The Ides of May, 2020

Afternoon Update:

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

Mike Memoli of NBC News: "... Joe Biden said Thursday that he would not pardon ... Donald Trump if elected and insisted any prosecutorial decisions would be left to a more independent Justice Department. Answering questions in a virtual town hall-style event on MSNBC Thursday..., Biden, while not speaking to any specific potential charge, committed to ensuring that any prosecutorial decisions would be dictated by the law, in contrast to what he called the 'dereliction of duty' by Trump and his attorney general, William Barr. 'It's hands off completely. The attorney general is not the president's lawyer. It's the people's lawyer,' Biden said. 'We never saw anything like the prostitution of that office like we see it today.'"

Jill Colvin, et al., of the AP: "Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Friday the White House still has confidence in a rapid COVID-19 test it has been using despite new data suggesting the test may return false negatives. The head of the Food and Drug Administration [Steve Hahn] said Friday his agency has provided new guidance to the White House after data suggested that the test used by ... Donald Trump and others every day may be inaccurate and provide false negatives. The test by Abbott Laboratories is used daily at the White House to test Trump, key members of his staff as well as any visitor to the White House complex who comes in close proximity to the president or Vice President Mike Pence.... White House officials on Friday continued using the Abbot ID Now test.... FDA commissioner Steve Hahn said that if a person is suspected of having the disease caused by the coronavirus, 'it might be worth, if the test is negative, getting a second confirmatory test. That's what our guidance is about.' Hahn, asked on CBS on Friday whether he'd continue to recommend using the test at the White House, said, 'That will be a White House decision.'"

David Lim & Zachary Brennan of Politico: "... Donald Trump formally announced the former head of vaccines at GlaxoSmithKline and a general in charge of Army readiness will lead the government's effort to speed the development of potential coronavirus vaccines. Moncef Slaoui, who left GlaxoSmithKline in 2017, will be chief scientist of what the administration has deemed Operation Warp Speed. "That means big and it means fast," Trump said, comparing the operation to the Manhattan Project, a program to develop an atomic bomb that employed more than 100,000 people. Army Gen. Gustave Perna will be the chief operating officer for the project." Mrs. McC: I watched a few minutes of Trump's self-congratulatory press event (yes, I know that's redundant). I don't know if he needs glasses or has dyslexia or what. He reads like a second-grader. A child stumbling over new words is not at all remarkable; an adult stumbling again & again is disconcerting.

Erica Green of the New York Times: "Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is using the $2 trillion coronavirus stabilization law to throw a lifeline to education sectors she has long championed, directing millions of federal dollars intended primarily for public schools and colleges to private and religious schools.... She has directed school districts to share millions of dollars designated for low-income students with wealthy private schools. And she has nearly depleted the 2.5 percent of higher education funding, about $350 million, set aside for struggling colleges to bolster small colleges -- many of them private, religious or on the margins of higher education -- regardless of need.... On the Senate floor this week, Senator Chuck Schumer ... accused Ms. DeVos of 'exploiting congressional relief efforts.' He said she had been 'using a portion of that funding not to help states or localities cope with the crisis, but to augment her push for voucherlike programs, a prior initiative that has nothing to do with Covid-19.'"

Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "Recently people on the right have started pushing a ludicrous pseudo-scandal they're calling Obamagate. It holds that investigations by Barack Obama's administration into Russia's attack on the 2016 U.S. presidential election were a form of illicit sabotage of Donald Trump and his team. The story doesn't really make sense, which is why, when asked about Obamagate, President Trump couldn't describe it.... But Obamagate is also a way to distract at least some segment of the country from a very real and very grave scandal: Trump's calamitous mishandling of the coronavirus crisis.... On Thursday, as Trump was on Twitter asking Senator Lindsey Graham to drag Obama before Congress, [Dr. Rick] Bright testified before a House subcommittee.... He described months of government lassitude early in the coronavirus outbreak, and an administration that has yet to even formulate -- never mind execute -- a plan for containing the pandemic....The real scandal of a looted government leaving citizens prey to death and destitution will fuel ever more histrionic fake ones."

Covid-19 Is a Message from God. Elana Schor & Hannah Fingerhut of the AP: "The coronavirus has prompted almost two-thirds of American believers of all faiths to feel that God is telling humanity to change how it lives, a new poll finds." Mrs. McC: But will there be pilgramages to Wuhan?

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Brett Samuels & Jessie Hellmann of the Hill: "President Trump on Thursday suggested the practice of widespread coronavirus testing may be 'overrated,' even as health experts insist it is critical to safely loosen restrictions and reopen businesses. Trump boasted about the United States's testing capabilities during remarks at a Pennsylvania medical equipment distribution center, where he announced the country has administered 10 million tests since the outbreak began. 'We have the best testing in the world, Trump told employees at Owens & Minor Inc. in Allentown. 'Could be that testing's, frankly, overrated. Maybe it is overrated.'... Trump's remarks often took on the tone of a campaign rally. The president walked on stage to 'God Bless the U.S.A.,' the same song that blares at his arena rallies when he enters. He also left the stage to the tune of his typical rally exit song, 'You Can&'t Always Get What You Want.' In between, Trump swiped at presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden by calling him 'Sleepy Joe' and criticizing the Obama administration's response to the swine flu pandemic a decade ago." Mrs. McC: On your tax dime.

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. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Guidelines Without Guidance. Rachel Roubein of Politico: "The CDC on Thursday released previously withheld guidance documents on reopening schools, restaurants and other institutions locked down during the pandemic, one week after the White House ordered the agency to revise an earlier draft it deemed 'too prescriptive.' The new CDC guidelines, which appear to be watered down from previously leaked versions, provide brief checklists meant to help key businesses and others operating in public reopen safely.... In many instances, they are shorter and less specific than previously reported drafts.... The White House had rejected at least two prior CDC drafts providing more detailed recommendations for reopening, according to documents published by the Associated Press in the previous week." Mrs. McC: So it isn't just that Trump is an incompetent president*; it's that even when a competent measure is placed under his nose, he insists that a useless measure replace it.

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. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ CNN reports four key takeaways from Bright's testimony. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "Dr. Bright's testimony was the first time a federal scientist -- or any federal official -- had gone before Congress and openly accused the administration of endangering American lives by bungling its coronavirus response.... After holding back for nearly a month, President Trump; his health secretary, Alex M. Azar II; and his trade adviser, Peter Navarro, all hit back at Dr. Bright, in a three-pronged assault that elevated the confrontation. Mr. Trump dismissed Dr. Bright as a 'disgruntled employee' and Mr. Navarro, whom Mr. Bright considered an ally in the White House, called him a 'deserter in the war on the China virus.' Mr. Azar insisted officials followed through on the scientist's ideas.... Mr. Azar and Dr. Bright's immediate supervisor at the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert Kadlec, declined invitations to testify, as did Mr. Navarro.... Shortly before Dr. Bright took the witness stand, his lawyers disclosed that the Office of Special Counsel ... had made a preliminary determination of a 'substantial likelihood of wrongdoing' regarding the cronyism allegation and had asked Mr. Azar to investigate."

The Case of the Disappeared Doctors. Oliver Darcy of CNN: "The nation's top physicians have stopped appearing on national television for interviews as the White House exerts increased control over communications during the coronavirus pandemic and refocuses its message toward reopening the economy. The last national television appearance from a doctor on the coronavirus task force was a full week ago on May 7 when Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, appeared on CNN for a town hall." Also disappeared: Doctors Anthony Fauci, Robert Redfield (CDC), Stephen Hahn (FDA), and Jerome Adams, surgeon general.

Ed Mazza of the Huffington Post: "Former President Barack Obama on Wednesday urged a better government response to the coronavirus pandemic, just days after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told him he 'should've kept his mouth shut' about the issue. McConnell also called Obama 'classless' for criticizing ... Donald Trump. Obama hasn't publicly criticized Trump by name and didn't do so on Wednesday. Instead, he urged 'better policy decisions' to fight the infections and protect people from the economic fallout as he shared a Vox report with expert ideas on countering the COVID-19 virus." Mrs. McC: "Classless"? Didn't you mean "uppity," Mitch? And this while Trump is accusing President Obama of "the greatest political scam in the history of our country." (Related stories linked below.)

** Edward Luce of the Financial Times: "At some point, Congress is likely to establish a body like the 9/11 Commission to investigate Trump's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.... Any report would probably conclude that tens of thousands of deaths could have been prevented -- even now as Trump pushes to 'liberate' states from lockdown. 'It is as though we knew for a fact that 9/11 was going to happen for months, did nothing to prepare for it and then shrugged a few days later and said, "Oh well, there's not much we can do about it,"' says Gregg Gonsalves, a public health scholar at Yale University. 'Trump could have prevented mass deaths and he didn't.'... Trump says America is fighting a war against Covid-19. In practice, he is stoking national disunity.... For the next six months, America's microbial fate will be in the hands of its president's erratic re-election strategy. There is more than a whiff of rising desperation." (Firewalled) --s

Be Still My Heart. Paul LeBlanc of CNN: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell conceded Thursday night that he was wrong to claim that the Obama administration had not left behind a plan to deal with a pandemic in the US. 'I was wrong. They did leave behind a plan, so I clearly made a mistake in that regard,' McConnell said during an interview with Fox News' Bret Baier. The concession comes days after he falsely accused the Obama administration of failing to leave the Trump administration 'any kind of game plan' for something like the coronavirus pandemic during a Trump campaign online chat with Lara Trump, the President's daughter-in-law.... In reality, former President Barrack Obama's White House National Security Council left the Trump administration a detailed document on how to respond to a pandemic.... The playbook contains step-by-step advice on questions to ask, decisions to make and which federal agencies are responsible for what. It includes sample documents that officials could use for inter-agency meetings. And it explicitly lists novel coronaviruses as one of the kinds of pathogens that could require a major response. Additionally, 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."

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. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ 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.

Marianne Levine & Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "Sen. Kelly Loeffler has turned over documents to the Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Senate Ethics Committee amid ongoing scrutiny over her stock trades, according to her spokesperson."

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." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Roni Rabin of the New York Times: "Neurologists in New York City, Detroit, New Jersey and other parts of the country have reported a flurry of ... cases [of strokes in young, fairly healthy people, probably tied to Covid-19]. Many are now convinced that unexplained strokes represent yet another insidious manifestation of Covid-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus. The cases add to evidence that the coronavirus attacks not just the lungs, but also the kidneys, brain, heart and liver.... Patients with severe Covid-19 may develop clots in the legs and lungs that can be life-threatening, doctors said.... In rare cases, it seems to trigger a life-threatening inflammatory syndrome in children." ~~~

~~~ Mara Gay of the New York Times: "Young, healthy people like me are getting very, very sick from the disease caused by the coronavirus. The day before I got sick, I ran three miles, walked 10 more, then raced up the stairs to my fifth-floor apartment as always, slinging laundry with me as I went.The next day, April 17, I became one of the thousands of New Yorkers to fall ill with Covid-19. I haven't felt the same since.... [Twenty-seven] days later..., I can't walk more than a few blocks without stopping.... When I see photographs of crowds packing into a newly reopened big-box store in Arkansas or scores of people jammed into a Colorado restaurant without masks, it's clear too many Americans still don't grasp the power of this disease."

Michigan. David Neiwert of Daily Kos: "It was billed to Michiganders as 'Judgement Day' in Lansing on Thursday, the day when hordes of 'Patriots' opposed to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's COVID-19 lockdown orders were supposed to descend on the state Capitol and force the state government to back down. State lawmakers, fearing a repeat of the April 30 protest when hundreds of armed militiamen attempted to invade the House chambers, had even canceled the day's legislative session and closed down the Capitol building. Yet if the size of the crowd is any indication -- a handful of people numbering less than 200 at best -- any judgement rendered was entirely on the side of the authorities who ordered the lockdown. Moreover, the absurd behavior of the protesters -- including a brawl involving one protester who tied a flag onto a fishing rod and decorated it with a noose and a doll intended to represent Whitmer -- confirmed once again that they are mainly a small, fringe collection of ridiculous, addlepated conspiracy theorists with a disturbing violent streak and zero popular support."

New York. Bob Brigham of RawStory: "Reporter Kevin Vesey reported on anti-lockdown protests in Commack, New York for News 12 Long Island on Thursday. 'I'll probably never forget what happened today,' Vesey posted on Twitter. 'I was insulted. I was berated. I was practically chased by people who refused to wear masks in the middle of a pandemic,' he explained." --safari: Includes video that is well worth watching. It's surreal, like a zombie apocalypse, but for lobotomized pod people.

If I were a Senator or Congressman, the first person I would call to testify about the biggest political crime and scandal in the history of the USA, by FAR, is former President Obama. He knew EVERYTHING. Do it @LindseyGrahamSC , just do it. No more Mr. Nice Guy. No more talk! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet Thursday ~~~

~~~ Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Trump has embarked on an aggressive new drive to rewrite the narrative of the Russia investigation by making dark and unsubstantiated accusations that former President Barack Obama masterminded a sinister plot to bring him down. On Twitter, on television, in the Rose Garden and even on an official White House social media page, Mr. Trump in recent days has taken aim at his most recent predecessor in a way that no sitting president has in modern times, accusing Mr. Obama of undefined and unspecified crimes under the vague but politically charged catchphrase 'Obamagate.' The president went even further on Thursday by demanding that Mr. Obama be hauled before the Senate 'to testify about the biggest political crime and scandal in the history of the USA,' a scenario that itself has no precise precedent in American history. Within hours [Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)], Mr. Trump's most faithful Republican ally in the Senate, promptly announced that he would indeed investigate, although he would probably not summon Mr. Obama.... 'This was all Obama, this was all Biden,' Mr. Trump said in an interview on Fox Business Network that aired on Thursday. 'These people were corrupt, the whole thing was corrupt, and we caught them.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Andrew Desiderio of Politico: "Sen. Lindsey Graham on Thursday brushed back ... Donald Trump's pleas for the Judiciary Committee chairman to haul in former President Barack Obama for testimony about the origins of the Russia investigation and the FBI's handling of the investigation into Michael Flynn. Just moments after Trump appealed directly to the South Carolina Republican on Twitter, Graham reiterated that he does not intend to call Obama before his committee -- and he warned of the precedent such an action would set. '... I have grave concerns about the role of executive privilege and all kinds of issues,' Graham said in a brief interview. 'I understand President Trump's frustration, but be careful what you wish for....'" ~~~

~~~ Philip Rucker, et al., of the Washington Post: Acting DNI Richard Grenell hand-carried to AG Bill Barr a list of names of Obama-era officials who had requested the identity of a person who was cited in an intel report for making clandestine contacts with Russian and other foreign officials. The person was Michael Flynn. "A Fox News camera was pre-positioned at the entrance [of the 'Justice" Department's headquarters], seemingly tipped off to record footage of the dramatic scene.... The practice, known as unmasking, is commonplace in government. But in the case of Flynn, Trump and his allies used the list of names to claim Barack Obama, [Joe] Biden and their appointees deliberately sought to sabotage the incoming Trump administration as part of a long-running conspiracy they have dubbed 'Obamagate.'... These efforts are being amplified by wall-to-wall coverage on Fox News Channel and elsewhere in conservative media.... 'We sort of have the smoking gun because we now have the declassified document with Joe Biden's name on it,' Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Thursday.... And in a remarkable turn Thursday, Trump urged Congress to call Obama to testify and even suggested those involved -- including Biden..., former FBI director James B. Comey and former CIA director John Brennan -- go to prison. 'I'm talking with 50-year sentences,' Trump said in an interview with Fox Business Network that aired Thursday. 'It's a disgrace what's happened. This is the greatest political scam, hoax in the history of our country.... People should be going to jail for this stuff.'"

~~~ Greg Sargent of the Washington Post tutors political reporters (and headline writers) on 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. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: In the NYT & WashPo stories linked above, Baker does a fairly good job of pooh-poohing the conspiracy theory; Rucker, et al., mess it up badly. (Pissed me off so much I complained to Rucker about it.) And none of these stories ever mentions that another person who got the story on Flynn, albeit in general terms, was Donald Trump. Who told him? Barack Obama. Two days after the presidential election, at a meeting in the Oval Office, Obama warned Trump off Flynn. Worse than the media, however, are Democrats, who are doing a remarkably poor job of pushing back on the Trump ruse. They keep treating Trump as if he's a normal president*. According to the WashPo report, "'This is all about diversion,' Biden said [in an interview on ABC's 'Good Morning America'].... 'This is a game this guy plays all the time. The country is in crisis.... He should stop trying to always divert attention from the real concerns of the American people.'" That's not nearly sufficient to bat down a fake story. This is not a "diversion." It's an utterly false narrative. Express outrage. Say you would have been derelict in your duty had you not inquired about who the subversive miscreant was. Say Obama warned Trump about Flynn the first moment he could. Say the real wrongdoer was Trump, who -- knowing what Obama told him about Flynn -- hired Flynn anyway. ~~~

~~~ The headline on this NBC News story is good, but the reporting is mostly he-said/he-said. ~~~

     ~~~ "Trump Allies Push 'Obamagate,' But Record Fails to Back Them Up." Carol Lee, et al.: "... President Donald Trump and his allies have begun escalating their attacks against former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden..., by accusing them and other Obama administration officials of conspiring against Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Trump and his allies call it 'Obamagate,' and the claims are multifold: ... [blah-blah]. Former Obama administration officials say it is false that Biden or Obama knew in advance about the FBI's interview of Flynn, which took place four days after Trump took office -- a contention that is corroborated by a review of the very documents that Trump and his allies are citing to bolster their claims. The Obama officials also argue that there was nothing improper about requests ... to 'unmask' the name of the American who turned up in intelligence collected from the phone of Russia's then-ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak. Unmasking is a routine procedure approved each year by the National Security Agency for authorized purposes -- amounting to several thousand requests each year." ~~~

~~~ Jerry Lambe of Law & Crime: "The federal judge overseeing Michael Flynn's criminal prosecution has directed the law firm that Flynn fired to reappear as an interested party in the controversial proceeding. On Thursday, that firm complied by filing a notice of appearance. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan of the District of Columbia on Thursday ordered the clerk of the court to 'add Covington & Burling LLP ('Covington') as an interested party in this matter and directed counsel for Covington to file a notice of appearance on behalf of Covington as an interested party.'"

Emoluments! Trump's Million-Dollar Boondoggle. David Fahrenthold & Joshua Partlow of the Washington Post: "The U.S. government has paid at least $970,000 to President Trump's company since Trump took office -- including payments for more than 1,600 nightly room rentals at Trump's hotels and clubs, according to federal records obtained by The Washington Post. Since March, The Post has catalogued an additional $340,000 in such payments. They were almost all related to trips taken by Trump, his family and his top officials. The government is not known to have paid for the rooms for Trump and his family members at his properties but it has paid for staffers and Secret Service agents to accompany the president. The payments create an unprecedented business relationship between the president's private company and his government -- which began in the first month of Trump's presidency, and continued into this year, records show." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It's bad enough that Trump gets supplicants to take rooms in his hotels, but this is you & I involuntarily supplementing his income.

All the Best People, Ctd. Seung Min Kim of the Washington Post: "A nonprofit organization run by President Trump's nominee to lead a federal media agency with oversight of Voice of America and other news outlets is under investigation by the District of Columbia's attorney general, a senior U.S. senator said Thursday. Michael Pack is a conservative filmmaker with ties to Stephen K. Bannon whom Trump has picked to lead the U.S. Agency for Global Media. The D.C. attorney general's office is investigating whether Pack's use of funds from his nonprofit, Public Media Lab, was 'unlawful and whether he improperly used those funds to benefit himself,' Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement Thursday. Menendez said the D.C. attorney general's office informed the committee of the active investigation earlier Thursday, the same day Pack was scheduled to face a key panel vote on his nomination, before that vote was postponed. Pack has been under scrutiny for tax issues since at least September, when CNBC reported that at least $1.6 million in donations from his nonprofit were sent to his independent production company, Manifold Productions."

Jacob Bogage & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Weeks before a Republican donor and top White House ally becomes postmaster general, the U.S. Postal Service has begun a review of its package delivery contracts and lost its second-highest executive, which will leave its board of governors without any officials who predate President Trump.... Democratic vice chairman David Williams resigned April 30, fed up with Trump's approach to the agency, according to people familiar with his thinking.... Also, Deputy Postmaster General Ronald A. Stroman submitted his resignation on May 8. Stroman had years of experience working with congressional Democrats and had become the agency point man on vote-by-mail initiatives for the November election.... The moves, confirmed by six people..., underscore how Trump is moving closer to reshaping an independent agency he has dubbed 'a joke.'... Trump has recently threatened to withhold a $10 billion line of credit approved by Congress in a coronavirus stimulus package unless the Postal Service quadruples what it charges to deliver packages. Independent analysts warn that such a change would devastate the agency, which has increasingly relied on such deliveries for a fast-growing portion of its business." ~~~

~~~ Zack Budryk of the Hill: "Trump has frequently accused the [USPS] without evidence of undercharging for package delivery and accused them of giving Amazon, whose founder Jeff Bezos owns the Post, preferential treatment."

Adam Schiff's chilling warning about Donald Trump comes true. If you have time to watch Chris Hayes' opening segment from last night's show, please do. He does a good job of showing how just the news of the last few days demonstrates Trump's increasing lawlessness & the willingness of his compliant cronies to carry out his malevolent wishes:

Marty Johnson of the Hill: "The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed suit against the Education Department on Thursday, saying that the recent rule changes to Title IX by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos 'sharply limit educational institutions' obligations to respond to reports of sexual harassment and assault.' 'Betsy DeVos has created a double standard that is devastating for survivors of sexual harassment and assault, who are overwhelmingly women and girls. We are suing to make sure this double standard never takes effect,' Ria Tabacco Mar, director of the ACLU's Women's Rights Project, said in a statement."

News Lede

New York Times: "Jerzy Glowczewski, 97, flew 100 missions for the No. 308 'City of Krakow' Polish fighter squadron, according to Poland's Institute of National Remembrance. He was widely believed to have been the last surviving member of the valiant brotherhood of exiles who fought with the Royal Air Force when he died on April 13 of Covid-19 in a nursing home in Manhattan. On New Year's Day in 1945, Mr. Glowczewski helped turn back the final major offensive on the Western front by the German Luftwaffe, shooting down a Focke-Wulf 190 over Belgium from his Spitfire fighter plane.... 'It was probably one of the last classic dogfights in which survival depended on the acrobatic skill and lightning reflexes of the pilot, he [said]." Mrs. McC: A life well-lived and another obituary to warm your heart.

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.

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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.