blue mailboxes and mail-sorting machines, that he said his predecessors had initiated in response to a steady decline in mail volume. He told senators that he did not know about the machine removal when it began, saying it was 'not a critical issue within the Postal Service.' And he was unable to offer many specifics about how the Postal Service would ensure on-time delivery of ballots this fall...." ~~~

~~~ Sam Levin of the Guardian: "America's postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, conceded on Friday he had implemented recent changes that led to mail delays at the United States Postal Service (USPS) but said he would not reverse the decision to remove mail equipment ahead of the election." ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post live-updated of Louis DeJoy's testimony before a Senate Committee Friday. The Guardian's live updates are here. The Guardian's coverage is pretty good. For instance, here's the final entry: "The Senate hearing with Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has just concluded, and the Republican chairman of the Senate homeland security and governmental affairs committee, Ron Johnson, ended it on a distinctly partisan note. Johnson said many of the constituent calls he has received about the US Postal Service have sounded 'very highly scripted.' 'This could be a very well organized effort, which doesn't surprise me in the slightest,' Johnson said. In reality, there have been nationwide reports about slow mail services, resulting in late prescription deliveries and rent payments, among other issues." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Andrew Desiderio, et al., of Politico: "Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Friday defended his proposed changes to the Postal Service amid an onslaught of scrutiny from congressional Democrats, warning that the U.S. Postal Service faces a dire financial situation and is an operational mess. In lengthy prepared remarks before the GOP-led Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, DeJoy acknowledged several concerns lawmakers have raised in recent weeks, including the significant delivery delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic." (Also linked yesterday.)

Mike Isaac & Sheera Frenkel of the New York Times: "Facebook ... is getting ready in case President Trump interferes [with vote-counting after the November election]. Employees at the Silicon Valley company are laying out contingency plans and walking through postelection scenarios that include attempts by Mr. Trump or his campaign to use the platform to delegitimize the results, people with knowledge of Facebook's plans said. Facebook is preparing steps to take should Mr. Trump wrongly claim on the site that he won another four-year term, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Facebook is also working through how it might act if Mr. Trump tries to invalidate the results by declaring that the Postal Service lost mail-in ballots or that other groups meddled with the vote, the people said." Mrs. McC: It is stunning that a private corporation, albeit a huge one, must arm itself against anticipated bad acts of a crooked U.S. president*.

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Friday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Trump's Empty "Orders." "Jeff Stein & Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "... two weeks after President Trump approved executive actions aimed at bypassing stalled stimulus negotiations with Congress, only one state has said it is paying new jobless benefits, few evictions have been paused, and leading employers have made clear that workers will not benefit from the president's new payroll tax deferral.... Trump's directives have so far produced limited economic relief for Americans hurt by the coronavirus pandemic, despite promises by top White House aides that help would come within weeks. By Friday, only Arizona had started sending the extra $300 to its residents.... Trump and his economic team have repeatedly suggested that the executive actions largely render talks with Congress unnecessary, with the president saying that they would 'take care of pretty much this entire situation.'" Mrs. McC: Luckily for Trump, he really doesn't care if you and your two-year-old are forced to live in your 2005 Honda Civic & dine on canned beans from the local food bank.

The Crime Family Trump, Ctd.

Kara Scannell & Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "A federal appeals court denied ... Donald Trump's attempt to halt the enforcement of a subpoena [issued to accounting firm Mazars USA] for his financial records but at the same time set a rapid schedule for oral arguments in the case, leaving a window of several days where prosecutors could seek to obtain the President's tax returns. The ruling from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals came hours after the President's lawyers requested an emergency stay, or hold, on the subpoena. Under a previous arrangement, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance agreed not to enforce the subpoena until seven days after the district court ruled. That deadline would expire next week. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals scheduled oral arguments on whether to grant a 'stay' for September 1, raising the possibility that Trump's financial records and tax returns could be turned over to prosecutors before the hearing -- unless the President takes the case up to the Supreme Court or Vance's office agrees to hold off for the appeals' court decision."

Trump Has to Pay Stormy. Again. Evan Simko-Bednarski of CNN: "A California Superior Court judge has ordered ... Donald Trump to pay $44,100 to Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, to reimburse her attorneys' fees in the legal battle surrounding her nondisclosure agreement. The judge's order was issued Monday but posted online Friday by Clifford's attorneys.... In his decision this week, Judge Robert Broadbelt III ruled that Clifford was entitled to legal fees, finding her the 'prevailing party' under California law, despite the case having been dismissed. Broadbelt also rejected an argument by Trump's attorneys that the President was not liable for the fees because he had not signed the NDA."

Andrew Kaczynski & Nathan McDermott of CNN: "... Kris Kobach said in an interview last year that he had spoken with the President three times about the private border wall project that is currently at the center of a federal fraud investigation, and that Trump was 'enthusiastic' about the project and it carried his blessing.... Trump said Thursday he didn't like the project, citing a tweet from last month criticizing it, and said he knew nothing about it other than what he had read. The White House falsely claimed in a statement on Thursday the President did not know people involved in the project when he knows the majority of the board members.... Speaking on an episode of the 'We Build The Wall' show in May 2019, Kobach, both the general counsel and a board member for the project, said he periodically spoke to the President to give him updates on progress of the project.... In another video from the group in March of 2019, Kobach said he met with the president twice about the project.... Kobach, a staunch ally of the President, served on Trump's voter fraud commission in 2017 and was endorsed by the president during his 2018 run for governor of Kansas, a race he lost in the deeply red state." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It's hard to believe that either of these fine fellows is a bald-faced liar, but obviously at least one of them is.

Tom McCarthy of the Guardian: Depending on how -- and whom -- you count, [Steve] Bannon was the seventh former close Trump adviser to be arrested, face charges, plead guilty or to be convicted of a crime since the 45th president took office. 'I believe it unprecedented in any US administration for so many of the closest circle of persons around the president to have been shown to be conmen, grifters and base criminals,' said Patrick Cotter, a former federal prosecutor.... 'While previous administrations had their share of those trying to personally profit and those willing to break the law to serve the political interests of the president, what is unique about the Trump administration is the large number of people in direct contact with the president, often for years, who are revealed to be out-and-out fraudsters for whom crime is apparently part of their lifestyle and character.... So when I see a swarm of conmen buzzing around one particular man, in this case Trump, my experience suggests that it is because they recognize one of their own. And in selecting them to be his confidants, the president also recognized kindred spirits.'... As his re-election campaign enters full swing, Trump has made an effort to brand himself as the president of 'law and order'. But Trump himself has at times appeared to sail within dangerous distance of criminal legal hazards."

Another of Trump's Crooked Cronies Has a Bad Week. Ben Smith of the New York Times: "David J. Pecker, the tabloid media titan who drew the scrutiny of federal investigators for his alleged role in Donald J. Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, is out as the leader of the parent company of The National Enquirer, Us Weekly and other publications, according to a company announcement on Friday. At the same time, American Media, the company led by Mr. Pecker since 1999, has a new name, A360Media, and will be merged with a sibling company, Accelerate 360. Both are controlled by the hedge fund Chatham Asset Management.... Accelerate said Mr. Pecker, 68, the chief executive and president of American Media, would take on a new role, executive adviser." A Daily Beast story is here.

Shane Harris & Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "Former CIA director John Brennan was interviewed for eight hours Friday by the federal prosecutor specially assigned by Attorney General William P. Barr to review how the U.S. intelligence community and law enforcement apparatus handled investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, answering questions on a 'wide range' of topics, including the intelligence community's assessment that Russia intended to help Donald Trump become president, a Brennan adviser said. In a statement, Nick Shapiro, Brennan's former deputy chief of staff, said U.S. Attorney John Durham informed Brennan he was 'not a subject or a target of a criminal investigation' but rather 'a witness to events that are under review.'"

Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "A former Army Green Beret captain was accused on Friday of violating espionage laws after federal investigators said they uncovered evidence he joined the military at the behest of Russian intelligence operatives and had betrayed the United States for years. The suspect, Peter Rafael Dzibinski Debbins, 45, of Gainesville, Va., was arrested on a conspiracy charge of providing national defense information to Russia in an elaborate spying operation that appeared to begin in 1996, prosecutors said. He turned over sensitive military information and the names of fellow service members so Russia could try to recruit them.... Mr. Debbins is the second former government official in recent days to be charged with espionage. A former C.I.A. officer who went on to work on contract as an F.B.I. translator, Alexander Yuk Ching Ma, was arrested last week on charges of giving classified information to the Chinese government." Task & Purpose has a story here.

Kate Taylor of the New York Times: "... a federal judge ordered [actor Lori] Loughlin to serve two months behind bars for her role in the [college] admissions scandal.... Ms. Loughlin, who has acknowledged conspiring to pass her daughters off as rowers so they would be admitted to the University of Southern California, tearfully apologized.... Ms. Loughlin and her husband, the fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, had both pleaded guilty to fraud. Prosecutors have said that they paid $500,000 as part of the scheme, although on Friday one of the couple's lawyers suggested that the money was Mr. Giannulli's alone. Prosecutors said Mr. Giannulli took a more active role in the fraud than Ms. Loughlin did, and the judge sentenced Mr. Giannulli on Friday to five months in prison." Mrs. McC: Here's the part I don't get: (1) It's not all that hard to get into U.S.C. (I've done it myself); and (2) U.S.C. is no more prestigious than any community college to which the daughters might have beem granted admission without any costly greasing of palms.

Way Beyond the Beltway

Melissa Eddy & Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: "A prominent Russian opposition figure was flown to Germany for treatment of suspected poisoning on Saturday, his spokeswoman said, after a day of delays in which Russian doctors offered a variety of reasons to block his transfer. The opposition leader, Aleksei A. Navalny, who had been in a coma since Thursday, was flown from the Siberian city of Omsk to Berlin on a Challenger 604 air ambulance arranged by the foundation of a movie producer based in the German capital. The evacuation came after a team of German doctors, who had arrived in Omsk on the air ambulance, stated unequivocally on Friday that it was safe for him to travel. Mr. Navalny's personal doctor, Anastasia Vasilyeva, said in an interview Friday that she believed the Russian authorities had tried to delay his departure long enough for the poison in his system to diminish and become difficult or impossible to identify." The Guardian's story is here. ~~~

~~~ Kylie Atwood of CNN: "The Trump administration has not made any substantial statement on the suspected poisoning of Russian opposition leader, Alexey Navalny, in sharp contrast to European reaction, despite ... Donald Trump saying Thursday his Secretary of State was looking into it. 'We're looking at it and Mike's going to be reporting to me soon,' Trump said yesterday at the White House, referring to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who was in the room with him. Trump also said that the US has not determined if Navalny was poisoned or not. 'We haven't seen it yet,' Trump said when asked if the US government had determined Navalny, who was hospitalized Thursday, had been poisoned."

News Ledes

Guardian: "Wildfires in California have killed at least six people and forced tens of thousands from their homes, with few signs of reprieve in sight, as firefighting resources strain under the vastness of dozens of infernos raging across the state. More than 771,000 acres have burned so far, an area greater than the state of Rhode Island, California's governor Gavin Newsom said at a press conference Friday. He said the scope and ferocity of the fires has stretched thin the state's capacity to respond in an 'unprecedented moment' in California's history, adding that he anticipated mutual aid support coming from Arizona, Oregon, Washington state, Texas, Nevada and elsewhere." A New York Times story is here.

Guardian: "Joseph James DeAngelo, better known as the Golden State Killer, has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, four decades after he terrorized the suburbs of Sacramento and stalked neighborhoods in southern California, breaking into homes to rape and torture women and girls, and killing couples and young women in their beds. His crimes left a trail of destruction that has haunted survivors and their families. The sentencing -- which took place in Sacramento on Friday, on the 40th anniversary of two of the murders -- follows three days of testimony from dozens of women and men who survived DeAngelo's crimes, as well as family members of those who did not."

AP: "A tropical storm and a tropical depression at opposite ends of the Caribbean were projected to possibly become hurricanes, major storms which could hit the US simultaneously after drenching much of the region. The US mainland has not been hit by two tropical storms simultaneously since September 1933, in the midst of the Great Depression. Then, a category 3 hurricane hit Brownsville, Texas, while a tropical storm came ashore at Cedar Key, Florida."