The Commentariat -- May 14, 2020

Afternoon Update:

Jamie Ross of the Daily Beast: "President Trump was wary of making preparations for the coronavirus pandemic because he was concerned doing so would sent the stock market into a panic, the Financial Times reports. In a quote attributed to an unnamed Trump confidant who is said to speak to the president frequently, it's claimed: 'Jared [Kushner] had been arguing that testing too many people, or ordering too many ventilators, would spook the markets and so we just shouldn't do it... That advice worked far more powerfully on [Trump] than what the scientists were saying. He thinks they always exaggerate.'" Read it at Financial Times. Mrs. McC: This is one conspiracy story that sounds completely legit.

Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "An ousted top Health and Human Services official testified before Congress Thursday that the Trump administration's timeline for a coronavirus vaccine is likely too optimistic -- and said there's currently 'no plan' in place for mass production and distribution of such a drug. Dr. Rick Bright told a House Energy and Commerce Committee subcommittee that hopes for a vaccine within 12-18 months assumes 'everything goes perfectly.... We've never seen everything go perfectly,' Bright said." Mrs. McC: No one seriously expects the Trump administration to plan for something for the public good that is months away and will occur after he might have lost the election. ~~~

~~~ CNN reports four key takeaways from Bright's testimony.

Katie Benner & Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "Senator Richard M. Burr, Republican of North Carolina, temporarily stepped down as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday, a day after F.B.I. agents seized his cellphone as part of an investigation into whether he sold hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of stocks using nonpublic information about the coronavirus. The seizure and an accompanying search for his electronic storage accounts, which were confirmed by an investigator briefed on the case, represented a significant escalation of the inquiry by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission and suggests Mr. Burr, one of the most influential members of Congress, may be in serious legal jeopardy. Given the sensitivity surrounding the decision to obtain a search warrant on a sitting senator, the move was approved at the highest levels of the department, a senior Justice Department official said, meaning that Attorney General William P. Barr signed off on it." The Hill's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Oh, guess what. Mitch McConnell gets to pick Burr's temporary replacement. Let's see if he chooses someone likely to spend every waking minute discrediting the Russia probes & "investigating" Biden, Obama and anyone else Trump wants to discredit.

Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "Sen. Dianne Feinstein has turned over documents to the FBI and answered questions from law-enforcement officials about her husband's controversial stock trades, a spokesman for the California Democrat said on Thursday. Feinstein, a former chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, spoke with the agency 'voluntarily' and 'provided additional documents to show she had no involvement in her husband's transactions,' the spokesman added."

Greg Sargent of the Washington Post explains to political reporters (and headline writers) how to write copy that doesn't falsely "boost" Trump's fake attacks. Sargent uses the stories about the release of the "unmasking" document, which -- since it's a nothingburger -- "actually does not 'boost' Trump's claims about the Russia investigation or 'discredit' it. And if there is 'no evidence of wrongdoing,' then it cannot legitimately be 'turned into an election issue.'" Mrs. McC: Sargent's admonitions would apply to electronic media reporters, too. Thanks to Anonymous for the link.

~~~~~~~~~~

The New York Times' live updates of coronavirus developments Thursday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Thursday are here. The WashPo is carrying on its front page the hearing of a subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce featuring testimony from Dr. Rick Bright.

Jeff Cox of CNBC: "New filings for unemployment claims totaled just shy of 3 million for the most recent reporting period, a number that while still high declined for the sixth straight week, according to Labor Department figures Thursday. The total 2.981 million new claims for unemployment insurance brought the coronavirus crisis total to nearly 36.5 million, by far the biggest loss in U.S. history. Last week's count was revised up by 7,000 to 3.176 million, putting the weekly decline at 195,000. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting 2.7 million new claims."

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

Courtney Subramanian & David Jackson of USA Today: "... Donald Trump is set to tour a medical supply distributor in the political battleground state of Pennsylvania on Thursday as he pressures the state's Democratic governor to move faster on reopening the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic. Trump will tour the Owens and Minor Inc. medical equipment factory in Allentown, where he's expected to deliver remarks on replenishing the nation's stockpile of medical personal protective equipment like masks, gloves, and surgical gowns, all of which are distributed by the 137-year-old Pennsylvania company. The trip comes as Trump has encouraged local protesters and some state Republicans who have threatened to defy Gov. Tom Wolf's plans for a phased reopening of the state's economy. It's just the latest spat between the president and a Democratic governor."

Calling Doctor Trump. Lauren Egan of NBC News: "... Donald Trump on Wednesday criticized comments Dr. Anthony Fauci made during a congressional hearing about the risks of reopening the country too soon as 'not an acceptable answer.' 'I was surprised by his answer, actually, because, you know, to me it's not an acceptable answer, especially when it comes to schools,' Trump said during a meeting Wednesday afternoon with North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis in the Cabinet Room of the White House. 'He wants to play all sides of the equation,' Trump said of Fauci before emphasizing his confidence that the economy would quickly rebound from the coronavirus pandemic."

Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "Hours after his remarks to Time magazine [that he couldn't commit to a promise that the presidential election would take place in November, Jared] Kushner..., issued a clarification, saying he was unaware of and not involved in any 'discussions' about changing the date of the 2020 election.... The brief and disconcerting episode raised doubts about Kushner's familiarity with the laws and constitutional provisions governing U.S. presidential elections. As the Congressional Research Service says, 'The text of the Constitution does not appear to contain a constitutional role for the Executive Branch in such decisions.'... 'Kushner's statement reveals amazing ignorance of the Constitution and law,' tweeted Bill Kristol, the neoconservative political commentator and editor at large of the Bulwark. 'It reveals startling arrogance in taking for granted he gets to have some say about when the election is held. It also reveals an utter lack of understanding of his very subordinate role in our democracy.'" Mrs. McC: But nobody is surprised. Everyone already knew that Kushner was remarkably arrogant & ignorant. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Rick Bright, a former top vaccine official removed from his post last month, will testify to Congress on Thursday that the United States faces the' darkest winter in modern history' if it does not develop a more coordinated national response to the coronavirus before an expected resurgence later this year. 'Our window of opportunity is closing,' Bright says in prepared testimony submitted to a subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. 'If we fail to develop a national coordinated response, based in science, I fear the pandemic will get far worse and be prolonged, causing unprecedented illness and fatalities....'" A CNN story is here. ~~~

~~~ All the Best People, Ctd. Zeke Miller of the AP: "... Donald Trump is set to name a former pharmaceutical executive to lead his administration's all-out effort to produce and distribute a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year. Moncef Slaoui, a former GlaxoSmithKline executive, will lead 'Operation Warp Speed,' Trump's push to accelerate the vaccine development process for COVID-19, according to an administration official. Slaoui is to serve in a volunteer capacity, and will be assisted by Army Gen. Gustave Perna, the commander of United States Army Materiel Command. The move comes as the president and White House aides hope to produce vaccines for the coronavirus faster than what many scientists believe is realistic. The administration is aiming to have 300 million doses to distribute to Americans by the end of the year, believing a reliable vaccine is the only way to promote an economic rebound.... The initiative is being promoted by ... Jared Kushner...." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Kushner? Great. That gives me a lot of confidence in whatever dangerous and/or fake vaccine the gang may approve. I suspect there's a good chance Rick Bright would not have signed off on some of the shortcuts "Operation Warp Speed" will have to take to get out a vaccine by the end of the year.

All the Best People, Ctd. A Blind Watchdog with No Sense of Smell. Jason Dearen & Michael Biesecker of the AP: "A former chemical industry executive nominated to be the nation's top consumer safety watchdog was involved in sidelining detailed guidelines to help communities reopen during the coronavirus pandemic, internal government emails show. Now the ranking Democrat on the Senate Commerce. Science and Transportation Committee [-- Maria Cantwell (Wash.) --] is questioning the role played by nominee Nancy Beck in the decision to shelve the guidelines. Beck is not a medical doctor and has no background in virology.... Donald Trump has nominated Beck to be chairwoman and commissioner of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, a position that requires Senate confirmation. Beck is scheduled to appear before the Senate committee later this month. Emails obtained by The Associated Press show that Beck was the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's main point of contact in the White House about the proposed recommendations."

Matthew Chapman of RawStory: "On CNN Wednesday, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) slammed new claims from the White House that state reopening guidelines are being 'edited' -- and suggested there's a more cynical reason why the guidelines have been withheld.... 'As somebody who works in television, has worked in television almost 30 years, a lot of stuff dies in editing,' said anchor Anderson Cooper. 'That's a way to kill stuff. Say yeah, it's being edited. We'll work on it more in editing.'... 'I think this is ultimately about the president wanting to be able to have clean hands,' said Murphy. 'The president doesn't want to lead, so he can armchair quarterback, criticize and critique states and try to pass the buck to somebody else.' --s

Stephen Miller isn't at the office because immigrants his wife exposed him to the coronavirus, but his work goes on ~~~

~~~ Nomaan Merchant & Sonia Perez of the AP: "... the Trump administration is quickly expelling [young migrants & asylum seekers] under an emergency declaration citing the coronavirus pandemic, with 600 minors expelled in April alone. The expulsions are the latest administration measure aimed at preventing the entry of migrant children, following other programs such as the since-rescinded 'zero tolerance' policy that resulted in thousands of family separations.... Meanwhile, as the virus has spread through immigration detention facilities, the U.S. has deported at least 100 people with COVID-19 to Guatemala, including minors."

Del Quentin Welber & Jennifer Haberkorn of the Los Angeles Times: "Federal agents seized a cellphone belonging to a prominent Republican senator [Richard Burr] on Wednesday night as part of the Justice Department's investigation into controversial stock trades he made as the novel coronavirus first struck the U.S., a law enforcement official said.... The seizure represents a significant escalation in the investigation into whether Burr violated a law preventing members of Congress from trading on insider information they have gleaned from their official work.... The law enforcement official said the Justice Department is examining Burr's communications with his broker.... Under the STOCK Act, lawmakers are required to disclose their stock market activity but are still allowed to own stock, even in industries they might oversee. The law passed the Senate in 2012 in a 96-3 vote. Among the three senators to oppose the bill was Burr." --s  The story is firewalled. The Hill's summary report is here. ~~~

~~~ Sarah Burris of RawStory: "Given sweet legal deals have been handed to the allies of President Donald Trump, reporters and analysts are wondering why the case against a staunch Republican senator [Richard Burr] is even moving forward with an FBI warrant. It was a question Mother Jones reporter Mark Follman asked if it was really more 'about Bill Barr targeting the one powerful Republican who authenticated the Russia investigation.'" --s  See also Ken W.'s comment at the end of yesterday's thread.

Calling Doctor Trump. Carolyn Johnson & Steven Mufson of the Washington Post: "The Abbott coronavirus test hailed by President Trump and used by the White House failed to detect infected samples in a large number of cases that were caught by a rival firm, a preliminary study says. The speedy Abbott test, which is supposed to determine in five to 13 minutes whether a person has the virus, missed a third of the positive samples found by the diagnostic company Cepheid when both tests used nasopharyngeal swabs, said the study done by a group from New York University. It missed more than 48 percent when both firms' tests used dry nasal swabs. The former penetrates deeply into the nasal passages, while the latter is less invasive. The study, while preliminary and not yet peer-reviewed, raised questions about a test that has been praised by Trump, who displayed it at a Rose Garden news conference on April 2 and said it created 'a whole new ballgame.'" A Raw Story report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: The fact that this and other reported studies have not been peer-reviewed doesn't mean the studies would not pass a review, although of course they might not. When legitimate researchers release their work before peer review, they are trying to get their results out quickly, in this case during an emergency.

Heather Long of the Washington Post: "Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell gave a dire warning Wednesday that the U.S. economy could become stuck in a painful multi-year recession if Congress and the White House do not approve more aid to address the coronavirus pandemic's economic fallout. 'Additional fiscal support could be costly, but worth it if it helps avoid long-term economic damage and leaves us with a stronger recovery,' Powell said in a videoconference with the Peterson Institute for International Economics." An AP story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Katherine Burton, et al. of Bloomberg: "The biggest names in finance are coming around to a view that seemed unlikely a few weeks ago: Stocks are vastly overvalued.... And it's coming as investors start to suspect that the Federal Reserve's support, as well as $3 trillion in Treasury stimulus, may not be enough to compensate for soaring unemployment, a wave of bankruptcies and no end in sight to the pandemic.... And the warnings have caught the attention of President Donald Trump, who's facing re-election and has seen his plans to run on a booming economy shredded by the virus. Trump attacked 'so-called "rich guys"' in a tweet Wednesday." --s Story is firewalled.

Bob Herman of Axios: "Roughly 27 million people ... likely have lost job-based health coverage since the coronavirus shocked the economy, according to new estimates from the Kaiser Family Foundation.... Most of these people will be able sign up for other sources of coverage, but millions are still doomed to be uninsured in the midst of a pandemic.... For the 27 million people who are losing their job-based coverage, about 80% have other options, said Rachel Garfield, a health policy expert at the Kaiser Family Foundation and lead author of the report." Mrs. McC: And you thought we needed national health care for all. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jonathan O'Connell of the Washington Post: "The Aspen Institute think tank accepted more than $8 million in federal small-businesses funds despite having a $115 million endowment and a board of trustees populated by billionaires. As with other larger employers -- including public companies, the Los Angeles Lakers and private prep schools -- it does not appear that the Aspen Institute violated the rules of the program, managed by the Treasury Department and the Small Business Administration." Mrs. McC: C'mon. To a board full of billionaires, an $8MM gift is a pittance. It's so wrong to complain they taking money that would otherwise go to a few dozen struggling mom & pop shops in the hinterlands. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Alison Rourke of the Guardian: "The World Health Organisation has warned that coronavirus 'may never go away' as its experts predicted that a global mental health crisis caused by the pandemic was looming.... A report by the WHO's mental health department to the UN ... said the world could expect to see an upsurge in the severity of mental illness, including amongst children, young people and healthcare workers." --s

Michigan. Beth LeBlanc of the Detroit News: The lawyer for Owosso barber Karl Manke announced that "a Shiawassee County Circuit judge had denied a request for a temporary restraining order from state Attorney General Dana Nessel that would have resulted in the barbershop's immediate closure. The order by Shiawassee County Circuit Judge Matthew Stewart came several hours after Nessel requested the judge issue a court order backing a Friday Michigan Department of Health and Human Services shutdown edict under the public health code for violating of Whitmer's stay-home order." Manke's barbershop drew national attention when armed citizens sporting Trump paraphernalia threatened to shoot local police if they tried to close down the shop." Mrs. McC: Just guessing, but I suspect Judge Stewart is an elected official up there in Trump country. Update: Yup, and his current term ends at the end of this year. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) Bobby Lee's remarks in yesterday's Comments thread are instructive.~~~

     ~~~ Update. Michigan Isn't Done with Covid Karl. Michael Levenson of the New York Times: "A Michigan barber who reopened his shop in defiance of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's orders had his business and professional licenses suspended on Wednesday, the latest step in his escalating battle with the state. The barber, Karl Manke, 77, who has been cutting hair in Owosso, Mich., for almost 60 years, likened Michigan under Ms. Whitmer, a Democrat, to 'a police state.' He said he planned to keep cutting hair, despite the suspension of his licenses.... [Michigan AG Dana] Nessel's office declined to say how it would enforce the suspension of the licenses, stating, 'Our office is involved in pending legal action against Mr. Manke, so we cannot comment on these issues.'... David A. Kallman, Mr. Manke's lawyer, said his client was contesting the various actions in court. He said Mr. Manke won an initial victory on Monday, when a judge denied the state's request to immediately shut Mr. Manke's shop and gave Mr. Manke until May 22 to respond in court."

Nebraska. How to Keep the Case Count Down: Don't Report It. Peter Whoriskey of the Washington Post: "For weeks, people in rural communities in Nebraska charted the rise of coronavirus cases at the state's several meatpacking plants.... As of the first week of May, public health officials reported 96 at the Tyson plant in Madison; 237 at the JBS plant in Grand Island; and 123 arising from the Smithfield plant in Crete. There were other cases around the state, too, and the counts were climbing. At least three were reportedly dead. Then the numbers stopped. In a change initiated last week, Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) announced at a news conference that state health officials would no longer share figures about how many workers have been infected at each plant. The big companies weren't sharing numbers either, creating a silence that leaves workers, their families and the rest of the public blind to the severity of the crisis at each plant.... Ricketts ... recommended that local health departments withhold the case counts unless they get permission from the plants." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

UPDATE: Shortly after this story was published, Tyson and the Elkhorn Logan Valley Public Health Department announced the results of testing at the company's plant in Madison, Neb. Of the employees and contractors who work at the Madison plant, 212 tested positive for coronavirus. The company said that it would also release the results of testing at its other plants to employees, government officials and other stakeholders.

New Mexico. Rebecca Klar of The Hill: "New Mexico will require face coverings in all public spaces starting Saturday as the state moves forward with the first phase of its reopening plan, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) said Wednesday.... The state is mandating everyone wear face coverings in indoor and outdoor public spaces. People exercising outdoors are exempt from the requirement." --s

Texas. Marty Johnson of the Hill: "Texas, which began to open its businesses at the beginning of May, has reported more than 1,000 new cases of COVID-19 for five consecutive days as the state struggles to curb the coronavirus pandemic.... On Tuesday, Anthony Fauci ... appeared before the Senate Health Committee and warned that states who reopen their economies too quickly could see new outbreaks of the disease that could result in 'needless suffering and death.'... Fauci stressed that states follow the reopening guidelines released by the White House, specifically citing that states should see a 14-day consecutive decline in daily new COVID-19 cases before beginning to reopen. Texas has failed to reach that benchmark. Also on Tuesday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) warned cities to not enforce stricter coronavirus restrictions than those the state government has mandated during the state's first reopening phase, which Abbott has slated to run through May 18." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: "Struggles to curb the coronavirus pandemic"? It seems more like Texas state officials are "struggling" to ensure that more Texans get sick. ~~~

~~~ Manny Fernandez & David Montgomery of the New York Times: "When Jamie Williams decided to reopen her East Texas tattoo studio last week in defiance of the state's coronavirus restrictions, she asked Philip Archibald for help. He showed up with his dog Zeus, his friends and his AR-15 semiautomatic rifle. Mr. Archibald established an armed perimeter in the parking lot outside Crash-N-Burn Tattoo, secured by five men with military-style rifles, tactical shotguns, camouflage vests and walkie-talkies.... In at least a half dozen cases around the state in recent days, frustrated small-business owners have turned to heavily armed, militia-style protesters like Mr. Archibald's group to serve as reopening security squads.... Similar situations have unfolded in other states -- armed members of the Michigan Liberty Militia challenged Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's stay-at-home orders recently inside the State Capitol, and armed members of the Michigan Home Guard helped reopen a barbershop in the town of Owosso. But Texas appears to be turning such goings-on into a cottage industry." If you have a NYT subscription, read on.

Wisconsin. State Conservo-Supremes Move to Kill off Residents. Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post: "The Wisconsin Supreme Court's conservative majority sided with Republican legislators and struck down on Wednesday the decision by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers's administration to extend a stay-at-home order intended to quell the spread of the novel coronavirus. The 4-3 decision limits Evers's ability to make statewide rules during emergencies such as a global pandemic, instead requiring him to work with the state legislature on how the state should handle the outbreak. The justices wrote that the court was not challenging the governor's power to declare emergencies, 'but in the case of a pandemic, which lasts month after month, the Governor cannot rely on emergency powers indefinitely.' Evers condemned the court's decision...." A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel report is here.

Helen Davidson of the Guardian: "Organisations conducting research into Covid-19 may be targeted by computer hackers linked to the Chinese government, according to the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security ... warn[ing] on Wednesday that institutions and companies involved in vaccines, treatments and testing for the coronavirus should take additional security measures to protect data and be aware of the potential threat. 'China's efforts to target these sectors pose a significant threat to our nation's response to Covid-19,' the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said...." --s

Where's the Beef? David Garcia & P.J. Huffstutter of Reuters: "More Mexican steaks and other beef cuts are headed north of the border after the coronavirus outbreak has hobbled U.S. meat processing plants, potentially offsetting fears of shortages ... but angering American ranchers.... [I]n the United States just four major beef-packing companies -- Cargill Inc..., Tyson Foods Inc..., JBS ... and National Beef Packing... -- control more than 80% of the business. The shift toward foreign supplies has angered many U.S. ranchers, who argue the consolidation of the meatpacking sector and shuttering of processing plants is limiting access to their own marketplace." --s

Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Tom Polansek of Reuters: "U.S. President Donald Trump ordered meat processing plants to stay open to protect the nation's food supply even as workers got sick and died. Yet the plants have increasingly been exporting to China while U.S. consumers face shortages, a Reuters analysis of government data showed.... While pork supplies tightened as the number of pigs slaughtered each day plunged by about 40% since mid-March, shipments of American pork t China more than quadrupled over the same period, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data." --s

Wear a Mask or STFU. Neel Patel in MIT's Technology Review: "Thousands of droplets from the mouths of people who are talking loudly can stay in the air for between eight and 14 minutes before disappearing, according to a new study. The research, conducted by a team with the US National Institutes of Health and published in PNAS Wednesday, could have significant impact on our understanding of covid-19 transmission." A coronavirus carrier will release droplets containing the virus into the air when "coughing and sneezing.... But speech can release thousands of oral fluid droplets into the air too."

Harper Neidig of the Hill: "A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled against President Trump in a lawsuit alleging that he's violated the Constitution's Emoluments Clauses. The decision from the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals keeps the case alive, rejecting the president's efforts to preserve immunity from the suit, which was filed by the attorneys general from Washington, D.C., and Maryland. The court did not rule on the merits of the case against Trump."

** Judge Sullivan Is Not Amused. Katie Benner of the New York Times: "The federal judge overseeing the case against President Trump's former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn appointed a hard-charging former prosecutor and judge on Wednesday to oppose the Justice Department's effort to drop the case and to explore a perjury charge against Mr. Flynn. Judge Emmet G. Sullivan's appointment of the former judge, John Gleeson, was an extraordinary move in a case with acute political overtones. Mr. Flynn pleaded guilty twice to lying to investigators as part of a larger inquiry into Russia's interference in the 2016 election.... Judge Sullivan also asked Judge Gleeson to explore the possibility that by trying to withdraw his pleas, Mr. Flynn opened himself to perjury charges.... 'This is extraordinary for the judge to appoint somebody to argue against a prosecutors' motion to dismiss a criminal case,' [former federal prosecutor Samuel] Buell said. 'But it's extraordinary for a prosecutor to move to dismiss this sort of criminal case.'... Judge Gleeson, who served on the federal bench in Brooklyn and ran the criminal division in the federal prosecutor's office there, has already made plain his skepticism of the Justice Department's motion to dismiss the Flynn case. He co-wrote an op-ed article this week in The Washington Post urging Judge Sullivan to scrutinize it." Axios has a summary report here. Law & Crime has a story here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: When the story of the DOJ's decision to drop charges against Flynn broke last week, reports generally discounted the possibility that Judge Sullivan would "do something" other than approve the "Justice" Department's decision. ~~~

~~~ Adam Goldman & Katie Benner of the New York Times: "A key former F.B.I. official cast doubt on the Justice Department's case for dropping a criminal charge against ... Michael T. Flynn during an interview with investigators last week, according to people familiar with the investigation. Department officials reviewing the Flynn case interviewed Bill Priestap, the former head of F.B.I. counterintelligence, two days before making their extraordinary request to drop the case to Judge Emmet G. Sullivan. They did not tell Judge Sullivan about Mr. Priestap's interview.... The department's motion referred to notes that Mr. Priestap wrote around the bureau's 2017 questioning of Mr. Flynn, who later pleaded guilty to lying to investigators during that interview. His lawyers said Mr. Priestap's notes ... suggested that the F.B.I. was trying to entrap Mr. Flynn, and Attorney General William P. Barr said investigators were trying to 'lay a perjury trap.' That interpretation was wrong, Mr. Priestap told the prosecutors reviewing the case. He said that F.B.I. officials were trying to do the right thing in questioning Mr. Flynn and that he knew of no effort to set him up." A Raw Story summary report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Now that Barr's bagmen at DOJ have been caught hiding Priestap's interview from Judge Sullivan, "A Justice Department official said that they were in the process of writing up a report on the interview and that it would soon be filed with the court," according to the Goldman-Benner report. Yeah, right. Whenever my mother asked my little sister why she hadn't done some assigned chore, my sister-- who was a child -- would say, "I was just about to." Barr & His Bagmen are trying that obviously fake -- and childish -- excuse to cover up their cover-up. They are so corrupt that they should be prosecuted. ~~~

~~~ Emily Bazelon & Eric Posner in a New York Times op-ed: "This week, more than 2,000 former officials of the Justice Department and the F.B.I. called on Attorney General William Barr to resign for dropping the prosecution of Michael Flynn, who had pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I.... It's easy to grow numb to the abuses of the Trump era. But Mr. Barr's intervention in the Flynn and Stone cases is a deviation even from the standards at the outset of Mr. Trump's presidency.... Congress erred by allowing the independent counsel statute to expire. The potential that political considerations could warp decisions by the president and attorney general require this extra check on the executive branch. The best way to stop the downward spiral of the Justice Department is to protect it from its own boss." Mrs. McC: The writers seem to suggest that Barr is the most corrupt AG since Nixon's pal John Mitchell held the job. Mitchell went to jail; I'd be satisfied if Barr had to wear an ankle bracelet & be confined to his home except on any approved outing, when he would have to wear a striped prisoner's outfit. ~~~

~~~ Andrew Desiderio & Betsy Swan of Politico: "Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell on Wednesday sent top Republican senators a list of former senior Obama administration officials who might have been involved in efforts that 'unmasked' former national security adviser Michael Flynn -- including former Vice President Joe Biden. The release comes amid a furious campaign by ... Donald Trump and his allies to accuse former President Barack Obama and his top deputies of illegally targeting the Trump campaign and the incoming Trump administration. In recent days, the president has coined the term 'Obamagate' to accuse his predecessor of seeking to undermine him and target his top associates -- though he has struggled to articulate or prove any specific wrongdoing. Grenell sent the list ... to Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) a day after the lawmakers wrote to Grenell and Attorney General William Barr calling on them to release information about efforts by Obama administration officials to 'unmask' U.S. citizens who were subject to government surveillance. The list ... also includes high-level officials such as former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former FBI Director James Comey and former White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough. Thirty-nine people in total are listed, ranging from White House officials to diplomats and Treasury Department officials. Grenell declassified the list last week." A New York Times story is here. ~~~

~~~ Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "On Wednesday..., Donald Trump's acting spy chief Richard Grenell sent top Republican senators a memo outlining all of the people who may have been involved in the 'unmasking' of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn..., a clear attempt to boost the president's 'Obamagate' conspiracy theory. But experts were quick to note that the memo itself blows a huge hole in Trump's narrative, by showing how Obama administration officials acted completely legally and through proper channels to investigate a national security risk." Many of the cited tweets also point out that the unmasking of Flynn was routine & went through ordinary channels. As Eli Honig wrote, "'Unmasking' sounds vaguely sinister but it means intel agents flagged Flynn's suspicious contacts with Russia - which Flynn would later lie to the VP and FBI about, for some reason - and officials found out who he was, with proper approvals and through authorized channels."

Presidential Election. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court seemed ready on Wednesday to allow states to require members of the Electoral College to cast their votes for the presidential candidates they had pledged to support. In two arguments concerning 'faithless electors' from the states of Washington and Colorado, several of the justices focused on the practical consequences of their ruling or, as Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh put it, 'the avoid-chaos principle of judging.' 'If it's a close call or a tiebreaker,' he said, 'we should not facilitate or create chaos.'... Several justices said neither the words of the Constitution nor historical materials provided a clear answer. That meant, they said, that the matter should be left to the states." A CNN story is here.

Congressional Race. Jennifer Medina of the New York Times: "Mike Garcia, a former military pilot and newcomer to Republican electoral politics, has defeated his Democratic opponent in a special election to fill a House seat in Southern California. The victory is the first time the G.O.P. has flipped a Democratic held seat in California since 1998 and is a significant win in an election that was primarily conducted by mail and reflected the country's bitter partisan mood. Mr. Garcia and Christy Smith, a Democratic member of the State Assembly, competed to replace former Representative Katie Hill, who resigned last year after admitting to an affair with a campaign staff member. The two candidates will meet again in November, when both are planning to run for a full term." A Politico story is here.

Some Good News. Brad Plumer of the New York Times: "The United States is on track to produce more electricity this year from renewable power than from coal for the first time on record, new government projections show, a transformation partly driven by the coronavirus pandemic, with profound implications in the fight against climate change. It is a milestone that seemed all but unthinkable a decade ago, when coal was so dominant that it provided nearly half the nation's electricity. And it comes despite the Trump administration's three-year push to try to revive the ailing industry by weakening pollution rules on coal-burning power plants."

The Commentariat -- May 13, 2020

Afternoon Update:

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

Bob Herman of Axios: "Roughly 27 million people have likely have lost job-based health coverage since the coronavirus shocked the economy, according to new estimates from the Kaiser Family Foundation.... Most of these people will be able sign up for other sources of coverage, but millions are still doomed to be uninsured in the midst of a pandemic.... For the 27 million people who are losing their job-based coverage, about 80% have other options, said Rachel Garfield, a health policy expert at the Kaiser Family Foundation and lead author of the report." Mrs. McC: And you thought we needed national health care for all.

Michigan. Beth LeBlanc of the Detroit News: The lawyer for Owosso barber Karl Manke announced that "a Shiawassee County Circuit judge had denied a request for a temporary restraining order from state Attorney General Dana Nessel that would have resulted in the barbershop's immediate closure. The order by Shiawassee County Circuit Judge Matthew Stewart came several hours after Nessel requested the judge issue a court order backing a Friday Michigan Department of Health and Human Services shutdown edict under the public health code for violating of Whitmer's stay-home order." Manke's barbershop drew national attention when armed citizens sporting Trump paraphernalia threatened to shoot local police if they tried to close down the shop." Mrs. McC: Just guessing, but I suspect Judge Stewart is an elected official up there in Trump country. Update: Yup, and his current term ends at the end of this year.

Nebraska. How to Keep the Case Count Down: Don't Report It. Peter Whoriskey of the Washington Post: "For weeks, people in rural communities in Nebraska charted the rise of coronavirus cases at the state’s several meatpacking plants.... As of the first week of May, public health officials reported 96 at the Tyson plant in Madison; 237 at the JBS plant in Grand Island; and 123 arising from the Smithfield plant in Crete. There were other cases around the state, too, and the counts were climbing. At least three were reportedly dead. Then the numbers stopped. In a change initiated last week, Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) announced at a news conference that state health officials would no longer share figures about how many workers have been infected at each plant. The big companies weren't sharing numbers either, creating a silence that leaves workers, their families and the rest of the public blind to the severity of the crisis at each plant.... Ricketts ... recommended that local health departments withhold the case counts unless they get permission from the plants." ~~~

UPDATE: Shortly after this story was published, Tyson and the Elkhorn Logan Valley Public Health Department announced the results of testing at the company's plant in Madison, Neb. Of the employees and contractors who work at the Madison plant, 212 tested positive for coronavirus. The company said that it would also release the results of testing at its other plants to employees, government officials and other stakeholders. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Anyhow, I guess I was right this morning when I wrote they died of rickets. I just misspelled "Ricketts."

Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "Hours after his remarks to Time magazine [that he couldn't commit to a promise that the presidential election would take place in November, Jared] Kushner..., issued a clarification, saying he was unaware of and not involved in any 'discussions' about changing the date of the 2020 election.... The brief and disconcerting episode raised doubts about Kushner's familiarity with the laws and constitutional provisions governing U.S. presidential elections. As the Congressional Research Service says, 'The text of the Constitution does not appear to contain a constitutional role for the Executive Branch in such decisions.'... 'Kushner's statement reveals amazing ignorance of the Constitution and law,' tweeted Bill Kristol, the neoconservative political commentator.... 'It reveals startling arrogance in taking for granted he gets to have some say about when the election is held. It also reveals an utter lack of understanding of his very subordinate role in our democracy.'" Mrs. McC: But nobody is surprised. Everyone already knew that Kushner was remarkably arrogant & ignorant.

Heather Long of the Washington Post: "Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell gave a dire warning Wednesday that the U.S. economy could become stuck in a painful multi-year recession if Congress and the White House do not approve more aid to address the coronavirus pandemic's economic fallout. 'Additional fiscal support could be costly, but worth it if it helps avoid long-term economic damage and leaves us with a stronger recovery,' Powell said in a videoconference with the Peterson Institute for International Economics." An AP story is here.

Jonathan O'Connell of the Washington Post: "The Aspen Institute think tank accepted more than $8 million in federal small-businesses funds despite having a $115 million endowment and a board of trustees populated by billionaires. As with other larger employers -- including public companies, the Los Angeles Lakers and private prep schools -- it does not appear that the Aspen Institute violated the rules of the program, managed by the Treasury Department and the Small Business Administration." Mrs. McC: C'mon. To a board full of billionaires, an $8MM gift is a pittance. It's so wrong to complain they taking money that would otherwise go to a few dozen struggling mom & pop shops in the hinterlands.

In the special U.S. Congressional election to replace California Rep. Katie Hill (D), the Republican Mike Garcia was besting Democrat Christy Smith 56% to 44%, but the AP had not yet called the race at 8:41 am ET today.

~~~~~~~~~~

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

Trump Will Look Better if We Pretend Those People Died of Rickets. Erin Banco & Asawin Suebsaeng of the Daily Beast: "... Donald Trump and members of his coronavirus task force are pushing officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to change how the agency works with states to count coronavirus-related deaths. And they're pushing for revisions that could lead to far fewer deaths being counted than originally reported, according to five administration officials working on the government's response to the pandemic.... The White House has pressed the CDC, in particular, to work with states to change how they count coronavirus deaths and report them back to the federal government, according to two officials with knowledge of those conversations. And Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the administration's coronavirus task force, has urged CDC officials to exclude from coronavirus death count reporting some of those individuals who either do not have confirmed lab results and are presumed positive or who have the virus and may not have died as a direct result of it, according to three senior administration officials. Officials inside the CDC, five of whom spoke to The Daily Beast, said they are pushing back against that request, claiming it could falsely skew the mortality rate at a time when state and local governments are already struggling to ensure that every person who dies as a result of the coronavirus is counted."

Trump Blows up His Own Victory Party. Allyson Chiu & Katie Shepherd of the Washington Post: "... it looked like a victory lap of sorts was underway. Two giant banners bearing the words 'AMERICA LEADS THE WORLD IN TESTING' in all-caps were suspended from the White House columns. Testing machines and kits to detect the novel coronavirus had been carefully arranged on wooden tables flanking the president's lectern, which was set against a backdrop of American flags. But the orchestrated opportunity for the president to boast about his administration's efforts to ramp up testing backfired. Instead of reassuring Americans and being a celebratory event, the roughly hour-long news conference ended with Trump shutting down reporters' questions and abruptly leaving the Rose Garden following heated exchanges with two female journalists, including one who seemed to imply that he made a racially charged comment toward her. Soon, the news conference was trending on social media -- for all the wrong reasons." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Sorta like he arranged the tables with Trump "University" "diplomas" and they ignited. And with Trump steaks that drew rats & flies. And with Trump wine bottles that exploded. Then two giant "Trump Brands" banners blew over in the wind, landing on Donald & Jared & catching fire from the "diplomas."

David Crary of the AP: "Even as ... Donald Trump urges getting people back to work and reopening the economy, an Associated Press analysis shows thousands of people are getting sick from COVID-19 on the job. Recent figures show a surge of infections in meatpacking and poultry-processing plants. There's been a spike of new cases among construction workers in Austin, Texas, where that sector recently returned to work.... The developments underscore the high stakes for communities nationwide as they gradually loosen restrictions on business. 'The people who are getting sick right now are generally people who are working,' Dr. Mark Escott, a regional health official, told Austin's city council. 'That risk is going to increase the more people are working.'"

John Vernovek & Molly Nagle of ABC News: "In an interview Tuesday morning on 'Good Morning America'..., Joe Biden pushed back on ... Donald Trump's claim that anyone in America who wants to get tested for COVID-19 has the ability to do so. '... Anyone can't get a test around the country...He knew about this crisis all the way back in January and February. He's been incompetent the way he responded,' Biden told ... George Stephanopoulos. Biden said that as president, he would advise the nation's governors to listen to the medical experts on the question of when it is safe to open back up certain parts of the country, in particular Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

AFP: "White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said [Vice President] Pence, who heads the White House coronavirus task force, 'has made the choice to keep his distance for a few days' from the president." Mrs. McC: Hope that means it's because he's busy calling Cabinet members about the 25th. (Also linked yesterday.)

Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "Two of the federal government's top health officials painted a grim picture of the months ahead on Tuesday, warning a Senate panel that the coronavirus pandemic was far from contained, just a day after President Trump declared that 'we have met the moment and we have prevailed.' The officials -- Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, and Dr. Robert R. Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- predicted dire consequences if the nation reopened its economy too soon, noting that the United States still lacked critical testing capacity and the ability to trace the contacts of those infected.... Dr. Fauci's remarks, during a high-profile -- and partly virtual -- hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, along with those of Dr. Redfield, made clear that the nation had not yet prevailed." ~~~

~~~ Katie Thomas, et al., of the New York Times: "The scientists and public health officials who are leading the federal government's response to the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday painted a sobering picture of a country ill-prepared to reopen and contain the spread of the virus in the coming months. At a Senate hearing, the officials cautioned that a vaccine would almost certainly not come in time to protect students for the return to school in the fall, that a recently authorized treatment was not a game-changing advance and that states had to rebuild their depleted public health systems by hiring enough people before they could effectively track the spread of the virus and contain it.... Dr. Anthony S. Fauci warned that if parts of the country reopen too quickly, 'there is a real risk that you will trigger an outbreak that you may not be able to control, which, in fact, paradoxically, will set you back.'" ~~~

~~~ Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "... Anthony S. Fauci delivered his long-awaited coronavirus testimony Tuesday to a Senate health committee.... Also appearing at Tuesday's hearing were Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn and President Trump's coronavirus testing czar, Adm. Brett Giroir.... Fauci said to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who asked about [the actual death toll], '... most of us fee that the number of deaths are likely higher than [the] number [reported]....'... Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) pressed Redfield on when we might see the past-due guidelines for reopening that have been held up -- noting that many states are pressing forward with reopening even without them.... Redfield responded, 'I do anticipate this broader guidance, though, to be posted on the CDC website soon.' '"Soon" isn't terribly helpful,' Murphy responded.... Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) ... engaged in a particularly pointed exchange with Fauci.... 'What our country has done so far on testing is impressive but not nearly enough,' [committee chair Lamar] Alexander [R-Tenn.] said.... Alexander ... asked Fauci directly whether there will be the kinds of treatments or even a vaccine available to help reopen universities in the fall term.... [Fauci called that] 'a bit of a bridge too far.'... Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) called the testing in the United States 'nothing to celebrate whatsoever.' He also rebuked Giroir and the White House for favorably comparing U.S. testing to that of South Korea, which ramped up testing much more quickly and has dealt with a much smaller outbreak as a result." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Heather Caygle, et al., of Politico: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats are planning to move ahead with a Friday vote on a $3 trillion package to respond to the coronavirus crisis, despite protests from progressives that the bill doesn't go far enough.... Donald Trump and Senate Republicans also object to the Democratic proposal, saying there hasn't been enough time since the $2 trillion CARES Act passed to determine whether new legislation is needed or necessary." A Washington Post story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and members of the Senate GOP caucus panned the roughly $3 trillion House coronavirus bill unveiled on Tuesday, declaring it 'dead on arrival' in the Senate. McConnell, speaking to reporters after a closed-door caucus meeting, said Republicans would 'insist on narrowly targeted legislation.'" Mrs. McC: That is, targeted to help our rich donors.

Daniel Dale of CNN: "... Mitch McConnell falsely accused the Obama administration of failing to leave the Trump administration 'any kind of game plan' for something like the coronavirus pandemic. Appearing Monday in a Trump campaign online chat with Lara Trump, the President's daughter-in-law..., McConnell slammed Obama for criticizing Trump's coronavirus response as an 'absolute chaotic disaster' on a private call last week with former staffers. As Donald Trump has done repeatedly during the pandemic, McConnell also laid undeserved blame at Obama's feet.... Obama's White House National Security Council left the Trump administration a detailed document on how to respond to a pandemic. The document, whose existence was publicly revealed by Politico in March, is called the Playbook for Early Response to High-Consequence Emerging Infectious Disease Threats and Biological Incidents. 'We literally left them a 69-page Pandemic Playbook.... that they ignored,' Ronald Klain, a campaign adviser to Democratic candidate Joe Biden and the former Obama administration Ebola response coordinator, wrote on Twitter.... In addition to the playbook, outgoing senior Obama officials also led an in-person pandemic response exercise for senior incoming Trump officials in January 2017 -- as required by a new law on improving presidential transitions that Obama signed in 2016." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: According to Dale, one of the "senior Trump officials" who attended that pandemic response exercise: Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who also answers to "Mrs. Mitch Mconnell." As Nicolle Wallace put it yesterday on MSNBC, Mitch's complaint about Obama was "rude and wrong." It was also a Big Fat Lie.

Marty Johnson of the Hill: "A handful of the country's most prominent news publications are suing the Small Business Administration (SBA) after it refused to release which businesses were receiving money through the $660 billion Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The Washington Post, The New York Times, Bloomberg, ProPublica and Dow Jones -- which publishes The Wall Street Journal -- are all part of the group suing the government agency. The suit comes after the publications initially requested the information through the Freedom of Information Act.... The SBA hasn't said that the names of PPP recipients aren't important but has sidestepped releasing the information, instead directing the news publications toward more generalized data on its website...."

Arizona. Not All Protesters Are Gun-Totin' Wingers. Jamie Landers of the Arizona Republic: "More than 20 body bags representing victims of the coronavirus pandemic lined the lawn of the Arizona state Capitol on Tuesday. The socially distant protest was organized by Indivisible Phoenix, a grassroots progressive movement, to ask Gov. Doug Ducey to reconsider his decision to lift the state's stay-at-home order. The stay-at-home order was originally extended through May 15. However, on May 4, Ducey said he spotted a downward trend and adjusted the order, allowing some non-essential businesses and restaurants to reopen." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Florida. WTXL Tallahassee: "A group of protesters laid out a line of body bags on the steps of the Florida Capitol building Tuesday morning. This group is part of the Indivisible Movement. The body bags represent lives lost due to COVID-19. Florida is currently in Phase One of Gov. Ron DeSantis' 3-step plan to reopen the state. DeSantis promises to only move forward when there is no evidence of a resurgence in COVID-19 cases." ~~~

~~~ Texas. Billy Gates of KXAN Austin: "Indivisible Austin laid out body bags in front of the Governor's mansion Tuesday to protest Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's plan to reopen the Texas economy. The group is calling on the governor to 'listen to medical experts and not cave to pressure to open the state too fast, risking more lives.'" ~~~

~~~ But Then There's Michigan's Armed Trump Brigade. Moriah Balingit of the Washington Post: "Armed members of the Michigan Home Guard stood outside Karl Manke's barber shop [in Owosso, Michigan], ready to blockade the door if police arrived. They were determined to help Manke, 77, reopen his shop Monday, in defiance of state orders, and dozens joined them, wearing Trump sweatshirts and Trump cowboy hats and waving Trump flags. They gathered not because they desperately needed haircuts but to rail against Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's approach to fighting the coronavirus outbreak in Michigan, one of the nation's worst hot spots. They were channeling President Trump's support of such protests, but some also were taking aim at the state's Republicans, who they say have not done enough to 'liberate' the state from safety measures that have ground life to a halt.... At the barbershop in Owosso, the local sheriff has said he will not enforce Whitmer's orders."

The POTUS* Is Completely Insane. Batshit Crazy. Deranged. Bonkers. Nutso. Quint Forgey of Politico: "Donald Trump on Tuesday explicitly suggested MSNBC's Joe Scarborough had committed murder.... Following a segment on the network's 'Morning Joe' talk show that featured discussion of upcoming Senate testimony by Dr. Anthony Fauci..., as well as critical comments from Scarborough regarding the White House's coronavirus response, Trump lashed out in a tweet posted just before 7 a.m. 'When will they open a Cold Case on the Psycho Joe Scarborough matter in Florida. Did he get away with murder? Some people think so,' Trump wrote. 'Why did he leave Congress so quietly and quickly? Isn't it obvious? What's happening now? A total nut job!' Trump was apparently referring to the 2001 death of Lori Klausutis, who worked as a staffer in Scarborough's Fort Walton Beach, Fla., office when he served as a Republican House lawmaker.... Klausutis' autopsy revealed she had an undiagnosed heart condition, and a coroner concluded she died after passing out and hitting her head in a fall, according to The Associated Press. She was not struck by another person, the coroner said, and Scarborough was in Washington at the time of her death." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: mike pence may or may not be in solitary confinement, but reporters should start phoning him up to ask why he hasn't got the Cabinet together to invoke the 25th Amendment. In the meantime, every single Republican who has demonstrated his or her fealty to Trump should be asked if they agree with Trump that Joe Scarborough may be guilty of murder & that a criminal investigation is in order. Especially Bill Barr. I don't know why this tweet has received almost no media attention. It's appalling. How safe would you feel if a POTUS* spread a false rumor that you had murdered someone AND you knew his AG was a lapdog with a history of running fake investigations to satisfy the president's whim? ~~~

~~~ Thank You, Mr. Olorunnipa. Toluse Olorunnipa of the New York Times Washington Post: "On a day when coronavirus deaths passed 80,000 and top government scientists warned of the perils of loosening public health restrictions too soon, President Trump used his massive public platform to suggest a talk-show host he has clashed with committed murder. His baseless charge capped a 48-hour stretch in which he accused scores of perceived opponents of criminal acts ranging from illegal espionage to election rigging. Since ... Sunday [morning], Trump has used his Twitter account to make or elevate allegations of criminal conduct against no less than 20 individuals and organizations.... The list of purported culprits Trump has charged include two television news hosts, a comedian, at least five former officials from the FBI and Justice Department, the state of California, a broadcast television station and at least five top national security officials from President Barack Obama's administration. Trump tweeted multiple times about alleged criminal activity against him by Obama but struggled to elaborate beyond his frequent references to 'Obamagate.' Over the course of his presidency, Trump has responded to criticism of his performance or comments by suggesting or outright asserting that his critics are criminals." ~~~

~~~ Trump's Crazy Tweets Aren't Working. David Frum of the Atlantic: "Over Mother's Day and then through Monday -- and who knows, perhaps continuing today [Tuesday] -- Trump has fired off hundreds of rounds of weapons-grade lunacy on Twitter.... Angry, scared, and aggrieved by the lack of praise for his efforts, Trump turns for safety to television, where his two-dimensional friends explain how everything is everybody else's fault.... But those stories have drawn Trump into a twisting ghetto of craziness that is impenetrable to outsiders.... Trump's messages ... are all about him. You are sick or scared, you have lost your job or your business -- but let's remember who the real victim is. Me. Me and Michael Flynn. But mostly me.... The most important thing to notice about the Trump-Fox blizzard of mania is how remote it is from anything that real-world voters care about.... And what they hear is not: Obama was mean to me. What they hear is: I cannot do this job."

** Couldn't Happen to a Less Deserving Guy. Katherine Faulders & Luke Barr of ABC News: "President Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been released from prison to serve the remainder of his sentence in home confinement because of concerns over the novel coronavirus, two sources familiar with the matter told ABC News. Manafort was released from FCI Loretto in central Pennsylvania early Wednesday morning, the two sources said. An attorney for Manafort confirmed he had been released to home confinement...."

** Spencer Hsu & Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post: "A U.S. judge put on hold the Justice Department's move to drop charges against Michael Flynn, saying he expects independent groups and legal experts to argue against the bid to exonerate President Trump's former national security adviser of lying to the FBI. U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said in an order Tuesday that he expects individuals and organizations will seek to intervene in the politically charged case. Having others weigh in could preface more aggressive steps that the federal judge in Washington could take, including -- as many outside observers have called for -- holding a hearing to consider what to do. ~~~

     ~~~ Katelyn Polantz of CNN: "The judge overseeing Flynn's criminal case opened the door on Tuesday for people outside of the Justice Department and the former national security adviser's legal team to comment on the Trump administration's effort to dismiss the case against him. Judge Emmet Sullivan said third-parties may be able to file "friend of the court" briefs in the case, an extraordinary development for criminal proceedings and a development that will likely delay a ruling on the request to dismiss the case." The New York Times report is here. ~~~

~~~ Shane Harris & Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "President Trump's top intelligence adviser [Richard Grenell] has given the Justice Department the names of Obama administration officials who 'unmasked' then-national security adviser Michael Flynn following his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States in 2016, according to U.S. officials.... Current and former officials said unmasking can be a vital tool for identifying potential spies or terrorists.... 'This is politics corrupting intelligence,' said one former senior official.... The Trump administration has offered no evidence that the unmasking in Flynn's case was improper or didn't follow standard rules.... A Justice Department official said the department had 'been reviewing unmasking as part of our broader review of 2016 and 2017.' That would seem to refer to the investigation being conducted by [career federal prosecutor John] Durham, and perhaps a related inquiry by U.S. Attorney Jeff Jensen into high-profile cases in the D.C. U.S. attorney's office."

~~~ ** Frank Figliuzzi in an NBC News opinion piece: "On Saturday, Trump retweeted a fantastical fiction of a theory from The Federalist asserting that former President Barack Obama's White House intelligence discussions about, in part, the trustworthiness of incoming national security adviser Michael Flynn ... were proof that Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden were malevolently conspiring against the Trump administration. Trump later retweeted a Fox News legal analyst's opinion that without Flynn, the entire Russia investigation is meaningless and perhaps should be thrown out.... [Attorney General Bill] Barr is riding shotgun on Trump's scorched-earth joyride against justice.... On May 7, the same day that Barr moved to dismiss proven charges against Flynn, Trump had a call with Putin. Although the official White House summary of the call didn't include a discussion of what Trump has called the 'Russia hoax,' Trump disclosed to reporters that he and Putin talked about the repercussions of the special counsel's investigation. Trump explained that the 'Russia hoax' was 'very hard' on the U.S. and Russia's foreign relations, 'and we discussed that.'... As this staged farce unfolds, the truth will be trampled, reputations ruined and a foreign adversary empowered." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Supreme Court heard three Trump tax returns cases yesterday. The full recording, via the New York Times, is still available here. Audio begins at about 15 minutes in. Also comes with Times reporters snark attacks. ~~~

~~~ Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The very nature of the presidency was under scrutiny at the Supreme Court on Tuesday, as the justices heard more than three hours of arguments on whether House committees and prosecutors may obtain troves of information about President Trump's business affairs. The court's ruling, expected by July, could require disclosure of information the president has gone to extraordinary lengths to protect. Or the justices could rule that Mr. Trump's financial affairs are not legitimate subjects of inquiry. But some of the justices' questions raised a third possibility: that the court could return the cases to lower courts for reconsideration under stricter standards. That would have the incidental effect of deferring a final decision beyond the 2020 presidential election." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Robert Barnes, et al., of the Washington Post: "The court's conservative majority seemed far more critical of lawmakers' demands, questioning whether approving the subpoenas issued by three congressional committees would open the door for a Congress ruled by one political party to make potentially harassing requests of a president from a different party. The court's liberal justices seemed more accommodating to Congress's position that it has an important job to do in investigating potential wrongdoing and then proposing legislation to correct it.... Justices on both sides found less to criticize when Carey R. Dunne, general counsel for New York County District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., spoke. Dunne said Trump's records are needed for an ongoing criminal investigation that touches more people than Trump and that federal courts already have decided that the request would put no additional burdens on the president. The records requested are held by Trump's accounting firm and financial institutions, and the prosecutors have said no action is required of the president to comply." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Ian Millhiser of Vox: "Part of the story here is that Douglas Letter, the lawyer for the US House, delivered a disastrous performance at Tuesday's oral argument. Not long after Letter began his argument, Chief Justice John Roberts expressed disagreement with the Court's longstanding rule giving Congress broad power to conduct investigations, and asked Letter if he could suggest any limits on congressional investigatory power. Letter had no good answer to that question, and he stumbled over various versions of it again and again as the argument wore on.... It was a torturous spectacle. It's clear that a majority of the Supreme Court believes that decades of prior decisions were wrongly decided, at least when President Trump is involved. And Letter did nothing to allay their concerns.... It's tough to exaggerate just how thoroughly current Supreme Court precedents cut against Trump.... [Yet] a majority of the justices appeared very sympathetic to an argument, pushed by Trump's Justice Department, that the president is special and should enjoy special immunity." ~~~

~~~ Rachel Maddow pointed out the incongruity of Trump's lawyers arguing that releasing Trump's tax returns would create too much of a "distraction" for a busy, busy president with vast responsibilities -- even as this President* spent the day of the Supreme Court hearings watching the teevee & tweeting his nutty responses to the shows & whatever else was making him crazier. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I hope somebody reminded the confederate justices that every single major-party presidential candidate in the last half-century has released years of tax returns, most without whining about it. (Romney whined.) Voters have a right to know what their potential presidents have been doing with their money. I'm not sure about previous presidents & veeps, but both President Obama & Vice President Biden also timely released their returns covering the years they were in office. What-all is Donald Trump hiding? And wouldn't you think the confederate justices would notice that Trump is so unpopular that it's likely he won't be president* on the afternoon of January 20, 2021, but a Democrat will be? That means that whatever their decision on the executive branch's responsibility to assist Congress's oversight function, it will soon apply to Joe Biden? Do they really want Democratic presidents to stonewall Congress?

Presidential Race

Annie Karni & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Jared Kushner ... refused on Tuesday to rule out postponing the presidential election in November, a comment that fed directly into Democratic concerns that President Trump might use the coronavirus crisis to delay or delegitimize the contest and one that contradicted Mr. Trump himself. 'I'm not sure I can commit one way or the other, but right now that's the plan,' Mr. Kushner told Time magazine in response to a question about whether the election could be postponed because of the pandemic. The opinion of a White House staff member has no bearing on when the election is held. Even the president himself does not have the authority to unilaterally postpone Election Day, which by law takes place the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. But Mr. Kushner's comment raised alarms both because of the expansive power Mr. Trump has conferred on members of his family who serve in his administration and because it played into the worst anxieties of Mr. Trump's detractors -- that the president would begin to question the validity of the election if he feared he was going to lose." A Daily Beast story is here.

The Commentariat -- May 12, 2020

Afternoon Update:

Heather Caygle, et al., of Politico: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats are planning to move ahead with a Friday vote on a $3 trillion package to respond to the coronavirus crisis, despite protests from progressives that the bill doesn't go far enough.... Donald Trump and Senate Republicans also object to the Democratic proposal, saying there hasn't been enough time since the $2 trillion CARES Act passed to determine whether new legislation is needed or necessary." A Washington Post story is here.

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "White House coronavirus task force medical expert Anthony S. Fauci delivered his long-awaited coronavirus testimony Tuesday to a Senate health committee.... Also appearing at Tuesday's hearing were Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn and President Trump's coronavirus testing czar, Adm. Brett Giroir.... Fauci said to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who asked about [the actual death toll], '... most of us feel that the number of deaths are likely higher than [the] number [reported]....'... Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) pressed Redfield on when we might see the past-due guidelines for reopening that have been held up -- noting that many states are pressing forward with reopening even without them.... Redfield responded, 'I do anticipate this broader guidance, though, to be posted on the CDC website soon.' '"Soon" isn't terribly helpful,' Murphy responded.... Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) ... engaged in a particularly pointed exchange with Fauci.... 'What our country has done so far on testing is impressive but not nearly enough,' [committee chair Lamar] Alexander [R-Tenn.] said.... Alexander ... asked Fauci directly whether there will be the kinds of treatments or even a vaccine available to help reopen universities in the fall term.... [Fauci called that] 'a bit of a bridge too far.'... Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) called the testing in the United States 'nothing to celebrate whatsoever.' He also rebuked Giroir and the White House for favorably comparing U.S. testing to that of South Korea, which ramped up testing much more quickly and has dealt with a much smaller outbreak as a result."

Mrs. McCrabbie: I pretty much missed it, but the Supreme Court is hearing the Trump tax returns cases. At 12:15 pm ET, but at 12:15 pm ET, it's still ongoing & the New York Times has the audio live here. Also comes with Times reporters snark attacks. Update: The full recording is still available at the linked page. Audio begins at about 15 minutes in. CNN has the audio here. The CNN video is kaput. ~~~

~~~ Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The very nature of the presidency was under scrutiny at the Supreme Court on Tuesday, as the justices heard more than three hours of arguments on whether House committees and prosecutors may obtain troves of information about President Trump's business affairs. The court's ruling, expected by July, could require disclosure of information the president has gone to extraordinary lengths to protect. Or the justices could rule that Mr. Trump's financial affairs are not legitimate subjects of inquiry. But some of the justices' questions raised a third possibility: that the court could return the cases to lower courts for reconsideration under stricter standards. That would have the incidental effect of deferring a final decision beyond the 2020 presidential election." ~~~

~~~ Robert Barnes, et al., of the Washington Post: "The court's conservative majority seemed far more critical of lawmakers' demands, questioning whether approving the subpoenas issued by three congressional committees would open the door for a Congress ruled by one political party to make potentially harassing requests of a president from a different party. The court's liberal justices seemed more accommodating to Congress's position that it has an important job to do in investigating potential wrongdoing and then proposing legislation to correct it.... Justices on both sides found less to criticize when Carey R. Dunne, general counsel for New York County District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., spoke. Dunne said Trump's records are needed for an ongoing criminal investigation that touches more people than Trump and that federal courts already have decided that the request would put no additional burdens on the president. The records requested are held by Trump's accounting firm and financial institutions, and the prosecutors have said no action is required of the president to comply." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I hope somebody reminded the confederate justices that every single major-party presidential candidate in the last half-century has released years of tax returns, most without whining about it. (Romney whined.) Voters have a right to know what their potential presidents have been doing with their money. I'm not sure about previous presidents & veeps, but both President Obama & Vice President Biden also timely released their returns covering the years they were in office. What-all is Donald Trump hiding?

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

Arizona. Not All Protesters Are Gun-Totin' Wingers. Jamie Landers of the Arizona Republic: "More than 20 body bags representing victims of the coronavirus pandemic lined the lawn of the Arizona state Capitol on Tuesday. The socially distant protest was organized by Indivisible Phoenix, a grassroots progressive movement, to ask Gov. Doug Ducey ;to reconsider his decision to lift the state's stay-at-home order. The stay-at-home order was originally extended through May 15. However, on ;May 4, Ducey said he spotte a downward trend and adjusted the order, allowing some non-essential businesses and restaurants to reopen."

The POTUS* Is Completely Insane. Batshit Crazy. Deranged. Bonkers. Nutso. Quint Forgey of Politico: "Donald Trump on Tuesday explicitly suggested MSNBC's Joe Scarborough had committed murder.... Following a segment on the network's 'Morning Joe' talk show that featured discussion of upcoming Senate testimony by Dr. Anthony Fauci..., as well as critical comments from Scarborough regarding the White House's coronavirus response, Trump lashed out in a tweet posted just before 7 a.m. 'When will they open a Cold Case on the Psycho Joe Scarborough matter in Florida. Did he get away with murder? Some people think so,' Trump wrote. 'Why did he leave Congress so quietly and quickly? Isn't it obvious? What's happening now? A total nut job!' Trump was apparently referring to the 2001 death of Lori Klausutis, who worked as a staffer in Scarborough's Fort Walton Beach, Fla., office when he served as a Republican House lawmaker from the state's 1st Congressional District. Klausutis' autopsy revealed she had an undiagnosed heart condition, and a coroner concluded she died after passing out and hitting her head in a fall, according to The Associated Press. She was not struck by another person, the coroner said, and Scarborough was in Washington at the time of her death." ~~~

     ~~~ mike pence may or may not be in solitary confinement, but reporters should start phoning him up to ask why he hasn't got the Cabinet together to invoke the 25th Amendment. ~~~

~~~ AFP: "White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said [Vice President] Pence, who heads the White House coronavirus task force, 'has made the choice to keep his distance for a few days' from the president." Mrs. McC: Hope that means it's because he's busy calling Cabinet members about the 25th.

Trump Blows up His Own Victory Party. Allyson Chiu & Katie Shepherd of the Washington Post: "... it looked like a victory lap of sorts was underway. Two giant banners bearing the words 'AMERICA LEADS THE WORLD IN TESTING' in all-caps were suspended from the White House columns. Testing machines and kits to detect the novel coronavirus had been carefully arranged on wooden tables flanking the president's lectern, which was set against a backdrop of American flags. But the orchestrated opportunity for the president to boast about his administration's efforts to ramp up testing backfired. Instead of reassuring Americans and being a celebratory event, the roughly hour-long news conference ended with Trump shutting down reporters' questions and abruptly leaving the Rose Garden following heated exchanges with two female journalists, including one who seemed to imply that he made a racially charged comment toward her. Soon, the news conference was trending on social media -- for all the wrong reasons." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Sorta like he arranged the tables with Trump "University" "diplomas" and they ignited. And with Trump steaks that drew rats & flies. And with Trump wine bottles that exploded. Then two giant "Trump Brands" banners blew over in the wind, landing on Donald & Jared & catching fire from the "diplomas."

John Vernovek & Molly Nagle of ABC News: "In an interview Tuesday morning on 'Good Morning America'..., Joe Biden pushed back on ... Donald Trump's claim that anyone in America who wants to get tested for COVID-19 has the ability to do so. '... Anyone can't get a test around the country... He knew about this crisis all the way back in January and February. He's been incompetent the way he responded,' Biden told ... George Stephanopoulos. Biden said that as president, he would advise the nation's governors to listen to the medical experts on the question of when it is safe to open back up certain parts of the country, in particular Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases."

** Frank Figliuzzi in an NBC News opinion piece: "On Saturday, Trump retweeted a fantastical fiction of a theory from The Federalist asserting that former President Barack Obama's White House intelligence discussions about, in part, the trustworthiness of incoming national security adviser Michael Flynn ... were proof that Obama and ... Joe Biden were malevolently conspiring against the Trump administration. Trump later retweeted a Fox News legal analyst's opinion that without Flynn, the entire Russia investigation is meaningless and perhaps should be thrown out.... [Attorney General Bill] Barr is riding shotgun on Trump's scorched-earth joyride against justice.... On May 7, the same day that Barr moved to dismiss proven charges against Flynn, Trump had a call with Putin. Although the official White House summary of the call didn't include a discussion of what Trump has called the 'Russia hoax,' Trump disclosed to reporters that he and Putin talked about the repercussions of the special counsel's investigation. Trump explained that the 'Russia hoax' was 'very hard' on the U.S. and Russia's foreign relations, 'and we discussed that.'... As this staged farce unfolds, the truth will be trampled, reputations ruined and a foreign adversary empowered."

~~~~~~~~~~

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

Nancy Cook of Politico: "On the day the U.S. death toll from coronavirus topped 80,000..., Donald Trump stood in the White House Rose Garden for a 'mission accomplished' moment. Behind Trump were a row of American flags and a pair of giant signs reading, in all capital letters: 'America leads the world in testing,' referring to the total number of U.S. tests conducted in recent months rather than per-capita testing, in which America does not lead the world. In front of Trump sat his staff [including Jared Kushner] and reporters, physically distanced and all wearing face masks.... 'We have met the moment and we have prevailed,' [Trump asserted]. It was a pronouncement incongruous with the widespread anxiety among employers across America about whether enough testing exists to reopen their workplaces. It was also incongruous with the internal turmoil spreading on Monday inside the West Wing, where officials were scrambling to prevent the virus from crippling the ... supposedly safest office in America.... White House aides are deeply aware the president's message urging states to reopen their economies does not mesh with the optics of the virus spreading throughout the West Wing.... [Vice President] Pence's only public event on Monday was a teleconference with governors, and as of now he has no travel publicly scheduled for this week. He did not appear alongside the president at the briefing as he usually does when not traveling." ~~~

~~~ Anne Gearan, et al., of the Washington Post: "... President Trump claimed Monday that his administration is besting the world in testing and that it will help states expand such efforts.... The administration said it will distribute $11 billion to states to facilitate testing -- from money already approved by Congress for coronavirus relief.... [Trump] said the United States should pass 10 million completed tests this week, 'nearly double the number of any other country.' Officials outlined the plan in front of huge banners that proclaimed 'America leads the world in testing.'... But the White House event ... amounted to an acknowledgment that there is not yet enough testing capacity across the United States.... The United States as of Sunday had completed nearly 9 million coronavirus tests, according to the Covid Tracking Project.... The figure is equivalent to just 2.74 percent of the U.S. population and does not give a full representation of the virus's reach within American society. There are far higher levels of per-capita testing in other parts of the world.... The United States continues to be, by far, the world's coronavirus hot spot.... Trump had asserted earlier Monday that 'coronavirus numbers' are decreasing in almost all of country.... Though the rate of new daily infections in the United States has declined from its peak in mid-April, the daily case totals in several states are still rising.... [Late last week, public health researchers at Harvard] said that fewer than a dozen states are testing enough to keep ahead of the virus. Most others, researchers wrote, are not testing at a level that will allow them to adequately track people who get sick and others they might have come into contact with." The article is free to nonsubscribers. The Hill's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Jonathan Allen, et al. of NBC: "Coronavirus infection rates are spiking to new highs in several metropolitan areas and smaller communities across the country, according to undisclosed data the White House's pandemic task force is using to track rates of infection, which was obtained by NBC News.... The 10 top areas recorded surges of 72.4 percent or greater over a seven-day period compared to the previous week according to a set of tables produced for the task force by its data and analytics unit. They include Nashville, Tennessee; Des Moines, Iowa; Amarillo, Texas; and -- atop the list, with a 650 percent increase -- Central City, Kentucky.... The spiking infection rates suggest that the pandemic is spreading quickly outside major coastal population centers that were early hot spots[.]" --s

Trump to Chinese-American Reporter: "Ask China Your Nasty Question." David Bauder of the AP: "... Donald Trump abruptly ended his White House news conference Monday following combative exchanges with reporters Weijia Jiang of CBS News and Kaitlan Collins of CNN. Jiang asked Trump why he was putting so much emphasis on the amount of coronavirus tests that have been conducted in the United States.... 'Why is this a global competition to you if everyday Americans are still losing their lives and we're still seeing more cases every day?' Trump replied that 'they're losing their lives everywhere in the world. And maybe that's a question you should ask China. Don't ask me. Ask China that question.' He called for another question.... 'Sir, why are you saying that to me, specifically?' Jiang asked. Jiang ... was born in Xiamen, China, and emigrated to the United States with her family at age 2. Trump said he would say that to 'anyone who asks a nasty question.' 'It's not a nasty question,' Jiang said. 'Why does that matter?' Trump again asked for another question, then ... waved off CNN's Collins when she approached the microphone. 'You pointed to me,' Collins said. The president said, 'I pointed to you and you didn't respond.' Collins said she was giving Jiang the time to finish her questioning. 'Can I ask a question?' Collins said. With that, Trump called an end to the news conference ... and walked away." ~~~

Michael Shear, et al., of the New York Times: "The White House on Monday ordered all West Wing employees to wear masks at work unless they are sitting at their desks, an abrupt shift in policy after two aides working near the president -- a military valet and Katie Miller, the vice president's spokeswoman -- tested positive for the coronavirus last week.... Asked at a Rose Garden news conference whether he had ordered the change, Mr. Trump — who did not wear a mask and has repeatedly said he sees no reason to -- said, 'Yeah, I did.' But officials said the new requirement was not expected to apply to Mr. Trump or to Vice President Mike Pence.... The White House also made some smaller changes, including displaying signs encouraging social distancing at entryways and asking aides during routine temperature checks if they are experiencing symptoms, according to officials.... Many of the president's top aides and advisers have eschewed masks in their appearances with Mr. Trump, despite their own advice to their staffs to wear them. On Saturday, the defense secretary, Mark T. Esper, and the top military chiefs sat barefaced around the table with Mr. Trump at the White House, apparently in contradiction of policy at the Pentagon, where officials have been social distancing for two months and wearing masks for several weeks."

Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "Dr. Anthony S. Fauci ... plans to deliver a stark warning to the Senate on Tuesday: Americans would experience 'needless suffering and death' if the country opens up prematurely. Dr. Fauci, who has emerged as the perhaps nation's most respected voice during the worst public health crisis in a century, is one of four top government doctors scheduled to testify remotely at a high-profile -- and highly unusual -- hearing on Tuesday before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. He made his comments in an email to a New York Times reporter late Monday night.... It is a message starkly at odds with the things-are-looking-up argument that President Trump has been trying to put out: that states are ready to reopen and the pandemic is under control. In the Rose Garden earlier on Monday, Mr. Trump declared that 'we have met the moment and we have prevailed,' though he later walked back the comments and said he only meant to say the country had prevailed on increasing access to coronavirus testing -- an assertion public health experts say is not true." CNBC has a summary report here. ~~~

~~~ “Let It Rip,” Tony. Ali Zaslav of CNN: "Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called for Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, not to hold anything back and to 'let it rip' ahead of tomorrow's Senate Health Committee oversight hearing on the administration's coronavirus response.... He also said that until now, the country has mostly heard from the members of the coronavirus task force 'through the distorted lens of the White House press conference with the President often prevents them from answering fully, interrupts their response, or even contradicts their fact based advice.'"

** PPE Factory Refuses to Let Trump in the Door. Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post: "President Trump was pushing to get out in the public eye in recent weeks and tout his leadership during the pandemic, and White House staff thought they had hit on the ideal event: a presidential visit to thank the Pennsylvania factory workers who had recently taken herculean steps to ramp up U.S. supplies of protective equipment. Workers had received national attention after dozens of them lived for 28 days inside their factory so they could ensure they were virus-free and their production was not contaminated or disrupted by illness.... But after extensive back and forth [between the White House & the factory], factory officials ultimately asked to postpone, worried that a visit from Trump could jeopardize both the safety of the workers and the plant's ability to produce special material for masks and other medical gear...." Catherine Garcia of the Week has a summary report here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Good for them. I hope they don't back down. Had I been head of the Mayo Clinic (a ludicrous notion), I would have told mike pence to wear a mask or get out. But I didn't think real business managers would have the guts to turn away the President*. The management at Braskem America have showed for a second time they're a company of true American heroes.

"We're All Casualties of Trump's War on Science." Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit research organization focused on emerging pandemics..., worked with China's Wuhan Institute of Virology to study coronaviruses in bats that could infect humans.... Since 2014, the EcoHealth Alliance has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health, until its funding was abruptly cut two weeks ago. The reason, as '60 Minutes' reported on Sunday evening, was a conspiracy theory spread by Representative Matt Gaetz, the Florida Republican who in March wore a gas mask on the House floor to mock concern about the new coronavirus. On April 14..., Gaetz ... [told] Tucker Carlson ... that the N.I.H. grant went to the Wuhan Institute, which Gaetz intimated might have been the source of the virus.... The first of Gaetz's claims was flatly false, and the second unlikely; the C.I.A. has reportedly found no evidence of a link between the virus and the Wuhan lab. But at a White House briefing a few days later, a reporter from the right-wing website Newsmax told President Trump that under Barack Obama, the N.I.H. gave the Wuhan lab a $3.7 million grant.... In fact, Trump's administration had recently renewed EcoHealth's grant, but Trump didn't appear to know that.... Trump ... said, 'We will end that grant very quickly.' And they did.... Conservative antipathy to science ... [has] grown worse under Trump, with his authoritarian impulse to quash any facts ... that might reflect poorly on him."

Norm-Destroyer Bemoans Lack of Norms. Jordain Carney of The Hill: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell(R-Ky.) said on Monday that former President Obama should have held back from criticizing President Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.... 'I think President Obama should have kept his mouth shut.... But I think it's a little bit classless frankly to critique an administration that comes after you,' McConnell said.... Obama, during a private phone call, characterized the administration's response as an 'absolute chaotic disaster' that stemmed from a 'what's in it for me' mindset." --s  More on Mitch linked below.

Christina Maxouris & Arman Azad of CNN: "Two new reports released [Monday] by the US Centers of Disease Control and Prevention paint a harrowing picture of the grip and spread of coronavirus in parts of the US.... In New York City, the virus may have directly or indirectly killed far more people than the city's official death toll shows, according to one of the two reports. Researchers found that while the city reported 24,172 more deaths since mid-March compared to what would normally be expected, only about 19,000 of them were directly linked to the virus. And while it's hard to track why the other 5,000 deaths occurred, the report says one reason may be that 'social distancing practices, the demand on hospitals and health care providers, and public fear related to COVID-19 might lead to delays in seeking or obtaining lifesaving care.' Those findings add to a growing body of evidence highlighting how the pandemic may be killing Americans without ever infecting them.... In the second report, researchers say airport screening of travelers from China and Iran failed to prevent the spread of the virus, at least in California."

Alabama. WSFA Montgomery: "It took 59 days, just shy of two months, for Alabama to reach 10,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19. The milestone happened Monday, the same day Gov. Kay Ivey's order to loosen restrictions on gatherings and business reopenings took effect.... More than 1,250 have been hospitalized since the state's first case and a total of 401 people have died of the disease, the health department has confirmed. ADPH says 37 percent of those hospitalized are treated in the ICU and 60 percent of those patients are on a ventilator. About 20 percent of those who test positive are health care providers and long term care workers." Mrs. McC: No word on the racial make-up of victims.

Arizona-New Mexico. Christina Capatides of CBS News: "Jean Stowell, head of [Doctors Without Borders]' U.S. COVID-19 Response Team, told CBS News that Doctors Without Borders has dispatched a team of nine to the hard-hit Navajo Nation in the southwest U.S. because of the crisis unfolding there.... Doctors Without Borders is best known for sending medical professionals into international conflict zones in the midst of medical crises. The organization has teams in Afghanistan, Iran, Sierra Leone, Venezuela and 66 other countries. It did not, however, have a medical presence in the U.S. -- until now.... Navajo Nation, home to roughly 170,000 people, now has more coronavirus cases per capita than any state in America."

Colorado. Alison Borden of Colorado Public Radio: "Gov. Jared Polis, calling the restaurant an 'immediate health hazard,' has suspended the restaurant license of C&C Breakfast & Korean Kitchen in Castle Rock, a day after a video [surfaced on social media] showing a packed dining room in defiance of public health rules.... Polis said the license would be suspended indefinitely -- at least for 30 days.... Polis' announcement followed news that Tri-County Health Department ordered C&C to close. The health department warned the restaurant on Friday not to open, but the now-viral video shows it was open to dine-in service -- with dozens of people sitting to eat and only a few people wearing masks -- on Sunday."

Illinois. Tina Sfondeles of the Chicago Sun-Times: "A member of Gov. J.B. Pritzker's senior staff has tested positive for COVID-19 and all staffers -- including the governor -- will now work from home for an 'appropriate isolation period,' the governor's office said Monday. The staff member was asymptomatic and tested positive late last week. That staffer was also in close contact with Pritzker and other staff members, the governor's office said. All staffers were tested last week. The Democratic governor and all other senior staffers have tested negative, and Pritzker was tested once again early Sunday and tested negative, his office said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Another Great Moment in Trump "Press Briefings." Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump on Monday declined to name the crime he believes former President Obama committed as he was pressed on a string of critical tweets he sent over the weekend accusing his predecessor of committing the biggest political crime in history. 'You know what the crime is. The crime is very obvious to everybody. All you have to do is read the newspapers, except yours,' Trump told Washington Post reporter Philip Rucker during a press conference in the White House Rose Garden.... 'Obamagate.... It's been going on from before I even got elected,' Trump said. 'It's a disgrace that it happened, and if you look at what's gone on and if you look at now all of the information that is being released and, from what I understand, that's only the beginning. Some terrible things happened, and it should never be allowed to happen in our country again,' the president continued. 'You'll be seeing what's going on over the coming weeks.'" ~~~

~~~ Andrew Desiderio & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "... Donald Trump's aggressive campaign to encourage sweeping investigations of his predecessor Barack Obama met a unanimous response from Senate Republicans: No thanks. Trump's Senate allies on Monday stopped short of echoing Trump's frenetic and unsubstantiated claim that Obama acted illegally when the Justice Department began probing incoming national security adviser Michael Flynn in late 2016. And they indicated that the Senate would pass on investigating the former president as they conduct their own investigations that could soon ensnare other senior Obama administration officials.... After the Justice Department's abrupt decision last week to drop the criminal case against Flynn, Trump shifted his public focus over the weekend to mount a three-day tear against his predecessor on Twitter, accusing Obama of committing the 'biggest political crime in American history.' Trump sought to popularize the hashtag 'Obamagate,' which he said makes the Watergate scandal 'look small time.' Trump also said Obama 'got caught' and later retweeted comments by Flynn's lawyer, Sidney Powell, who said Obama was part of an effort to frame and entrap her client." ~~~

~~~ ** BUT. Talk About a "Witch Hunt." Spencer Ackerman of the Daily Beast: "Days after the Justice Department controversially dropped charges against Mike Flynn, Senate GOP Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is set to expand a highly politicized Justice Department's surveillance authority during a vote this week to renew the 2001 PATRIOT Act. Under cover of redressing what ... Donald Trump and his allies call the FBI's 'witch hunt' over collusion with the Kremlin, McConnell, via an amendment to the PATRIOT Act, will expressly permit the FBI to warrantlessly collect records on Americans' web browsing and search histories. In a different amendment, McConnell also proposes giving the attorney general visibility into the 'accuracy and completeness' of FBI surveillance submissions to the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court. Versions of the amendments circulating Monday were shared with The Daily Beast.... Privacy advocates consider McConnell's moves an alarming expansion of Attorney General Bill Barr's powers under FISA, a four-decade-old process that already places the attorney general at the center of national-security surveillance.... McConnell is increasing Barr's oversight of surveillance on political candidates while expanding surveillance authorities on every other American." ~~~

~~~ Juan Cole: "Vice President Mike Pence says he would be happy to have disgraced former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn back in the White House.... Now is the time to remind everyone that in the 1990s, Mike Pence argued that President Bill Clinton should be impeached and removed from office for telling a lie. In his smarmy way, Pence then said it was a moral issue. Clinton committed perjury over sex.... Apparently Pence would only be outraged if [Russian ambassador Sergey] Kislyak had been a Russian bombshell and Flynn had slept with her, and then lied about that." --s ~~~

~~~ Ryan Saavedra of the Daily Wire: "Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell has declassified the list of former Obama administration officials who were allegedly involved in the 'unmasking' of ... Michael Flynn." ~~~

~~~ ** Jonathan Kravis is a Washington Post op-ed: "Three months ago, I resigned from the Justice Department after 10 years as a career prosecutor. I left a job I loved because I believed the department had abandoned its responsibility to do justice in one of my cases, United States v. Roger Stone.... Last week, the department again put political patronage ahead of its commitment to the rule of law, filing a motion to dismiss the case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn -- notwithstanding Flynn's sworn guilty plea and a ruling by the court that the plea was sound.... In both cases, the department undercut the work of career employees to protect an ally of the president [right after the president* complained about the prosecutors].... Indeed, the department chose to assign these matters to a special counsel precisely to avoid the appearance of political influence. For the attorney general now to directly intervene to benefit the president's associates makes this betrayal of the rule of law even more egregious.... Department lawyers are ethically bound to protect the confidences of their client. Barr's decision to excuse himself from these obligations and attack his own silenced employees is alarming. It sends an unmistakable message to prosecutors and agents -- if the president demands, we will throw you under the bus." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ ** DOJ Alumni Statement: "... Attorney General Barr has once again assaulted the rule of law, this time in the case of ... Michael Flynn.... The Department's purported justification for [dismissing the case] does not hold up to scrutiny, given the ample evidence that the investigation was well-founded and -- more importantly -- the fact that Flynn admitted under oath and in open court that he told material lies to the FBI in violation of longstanding federal law.... We thus unequivocally support the decision of the career prosecutor who withdrew from the Flynn case, just as we supported the prosecutors who withdrew from the Stone case. They are upholding the oath that we all took.... We urge Judge Sullivan to closely examine the Department's stated rationale for dismissing the charges -- including holding an evidentiary hearing with witnesses -- and to deny the motion and proceed with sentencing if appropriate." Nearly 2,000 former DOJ attorneys have signed the statement. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "The letter, organized by the nonprofit group Protect Democracy, was signed by Justice Department staffers serving in Republican and Democratic administrations dating back to President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The vast majority were former career staffers -- rather than political appointees -- who worked as federal prosecutors or supervisors at U.S. Attorney's Offices across the country or the Justice Department in downtown Washington." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Ariane de Vogue of CNN: "The Supreme Court will consider Tuesday whether the House of Representatives and a New York prosecutor can subpoena ... Donald Trump's accounting firm and banks for his financial documents, two momentous disputes concerning separation of powers and Trump's broad claims of immunity. Arguments in the cases, conducted over the telephone because of the coronavirus pandemic, come after Trump has sought for years to shield his tax returns and other records, while his critics launched a variety of investigations into hush money payments and potential violations of financial disclosure as well as ethics rules."

Presidential Race

Marc Caputo & Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "... Donald Trump's political operation narrowly outraised Joe Biden in April, according to fundraising totals released Monday. The Trump campaign and Republican National Committee raked in $61.7 million, they said late Monday, while Biden and the Democratic National Committee announced they took in $60.5 million.... But Biden is woefully trailing Trump's fundraising juggernaut, which through March had a cash advantage over the Democrat of about $187 million."

Michael Scherer of the Washington Post: "The Democratic Party plans to adopt new rules Tuesday to narrow the scope of its presidential nominating convention, potentially paving the way for either a limited in-person gathering or a virtual event this August. The proposed changes, which are expected to be adopted in virtual meeting of the party's rules and bylaws committee, would allow delegates to participate even if they do not attend the convention in person. No final decision on the convention is expected to be made in coming weeks as organizers await a decision by federal, state and local health officials. The convention had originally been planned for July in Milwaukee, but was moved back a month in hopes that restrictions forced by the coronavirus pandemic would ease by then. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said over the weekend that she had told Democratic Party Chair Tom Perez that the nearly week-long event could be held over a single day at an outdoor stadium." The Hill's report is here.

Matt Flegenheimer of the New York Times looks back on "Joe Biden's time in Sarah Palin's shadow." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Kurt Burdella in a USA Today op-ed: "In 2016, Donald Trump fueled his improbable presidential victory with an arsenal of catch phrases designed to incite and excite the Fox News and Breitbart audience who live in fear of America's diversity and inevitable demographic changes.... As the 2020 campaign comes into focus, Trump is looking to recreate his success by refreshing his xenophobic rhetoric [in] what amounts to a remix of 2016, this time replacing Mexico with China.... The Republican playbook for 2020 can be summed up in two words: blame and fear. It's the same playbook as 2016." --s

Way Beyond the Beltway

Brazil. Jake Spring of Reuters: "Brazil deployed thousands of soldiers to protect the Amazon rainforest on Monday, taking precautions to avoid spreading the novel coronavirus, as the government mounts an early response to surging deforestation ahead of the high season for forest fires.... Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon surged 55% in the first four months of the year compared with the same period of 2019.... The destruction hit an 11-year high last year[.]" --s

Iran. Farnaz Fassihi of the New York Times: "For the second time this year, Iran appears to have fired a missile at the wrong target with deadly consequences, fueling public disillusionment with the government and undermining faith in its military. On Sunday, a missile from an Iranian Navy frigate struck another Iranian naval vessel during a military exercise in the Sea of Oman, killing at least 19 sailors, the navy said. In January, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps shot down a Ukrainian Airlines passenger plane with two missiles, killing the 176 passengers and crew onboard. Iran blamed the shooting on human error. Official details of the accident were scant on Monday. It was not immediately clear whether it was the result of human error or faulty equipment." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

News Lede

New York Times: "Jerry Stiller, a classically trained actor who became a comedy star twice -- in the 1960s in partnership with his wife, Anne Meara, and in the 1990s with a memorable recurring role on 'Seinfeld' -- died early Monday morning at his home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He was 92."