The Commentariat -- July 9, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

Trump, et al., v. the Law Is Not Going Well:

Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "Michael D. Cohen, President Trump's onetime lawyer and fixer, was taken back into federal custody on Thursday after being furloughed from prison in May, federal officials said. 'Today, Michael Cohen refused the conditions of his home confinement and as a result, has been returned' to a federal Bureau of Prisons facility, the bureau said in a statement. The bureau's statement did not elaborate on what specifically Mr. Cohen had done, but one person briefed on his legal status said he had refused to sign papers agreeing to certain conditions related to media appearances and writing books." A CNN story is here.

Spencer Hsu & Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department said Thursday that Roger Stone should report to prison next week as ordered by his sentencing judge despite his concerns about the deadly novel coronavirus.... The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit gave Stone until Friday to respond to the government.... The filing came one day after an interview in which Attorney General William P. Barr defended Stone's prosecution and prison sentence. 'I think the prosecution was righteous and I think the sentence the judge ultimately gave was fair,' Barr told ABC News." The Week has an item here. An ABC News report on the Barr interview is here. ~~~

~~~ Jerry Lambe of Law & Crime: "... Roger Stone, 67, appealed directly to ... Donald Trump, telling a news organization that the president should pardon him or commute his sentence in the interest of justice. 'I want the president to know that I have exhausted all my legal remedies and that only an act of clemency will provide justice in my case and save my life!' Stone, said in a Tuesday text message to Bloomberg." Mrs. McC: Actually, that's an indirect appeal; Stone made it through an intermediary.

Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal court judge is putting up a highly unusual fight against an appeals court ruling seeking to immediately shut down the prosecution of former national security adviser Michael Flynn for making false statements in the FBI's investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Lawyers for U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan filed a petition Thursday asking the full bench of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to review a 2-1 decision a panel of that court issued last month, directing Sullivan to cancel his plans for a hearing and instead grant the government's request to drop the case."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for prosecutors in New York to see President Trump's financial records, a stunning defeat for Mr. Trump but a decision that probably means the records will be shielded from public scrutiny under grand jury secrecy rules until after the election, and perhaps indefinitely.In a separate decision, the court ruled that Congress could not, at least for now, see many of the same records."

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected President Trump's assertion that he enjoys absolute immunity while in office, allowing a New York prosecutor to pursue a subpoena of the president's private and business financial records. In a separate case, the court sent a fight over congressional subpoenas for the material back to lower courts because of 'significant separation of powers concerns.' 'In our judicial system, "the public has a right to every man's evidence,"' Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote in the New York case, citing an ancient maxim. 'Since the earliest days of the Republic, 'every man' has included the President of the United States.' In both cases, the justices ruled 7 to 2, with Trump nominees Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh joining the majorities. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. dissented. Trump reacted angrily, and inaccurately, on Twitter: 'Courts in the past have given "broad deference". BUT NOT ME!'"

Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The Supreme Court has delivered a split decision on subpoenas for ... Donald Trump's tax returns and financial records, unanimously rejecting his broadest claims of 'absolute' immunity in a New York state criminal investigation, but ruling that lower courts did not do enough to scrutinize congressional subpoenas for similar records. The pair of highly-anticipated decisions likely mean more delays and court proceedings on both subpoenas, increasing the odds that Trump makes it to the November election without the tax and financial details he has long resisted disclosing being turned over to the prosecutors and Congressional committees demanding them." This is all there is (as of 10:30 am ET) to an update of an earlier story that anticipated release of the decisions. The report has since been updated.

Mrs. McCrabbie: Per Pete Williams of NBC News, Supremes have ruled 7-2 in favor of Manhattan D.A. Cyrus Vance, Jr. against Trump. They're sending it back to trial court, though, (Mrs. McC: so Trump may be able to run out the clock). Sounds like in the 2nd case, the Supremes, 7-2, have also sort of ruled in favor of Congress. This is not likely to be cut-and-dried, either. More when reporters & analysts have had a chance to read & write about the decisions. In any event, Trump/Barr's argument for "presidential categorical immunity" is dead. Jeff Toobin calls the rulings "a legal defeat" for Trump but "a practical victory" since Trump can delay release of the returns (none of which would necessarily have become available to the public anyway). CJ Roberts wrote both opinions. Trump is irate. Good.

Axios. "President Trump fired off a series of tweets on Thursday morning after the Supreme Court upheld a subpoena from the Manhattan district attorney for his financial records -- attacking the Obama administration, the Mueller investigation, the GOP-led Senate Judiciary Committee and others for allegedly undermining his presidency." The report cites the tweets -- so far.

Here's a much calmer report on Trump's reaction to the rulings. He had a very civil conversation with Bart:

Mrs. McCrabbie: Apparently Biden put out a statement -- which I can't find online yet -- to the effect that, "I put out 20-some years of my tax returns. What has Trump got to hide?" Severe, possibly inaccurate, paraphrase.

Nicholas Fandos & Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: "Geoffrey S. Berman, who was abruptly dismissed by President Trump last month from his post as the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, told lawmakers on Thursday that Attorney General William P. Barr tried unsuccessfully to pressure him to resign voluntarily, warning that a firing could ruin his career. Testifying before a closed-door hearing of the House Judiciary Committee, Mr. Berman recounted being summoned with no warning in June to a meeting with Mr. Barr at the Pierre Hotel in New York, in which the attorney general asked him to step down. Mr. Berman said he rebuffed Mr. Barr time and again during a tense, 45-minute discussion, telling him he would not resign and did not want to be fired, according to copies of his prepared statement obtained by The New York Times."

Adam Liptak & Jack Healy of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled by a 5-4 margin that nearly half of Oklahoma is an Indian reservation in the eyes of the criminal-justice system, preventing state authorities from prosecuting offenses there that involve Native Americans. The decision was potentially one of the most consequential legal victories for Native Americans in decades. It was written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, a Westerner who has sided with tribes in previous cases and joined the court's more liberal members." A Hill story is here.

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Thursday are here: "As President Trump continued to press for a broader reopening, the United States set another record for new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, with more than 59,400 infections announced, according to a New York Times database. It was the fifth national record in nine days.... On Thursday, cases were decreasing in only two states -- Vermont and New Hampshire. In 14 states and territories, the number of cases was mostly the same. And in the rest of the country new cases were on the rise." ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Thursday are here: "Anthony S. Fauci, the nation's top infectious-disease official, is advising that some states seriously consider 'shutting down' again if they are facing major resurgences of the virus -- a warning that conflicts with President Trump's push to reopen the country as quickly as possible.... A record 62,751 new infections were reported across the United States on Wednesday, including 9,979 in Texas and 11,694 in California. The total number of cases has surpassed 3 million in the United States, where the death toll is approaching 130,000."

Here's a Change/Correction/"Clarification." Alex Harring of CNBC: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will soon issue additional safety guidelines on reopening schools this fall, but the agency doesn't plan to change its original recommendations that... Donald Trump criticized as too tough and expensive, CDC Director Robert Redfield said Thursday. Redfield said in an interview on ABC's 'Good Morning America' the additional documents don't ease the CDC's recommendations. He said the agency is providing more information for communities, care givers and schools on how to reopen safely. Vice President Mike Pence indicated Wednesday the agency would soften its recommendations. But when asked about the possibility, Redfield said there would be no changes."

Jeff Cox of CNBC: "Weekly jobless claims were lower than expected last week as workers slowly returned to their jobs in the wake of rising coronavirus cases. Claims for the week ended July 4 totaled 1.314 million, compared with the 1.39 million expected from economists surveyed by Dow Jones. The total marked a decrease of 99,000 from a week earlier, according to the Labor Department."

Casey Smith of the AP: "An Indiana woman was arrested in a hit-and-run crash that sent one woman to the hospital and caused minor injuries to a man during a southern Indiana protest over the assault of a Black man by a group of white men, sheriff's officials said Thursday. Christi Bennett, 66, was booked into the Monroe County Jail early Thursday on preliminary charges of criminal recklessness and leaving the scene of an accident, Deputy Barry Grooms said. She was released a couple of hours later on $500 cash bond."

** Hyung-Jin Kim & Kim Tong-Hyung of the AP: "Police say the body of the missing mayor of South Korea's capital, Seoul, has been found. They say Park Won-soon's body was located in hills in northern Seoul early Friday, more than seven hours after they launched a massive search for him. Park's daughter had called police on Thursday afternoon to report him missing, saying he had given her a'will-like' message before leaving home. A police officer said Park's body was found near a traditional restaurant and banquet hall located in the hills.... News reports say one of Park's secretaries had lodged a complaint with police on Wednesday night over alleged sexual harassment. Kim Ji-hyeong, a Seoul Metropolitan Government official, said Park did not come to work on Thursday for unspecified reasons and had canceled all of his schedule, including a meeting with a presidential official at his Seoul City Hall office."

~~~~~~~~~~

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Around 10 a.m. Thursday, the Supreme Court is set to decide whether President Trump can block the release of his financial records. The ruling, concerning tax returns and other information the president has fought hard to protect, is likely to yield a major statement on the power of presidents to resist demands for information from Congress and prosecutors. Here is a look at the two cases, one concerning subpoenas from House committees, the other a subpoena from the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., a Democrat." Mrs. McC: The lede is not strictly true, of course. The Supremes have already decided and today they will let us know what their decisions were.

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

You might be a sociopath ~~~

     ~~~ if you decide it's worth killing off teachers and children in hopes that will help you do a little better in an election you're losing.

The New York Times' live updates of coronoavirus developments Wednesday are here: "Hours after President Trump assailed guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for reopening schools, Vice President Mike Pence, appearing with the White House coronavirus task force, announced..., 'Well the president said today, we just don't want the guidance to be too tough.... That's the reason why next week, the C.D.C. is going to be issuing a new set of tools, five different documents that will be giving even more clarity on the guidance going forward.'... Dr. Robert R. Redfield, the C.D.C. director, said Wednesday that the agency's guidance should not be used to justify keeping schools closed.... Mr. Trump's threat comes as scientists grapple with rising concerns about transmission of the coronavirus in indoor spaces. Most public schools are poorly ventilated and don't have the funding to update their filtration systems.... Mr. Trump's funding threat carries real weight. When it passed its $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus law, Congress gave enormous latitude to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to decide how to parcel out tens of millions of dollars in relief to school districts." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

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

~~~ Go to School & Get Sick, You Ungrateful Brats! Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Wednesday threatened to cut off federal funding for schools if they do not resume in-person learning this fall and criticized a top government health agency for being too tough with its guidelines to aid that process.... Trump said he disagreed with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 'on their very tough & expensive guidelines for opening schools. While they want them open, they are asking schools to do very impractical things. I will be meeting with them!!!'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Update. Peter Baker, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump on Wednesday pressured the government's top public health experts to water down recommendations for how the nation's schools could reopen safely this fall and threatened to cut federal funding for districts that defied his demand to resume classes in person. Once again rejecting the advice of the specialists who work for him, Mr. Trump dismissed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 'very tough & expensive guidelines.'... Within hours, the White House announced that the agency would issue new recommendations in the days to come.... Mr. Trump expressed no concern about the health implications of reopening in person and no support for compromise plans that many districts are considering." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: As MSNBC host Chris Hayes & a guest pointed out, school administrators all over the country have been working for months on plans to re-open their schools in a fashion that will accommodate health & safety concerns for students and staff in accordance with CDC guidelines. In addition, many school districts have made investments in materials to effect those plans. In one intemperate tweet, Trump threw all that planning & investment out the window. ~~~

~~~ Laura Meckler of the Washington Post: "The administration is finding it nearly impossible to control the situation, with the president's views often at odds with those of his health advisers, and decision-making resting with 50 states, more than 1,300 school districts and thousands of colleges and universities.... Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said schools 'must fully open and they must be fully operational,' and she singled out plans in Fairfax County, Va., for a hybrid system as a failure... .On Wednesday, New York City schools, the nation's largest school system, announced a plan that will have most students in school two days a week and learning from home the other three. Many other systems have announced or are considering similar plans.... Trump has no power to cut federal funding already allocated to states and districts, but the vice president suggested the administration would seek to tie any future aid to opening of schools."

Another TrumperWhopper. Ben Gittleson of ABC News: "As of Tuesday, the United States had the ninth-worst mortality rate in the world, with 39.82 deaths per 100,000 people, according to Johns Hopkins University.... The U.S. finds itself on a shortlist of countries that have the most coronavirus deaths proportional to both its total population and to its confirmed cases. In absolute terms, the United States also has the greatest number of overall deaths from coronavirus, with nearly twice as many as Brazil, which ranks second, according to Johns Hopkins.... Donald Trump and his White House have repeatedly claimed this week, falsely, that the United States has the lowest novel coronavirus mortality rate in the world.... Trump tweeted Monday that 'we now have the lowest Fatality (Mortality) Rate in the World' and that the coronavirus mortality rate in the United States was 'just about the LOWEST IN THE WORLD.' He tweeted on Tuesday, 'We have the lowest Mortality Rate in the World' and said 'The Fake News should be reporting these most important of facts, but they don't!'... Trump repeated his claim about the U.S. mortality rate at the Whit House on Tuesday afternoon, saying it was 'the lowest anywhere in the world.'... Trump's series of tweets on the matter -- and his press secretary's insistence to reporters -- reflected an attempt to explain his comment during a speech over the weekend that 99% of coronavirus cases are 'harmless,' which received significant blowback." (Also linked yesterday.)

Susan Svrluga & Nick Anderson of the Washington Post: "Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology sued the Trump administration Wednesday over an order that would require international students to take classes in person this fall, despite rising coronavirus caseloads that are complicating efforts by colleges and universities to offer in-person learning. The lawsuit represented a swift response to an unexpected order issued this week by the federal government, as universities rush to protect the status of thousands of international students. It also represents a new battle line in the war between Trump and education leaders over how to safely reopen schools in the midst of his reelection bid." (Also linked yesterday.)

Andrew Jacobs of the New York Times: "... hospitals, nursing homes and private medical practices are facing ... a dire shortage of respirator masks, isolation gowns and disposable gloves that protect front-line medical workers from infection.... The soaring demand for protective gear is now affecting a broad range of medical facilities across the country, a problem public health experts and major medical associations say could have been avoided if the federal government had embraced a more aggressive approach toward procuring and distributing critical supplies in the early days of the pandemic.... The inability to find personal protective equipment, known as P.P.E., is starting to impede other critical areas of medicine too. Neurologists, cardiologists and cancer specialists around the country have been unable to reopen their offices in recent weeks.... In a coronavirus briefing on Wednesday, Vice President Mike Pence downplayed the shortages, but said the government was preparing to issue new guidance on the preservation and reuse of protective gear. 'P.P.E., we hear, remains very strong,' he said." Emphasis added. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump has erased mike pence. There is no longer a mike pence; there is only a little machine that says Donald's best words when Donald is otherwise occupied watching Fox "News."

The Coronavirus Ate Trump's Homework. Steve Eder & Ben Protess of the New York Times: "President Trump's annual financial disclosure report was due to be released more than a week ago. But the filing, the only official public document detailing his personal finances, was not published.... The White House addressed the issue on Wednesday night. An official said Mr. Trump had requested a deadline extension because the report was 'complicated' and the president had 'been focused on addressing the coronavirus crisis and other matters.'"

How a Whistleblower Complaint Is Supposed to Work. Ian Duncan of the Washington Post: "The head of the Transportation Security Administration ordered new coronavirus safety precautions last week after meeting with a whistleblower who alleged that the agency wasn't doing enough to protect employees and travelers, according to the whistleblower's attorney. The new measures require officers to wear eye protection when they are in close contact with travelers and aren't protected by a plastic screen, the attorney said. Officers must also change their gloves or sanitize them after patting down passengers, handling identification documents or checking in luggage. The Office of Special Counsel, an independent federal watchdog, had ordered the Department of Homeland Security last month to conduct an investigation into the whistleblower's allegations. The complaint was filed by Jay Brainard, the TSA's director in Kansas."

California. Madison Pauly of Mother Jones: "San Quentin [State Prison] is currently the site of one of country's worst COVID-19 clusters, with 1,300 prisoners and 184 staff having tested positive for the coronavirus as of July 7. At least six prisoners have died from the virus. Sick prisoners are being put in isolation or treated in tents, while those who have not fallen ill are locked down in crowded dormitories and cell blocks where fear of the coronavirus is sometimes overwhelming.... On May 30, the prison of about 3,500 people on the edge of San Francisco Bay had zero coronavirus cases. Then California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) officials transferred 121 people to San Quentin from the California Institution for Men in Chino, which was struggling with a fierce outbreak. Some of the men, who had medical risk factors and hadn't been tested for up to four weeks, were packed onto buses where a handful fell ill even before they arrived at San Quentin."

Ryan Goodman of Just Security: "First, President Trump decided not to confront Putin about supplying arms to the [Taliban]. Second, during the very times in which U.S. military officials publicly raised concerns about the program's threat to US forces, Trump undercut them. He embraced Putin, overtly and repeatedly, including at the historic summit in Helsinki. Third, behind the scenes, Trump directed the CIA to share intelligence information on counterterrorism with the Kremlin despite no discernible reward, former intelligence officials who served in the Trump administration told Just Security." Emphasis original. (Also linked yesterday.)

John Santucci of ABC News: Pam Shriver, the former tennis star & the widow of Joe Shapiro, says her late husband was a casual friend of Donald Trump's but she does not believe he could have taken Trump's SAT tests as she believes Trump & Shapiro didn't meet until after they were both students at UPenn, contrary to the assertion Mary Trump makes in her book.

Bonfire of the Vanities. Marja Novak of Reuters: "A wooden sculpture of U.S. first lady Melania Trump was torched near her hometown of Sevnica, Slovenia, on the night of July Fourth, as Americans celebrated U.S. Independence Day, said the artist who commissioned the sculpture." Mrs. McC: It was kind of an ugly statue, IMHO, so Melanie probably isn't upset.

Missy Ryan & Shane Harris of the Washington Post: "An Army officer who played a high-profile role in President Trump's impeachment proceedings is retiring from the military over alleged 'bullying' and 'retaliation' by the president, his lawyer said Wednesday. Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who served as a national security aide at the White House until earlier this year and was up for promotion to colonel, will leave the military instead, his attorney, David Pressman, said in a statement. 'Through a campaign of bullying, intimidation, and retaliation, the president of the United States attempted to force LTC Vindman to choose: Between adhering to the law or pleasing a President. Between honoring his oath or protecting his career. Between protecting his promotion or the promotion of his fellow soldiers,' Pressman said. 'LTC Vindman's patriotism has cost him his career.'" CNN's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Eric Schmitt & Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "... the White House had made clear to officials in the Pentagon ... that Mr. Trump did not want to see Colonel Vindman promoted.... On multiple occasions, including this week, the White House pressed the Pentagon to seek witnesses who would come forward and say that Colonel Vindman acted improperly, the officials said. But Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper and Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy have been unable to produce such evidence, largely because it does not exist.... A person familiar with Colonel Vindman's decision said he decided to retire after more than 21 years in the Army when it became apparent he would not be able to serve in a useful capacity in his area of specialty, Eurasia affairs."

Minnesota. Richard Oppel & Kim Barker of the New York Times: "... newly released evidence reveals an even more desperate scene than previously known in the moments before an officer pressed his knee into [George] Floyd's neck. Mr. Floyd uttered 'I can't breathe' not a handful of times, as previous videotapes showed, but more than 20 times in all. He cried out not just for his dead mother but for his children too. Before his final breaths, Mr. Floyd gasped: 'They'll kill me. They'll kill me.' As Mr. Floyd shouted for his life, an officer yelled back at him to 'stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk.' The chilling transcripts of Minneapolis police body camera footage, made public on Wednesday, were filed in state court as part of an effort by one of the officers on the scene, Thomas Lane, 37, to have charges that he aided and abetted Mr. Floyd's murder thrown out by a judge."

California. Actual Hate Crime. Ella Torres of ABC News: "A white California couple has been charged with a hate crime after they were seen on video defacing a Black Lives Matter mural, according to a statement from the Contra Costa District Attorney's office. Two people, identified by the district attorney as Nicole Anderson, 42, and David Nelson, 53, were seen on July 4 painting over the B and L in the word 'Black,' which had been painted in yellow, with black paint.... When a woman could be heard asking, 'What's wrong with you?' the ma replied, 'We're sick of this narrative, that's what's wrong. The narrative of police brutality, the narrative of oppression, the narrative of racism. It's a lie.' He was wearing Trump 2020 garb and yelled 'Make America Great Again.'" Emphasis added. ~~~

~~~ New York Traffic Report. What Trump Thinks Is a Hate Crime. Jonathan Dienst, et al., of NBC 4 New York: "New York City will start painting 'Black Lives Matter' on Fifth Avenue directly in front of Trump Tower on Thursday, picking up a delayed project that President Trump blasted as a 'symbol of hate.' City workers began closing the street Thursday morning and Mayor Bill de Blasio is expected to take part in the mural some time Thursday afternoon, sources tell NBC New York. A police official said that the street could be closed for a couple of days to do the work."

Washington State. Allyson Waller of the New York Times: "A Seattle man who the authorities said drove into a protest on a closed section of Interstate 5 over the weekend, killing one demonstrator, was charged on Wednesday with vehicular homicide, vehicular assault and reckless driving. The man, Dawit Kelete, 27, is being held with bail set at $1.2 million and is expected to remain in jail, the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office said.... The authorities said that Mr. Kelete was driving a white Jaguar XJL when he drove into the protesters 'at a high rate of speed' early on Saturday morning, striking two protesters."

Elections 2020

Bernie Sanders, Pragmatist. Will Weissert & Bill Barrow of the AP: "Political task forces Joe Biden formed with onetime rival Bernie Sanders to solidify support among the Democratic Party's progressive wing recommended Wednesday that the former vice president embrace major proposals to combat climate change and institutional racism while expanding health care coverage and rebuilding a coronavirus-ravaged economy. But they stopped short of urging Biden's full endorsement of policies that could prove too divisive for some swing voters in November, like universal health coverage under 'Medicare for All' or the sweeping Green New Deal environmental plan. The groups, formed in May..., sought to hammer out a policy road map to best defeat ... Donald Trump."

Maggie Haberman & Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump's campaign is planning an event at an airport hangar in Portsmouth, N.H. But the state's governor, Chris Sununu, a Republican, has said he will not be attending. It isn't clear how many other Republican elected officials will come. The number of attendees could be low, or it could be expansive.... 'It's not what we need right now in terms of Covid,' said Tom Rath, a Republican former New Hampshire attorney general. 'We have been very, very fortunate -- our number of deaths are quite small.' Mr. Sununu, in particular, is threading a needle in a year when he is up for re-election in a swing state, and has gotten praise for how he has handled the coronavirus crisis, Mr. Rath said." Mrs. McC: I can tell you that after the local paper published my open letter to Sununu asking him to prevent Trump from landing in New Hampshire, strangers phoned me at home to thank me. People do not want the Orange Monster & his fan club of mouth-breathers gathering here. ~~~

~~~ BECAUSE Things Went So Well in Tulsa. Sean Murphy of the AP: "... Donald Trump's campaign rally in Tulsa in late June that drew thousands of participants and large protests 'likely contributed' to a dramatic surge in new coronavirus cases, Tulsa City-County Health Department Director Dr. Bruce Dart said Wednesday. Tulsa County reported 261 confirmed new cases on Monday, a one-day record high, and another 206 cases on Tuesday. By comparison, during the week before the June 20 Trump rally, there were 76 cases on Monday and 96 on Tuesday." A New York Times story is here.

Justine Coleman of the Hill: "A group of attorneys in Jacksonville, Fla. filed a lawsuit on Wednesday to block the Republican National Convention from taking place in the city next month. The lawsuit, filed in Duval County, points to several arguments why the city should not host the event as Florida's case numbers continue to spike, saying the convention would be 'a nuisance injurious to the health (and) welfare' of the community.... The attorneys filed the lawsuit days after Florida set a record for the most COVID-19 cases confirmed in a single day in a state during the pandemic, with 11,458 cases on Saturday."

Mixed Messaging? Nah. Totally Conflicting Messages. Andrew Kaczynski of CNN: "While ... Donald Trump has continuously railed against voting by mail, a Republican National Committee robocall in April voiced by his daughter-in-law Lara Trump said voting by mail could be done 'safely and securely.' The call was sent in support of Republican Mike Garcia in California's 25th US House District special election, the race for the seat previously held by Democratic Rep. Katie Hill. California's election was done almost entirely by mail after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order in March that required every voter to be mailed a ballot. It was one of three RNC robocalls identified by CNN's KFile in which Lara Trump and the President's son Donald Trump Jr. urged voters to vote by mail in special elections since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic[.]" (Also linked yesterday.)

Mrs. McCrabbie: Here's the Lincoln Project ad that P.D. Pepe mentions in today's Comments thread. It is pretty stunning that conservative Republicans are going after not just Trump but also Republican senators who have enabled him. Most of the senators the ad highlights are up for re-election this year: ~~~

New Jersey. Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "Amy Kennedy planted a flag Tuesday for her family's political dynasty along the Jersey Shore, winning a heavily contested Democratic primary against an establishment favorite to advance to a general election race against an ex-Democrat [-- Jeff Van Drew --] who pledged his loyalty to President Trump rather than vote to impeach him. Shortly after the polls closed, Kennedy, the wife of former congressman Patrick J. Kennedy (D-R.I.), received a concession call from Brigid Callahan Harrison, a college professor and political commentator who had the support of most local party chairs, according to a senior Kennedy campaign adviser. With 30 percent of the votes in, Kennedy led 55 percent to 32 percent over Harrison, according to the Associated Press, which projected Kennedy as the winner." (Also linked yesterday.)

Texas. Summer Concepcion of TPM: "Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner on Wednesday afternoon said that city officials are canceling the Texas Republican Party's in-person convention originally scheduled for next week. The cancel[l]ation came on the heels of Turner saying earlier Wednesday during a virtual city council meeting that his administration was investigating ways to cancel it. Turner added that he directed the city's legal department to work with the Houston First Corporation, which operates the convention center, in reviewing the contract with the state's GOP.... The event was originally scheduled to take place July 16-18 and would potentially draw about 6,000 attendees."

John Cruzel of the Hill: "The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that a pair of Los Angeles-area Catholic schools are immune from discrimination suits brought by two former teachers in a decision that expands the scope of First Amendment safeguards for religious employers. DEVELOPING" More on this later. Apparently the vote was 7-2, with Justices Ginsburg & Sotomayor dissenting. The Washington Post's brief breaking story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Update. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a Trump administration regulation that lets employers with religious or moral objections limit women's access to birth control coverage under the Affordable Care Act. As a consequence of the ruling, about 70,000 to 126,000 women could lose contraceptive coverage from their employers, according to government estimates. The vote was 7 to 2, with Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor dissenting." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Adam Liptak: "The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that federal employment discrimination laws do not apply to teachers whose duties include instruction in religion at schools run by churches. The vote was 7 to 2, with Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor in dissent. (Also linked yesterday.)

Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Mike Isaac of the New York Times: "Auditors handpicked by Facebook to examine its policies said that the company had not done enough to protect people on the platform from discriminatory posts and ads and that its decisions to leave up President Trump's inflammatory posts were 'significant setbacks for civil rights.' The 89-page audit ... gave fuel to the company's detractors, who said the site had allowed hate speech and misinformation to flourish. The audit also placed the social network in the spotlight for an issue it had worked hard to avoid since the 2016 election: That it may once again be negatively influencing American voters." ~~~

~~~ Craig Timberg & Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: “Facebook took down a network of more than 100 pages and accounts on Wednesday it said was affiliated with felon and former Republican operative Roger Stone for 'coordinated inauthentic behavior,' taking the company's campaign against disinformation closer to the heart of the nation's political establishment. The offending activity on Facebook and its subsidiary Instagram dated as far back as 2015 but was particularly active during the 2016 presidential election season, when Stone was advising Donald Trump's presidential campaign, and in 2017, as federal investigators were scrutinizing his activities. Facebook officials said Stone, a longtime friend of Trump's, used fake accounts and other deceptive measures to manipulate public debate." A Politico story is here.

The Commentariat -- July 8, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

The New York Times' live updates of coronoavirus developments Wednesday are here: "Hours after President Trump assailed guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for reopening schools, Vice President Mike Pence, appearing with the White House coronavirus task force, announced..., 'Well the president said today, we just don't want the guidance to be too tough.... That's the reason why next week, the C.D.C. is going to be issuing a new set of tools, five different documents that will be giving even more clarity on the guidance going forward.'... Dr. Robert R. Redfield, the C.D.C. director, said Wednesday that the agency's guidance should not be used to justify keeping schools closed.... Mr. Trump's threat comes as scientists grapple with rising concerns about transmission of the coronavirus in indoor spaces. Most public schools are poorly ventilated and don't have the funding to update their filtration systems.... Mr. Trump's funding threat carries real weight. When it passed its $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus law, Congress gave enormous latitude to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to decide how to parcel out tens of millions of dollars in relief to school districts." ~~~

~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Wednesday are here.

Susan Svrluga & Nick Anderson of the Washington Post: "Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology sued the Trump administration Wednesday over an order that would require international students to take classes in person this fall, despite rising coronavirus caseloads that are complicating efforts by colleges and universities to offer in-person learning. The lawsuit represented a swift response to an unexpected order issued this week by the federal government, as universities rush to protect the status of thousands of international students. It also represents a new battle line in the war between Trump and education leaders over how to safely reopen schools in the midst of his reelection bid."

Another TrumperWhopper. Ben Gittleson of ABC News: "As of Tuesday, the United States had the ninth-worst mortality rate in the world, with 39.82 deaths per 100,000 people, according to Johns Hopkins University.... The U.S. finds itself on a shortlist of countries that have the most coronavirus deaths proportional to both its total population and to its confirmed cases. In absolute terms, the United States also has the greatest number of overall deaths from coronavirus, with nearly twice as many as Brazil, which ranks second, according to Johns Hopkins.... Donald Trump and his White House have repeatedly claimed this week, falsely, that the United States has the lowest novel coronavirus mortality rate in the world.... Trump tweeted Monday that 'we now have the lowest Fatality (Mortality) Rate in the World' and that the coronavirus mortality rate in the United States was 'just about the LOWEST IN THE WORLD.' He tweeted on Tuesday, 'We have the lowest Mortality Rate in the World' and said 'The Fake News should be reporting these most important of facts, but they don't!'... Trump repeated his claim about the U.S. mortality rate at the White House on Tuesday afternoon, saying it was 'the lowest anywhere in the world.'... Trump's series of tweets on the matter -- and his press secretary's insistence to reporters -- reflected an attempt to explain his comment during a speech over the weekend that 99% of coronavirus cases are 'harmless,' which received significant blowback."

John Cruzel of the Hill: "The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that a pair of Los Angeles-area Catholic schools are immune from discrimination suits brought by two former teachers in a decision that expands the scope of First Amendment safeguards for religious employers. DEVELOPING" More on this later. Apparently the vote was 7-2, with Justices Ginsburg & Sotomayor dissenting. The Washington Post's brief breaking story is here. ~~~

~~~ Update. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a Trump administration regulation that lets employers with religious or moral objections limit women's access to birth control coverage under the Affordable Care Act. As a consequence of the ruling, about 70,000 to 126,000 women could lose contraceptive coverage from their employers, according to government estimates. The vote was 7 to 2, with Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor dissenting." ~~~

~~~ Adam Liptak: "The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that federal employment discrimination laws do not apply to teachers whose duties include instruction in religion at schools run by churches. The vote was 7 to 2, with Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor in dissent.

Ryan Goodman of Just Security: "First, President Trump decided not to confront Putin about supplying arms to the [Taliban]. Second, during the very times in which U.S. military officials publicly raised concerns about the program's threat to US forces, Trump undercut them. He embraced Putin, overtly and repeatedly, including at the historic summit in Helsinki. Third, behind the scenes, Trump directed the CIA to share intelligence information on counterterrorism with the Kremlin despite no discernible reward, former intelligence officials who served in the Trump administration told Just Security." Emphasis original.

Missy Ryan & Shane Harris of the Washington Post: "An Army officer who played a high-profile role in President Trump's impeachment proceedings is retiring from the military over alleged 'bullying' and 'retaliation' by the president, his lawyer said Wednesday. Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who served as a national security aide at the White House until earlier this year and was up for promotion to colonel, will leave the military instead, his attorney, David Pressman, said in a statement. 'Through a campaign of bullying, intimidation, and retaliation, the president of the United States attempted to force LTC Vindman to choose: Between adhering to the law or pleasing a President. Between honoring his oath or protecting his career. Between protecting his promotion or the promotion of his fellow soldiers,' Pressman said. 'LTC Vindman's patriotism has cost him his career.'" CNN's story is here.

Go to School & Get Sick, You Ungrateful Brats! Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Wednesday threatened to cut off federal funding for schools if they do not resume in-person learning this fall and criticized a top government health agency for being too tough with its guidelines to aid that process.... Trump said he disagreed with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 'on their very tough & expensive guidelines for opening schools. While they want them open, they are asking schools to do very impractical things. I will be meeting with them!!'"

Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "Amy Kennedy planted a flag Tuesday for her family's political dynasty along the Jersey Shore, winning a heavily contested Democratic primary against an establishment favorite to advance to a general election race against an ex-Democrat [-- Jeff Van Drew --] who pledged his loyalty to President Trump rather than vote to impeach him. Shortly after the polls closed, Kennedy, the wife of former congressman Patrick J. Kennedy (D-R.I.), received a concession call from Brigid Callahan Harrison, a college professor and political commentator who had the support of most local party chairs, according to a senior Kennedy campaign adviser. With 30 percent of the votes in, Kennedy led 55 percent to 32 percent over Harrison, according to the Associated Press, which projected Kennedy as the winner."

Mixed Messaging? Nah. Totally Conflicting Messages. Andrew Kaczynski of CNN: "While ... Donald Trump has continuously railed against voting by mail, a Republican National Committee robocall in April voiced by his daughter-in-law Lara Trump said voting by mail could be done 'safely and securely.' The call was sent in support of Republican Mike Garcia in California's 25th US House District special election, the race for the seat previously held by Democratic Rep. Katie Hill. California's election was done almost entirely by mail after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order in March that required every voter to be mailed a ballot. It was one of three RNC robocalls identified by CNN's KFile in which Lara Trump and the President's son Donald Trump Jr. urged voters to vote by mail in special elections since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic[.]"

~~~~~~~~~~

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

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

Collin Binkley of NBC New York: "... Donald Trump on Tuesday launched an all-out effort to reopen schools this fall.... 'We're very much gong to put pressure on governors and everybody else to open the schools.' Trump did not immediately explain how he would pressure governors, but he repeated an earlier claim that Democrats want to keep schools closed for political reasons and not health reasons. He made the same claim Monday on Twitter, saying, 'They think it will help them in November. Wrong, the people get it!'" Mrs. McC: Every governor knows that at least part of that pressure will be Trump's writing nasty tweets about him or, for any Republican governors up for re-election, withholding or withdrawing his endorsement. To hell with the health & safety of students, teachers & family members. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Update. Peter Baker & Erica Green of the New York Times: "President Trump demanded on Tuesday that schools reopen physically in the fall, pressing his drive to get the country moving again even as the coronavirus pandemic surged through much of the United States and threatened to overwhelm some health care facilities. In a daylong series of conference calls and public events at the White House, the president, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and other senior officials opened a concerted campaign to lean on governors, mayors and others to resume classes in person months after more than 50 million children were abruptly ejected from school buildings in March.... But they offered no concrete proposals or new financial assistance to states and localities struggling to restructure academic settings, staffs and programs that were never intended to keep children six feet apart or cope with the requirements of combating a virus that has killed more than 130,000 Americans." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: So what we have here is a couple of villainous, ultra-rich heirs & private-school aficionados dictating that poor public schools open up & expose millions of children, educators and their families to a deadly illness. Seems like the premise of a horror movie. ~~~

~~~ Miriam Jordan, et al., of the New York Times: "A directive by the Trump administration that would strip international college students of their U.S. visas if their coursework was entirely online prompted widespread confusion on Tuesday as students scrambled to clarify their statuses and universities reassessed their fall reopening policies amid the coronavirus pandemic. The White House measure, announced on Monday, was seen as an effort to pressure universities into reopening their gates and abandoning the cautious approaches that many have announced they would adopt to reduce Covid-19 transmission." Mrs. McC: Huh. I saw the new policy as a way of getting rid of foreigners. I guess it's an either/or with no downside for Trump: force schools to re-open or deport foreigners.

Jessie Hellmann of the Hill: "Anthony Fauci ... warned Tuesday the U.S. should not fall into 'false complacency' because COVID-19 death rates have dropped, noting the virus can cause other severe health outcomes. 'It's a false narrative to take comfort in a lower rate of death,' Fauci said Tuesday during a livestreamed press conference hosted by Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.)... While the infections have surged in the South and West, with several states seeing single-day highs in recent days, death rates have not increased. That could be because younger adults are making up a higher percentage of new cases compared to the early days of the epidemic. Experts anticipate deaths, a lagging indicator in an outbreak, will rise as people generally don't die until weeks after they become sick." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It does seem that Fauci has slipped his leash. To appear at the press conference of a Democratic Senator where he repudiates Trump's "false narrative," without naming Trump, has to be heresy at the Unholy Church of the Lord Donald.

Emily Rauhala, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration has sent a letter to the United Nations withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, a dramatic move that could reshape public health diplomacy. The notice of withdrawal was delivered to United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, said a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.... It is not clear whether the president can pull the United States out of the organization and withdraw funding without Congress." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I think a lot of people figured that no matter how crass Trump was, he would try to do the right thing in a crisis. Well, the joke's on them. The coronavirus crisis has exposed a landslide of purposeful errors, not the least of which has been having the unmitigated gall to to continue the prosecute the suit against the Affordable Care Act & withdrawing from the WHO instead of forcing reforms.

Georgia (USA). Dan Merica, et al., of CNN: "Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, one of the top prospects to be presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's running mate, said Monday that she has tested positive for Covid-19. 'COVID-19 has literally hit home. I have had NO symptoms and have tested positive,' the mayor said on Twitter. She told CNN's Chris Cuomo that she received the news that both she and her husband were positive just before 6 p.m. ET on Monday. She said they decided to get tested because her husband had been sleeping more than normal since last Thursday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Brazil. Ernesto Londoño of the New York Times: "President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, who has railed against social distancing measures and repeatedly downplayed the threat of the coronavirus as the epidemic in his country became the second-worst in the world, said Tuesday that he, too, has been infected. Critics at home and abroad have called Mr. Bolsonaro's handling of the pandemic cavalier and reckless, allowing the virus to surge across Brazil, Latin America's largest nation. At one point he dismissed it as 'a measly cold,' and when asked in late April about the rising death toll, he replied: 'So what? Sorry, but what do you want me to do?' As the caseload has skyrocketed, Mr. Bolsonaro has attended mass rallies in his support, shunned masks, insisted that the virus poses no threat to healthy people, championed unproven remedies and shuffled through health ministers who disagreed with him. Brazil now has more than 1.6 million confirmed cases and more than 65,000 deaths -- more than any country except the United States. Speaking to journalists outside the presidential palace in Brasília shortly after noon on Tuesday, Mr. Bolsonaro, said he had taken a test on Monday after experiencing fatigue, muscle pain and a fever. He said he was feeling 'very well,' which he credited to having taken hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug he has endorsed but which studies show does not ward off the virus." Includes a photo of Bolsonaro with his arm around U.S. Ambassador Todd Chapman at a July 4th shindig at the U.S. Embassy in Brazil. Sweet! (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ A CNN story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Sweden. A Cautionary Tale. Peter Goodman of the New York Times: "... Sweden has captured international attention by conducting an unorthodox, open-air experiment. It has allowed the world to examine what happens in a pandemic when a government allows life to carry on largely unhindered. This is what has happened: Not only have thousands more people died than in neighboring countries that imposed lockdowns, but Sweden's economy has fared little better.... Sweden's grim result -- more death, and nearly equal economic damage -- suggests that the supposed choice between lives and paychecks is a false one: A failure to impose social distancing can cost lives and jobs at the same time.... Per million people, Sweden has suffered 40 percent more deaths than the United States, 12 times more than Norway, seven times more than Finland and six times more than Denmark." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I do recall reading the headlines & ledes by various confederate writers exclaiming upon how smart Sweden was. As Goodman writes, making an essential -- and simple -- point that Donald Trump is too dense to grasp: "It is simplistic to portray government actions such as quarantines as the cause of economic damage. The real culprit is the virus itself."

Ian Sample of the Guardian: "Doctors may be missing signs of serious and potentially fatal brain disorders triggered by coronavirus, as they emerge in mildly affected or recovering patients, scientists have warned. Neurologists are on Wednesday publishing details of more than 40 UK Covid-19 patients whose complications ranged from brain inflammation and delirium to nerve damage and stroke. In some cases, the neurological problem was the patient's first and main symptom." --s

There Was a Crooked Man

Maggie Haberman & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Mary L. Trump, President Trump's niece, plans to publish a tell-all family memoir next week, describing how a decades long history of darkness, dysfunction and brutality turned her uncle into a reckless leader who, according to her publisher, Simon & Schuster, 'now threatens the world's health, economic security and social fabric.' The book ... depicts a multigenerational saga of greed, betrayal and internecine tension and seeks to explain ... President Trump's ... 'twisted behaviors' -- attributes like seeing other people in 'monetary terms' and practicing 'cheating as a way of life.'... As a high school student in Queens, Ms. Trump writes, Donald Trump paid someone to take a precollegiate test, the SAT, on his behalf. The high score the proxy earned ... helped the young Mr. Trump to later gain admittance as an undergraduate to the University of Pennsylvania's prestigious Wharton business school." Mrs. McC: Mary Trump names the person who took Donald's SATs & writes that Donald's sister Maryanne did his homework for him. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) An AP story is here. ~~~

~~~ Update. Haberman & Feuer, in a second story: "President Trump's niece describes him in a much-awaited tell-all book as a child in an adult’s body, someone psychologically brutalized and damaged by his 'sociopath' father and who developed defenses of anger and distrust to mask his own chronic insecurities." Mrs. McC: I got a kick out of this: "Ms. Trump recalled that [Donald & Ivana Trump] once gave her[, as a holiday gift,] a package of underpants, as well as a cracker and caviar set that no longer included the caviar."

Shane Harris & Michael Kranish of the Washington Post: "A tell-all book by President Trump's niece describes a family riven by a series of traumas, exacerbated by a daunting patriarch who 'destroyed' Donald Trump by short-circuiting his 'ability to develop and experience the entire spectrum of human emotion,' according to a copy of the forthcoming memoir obtained by The Washington Post." (Also linked yesterday.)

Lachlan Cartwright, et al., of the Daily Beast: "Mary Trump's book ... paints her uncle the president in a horrifying light and reveals explosive details about his character and disparaging comments made by his sister, retired federal judge Maryanne Trump Barry.... 'He's a clown,' Maryanne allegedly confided in her niece. 'This will never happen again.'... In one particularly disturbing scene from a trip to Mar-a-Lago, Mary recounts how when she was 29 and wearing a bathing suit and a pair of shorts to lunch at the resort, her uncle looked up at her and remarked, 'Holy shit, Mary. You're stacked.'... [At a White House dinner,] Mary recounts how Donald gestured towards Eric Trump's wife, his daughter-in-law. 'Lara, there,' he said. 'I barely even knew who the fuck she was, honestly, but then she gave a great speech during the campaign in Georgia supporting me.' The couple had been together for eight years." A CNN story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jonathan Swan of Axios: "In what reads like a scene out of [the film] Spotlight, Mary Trump tells the story for the first time of how she secretly gave the New York Times much of the source material for its 14,000 word investigation of how 'President Trump participated in dubious tax schemes during the 1990s, including instances of outright fraud, that greatly increased the fortune he received from his parents.'" Swan describes and cites some of the story. Mrs. McC: Rachel Maddow read it aloud during an extended Maddow "Storytime." Tuesday's show is not up on her website as of midnight ET, but the Storytime segments should be up soon, and they're worth hearing.

All the Best Swamp Creatures. Theodoric Meyer & Debra Kahn of Politico: "[A]t least 82 former Trump administration officials who have registered as lobbyists, according to an analysis of lobbying disclosure filings. Many more former administration officials have gone to work at lobbying firms or in government affairs roles in corporate America but have not registered as lobbyists.... Some former administration officials decamped for K Street so quickly that they've already returned to the government.... Trump has also hired a large number of former lobbyists to serve in his administration -- including the current Defense, Energy, Labor and Interior secretaries; the acting Homeland Security secretary; the EPA administrator; and the U.S. trade representative -- and some of them have already gone back to K Street." --s

Julian Borger of the Guardian: "Chinese agents have been pursuing hundreds of Chinese nationals living in the US [often coerced by thinly veiled threats against their families back in China] in an effort to force their return, as part of a global campaign against the country's diaspora, known as Operation Fox Hunt, the FBI director [Christopher Wray] has said.... Fox Hunt was launched six years ago by President Xi Jinping, ostensibly to pursue corrupt officials and business executives who had fled abroad.... Wray said the operation's principal aim now was to suppress dissent among the diaspora.... Wray portrayed China as an aggressive rival with little or no regard for international or national laws. He said that nearly half the FBI's 5,000 active counter-intelligence cases were China-related." --s

Luis Martinez of ABC News: "The top U.S. general in the Middle East said Tuesday he was aware of the intelligence of a Russian bounty program targeting U.S. troops in Afghanistan, but ... he said he did not believe it was tied to actual U.S. military deaths on the battlefield. 'I found it very worrisome, I just didn't find that there was a causative link there,' Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command, said in an interview with a small number of reporters. "The intel ... case wasn't proved to me -- it wasn't proved enough that I'd take it to a court of law -- and you know that's often true in battlefield intelligence,' said McKenzie.... 'Over the past several years, the Taliban have done their level best to carry out operations against us, so nothing is practically changed on the ground in terms of force protection, because we have a very high force protection standard now...,' said McKenzie."

Presidential Race

Adam Edelman of NBC News: "Joe Biden has won the Democratic presidential primaries in New Jersey and his home state of Delaware, NBC News projects. The pair of wins Tuesday night allows Biden, who is already the presumptive Democratic nominee, to build on the delegate haul he's already amassed heading into next month's scaled-down Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee. Biden officially became the party's presumptive nominee last month when he exceeded the 1,991 pledged delegates needed to do so. Both states are conducting their primaries almost entirely by mail, due to the coronavirus pandemic. And in New Jersey, where politics watchers were closely following several congressional primaries, election officials cautioned that results were not likely to be known for several days, because ballots can be postmarked as late at 8:00 p.m. ET Tuesday."

** Tom Friedman of the New York Times is right: "First, Biden should declare that he will take part in a [presidential] debate only if Trump releases his tax returns for 2016 through 2018. Biden has already done so, and they are on his website.... No more gifting Trump something he can attack while hiding his own questionable finances. And second, Biden should insist that a real-time fact-checking team approved by both candidates be hired by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates -- and that 10 minutes before the scheduled conclusion of the debate this team report on any misleading statements, phony numbers or outright lies either candidate had uttered. That way no one in that massive television audience can go away easily misled. Debates always have ground rules. Why can't telling the truth and equal transparency on taxes be conditions for this one?" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Biden has released his tax returns every year at least back till 2009 (and probably earlier years, too). As I recall, Joe & Jill Bidens' tax returns appeared on the White House website every year Joe Biden was veep. So Trump should be required to release those years, too.

Chris, the Cowardly Guv. Ryan Nobles & Donald Judd of CNN: "New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu assured reporters Tuesday that ... Donald Trump's upcoming rally in the state could be pulled off safely and without a mandatory mask order.... Sununu also said that while he plans to greet the President at some point during his visit to the state, it was unlikely he'd attend Saturday's rally in person, citing health concerns. 'I'm going to go and greet the President as the governor,' he said. 'I will not be in the crowd of thousands of people..., if that's your question specifically. I try to -- unfortunately, you know, I have to be extra cautious as the governor, I try to be extra cautious for myself, my family.' The governor said that while he would wear a mask and hopes others -- including the President -- wear one, he was not going force rally organizers or attendees to put them on." Mrs. McC: You know what, Chris? Some of those Trumpbots attending the rally you didn't have the guts to prohibit are going to come breathe on you anyway. Even in New England, there's no such thing as a "moderate Republican" officeholder; the few who falsely claim the "moderate" mantle are cowards who cave to the nutjobs while expressing meaningless "concern."

The Senators Regret. Jacob Knutson of Axios: "At least five GOP senators have said they will not attend next month's Republican National Convention in Jacksonville either due to coronavirus concerns or political reasons." They are Chuck Grassley (Iowa) (Trump could make me sick), Mitt Romney (Utah) (Looking forward to Trump's seeing how it feels to lose to a Democrat), Susan Collins (Maine) (I'm concerned), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) (Eeew!) & Lamar Alexander (Tennessee) (I'm retiring -- don't have to go). ~~~

~~~ Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: Susan Collins is facing "the toughest re-election race of her career -- and one that could determine whether Republicans retain control of the Senate in November.... She refused to say whether she would vote for Mr. Trump in November, and said she would not attack the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Joseph R. Biden Jr.... 'I do not campaign against my colleagues in the Senate,' she added..." Cochrane describes Collin's challenges in Maine's Senate race.

Quint Forgey of Politico: "Former acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney on Tuesday conceded that if November's general election becomes a 'referendum' on ... Donald Trump, the Republican incumbent will face 'real headwinds' in his race against former Vice President Joe Biden. 'If the president can go back to drawing those contrasts between him and Joe Biden -- that becomes a race between Trump and Biden -- I think the president does extraordinarily well,' Mulvaney told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo.... But 'if it ends up being a popularity contest or, worse, a referendum on President Trump, I think he's got some real headwinds to face,' Mulvaney, who now serves as the U.S. special envoy to Northern Ireland, said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Backfire. Amy Gardner & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "President Trump's relentless attacks on the security of mail voting are driving suspicion among GOP voters toward absentee ballots -- a dynamic alarming Republican strategists, who say it could undercut their own candidates, including Trump himself. In several primaries this spring, Democratic voters have embraced mail ballots in far larger numbers than Republicans during a campaign season defined by the coronavirus pandemic. And when they urge their supporters to vote by mail, GOP campaigns around the country are hearing from more and more Republican voters who say they do not trust absentee ballots, according to multiple strategists. In one particularly vivid example, a group of Michigan voters held a public burning of their absentee ballot applications last month."

AND Kanye West is planning a delusional run for president -- this year. Randall Lane of Forbes has the story. Mrs. McC: Contributor Hattie mentioned this several days ago, so -- I don't know -- maybe she's Kanye's campaign manager. He could do worse. (And if Kanye chooses Elon Musk for the job, as he's hinted, he would do worse.)

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. suffered a fall at a Maryland country club last month that required an overnight stay in the hospital, a Supreme Court spokeswoman confirmed Tuesday night.The 65-year-old chief justice was taken by ambulance to a hospital after the June 21 incident at the Chevy Chase Club, which was serious enough to require sutures. He stayed at the hospital overnight for observation and was released the next morning. Roberts has twice experienced seizures, in 1993 and in 2007, but Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathleen Arberg said doctors ruled out that possibility in the latest incident. Doctors believe he was dehydrated, she said. Roberts did not publicly disclose the matter, and the court's confirmation came in response to an inquiry from The Washington Post, which received a tip." A Politico story is here. Mrs. McC: Could explain a couple of seemingly-moderate rulings Roberts made recently, so maybe Republicans will try to impeach him as unfit.

Capitalists Are Awesome, Too. Mike Isaac & Tiffany Hsu of the New York Times: "Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's two top executives, met with civil rights groups on Tuesday in an attempt to mollify them over how the social network treats hate speech on its site. But Mr. Zuckerberg ... and Ms. Sandberg ... failed to win its critics over. For more than an hour over Zoom, the duo, along with other Facebook executives, discussed the company's handling of hate speech with representatives from the Anti-Defamation League, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Color of Change and other groups. Those organizations have recently helped push hundreds of companies, such as Unilever and Best Buy, to pause their advertising on Facebook to protest its handling of toxic speech and misinformation." A CNN story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: You know, Zuck, civil rights leaders have been hearing B.S. from smoother guys than you forevah. The notion that you could snow them was ludicrous from the git-go.

Oh, Dear. Hand-wringing in the Ivory Tower. Jennifer Schuessler & Elizabeth Harris of the New York Times: An open letter titled 'A Letter on Justice and Open Debate,' and signed by 153 prominent artists and intellectuals..., began with an acknowledgment of 'powerful protests for racial and social justice' before pivoting to a warning against an 'intolerant climate' engulfing the culture.... The letter, which was published by Harper's Magazine and will also appear in several leading international publications, surfaces a debate that has been going on privately in newsrooms, universities and publishing houses that have been navigating demands for diversity and inclusion, while also asking which demands -- and the social media dynamics that propel them -- go too far.... And on social media, the reaction was swift, with some heaping ridicule on the letter's signatories...." Thanks to Hattie for the link. ~~~

~~~ AND on That Note. David Waldstein of the New York Times: "Hasbro, which owns the rights to Scrabble in North America, said Tuesday night the players association had 'agreed to remove all slurs from their word list for Scrabble tournament play, which is managed solely by NASPA and available only to members.' John Chew, the chief executive of the association, seemed to agree. He had asked the organization's 12-person advisory board to vote on the matter in the coming days, but the statement from Hasbro was presented as a fait accompli.... The game that Hasbro sells in retail stores has not included slurs in its dictionary since 1994." ~~~

~~~ AND While We're at It. CNN: "... some ... [everyday words & phrases] are directly rooted in the nation's history with chattel slavery. Others now evoke racist notions about Black people.... America's reckoning with systemic racism is now forcing a more critical look at the language we use." Mrs. McC: I would disagree with some of what CNN is suggesting perhaps should be taboo. At some point a remark like, "I painted all the walls Sherwin Williams 'pure white'" will be deemed evidence of racism, no matter who says it.

Way Beyond the Beltway

Matthew Goldstein of the New York Times: "When Jeffrey Epstein moved his money, Deutsche Bank didn't ask many questions. In a $150 million settlement to be announced on Tuesday, the New York Department of Financial Services said that Mr. Epstein, a convicted sex offender, engaged in suspicious transactions for years, even though Deutsche Bank had deemed him a 'high risk' client from the moment he became a customer in summer 2013." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

U.K. Hannah Devlin of the Guardian: "An arrogant culture in which serious medical complications were dismissed as 'women's problems' contributed to a string of healthcare scandals over several decades, an inquiry ordered by the government has found. The review of vaginal mesh, hormonal pregnancy tests and an anti-epilepsy medicine that harmed unborn babies paints a damning picture of a medical establishment that failed to acknowledge problems even in the face of mounting safety concerns, leading to avoidable harm to patients. Instead, women routinely had symptoms attributed to psychological issues or it being 'that time of life', with 'anything and everything women suffer perceived as a natural precursor to, part of, or a post-symptomatic phase of, the menopause', the inquiry heard." --s

The Commentariat -- July 7, 2020

Afternoon Update:

Oops, Forgot. New Jersey & Delaware hold primary elections today.

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

Collin Binkley of NBC New York: "... Donald Trump on Tuesday launched an all-out effort to reopen schools this fall.... 'We're very much gong to put pressure on governors and everybody else to open the schools.' Trump did not immediately explain how he would pressure governors, but he repeated an earlier claim that Democrats want to keep schools closed for political reasons and not health reasons. He made the same claim Monday on Twitter, saying, 'They think it will help them in November. Wrong, the people get it!'" Mrs. McC: Every governor knows that at least part of that pressure will be Trump's writing nasty tweets about them or, for any Republican governors up for re-election, withholding or withdrawing his endorsement. To hell with the health & safety of students, teachers & family members.

Jessie Hellmann of the Hill: "Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, warned Tuesday the U.S. should not fall into 'false complacency' because COVID-19 death rates have dropped, noting the virus can cause other severe health outcomes.... While the infections have surged in the South and West, with several states seeing single-day highs in recent days, death rates have not increased. That could be because younger adults are making up a higher percentage of new cases compared to the early days of the epidemic. Experts anticipate deaths, a lagging indicator in an outbreak, will rise as people generally don&'t die until weeks after they become sick."

Emily Rauhala, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration has sent a letter to the United Nations withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, a dramatic move that could reshape public health diplomacy. The notice of withdrawal was delivered to United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, said a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.... It is not clear whether the president can pull the United States out of the organization and withdraw funding without Congress." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I think a lot of people figured that no matter how crass Trump was, he would try to do the right thing in a crisis. Well, the joke's on them. The coronavirus crisis has exposed a landslide of purposeful errors, not the least of which has been having the unmitigated gall to to continue the prosecute the suit against the Affordable Care Act & withdrawing from the WHO instead of forcing reforms.

Ernesto Londoño of the New York Times: "President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, who has railed against social distancing measures and repeatedly downplayed the threat of the coronavirus as the epidemic in his country became the second-worst in the world, said Tuesday that he, too, has been infected. Critics at home and abroad have called Mr. Bolsonaro's handling of the pandemic cavalier and reckless, allowing the virus to surge across Brazil, Latin America's largest nation. At one point he dismissed it as 'a measly cold,' and when asked in late April about the rising death toll, he replied: 'So what? Sorry, but what do you want me to do?' As the caseload has skyrocketed, Mr. Bolsonaro has attended mass rallies in his support, shunned masks, insisted that the virus poses no threat to healthy people, championed unproven remedies and shuffled through health ministers who disagreed with him. Brazil now has more than 1.6 million confirmed cases and more than 65,000 deaths -- more than any country except the United States. Speaking to journalists outside the presidential palace in Brasília shortly after noon on Tuesday, Mr. Bolsonaro, said he had taken a test on Monday after experiencing fatigue, muscle pain and a fever. He said he was feeling 'very well,' which he credited to having taken hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug he has endorsed but which studies show does not ward off the virus." Includes a photo of Bolsonaro with his arm around U.S. Ambassador Todd Chapman at a July 4th shindig at the U.S. Embassy in Brazil. Sweet! ~~~

     ~~~ A CNN story is here.

Dan Merica, et al., of CNN: "Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, one of the top prospects to be ... Joe Biden's running mate, said Monday that she has tested positive for Covid-19. 'COVID-19 has literally hit home. I have had NO symptoms and have tested positive,' the mayor said on Twitter. She told CNN's Chris Cuomo that she received the news that both she and her husband were positive just before 6 p.m. ET on Monday. She said they decided to get tested because her husband had been sleeping more than normal since last Thursday."

Maggie Haberman & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Mary L. Trump, President Trump's niece, plans to publish a tell-all family memoir next week, describing how a decades long history of darkness, dysfunction and brutality turned her uncle into a reckless leader who, according to her publisher, Simon & Schuster, 'now threatens the world's health, economic security and social fabric.' The book ... depicts a multigenerational saga of greed, betrayal and internecine tension and seeks to explain ... President Trump's ... 'twisted behaviors' -- attributes like seeing other people in 'monetary terms' and practicing 'cheating as a way of life.'... As a high school student in Queens, Ms. Trump writes, Donald Trump paid someone to take a precollegiate test, the SAT, on his behalf. The high score the proxy earned ... helped the young Mr. Trump to later gain admittance as an undergraduate to the University of Pennsylvania's prestigious Wharton business school." Mrs. McC: Mary Trump writes that Donald's sister Maryanne did his homework for him. ~~~

~~~ Shane Harris & Michael Kranish of the Washington Post: "A tell-all book by President Trump's niece describes a family riven by a series of traumas, exacerbated by a daunting patriarch who 'destroyed' Donald Trump by short-circuiting his 'ability to develop and experience the entire spectrum of human emotion,' according to a copy of the forthcoming memoir obtained by The Washington Post." ~~~

~~~ Lachlan Cartwright, et al., of the Daily Beast: "Mary Trump's book ... paints her uncle the president in a horrifying light and reveals explosive details about his character and disparaging comments made by his sister, retired federal judge Maryanne Trump Barry.... 'He's a clown,' Maryanne allegedly confided in her niece. 'This will never happen again.'... In one particularly disturbing scene from a trip to Mar-a-Lago, Mary recounts how when she was 29 and wearing a bathing suit and a pair of shorts to lunch at the resort, her uncle looked up at her and remarked, 'Holy shit, Mary. You're stacked.'... [At a White House dinner,] Mary recounts how Donald gestured towards Eric Trump's wife, his daughter-in-law. 'Lara, there,' he said. 'I barely even knew who the fuck she was, honestly, but then she gave a great speech during the campaign in Georgia supporting me.' The couple had been together for eight years." A CNN story is here.

Quint Forgey of Politico: "Former acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney on Tuesday conceded that if November's general election becomes a 'referendum' on ... Donald Trump, the Republican incumbent will face 'real headwinds' in his race against former Vice President Joe Biden. 'If the president can go back to drawing those contrasts between him and Joe Biden -- that becomes a race between Trump and Biden -- I think the president does extraordinarily well,' Mulvaney told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo.... But 'if it ends up being a popularity contest or, worse, a referendum on President Trump, I think he's got some real headwinds to face,' Mulvaney, who now serves as the U.S. special envoy to Northern Ireland, said."

Matthew Goldstein of the New York Times: "When Jeffrey Epstein moved his money, Deutsche Bank didn't ask many questions. In a $150 million settlement to be announced on Tuesday, the New York Department of Financial Services said that Mr. Epstein, a convicted sex offender, engaged in suspicious transactions for years, even though Deutsche Bank had deemed him a 'high risk' client from the moment he became a customer in summer 2013."

~~~~~~~~~~

A Few Words (But Far Too Many) from the Racist-in-Chief:

"Trump Defends Confederate Flag in Latest Race-Based Appeal to White Voters." Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "President Trump mounted an explicit defense of the Confederate flag on Monday, suggesting that NASCAR had made a mistake in banning it from its auto racing events, while falsely accusing a top Black driver, Darrell Wallace Jr., of perpetrating a hoax involving a noose found in his garage.... Mr. Trump has increasingly used racist language and references to portray himself as a protector of the history of the American South.... 'Has @BubbaWallace apologized to all of those great NASCAR drivers & officials who came to his aid, stood by his side, & were willing to sacrifice everything for him only to find out that the whole thing was just another HOAX? That & Flag decision has caused lowest ratings EVER!' Mr. Trump posted on Twitter on Monday." Here's an AP story. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Toluse Olorunnipa of the Washington Post: "After multiple attempts to explain why President Trump appeared to defend the Confederate flag while attacking the only top black driver in NASCAR on Monday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany settled on arguing that Trump was speaking only in the abstract. 'The president has made clear he was not taking a position one way or the other in that tweet,' McEnany said Monday when asked for an unequivocal stance on the Confederate flag.... [The] pro-Confederacy tweet ... became the latest example of his willingness to push to preserve Confederate symbols and the legacy of white domination as part of his reelection pitch." ~~~

They name teams out of STRENGTH, not weakness, but now the Washington Redskins & Cleveland Indians, two fabled sports franchises, look like they are going to be changing their names in order to be politically correct. Indians, like Elizabeth Warren, must be very angry right now! -- Donald Trump, in a second, purposely racist tweet Monday

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Trump wrote about half-a-dozen tweets Monday about the "China Virus," (or what we would call the coronavirus) including one in which he asserted that "China has caused great damage to the United States and the rest of the World!" ~~~

     ~~~ Trump also spit out a couple of tweets boasting about his ill-conceived, illegally-financed border wall. ~~~

~~~ But, Happily, Trump Is Protecting Brazilian Jesus! Lachlan Markay of the Daily Beast: "In a round of new digital ads, the Trump re-elect[ion campaign] asks people to support the president as he stands up to the angry mobs trying to tear down iconic memorials. In one specific ad, the endangered statue that the campaign spotlights happens to be the famous Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 'The President wants to know who stood with him against the Radical Left,' declared dozens of ads run over the weekend on pages for Trump and Vice President Mike Pence. The ads featured a graphic with an image of the Christ the Redeemer statue above the text, 'WE WILL PROTECT THIS.' The photo appears to have come from an online database of free stock images.... There's no indication that the 125-foot sculpture, which sits at the peak of Corcovado mountain overlooking Rio, is at risk of vandalism or removal. It's also not clear how Trump or Pence might go about protecting it if it were threatened...." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This was my first thought, which Markay expresses half-way through his post: "It was not immediately clear whether the Trump campaign was aware that the image it chose for its Facebook ads ... showed a statue in another country." I would just assume Trump's campaign staff & ad people are as culturally-aware as is Trump himself & they had no idea other countries had big ole statues of Jesus, too, the famous Rio statue being among them. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Asawin Suebsaeng of the Daily Beast: "... Donald Trump has decided to pivot heavily to culture-war bluster and hard-right posturing. A major part of that pivot appears to be turning his anger on people who don't like the same statues he does and comparing those enemies to Nazi 'fascists.' Shockingly, there are some in Trump's political orbit who aren't convinced this tactic will move voters as much as the president seems to think it will.... 'The question now is, Is the statue shit going to work?' said a senior Trump campaign adviser, adding that current polling was 'inconclusive' at best." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Although I doubt it, maybe Trump's sharing his racist sentiments many times a day would be a little more tolerable if he were not also weaving them into cruel, unnecessary, anti-American policies attacking young Latinos: ~~~

~~~ Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump is expected to refile paperwork this week to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that offers protections for thousands of young immigrants, according to multiple people familiar with the planning.... If the Trump administration files this week, the new DACA policy will coincide with an official visit from President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico, the country of origin for a majority of DACA recipients. The decision to refile on DACA was widely expected after the Supreme Court ruled last month that the administration failed to give an adequate justification for terminating the program as required by federal law. But the court made clear Trump had the authority to rescind the program, essentially forcing the president to try again or risk the appearance of backing down. 'We have to refile,' Trump told Fox News days after the ruling."

"The Handmaidens of White Supremacy." Dana Milbank of the Washington Post queries 11 senators in competitive races this year to comment on some of Donald Trump's recent blatantly racist remarks. Most refused to respond, and a few evaded an answer. None criticized Trump, though Lindsey "Graham's campaign directed me to his radio interview Monday with Fox News's Brian Kilmeade, in which Graham disagreed with Trump's NASCAR tweet but said Trump isn't racist. 'You can be dark as coal or an albino.... He's an equal-opportunity basher and praiser.'" Mrs. McC: Lindsey's response sounds quite color-conscious.

Trump Finds a New Excuse to Deport Pesky Foreigners. Sahil Kapur of NBC News: "The government announced Monday that international students will not be allowed to stay in the country if the institution in which they're enrolled is holding online-only courses this fall, and those failing to comply with the rules will risk deportation. The news comes as some colleges and universities, including Harvard, have announced they plan to hold online-only courses this fall as the United States struggles to get the coronavirus pandemic under control." Mrs. McC: But what if the student is from Norway?

Natasha Bertrand of Politico: "A career CIA officer explained in rare public remarks on Monday what she's learned about adapting intelligence briefings to the unique style of a particular 'customer' -- in her case..., Donald Trump. Beth Sanner, a senior official at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence who also serves as Trump's primary intelligence briefer, never mentioned the president by name during an event hosted by the non-profit Intelligence & National Security Alliance on Monday. But the unusual core challenge of her job -- delivering intelligence to Donald J. Trump -- was unavoidable as she discussed her own briefing techniques in detail, explaining that while she strives to be competent and fearless, she also tries not to be off-putting and aims to tailor briefings to a customer's particular style." Mrs. McC: Worth reading both the print & between the lines.

** Mr. Trudeau Regrets. Rob Gillis of the AP: Canada's "Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has turned down a White House invitation to celebrate the new regional free trade agreement in Washington with ... Donald Trump and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Trump and López Obrador are due to meet Wednesday [in] Washington, but Trudeau spokesperson Chantal Gagnon said Monday that while Canada wishes the U.S. and Mexico well, Trudeau won't be there.... A senior U.S. administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to be quoted by name, said Trudeau had multiple conflicts related to the start of Parliament and coronavirus regulations which require Canadians who travel abroad to quarantine for 14 days on return. The official said Trudeau has asked to speak with Trump by phone." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Fox "News" Regrets. That it aired a posed photo of Jeffrey Epstein with Melania & Ghislane Maxwell, but cropped Donald Trump from the photo. Mrs. McC: Yeah, I'll bet they "mistakenly eliminated" Trump's image. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Book Report. Another Tome by an Awful Human Being about an Awful Human Being. Lachlan Cartwright & Asawin Suebsaeng of the Daily Beast: "According to people familiar with the project, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff -- who was previously seen by the first lady as a loyal confidante and helped plan ... Donald Trump's 2017 inauguration in Washington, D.C. -- will release a tell-all, Melania and Me, on Sept. 1. People with knowledge of the project say the content of the book is largely negative and that the manuscript heavily trashes the first lady.... After playing a vital role in plotting Trump's inaugural festivities, Wolkoff landed the gig of senior adviser to the first lady. However, shortly after the start of the Trump era, the noted New York socialite had a dramatic falling-out with Melania Trump, triggered by news that Wolkoff's own firm snagged a cool $26 million from the Trump inaugural committee to help plan the events."

Many Readers Suspended in Breathless Anticipation. Josh Gerstein of Politico: "The publisher of a tell-all book written by ... Donald Trump's niece Mary is planning to rush the book out next Tuesday despite ongoing litigation aimed at bottling up the insider account of life in the Trump family. Simon & Schuster announced Monday that 'due to high demand and extraordinary interest' the firm is moving up the book's publication date by two weeks, to July 14 from July 28."

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

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

Joshua Partlow & Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "The pandemic map of the United States burned bright red Monday, with the number of new coronavirus infections during the first six days of July nearing 300,000 as more states and cities moved to reimpose shutdown orders. After an Independence Day weekend that attracted large crowds to fireworks displays and produced scenes of Americans drinking and partying without masks, health officials warned of hospitals running out of space and infection spreading rampantly. The United States is 'still knee deep in the first wave' of the pandemic, Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Monday[.] Fauci noted that while Europe managed to drive infections down -- and now is dealing with little blips as it reopens -- U.S. communities 'never came down to baseline and now are surging back up,' he said in an interview conducted on Twitter and Facebook with his boss, National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins."

Sarah Mervosh & Manny Fernandez of the New York Times: "Lines for coronavirus tests have stretched around city blocks and tests ran out altogether in at least one site on Monday, new evidence that the country is still struggling to create a sufficient testing system months into its battle with Covid-19.... In the early months of the nation's outbreak, testing posed a significant problem, as supplies fell far short and officials raced to understand how to best handle the virus. Since then, the United States has vastly ramped up its testing capability.... But in recent weeks, as cases have surged in many states, the demand for testing has soared, surpassing capacity and creating a new testing crisis. In many cities, officials said a combination of factors was now fueling the problem: a shortage of certain supplies, backlogs at laboratories that process the tests, and skyrocketing growth of the virus as cases climb in almost 40 states and the nation approaches a grim new milestone of three million total cases. Fast, widely available testing is crucial to controlling the virus over the long term in the United States, experts say...."

Florida. Ryan McKinnon of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, in the Tallahassee Democrat: "Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran issued an emergency order Monday, requiring all schools to open in the fall and laying out the requirements districts must meet to offer any sort of non-traditional remote instruction in addition to their in-person option.... Local health officials can override the commissioner's directive if it is not safe to open schools, due to COVID-19, but Monday's announcement makes it clear that districts have to prepare to open their doors to all students in August. And while health officials could deem schools unsafe, as long as there are not widespread shutdowns, it could be a tough call to single out schools."

Renae Merle of the Washington Post: "A backlog of eviction cases is beginning to move through the court system as millions of Americans who had counted on federal aid and eviction moratoriums to stay in their homes now fear being thrown out. A crisis among renters is expected to deepen this month as the enhanced unemployment benefits that have kept many afloat run out at the end of July and the $1,200-per-adult stimulus payment that had supported households earlier in the crisis becomes a distant memory. Meanwhile, enforcement of federal moratoriums on some types of evictions is uneven, with experts warning that judges' efforts to limit access to courtrooms or hold hearings online because of covid-19 could increasingly leave elderly or poor renters at a disadvantage. Of the 110 million Americans living in rental households, 20 percent are at risk of eviction by Sept. 30, according to an analysis by the Covid-19 Eviction Defense Project, a Colorado-based community group. African American and Hispanic renters are expected to be hardest hit."

Katie Thomas of the New York Times: "The federal government will pay the vaccine maker Novavax $1.6 billion to expedite the development of 100 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine by the beginning of next year, the company said on Tuesday.... In doing so, the government has placed a significant bet on Novavax, a company based in Maryland that has never brought a product to market.... The U.S. investment comes after an international group, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, awarded up to $388 million to Novavax in May to make its coronavirus vaccine available globally."

Jonathan O'Connell & Aaron Gregg of the Washington Post: "The Small Business Administration released information Monday about nearly 700,000 loans issued as part of the federal $660 billion Paycheck Protection Program since its launch in early April. The disclosure includes the names of 660,000 small businesses and nonprofit organizations that received at least $150,000 in funding, the most detailed yet on one of the largest economic stimulus packages created by the federal government. The data shows [show!] the government issued $521 billion in loans, with an average loan size of $107,000." A Politico story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ The story has been substantially updated. New Lede: "Data released Monday by the Small Business Administration shows that businesses owned by members of Congress and the law practice that represented President Trump were among the hundreds of thousands of firms that received aid from the agency. As part of its $660 billion small-business relief program, the SBA also handed out loans to private schools catering to elite clientele, firms owned by foreign companies and large chains backed by well-heeled Wall Street firms. Nearly 90,000 companies in the program took the aid without promising on their applications they would rehire workers or create jobs." ~~~

~~~ Update. Jeanna Smialek, et al., of the New York Times: "The Trump administration, under pressure to reveal which companies received loans from a $660 billion program intended to keep small businesses afloat, on Monday released data showing that restaurants, medical offices and car dealerships ranked high among the top loan recipients. The detailed information was confined to companies that received loans of more than $150,000. The administration said 86.5 percent of the loans were for less than that amount, so the snapshot captured only one sliver of businesses that tapped funds.... Sprinkled among the beneficiaries were businesses that are likely to attract scrutiny, including a fancy sushi restaurant at the Trump International Hotel in Washington; Kanye West's company, Yeezy; and President Trump's longtime personal lawyer [Marc Kasowitz]. Washington lobbying shops, high-priced law firms and special-interest groups also received big loans, according to the administration, the latest indication of how of the government's centerpiece effort to shore up mom-and-pop shops set off a race by organizations far afield from Main Street to secure federal money." ~~~

~~~ Lachlan Markay, et al., of the Daily Beast: "Among the entities cashing six to seven-figure checks from the federal government's Paycheck Protection Program in recent months were a fiscal responsibility advocacy organization run by anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist, a high-powered consulting firm run by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, the nonprofit headed by former Trump campaign official David Bossie, and a political strategy firm linked to two alumni of the Obama White House who've turned anti-Trump podcasting into a lucrative enterprise. Businesses tied to the president's son-in-law [Jared Kushner] as well as members of Congress got taxpayer funds. As did the elite D.C.-area schools where both ... Donald Trump and President Barack Obama enrolled their children...." An AP story is here.

Katherine Butler of the Guardian: "The coronavirus crisis has caused a dramatic deterioration in the European public perception of the US, extensive new polling reveals.... Negative attitudes of the US were most marked in Denmark (71%) Portugal (70%), France (68%), Germany (65%) and Spain (64%).... In an analysis of the data, the policy experts Susi Dennison and Pawel Zerka say that trust in the US is 'broken' as a result of its handling of the health crisis and that support for the transatlantic alliance has been 'hollowed out'." --s

Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "When did America start losing its war against the coronavirus?... I'd suggest that the turning point was way back on April 17, the day that Donald Trump tweeted 'LIBERATE MINNESOTA,' followed by 'LIBERATE MICHIGAN' and 'LIBERATE VIRGINIA.' In so doing, he effectively declared White House support for protesters demanding an end to the lockdowns governors had instituted to bring Covid-19 under control.... The rush to reopen in Sunbelt states was less a response to popular demand than a case of Republican governors following Trump's lead.... Trump's willingness to trade deaths for jobs and political gain has backfired.... We lost [the war against the coronavirus] because Trump and those around him decided that it was in their political interests to let the virus run wild."

Candace Buckner of the Washington Post: Christmas City Spirits of Bethlehem, Pa., in early March "suspended production of all drinkable alcohol and produced approximately 800 gallons of hand sanitizer for organizations, charities and workers risking their lives to combat the [corona]virus. According to the Distilled Spirits Council, 831 distilleries across the nation have made hand sanitizer for local communities. Only one distillery, however, has the distinction of producing it strictly for donation. Not a single one of the 4,000 four-ounce bottles of Christmas City Spirits' hand sanitizer, aptly named 'Corona Bullet,' was sold for profit." Definitely a feel-good story. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

BBC: "Zoonotic diseases - which jump from animals to humans - are increasing and will continue to do so without action to protect wildlife and preserve the environment, UN experts have warned. They blame the rise in diseases such as Covid-19 on high demand for animal protein, unsustainable agricultural practices and climate change.... But that jump is not automatic. It is driven, according to the report by the United Nations Environment Programme and the International Livestock Research Institute, by the degradation of our natural environment - for example through land degradation, wildlife exploitation, resource extraction and climate change. This alters the way animals and humans interact." --s ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: That is, Trump's anti-environmental, anti-science policies may have contributed as much as China did to the transfer of the coronavirus from rodents to humans.

The Bubonic Plague Makes a Comeback! Gerry Shih of the Washington Post: "Chinese public health authorities are taking precautions to prevent a bubonic plague outbreak in a remote northern region after a herder contracted the disease, although the risk of large-scale infections is low with the availability of modern medicine."

Nothing to See Here, Folks. FCCED: "Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is in the final stages of resolving its biggest legal threat in a decade after tussling with the government on one critical issue: a potential guilty plea for the first time in Goldman's history. To avert such a penalty over its work for a Malaysian sovereign fund, Goldman has appealed to the Justice Department's highest ranks. Attorney General William Barr began overseeing the case after obtaining a waiver because his former law firm represents Goldman. The department's No. 2 official has also been directly involved.... John Marzulli, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn, New York, that's handling the case, declined to comment." --s

Elections 2020

Yasmeen Abutaleb & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "The Trump and Biden presidential campaigns now see the coronavirus response as the preeminent force shaping the results of November's election.... Advisers to ... Joe Biden see the covid-19 crisis as perhaps the clearest way yet to contrast the former vice president with President Trump, using the stumbling response and renewed surge in cases as ways to paint Trump as uninformed, incapable of empathy and concerned only about his own political standing.... Trump's advisers, by contrast, are seeking ways to reframe his response to the coronavirus -- even as the president himself largely seeks to avoid the topic because he views it as a political loser.... The goal is to convince Americans that they can live with the virus.... White House officials also hope Americans will grow numb to the escalating death toll and learn to accept tens of thousands of new cases a day...." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: How uplifting a campaign message is this?: "Get out and get sick, people. It's 'totally harmless'!"

Senator Grassley Regrets. Stephen Gruber-Miller of the Des Moines Register: "Citing concerns about the coronavirus, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley [R-Cranky] said he will not attend this year's Republican National Convention, marking the first time he has sat out a convention since he was elected to the U.S. Senate 40 years ago. 'I'm not going to go. And I'm not going to go because of the virus situation,' Grassley[, who is 86,] said Monday morning on a conference call with reporters."

Utah Gubernatorial Race. Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox of Utah won last week's Republican primary for governor, according to results released on Monday. He defeated Jon Huntsman Jr., who served as governor from 2005 to 2009 before stepping down to become President Barack Obama's ambassador to China. The Associated Press called the race on Monday evening, and Mr. Cox said on Twitter that Mr. Huntsman had called him to concede. Mr. Cox is expected to win the governorship in November over the Democratic nominee, Chris Peterson.... Mr. Huntsman's campaign was interrupted last month when he tested positive for the coronavirus. He has since recovered. To some extent, Mr. Huntsman's loss was surprising given his political history: He was one of the most popular governors in the country when he left office. But he is also a moderate Republican...." An AP story is here.

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "States can require members of the Electoral College to cast their votes for the presidential candidates they had pledged to support, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Monday. In curbing the independence of electors, the court limited one potential source of uncertainty in the 2020 presidential election." An AP story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Nicolas Stephanopoulos in Slate: "Powerhouse right-wing lawyers ... have ... opened a troubling new front in the voting wars. They now claim that it's unconstitutional for states to make it easier to vote while the pandemic rages. Relaxations of voting rules supposedly give rise to fraudulent votes that impermissibly dilute the ballots cast by law-abiding citizens. This novel argument should -- but probably won't -- be laughed out of court.... [P]laintiffs don't complain that it's too hard for them to vote. Instead, their grievance is that, while they can vote without hindrance, their ballots may be diluted by fraudulent votes cast by other people. The prevention of fraud thus becomes a sword in these cases, not a shield -- a reason to strike down a state policy, not to uphold it." --s

Rogue Nation. Stephanie Nebehay of Reuters: "The January U.S. drone strike in Iraq that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and nine other people represented a violation of international law, a U.N. human rights investigator said on Monday." --s

AP: "A federal appeals court on Monday blocked a key U.S. policy to deny asylum to anyone who passes through another country without first seeking protection there, dealing it a second blow in less than a week. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling has no immediate impact because a judge appointed by President Donald Trump in Washington last week knocked down the policy on procedural grounds. The three-judge appeals panel in San Francisco found procedural errors as well as substantive reasons to block the policy while litigation continues. The panel said it does 'virtually nothing' to prevent asylum-seekers from being sent to unsafe countries, a violation of international treaty obligations."

Juliet Eilperin, et al., of the Washington Post: "A federal judge ruled Monday that the Dakota Access Pipeline must be shut down by Aug. 5, saying federal officials failed to do a complete analysis of its environmental impacts. The decision marks the second setback for President Trump's infrastructure push in just two days, underscoring the extent to which long-standing environmental laws represent an obstacle to his quest to expand domestic oil and gas production. U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg wrote that the federal government had not met all the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act, a 50-year-old-law that the Trump administration is seeking to weaken.... The Dakota Access Pipeline, which opened in 2017, carries about half a million barrels of crude oil a day from North Dakota's Bakken shale basin to Illinois. The ruling means the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must conduct a more thorough analysis of how a leak in the Dakota pipeline could affect Lake Oahe, which collects water from the Missouri River and lies half a mile from the Standing Rock Indian Reservation." A Bismarck Tribune story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jonathan Ellis of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader: "A Sioux Falls man who used his connections in the conservative movement to help his Russian girlfriend gain political access was sentenced Monday to serve seven years in federal prison. Paul Erickson was not charged with any wrongdoing involving his efforts to help Maria Butina make inroads with political contacts. Instead, he was accused of defrauding investors in various schemes over the last 20 years. Butina, a young woman who portrayed herself as a gun rights activist, was deported last fall after serving time for failing to register as a foreign agent. Her role in his downfall did not come up Monday."

Beyond the Beltway

New York. Jan Ransom of the New York Times: "When Amy Cooper, a white woman, called 911 from an isolated patch in Central Park where she was standing with her unleashed dog on Memorial Day, she said an 'African-American man' was threatening her life, emphasizing his race to the operator. Moments before Ms. Cooper made the call, the man, Christian Cooper, an avid bird-watcher, had asked her to leash her dog, and she had refused. On Monday, Ms. Cooper was charged with filing a false report, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail, the latest fallout from an encounter that resonated across the country and provoked intense discussions about how Black people are harmed when sham reports to the police are made about them by white people.... The pending criminal charge against Ms. Cooper appears to be among the first that a white person in the United States has faced for wrongfully calling the police to make a complaint about a Black person." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Perhaps the weirdest thing was that Amy knew the "threatening African-American man" was calming standing there videotaping her making the false charge to the 911 operator. She was effectively giving evidence against herself.

Way Beyond

Panama. Sofia Menchu & Elida Moreno of Reuters: "U.S. prosecutors have charged two sons [Luis Enrique Martinelli, 38, and Ricardo Alberto Martinelli, 40] of former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli in connection with bribery and money laundering linked to Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht, according to a federal complaint unsealed on Monday.... Odebrecht has been at the center of a far-reaching Latin American corruption scandal uncovered in 2014, in which the company paid more than $700 million in bribes to government officials in various countries." --s

** U.K. Elizabeth Piper & Andy Bruce of Reuters: "Britain imposed sanctions on 25 Russians and 20 Saudis on Monday as part of post-Brexit measures foreign minister Dominic Raab said were aimed at stopping the laundering of 'blood money'. After leaving the European Union in January, Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to forge a new independent role for Britain in foreign and trade affairs and this was the first time London could impose asset freezes and visa bans independently."