The Commentariat -- October 10, 2020

Afternoon Update:

The New York Times' live Covid-9 updates for Saturday are here.

Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "Pressure is mounting on the leaders of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- from inside and outside the agency -- to speak publicly against the White House's manhandling of C.D.C. research and public health decisions, with career scientists so demoralized they are talking of quitting if President Trump wins re-election. The situation came to a boiling point this week when William H. Foege, a giant in public health who led the C.D.C. under Democratic and Republican presidents, called for its current director, Dr. Robert R. Redfield, to 'stand up to a bully' -- he meant Mr. Trump — even at the risk of being fired. 'Silence becomes complicity,' he said in an interview, after a private letter he wrote to Dr. Redfield leaked to the news media."

Sheila Kaplan of the New York Times: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention drafted a sweeping order last month requiring all passengers and employees to wear masks on all forms of public and commercial transportation in the United States, but it was blocked by the White House, according to two federal health officials. The order would have been the toughest federal mandate to date aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus, which continues to infect more than 40,000 Americans a day. The officials said that it was drafted under the agency's 'quarantine powers' and that it had the support of the secretary of health and human services, Alex M. Azar II, but the White House Coronavirus Task Force, led by Vice President Mike Pence, declined to even discuss it." Mrs. McC: So mike pence also doesn't care if you get sick & die. Better take your family sleigh over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house this Thanksgiving. Public transportation is a bad bet.

"The Swamp That Trump Built." Nicholas Confessore, et al., of the New York Times: "Campaigning for president as a Washington outsider, Mr. Trump electrified rallies with his vows to 'drain the swamp.' But Mr. Trump ... reinvented [the swamp], turning his own hotels and resorts into the Beltway's new back rooms, where public and private business mix and special interests reign.... As president, he built a system of direct presidential influence-peddling unrivaled in modern American politics.... An investigation by The Times found over 200 companies, special-interest groups and foreign governments that patronized Mr. Trump's properties while reaping benefits from him and his administration.... Just 60 customers with interests at stake before the Trump administration brought his family business nearly $12 million during the first two years of his presidency, The Times found. Almost all saw their interests advanced, in some fashion, by Mr. Trump or his government.... Some of Mr. Trump's patrons lost out to better-favored interests, to the chaos of his White House or to the president's own fleeting attention span.... But whether they won or lost, Mr. Trump benefited financially." The reporters provide many examples.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-Michigan) in a Washington Post op-ed: "When I addressed the people of Michigan on Thursday to comment on the unprecedented terrorism, conspiracy and weapons charges against 13 men, some of whom were preparing to kidnap and possibly kill me, I said, 'Hatred, bigotry and violence have no place in the great state of Michigan.' I meant it. But just moments later, President Trump's campaign adviser, Jason Miller, appeared on national television accusing me of fostering hatred. I'm not going to waste my time arguing with the president. But I will always hold him accountable. Because when our leaders speak, their words carry weight."

Ashton Pittman of the Mississippi Free Press: "The day before ... Donald Trump announced Amy Coney Barrett as his U.S. Supreme Court pick, U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith [R-Miss.] said Republican senators would come with 'guns loaded' and 'packed' to ensure the president's nominee is confirmed. 'You can expect anything possible in the tactics that (Democrats) can come up with' to delay the vote, the senator from Mississippi told American Family Radio Host Tony Perkins on his Washington Watch radio program on Sept. 25. AFR, a branch of the Tupelo, Miss.-based American Family Association, later uploaded the interview to SoundCloud. The senator told Perkins, whose organization the Southern Poverty Law Center calls a hate group, that 'it wouldn't surprise (her) at all' if Democrats try to stop Republicans from confirming Barrett before the election."

A Bad Omen for Trump. Tamara Lush of the AP: "The Villages, [a huge Florida retirement community] where the median age is 66, is built on the American dream of a golden retirement.... Politically, it long has been considered a conservative redoubt, so entrenched that it's a must-stop for any national or statewide Republican running for office. One clear measure of its importance: Vice President Mike PenceJoe] Biden.... Not only has Florida been slammed by the virus, but also no other demographic has been affected more than older people. About 93% of Florida's 15,100 deaths from the virus have been people 55 and older, and many are scared -- and enraged."

Ohio. Appeals Court Orders Voter Suppression in Populous Counties. Andrew Tobias of Cleveland.com: "A federal appeals court has agreed to reinstate Ohio's limit on ballot drop boxes at least temporarily while it considers whether to make a more permanent ruling on the case. U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Judges Richard Griffin and Amul Thapar in an order Friday night sharply criticized a Thursday decision from a federal judge in Cleveland who struck down the drop box limit as unconstitutional after early voting had already begun. Griffin and Thapar said Secretary of State Frank LaRose's decision to limit ballot drop boxes, used to store completed absentee ballots, to one site per county was reasonable, and sided with LaRose's arguments that making a change during an election would pose a security risk. They also said legal precedent weighs against making late-stage changes to election procedures through the courts.... Judge Helene White dissented.... Griffin and White are appointees of President George W. Bush, while Thapar is an appointee of ... Donald Trump."

Rats ... Sinking Ship. John Harris & Melanie Zanona of Politico: "For Republicans, fearful of a possible electoral disaster just weeks away, it has become safe at last to diss Donald Trump -- or at least to distance themselves from him in unmistakably purposeful ways. A barrage of barbed comments in recent days shows how markedly the calculus of fear has shifted in the GOP. For much of the past four years, Republican politicians were scared above all about incurring the wrath of the president and his supporters with any stray gesture or remark that he might regard as not sufficiently deferential. Now, several of them are evidently more scared of not being viewed by voters as sufficiently independent.... And so far, there's little evidence the strategy is working."

Veronica Stracqualursi of CNN: "Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said he was released from the hospital Saturday morning following treatment for the coronavirus. '... I will have more to say about all of this next week,' the former Republican governor tweeted Saturday.... Christie, who is overweight and asthmatic, checked himself into Morristown Medical Center as a precautionary measure. He remained under doctors' observations for the week and was prescribed the anti-viral drug remdesivir. He had helped Trump prepare for the first presidential debate; no one wore masks during the debate preparation sessions. He had also attended a Supreme Court nomination ceremony for Judge Amy Coney Barrett on September 26, now believed to have been a superspreader event."

~~~~~~~~~~

Presidential Race, Etc.

Quint Forgey of Politico: "The Commission on Presidential Debates on Friday canceled the second pre-election showdown between ... Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden, according to a person familiar with the situation. The debate, initially scheduled for Oct. 15 in Miami, was changed to a virtual format following the president's coronavirus diagnosis last week. Trump and his campaign protested against a virtual debate, calling the change a ploy to help Biden.... The commission said the format change was to ensure the health and safety of everyone involved. In a statement Friday evening, the commission acquiesced to the campaign's protests, writing: 'It is now apparent there will be no debate on October 15, and the CPD will turn its attention to preparations for the final presidential debate scheduled for October 22.' The co-chair of the Commission on Presidential Debates had rejected earlier Friday efforts by Trump's campaign to clear him for in-person participation in the town hall-style forum -- noting that the White House still has not provided basic information about the president's recent coronavirus tests."

Toluse Olorunnipa, et al., of the Washington Post: "... Trump has brushed aside his advisers' calls for caution, instead embracing a political strategy built on playing down the virus and using his own battle with it to argue that the nation has already overcome the pandemic. 'People are going to get immediately better like I did. I mean, I feel better now than I did two weeks ago. It's crazy,' Trump told Rush Limbaugh on his talk radio show Friday, a day when more than 850 Americans died of the coronavirus....The president has claimed to be immune, called his infection with the virus a 'blessing from God' and falsely claimed that a cure exists for a disease that continues to kill thousands of Americans each week. His campaign has continued to hold large indoor events with surrogates, shunning social distancing. It has made little effort to engage in contact tracing after dozens of White House officials and campaign surrogates contracted the disease.... His surrogates have already returned to traveling across the country and holding events that flout public health guidelines. Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. headlined a crowded rally Thursday in Panama City Beach, Fla., with several dozen unmasked people gathered indoors. Vice President Pence has also been holding frequent events, often indoors." ~~~

~~~ Meredith McGraw of Politico: "Guests for Saturday's [South Lawn] event won't be tested for the virus and won't be required to wear masks, setting off fresh concerns that the White House itself has become a vector for the disease.... Trump is resuming his campaign schedule only 10 days after he was first diagnosed with Covid-19, which he acknowledged this week had made him 'very sick' while shrugging off a lingering cough and insisting he now feels 'perfect.'... It's unclear if the president has tested negative since falling ill, or whether he is still contagious."

Trump to Hold a Second White House Super-spreader Event Today. Will Steakin, et al., of ABC News: "... Donald Trump is scheduled to host his first in-person event since testing positive for the coronavirus on Saturday at the White House discussing 'law and order,' despite evidence of a growing coronavirus outbreak at the White House this week.... The gathering is scheduled to take place on the South Lawn of the White House in conjunction with a previously planned event organized by controversial conservative activist Candace Owens' group Blexit, a campaign to urge Black Americans to leave the Democratic Party, sources said. Trump according to a source is expected to address the crowd from the balcony of the White House." Mrs. McC: So it's going to be a Mini-Mussolini event, too! (Or, if you prefer, another Covita moment.) And another gross politicization of the "People's House."

Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump will hold a campaign rally on Monday in Florida, his first time hitting the campaign trail since testing positive for COVID-19. The announcement comes despite the fact that the White House has yet to say whether Trump is still infectious or when he last tested negative for the highly contagious virus that has killed more than 210,000 people in America. The president will gather in Sanford, Fla., with supporters on Monday evening, the campaign announced. Officials have declined to specify whether they would move forward with events regardless of if Trump has tested negative. Trump on Thursday night had floated the possibility of traveling to Florida as early as Saturday. Public health officials advise that an individual who had the virus obtain two negative tests before interacting in public again, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines suggest individuals should remain isolated for 10 days after the onset of symptoms in mild cases and up to 20 days for more severe cases."

Peter Baker, et al., of the New York Times: "Trailing badly in the polls and eager to change the subject from the coronavirus, Mr. Trump succeeded in compelling Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to announce that he would make public the [Hillary Clinton] emails even as Attorney General William P. Barr resisted pressure[*] from the president to prosecute Democrats like former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.... Beyond his public comments, the president has also conveyed to Mr. Barr, directly and through surrogates, that he wanted 'scalps,' according to two government officials familiar with the conversations.... [But] three government officials briefed on the investigation said that they had been told that it was unlikely that John H. Durham, the prosecutor tapped by Mr. Barr to lead the inquiry [of the Russia inquiry], would produce indictments or any other developments that could affect the trajectory of the election before Nov. 3.... Neither Mr. Trump nor Mr. Pompeo explained why they ... would seek to prove that Mrs. Clinton was too casual with emails containing classified information by releasing emails containing classified information." ~~~

     ~~~ * Mrs. McCrabbie: I don't think it's accurate to say that Barr "resisted pressure." Andrew Weissmann, a former federal prosecutor on the Mueller team, appeared on MSNBC yesterday & surmised that it was John Durham, not Barr, who "resisted pressure." This was my thought, too, even before Weissman confirmed it.

~~~ When Trump Says "Jump," Pompeo Asks "How High?" Caitlin Oprysko of Politico: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday vowed to track down and release information regarding tens of thousands of emails former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sent and received over a private email server while in office, a day after ... Donald Trump lambasted Pompeo for not having done so. In an interview on Fox News, Pompeo laughed off Trump's criticism from a day earlier, telling anchor Dana Perino that 'we've got the emails, we're getting them out.' He added: 'We'll get all of this information out so the American people can see it.'... During a nearly hourlong interview on Fox Business..., 'Forget about the fact they were classified. Let's go. Maybe Mike Pompeo finally finds them, OK?'... Moments before Pompeo's interview, Trump reiterated his position on Clinton during a marathon, two-hour interview with conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, telling Limbaugh that Clinton 'should be in jail.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Thank goodness Trump is saving us from Hillary Clinton again. I suppose the texts of some of those emails will be interesting to some political scientists & historians and, if they contain classified materials, maybe to some U.S. adversaries. But the rest of us could not care less.

Democrats Have Big Advantage in Absentee Voting, So Far. Reid Epstein, et al., of the New York Times: "The yawning disparities in [absentee] voting across Wisconsin and several other key battlegrounds so far are among the clearest signs yet this fall that the Democratic embrace of absentee voting is resulting in head starts for the party ahead of Election Day. For Republicans, the voting patterns underscore the huge bet they are placing on high turnout on Nov. 3, even as states like Wisconsin face safety concerns at polling sites given the spikes in coronavirus cases.... The Democratic enthusiasm to vote is not limited to Wisconsin. Ballot return data from heavily Democratic cities like Pittsburgh; Chapel Hill, N.C.; and Tampa, Fla., and the long lines of cars waiting at a Houston arena to drop off ballots, are signs that many voters have followed through on their intentions to cast ballots well ahead of Nov. 3. There is still time for Republicans to catch up in many places, and they are expected to vote in strong numbers in person on Election Day.... As of Friday, more than 8.3 million ballots had already been received by elections officials in the 30 states that have made data available." ~~~

~~~ BUT. Danny Hakim & Stephanie Saul of the New York Times highlight the many ways Trump, his campaign & other Republicans have ramped up voter suppression tactics, especially plans for marshaling intimidating poll-watchers. Mrs. McC: It strikes me that one reason to vote absentee is to avoid having some Trumpbot screaming at you & spewing coronavirus beasties while you wait in a long line at your polling place.

South Carolina Senate Race. Jason Easley of Politics USA: "The scheduled Senate debate between Jaime Harrison and Lindsey Graham has been canceled after Graham refused a COVID test." Mrs. McC: Speculation is that Graham is refusing to be tested because he is concerned a positive test would derail the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings for Amy Coney Barrett. Graham chairs the committee. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Konstantin Toropin & Chandelis Duster of CNN: "The South Carolina Senate debate scheduled for Friday night between Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and his Democratic challenger Jamie Harrison has changed formats after Graham rejected Harrison's request to take another Covid test. The two candidates will now 'take part in individual interviews ... where they will be asked a series of questions from the forum moderator and panelists,' a live blog for the forum, which is hosted by local TV station WSPA, announced.... The announcement comes after Harrison issued a statement on Thursday stating he would not debate in person if Graham -- the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who attended an October 1 hearing with Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican who tested positive for the virus last week -- did not get a Covid test. In the statement, Harrison said he, the moderators and the panelists all agreed to get tested and questioned why Graham would not.

Pennsylvania. Matt Wargo & Maura Barrett of NBC News: "A Philadelphia judge has denied President Trump's campaign the right to have poll watchers inside the city's satellite elections offices. A spokesperson for the Trump campaign tells NBC News that they immediately appealed the decision, calling it 'irresponsible.'"

Texas. Chuck Lindell of the Austin-American Statesman: "A federal judge issued an order Friday night barring enforcement of Gov. Greg Abbott's Oct. 1 proclamation that limited counties to one mail-in ballot drop-off location." Mrs. McC: No link. The Statesman is subscriber-firewalled, & I can't find another source for a report, but it's a new story (Friday night), so surely one will pop up. U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman said Abbott's order placed an unacceptable burden on the voting rights of elderly and disabled Texans, who are most likely to request a mail-in ballot and to hand deliver those ballots early to ensure that they are counted. These voters are also particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, the judge said.... 'By forcing absentee voters to risk infection with a deadly disease to return their ballots in person or disenfranchisement if the (Postal Service) is unable to deliver their ballots in time, the October 1 Order imposes a burden on an already vulnerable voting population,' he said. This is a developing story." ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Republicans Determined to Suppress Democratic Vote. Josh Gerstein of Politico: "The state of Texas is appealing a federal judge's ruling that overturned Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's order limiting absentee ballot drop-off sites to one per county.... Within hours of [Judge Robert] Pitman's ruling, Texas Secretary of State Ruth Hughs appealed to the New Orleans-based 5^th Circuit Court of Appeals."

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live Covid-19 updates Friday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)

Must-Not-Watch TV. Jamie Ross of the Daily Beast: "... Donald Trump is apparently going to have a 'medical evaluation' on television. In an announcement from Fox News, the network said Trump is set to do his first on-camera interview since his COVID-19 diagnosis with Tucker Carlson tonight. But, in a significantly more interesting bit of the announcement, Fox News confirmed: 'Dr. Marc Siegel will conduct a medical evaluation and interview during the program.'.... Despite his insistence that he's totally fine, Trump hacked and coughed his way through a phone interview with Fox on Thursday night." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Ted Johnson of Deadline: "Donald Trump went through a reality TV-like 'medical evaluation' with Dr. Marc Siegel on Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight, and claimed that he was medication free and that he was recently retested for COVID-19.'I haven't found out numbers or anything yet, but I have been retested and I know that I am at either of the bottom of the scale or free,' Trump said in his first on-camera interview since testing positive for the coronavirus on Oct. 1. But there still were a number of questions that were unanswered, in part because Siegel didn't ask them. Chief among them was when Trump last tested negative before he tested positive for the coronavirus last week. That is information that the White House has declined to release. Trump's appearance was billed as an on-camera 'medical evaluation,' with Siegel asking about the president's symptoms and recovery. But the segment largely was a traditional interview. 'I feel really good. I feel very strong,' said Trump, appearing at the White House as Siegel was in studio." The New York Times story, by Annie Karni, is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: As far as I can tell, every single "medical evaluation" Trump has "released" to the public has been one he himself reported, dictated or substantially restricted. News reports should matter-of-factly describe Trump's medical condition as "unknown, but dire & humiliating."

Dr. Trump, Medicine Man, & His Miracle Cure. A. G. Gancarski of Florida Politics: Donald Trump told Rush Limbaugh Friday, "'We have a cure' for COVID-19, he told the conservative talk master. 'We have a cure, some call it a therapeutic. I call it a cure that most have never heard of that's going to be out very soon,' Trump assured Limbaugh in the noon hour. 'I was in not great shape, but we had a medicine that healed me,' Trump said of the Regeneron antibody cocktail he was given at Walter Reed Hospital this week. That cure will be widely available soon, Trump asserted. 'Hundreds of thousands of vials are being sent to hospitals all over the country.... We can go into hospitals and clean up the hospitals,' Trump said. 'I had a meeting with the doctors today. These eleven guys, they showed me stats, it was amazing.... We're sending that to all our hospitals,' Trump said. 'This is stuff that's so good it wiped out the virus.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Kathryn Watson & Steven Portnoy of CBS News: "Dr. Anthony Fauci said in an interview with CBS News that referring to a cure for COVID-19 may cause 'confusion,' and he also weighed in on the health status of President Trump, who contracted the virus but is eager to return to in-person events as the presidential campaign reaches its closing weeks. Fauci also identified the White House ceremony for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett as a 'super spreader' event.... '"We had a super-spreader event in the White House and it was in a situation where people were crowded together and were not wearing masks. So the data speak for themselves.'"

Phil Mattingly & Ted Barrett of CNN: "... Donald Trump has signed off on a roughly $1.8 trillion stimulus offer to be presented to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to two people with knowledge of the decision, marking the highest topline dollar figure the administration has put on the table to this point. The direct involvement of Trump himself and his willingness to put down an offer far above the preferences of congressional Republicans adds a dynamic new element to long-stalled negotiations.... The $1.8 trillion figure is up from a $1.6 trillion offer from earlier this week, though it remains below the $2.2 trillion in the bill passed last week by House Democrats -- and Pelosi has been unwilling to go below $2 trillion in negotiations up to this point, people familiar with the matter say. The details in the offer remain as important, if not more so, than the topline dollar figure.... And the President appeared to undermine his own proposal Friday afternoon when he said that he would like to see a bigger stimulus than what is currently being put forth by either Democrats or his administration." Emphasis added. ~~~

~~~ Sarah Ferris, et al., of Politico: "Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin delivered a $1.8 trillion proposal to Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday -- the GOP's most substantial offer yet to Democrats, just days after Trump declared the talks were over until after the November election.... But even if the two reach an agreement on a stimulus package, Pelosi and Mnuchin will be facing strong headwinds in the GOP-controlled Senate, where Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been skeptical of the prospects of muscling through a massive bill this month. McConnell reiterated Friday that it was 'unclear' whether a deal would get through before Nov. 3 and emphasized that the Senate's priority is the confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court."

Mike Lillis of the Hill: "House Democrats on Friday unveiled legislation creating a panel to gauge a president's capacity to perform the job -- and potentially remove the commander in chief from office in cases of decided debility. The commission would be permanent, applying to future administrations, but it's a clear shot at President Trump, whose treatments for the coronavirus have raised questions about their effects on his mental acuity. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), a sharp critic of the president, has fueled those questions in the the days since Trump returned to the White House after three nights in the hospital, floating the idea that Trump's drug regimen -- which includes a steroid linked to mood swings -- might be affecting his decisionmaking.... The Democrats' legislation invokes the 25th Amendment, which empowers Congress to create 'a body' which, working with the vice president, can remove a president deemed 'unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.' Sponsored by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a former professor of constitutional law, the bill would create a 17-member panel charged with judging the president's fitness -- and empowered to remove that figure when deficiencies are determined. In such a case, the vice president would take over. 'This is not about President Trump; he will face the judgment of the voters,' Pelosi told reporters Friday. 'But he shows the need for us to create a process for future presidents.' The proposal has no chance of being enacted...." The Washington Post's story is here.

Susanne Craig, et al., of the New York Times: Donald Trump's "long-hidden tax records, obtained by The New York Times..., reveal ... how [-- in 2016 --] he engineered a sudden financial windfall -- more than $21 million in what experts describe as highly unusual one-off payments from the Las Vegas hotel he owns with his friend the casino mogul Phil Ruffin.... In [his presidential campaign's] waning days, as his own giving had slowed to a trickle, Mr. Trump contributed $10 million, leaving many people wondering where the burst of cash had come from....[It may have been an illegal campaign contribution, laundered through the venture with Ruffin.] The bulk of the [$21 million windfall] went through a company called Trump Las Vegas Sales and Marketing that had little previous income, no clear business purpose and no employees. The Trump-Ruffin joint venture wrote it all off as a business expense [which] ... could be legally problematic.... Mr. Trump's tax records reveal that when he decided to leverage his brand in the political arena, its true bottom line bore little resemblance to the gold-plated success story he was hawking to the American people. Most of his core businesses were losing money.... Mr. Trump was furiously moving money, his tax records show." After he became president*, "the Transportation Department's Credit Council approved the sale of $1 billion in tax-free bonds" to a bullet-train project in which Ruffin maintained an interest.

Joshua Partlow, et al., of the Washington Post: "Five years ago, Donald Trump promised to preserve more than 150 acres of rolling woodlands in an exclusive swath of New York suburbia.... In exchange for setting aside this land on his estate known as Seven Springs, Trump received a tax break of $21.1 million, according to court documents. The size of Trump's tax windfall was set by a 2016 appraisal that valued Seven Springs at $56.5 million -- more than double the value assessed by the three Westchester County towns that each contained a piece of the property. The valuation has now become a focal point of what could be one of the most consequential investigations facing President Trump as he heads into the election. New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) is investigating whether the Trump Organization improperly inflated the value of Seven Springs as part of the conservation easement on the property.... The investigation also scrutinizes valuations, tax burdens and conservation easements at Trump's holdings in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City.... The Seven Springs appraisal ... appears to have relied on unsupported assertions and misleading conclusions that boosted the value of Trump's charitable gift -- and his tax break.... [Trump's appraiser] established the value of the 212-acre estate by assuming a future buyer could build and sell 24 mansions on the land, without providing evidence that such a subdivision would meet local regulations" [and there was ample evidence it would not].

Andrew Kaczynski & Em Steck of CNN: "Judge Amy Coney Barrett failed to disclose two talks she gave in 2013 hosted by two anti-abortion student groups on paperwork provided to the Senate ahead of her confirmation hearing to become the next Supreme Court justice. Barrett..., Donald Trump's nominee to succeed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, gave the talks -- a lecture and a seminar -- in 2013 in her capacity as a law professor at the University of Notre Dame. The seminar was co-sponsored by the school's Right to Life club and constitutional studies minor.... CNN's KFile found advertisements for two lectures on social media and in a weekly Notre Dame faculty newsletter. It is not known what was said in the two events, though both centered on abortion court cases. In a separate instance, CNN's KFile found a publicized talk that Barrett gave to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade -- a seminar Barrett disclosed in her Senate paperwork -- was removed by the university from YouTube in 2014. A school spokesman told CNN the video is now lost.

Kim Bellware, et al., of the Washington Post sort of profile some of the men who allegedly planned to kidnap, try & perhaps kill Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, as well as carrying on other mayhem in order to take over the Michigan government." Mrs. McC: I doubt many of them excelled in their school civics classes.

News Lede

Weather Channel: "More than 800,000 Gulf Coast homes and businesses were left without power Saturday morning as the remnants of Hurricane Delta continued to push inland across Louisiana and into the South. Delta, now a tropical storm, already dumped record amounts of rain in some parts of the state, causing flash flooding that stranded cars, made roads impassable and sent water into homes. More than a foot of rain fell in parts of Lake Charles, Louisiana."

The Commentariat -- October 9, 2020

Afternoon Update:

The New York Times' live Covid-19 updates Friday are here.

Dr. Trump, Medicine Man, & His Miracle Cure. A. G. Gancarski of Florida Politics: Donald Trump told Rush Limbaugh Friday, "'We have a cure' for COVID-19, he told the conservative talk master. 'We have a cure, some call it a therapeutic. I call it a cure that most have never heard of that's going to be out very soon,' Trump assured Limbaugh in the noon hour. 'I was in not great shape, but we had a medicine that healed me,' Trump said of the Regeneron antibody cocktail he was given at Walter Reed Hospital this week. That cure will be widely available soon, Trump asserted. 'Hundreds of thousands of vials are being sent to hospitals all over the country.... We can go into hospitals and clean up the hospitals,' Trump said. 'I had a meeting with the doctors today. These eleven guys, they showed me stats, it was amazing.... We're sending that to all our hospitals,' Trump said. 'This is stuff that's so good it wiped out the virus.'"

Must-Not-Watch TV. Jamie Ross of the Daily Beast: "... Donald Trump is apparently going to have a 'medical evaluation' on television. In an announcement from Fox News, the network said Trump is set to do his first on-camera interview since his COVID-19 diagnosis with Tucker Carlson tonight. But, in a significantly more interesting bit of the announcement, Fox News confirmed: 'Dr. Marc Siegel will conduct a medical evaluation and interview during the program.'.... Despite his insistence that he's totally fine, Trump hacked and coughed his way through a phone interview with Fox on Thursday night."

~~~~~~~~~~

David Eggert & Ed White of the AP: "Agents foiled a stunning plot to kidnap Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, authorities said Thursday in announcing charges in an alleged scheme that involved months of planning and even rehearsals to snatch her from her vacation home. Six men were charged in federal court with conspiring to kidnap the governor in reaction to what they viewed as her 'uncontrolled power,' according to a federal complaint. Separately, seven others were charged in state court under Michigan's anti-terrorism laws for allegedly targeting police and seeking a 'civil war.' A few hours later, Whitmer pinned some blame on ... Donald Trump, noting that he did not condemn white supremacists in last week's debate with Joe Biden and instead told a far-right group to 'stand back and stand by.' 'Hate groups heard the president's words not as a rebuke but as a rallying cry, as a call to action,' Whitmer said.... The six men charged in federal court plotted for months, consulting and training with members of a group that federal authorities described as a militia, and undertaking rehearsals in August and September, according to an FBI affidavit. They were arrested Wednesday night and face up to life in prison if convicted." This is an update of a story linked yesterday. ~~~

If the president read his intel briefings and understood the dogma of white nationalist groups, he'd realize that language like 'LIBERATE MICHIGAN!' is read as tacit permission -- if not explicit encouragement -- for militias to take action. -- Tim Alberta of Politico, in a tweet ~~~

~~~ Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, et al., of the New York Times: "Storming the State Capitol. Instigating a civil war. Abducting a sitting governor ahead of the presidential election. Those were among the plots described by federal and state officials in Michigan on Thursday as they announced terrorism, conspiracy and weapons charges against 13 men. At least six of them, officials said, had hatched a detailed plan to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat who has become a focal point of anti-government views and anger over coronavirus control measures. The group that planned the kidnapping met repeatedly over the summer for firearms training and combat drills and practiced building explosives, the F.B.I. said.... The men spied on Ms. Whitmer's vacation home in August and September, even looking under a highway bridge for places they could place and detonate a bomb to distract the authorities, the F.B.I. said. They indicated that they wanted to take Ms. Whitmer hostage before the election in November, and one man said they should take her to a 'secure location' in Wisconsin for a 'trial,' Richard J. Trask II, an F.B.I. special agent, said in the criminal complaint."

So Then. Justine Coleman of the Hill: "President Trump chastised Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) on Thursday for calling the president 'complicit' in the extremism associated with the FBI-thwarted scheme to kidnap her. The president condemned the Michigan governor for not thanking him after the FBI filed a federal affidavit saying it stopped a militia group from violently kidnapping Whitmer. 'My Justice Department and Federal Law Enforcement announced today that they foiled a dangerous plot against the Governor of Michigan, he posted. 'Rather than say thank you, she calls me a White Supremacist -- while Biden and Democrats refuse to condemn Antifa, Anarchists, Looters and Mobs that burn down Democrat run cities.... I do not tolerate ANY extreme violence. Defending ALL Americans, even those who oppose and attack me, is what I will always do as your President!' he added. He also took shots at her handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying she did a 'terrible job' and 'locked down her state for everyone.'"

BY CONTRAST. Dave Boucher of the Detroit Free Press: "It's not difficult to draw a connection between the divisive and racist rhetoric of ... Donald Trump and a thwarted plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said in a statement late Thursday. Biden said he'd reached out to Whitmer earlier in the day to check in after state and federal law enforcement announced they'd arrested 13 people in connection to what's being called a domestic terrorism plot.... The problem spans far beyond the threat against Whitmer though, Biden said. ~~~

As a nation, we are at a crossroads. We have come to a point where, despite our shock, we are not surprised that such a heinous plot was even conceived -- a plot by Americans to blow up a bridge on American soil, threaten the lives of police officers and other law enforcement officials, and kidnap an American leader, take her hostage, and stage a mock trial for treason.... When protesters with Swastikas and Confederate flags, nooses, and assault rifles descended on Michigan's Capitol echoing the president's own refrain to 'lock her up,' President Trump called them 'very good people.'... There is a throughline from President Trump's dog whistles and tolerance of hate, vengeance, and lawlessness to plots such as this one. He is giving oxygen to the bigotry and hate we see on the march in our country. -- Joe Biden, yesterday, in a statement

Charlie Warzel of the New York Times on how Facebook enabled & amplified the very militia groups that plotted against Whitmer & other Michiganders. "The complaint [against the Michigan perps] mentions Facebook three times as one of the communications platforms that the group used to coordinate their activities."

** Mary McCord, in a New York Times op-ed: "The danger of [private militias] was brought home on Thursday with the announcement that the F.B.I. had thwarted a plot by people associated with an extremist group in Michigan to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and overthrow the government.... Sometimes [these groups] want to fight against the perceived tyranny of the states, as when they stormed the Capitol in Lansing, Mich., this spring to demand the end of the governor's pandemic shutdown order, egged on by President Trump's tweets to'LIBERATE MICHIGAN!' Sometimes they want to usurp the functions of law enforcement, as they've done in Kenosha, Wis., and elsewhere, purporting to 'protect' property during racial justice protests, often in response to false rumors about leftist violence, rumors stoked by the president's calls to designate 'antifa' as a terrorist organization. Most alarmingly, some of them are planning their own poll-watching and openly training in preparation for the post-election period. Whatever their stated purpose, their conduct is unlawful and not constitutionally protected.... Those groups ... are likely to hear the president's unsupported claims about election fraud as their license to deploy to the polls to 'protect' or 'patrol' the vote."

Presidential Race, Etc.

Jonathan Martin & Sydney Ember of the New York Times: "Vice President Mike Pence, Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Senator Kamala Harris all touched down in Arizona on Thursday to rally supporters, a sign of the increasingly pivotal nature of a historically Republican state that is now up for grabs. In dueling afternoon appearances on the second day of early voting in Arizona, Mr. Pence and the two members of the Democratic ticket appeared on opposite ends of metropolitan Phoenix.... Even if the president is able to win one of the three Great Lakes states -- Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin, with polls showing him trailing in all three --..., his path to re-election would be greatly imperiled if he cannot hold Arizona. He's struggling here in large part because women and nonwhite voters have flocked to Mr. Biden, who, along with Ms. Harris, sought to appeal to some of those voters on Thursday. They met with Cindy McCain, the widow of Senator John McCain, and joined tribal leaders at a monument to Native Americans in Phoenix." He also made "a socially distanced appearance at a carpenters union hall."

Brett Samuels of the Hill: "Democratic nominee Joe Biden will take part in a town hall forum hosted by ABC News on the night of what was supposed to be the second presidential debate. The former vice president will instead participate in an event in Philadelphia moderated by ABC anchor George Stephanopoulos. The announcement indicates that the second presidential debate will no longer take place as planned Oct. 15 after President Trump balked at the decision to make it a virtual event for safety reasons." ~~~

     ~~~ MEANWHILE. Mike Perez of Forbes: "After refusing earlier in the day to participate in the October 15 presidential debate against former Vice President Joe Biden because it had been changed to a virtual format, President Trump's campaign is now demanding an in-person event, citing his physician's note that he has completed treatment for Covid-19. Thursday evening, Dr. Sean Conley said in a press release, 'I fully anticipate the President's safe return to public engagements' by Saturday.... Conley's note drew criticism from experts like Dr. Eric Topol... of the Scripps Research Institute, who questioned on Twitter the soundness of his assertion that Trump will be safe to engage with the public in two days given that he provided no evidence 'that he is not infectious, without viral load data, without providing when/timeline he became infected.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Zeke Miller & Will Weissert of the AP: "But [debates] commission chair Frank Fahrenkopf said late Thursday that the decision to hold the debate virtually, guided by its medical advisers at the Cleveland Clinic, was not going to be reversed." The article reprises yesterday's developments following the morning Trumpertantrum.

Peter Baker & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The president has not been seen in person since returning to the White House this Monday, but he sought to reassert himself on the public stage with a pair of telephone interviews with Fox News and Fox Business as well as a video and a series of Twitter messages. Even for him, they were scattershot performances.... President Trump ... announced that he hoped to return to the campaign trail on Saturday just nine days after he tested positive for the coronavirus.... The president again dismissed the virus, saying, 'when you catch it, you get better,' ignoring the more than 212,000 people in the United States who did not get better and died from it. In his statement on Thursday night..., Dr. Sean P. Conley reported that ... by Saturday, 'I fully expect the president's return to public engagement.' Dr. Conley, who has previously acknowledged providing the public with a rosy view of the president's condition to satisfy his patient, contradicted his own timeline offered upon Mr. Trump's release from the hospital, when he said doctors wanted to 'get through to Monday.'... Mr. Trump ... indicating that he had directly pressured [AG Bill] Barr to indict [President Obama & Vice President Biden] without waiting for more evidence.... 'I said, "You don't need any more."'... [He] call[ed] Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan 'the lockup queen' even as his own Justice Department was announcing the existence of an anti-government group's plot to kidnap her." ~~~

~~~ Oliver Darcy of CNN: "Trump continued to careen from topic to topic on Sean Hannity's show [Thursday night], promoting conspiracy theories, peddling falsehoods, and launching attacks on Democrats and the media during a roughly 25 minute conversation. But it was arguably the President's health that took center stage. During the interview, Hannity twice asked Trump if he had been tested for the coronavirus since he became ill last week. It was a question that the President apparently couldn't answer. Trump instead said that he will 'probably' be tested on Friday. Medhi Hasan quipped about the non-answer, 'Mark the date, we have reached the point where even Sean Hannity is asking Trump simple questions that the president can't or won't answer.'... At least twice during the interview, Trump had to pause his sentences and audibly clear his throat and cough. The President insisted he was feeling great, claiming he saw his doctors earlier in the day and that they believe him to be in 'great shape.' But he sure didn't sound like he was cured, as he claimed to be."

Another Trumpertantrum. Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump said Thursday that he would not participate in a virtual debate, minutes after the organizing commission announced that next week's event would be virtual to protect the health of those involved. 'I'm not going to do a virtual debate,' Trump ... said in an interview on Fox Business, claiming the Commission on Presidential Debates is 'trying to protect' Democratic nominee Joe Biden. 'I'm not going to waste my time with a virtual debate. That's not what debating is all about. You sit behind a computer and do a debate, that is ridiculous,' Trump continued. He indicated that his campaign was not informed of the decision before it was announced.... Biden's campaign indicated that the former vice president would participate.... Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien, who also was diagnosed with COVID-19 last week, issued a statement later Thursday morning, describing the decision by the commission as a 'pathetic' effort to 'rush to Joe Biden's defense.' He said that Trump would hold a campaign rally instead." Mrs. McC: It isn't just that Trump doesn't care if he infects others; he seems to want to infect Joe Biden. The idea that the committee would protect Biden & others from Trump's deadly virus offends Trump. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Chelsea Janes & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "... Joe Biden, speaking to reporters in Wilmington, Del., before boarding a flight to Arizona, said he is unsure what will happen now. 'We don't know what the president is going to do. He changes his mind every second, so for me to comment on that now would be irresponsible,' Biden said. 'I'm going to follow the commission's recommendations. If he goes off and he has a rally, I don't know what I'll do.'... Both campaigns said that their organizations had not been consulted about the switch to a virtual debate. Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr., the head of the Presidential Debate Commission, said that both campaigns were given five minutes' notice before the decision was announced, and that they were not asked to consent to the decision." (Also linked yesterday.)

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "There was much about President Trump's Thursday morning interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo that reeked of desperation and an incumbent president fighting for his political life.... But perhaps nothing in the interview reflected his precarious position quite like what he said about some of his most loyal allies. And the theme of each was the same: These people aren't doing enough to further his political goals by linking his prominent foes to crimes.... Trump built upon tweets this week suggesting [Bill] Barr needs to start indicting people tied to the Russia investigation, while explicitly citing President Barack Obama and Biden.... [Trump] also expressed rare dissatisfaction with [Mike] Pompeo, who he said should release some sort of new information on Hillary Clinton's emails.... Trump also reserved some of his harshest words to date for [FBI Director Christopher] Wray, who has recently contradicted Trump's baseless claims about massive mail-in voter fraud. Trump declined to say whether he would fire Wray." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: It is unique in American history that a sitting president* would insist that his attorney general indict a former president & vice president -- and for "crimes" that occurred only in the sitting president*'s mind. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Michael Balsamo & others of the AP have a story on how Bill Barr is "frustrated" by Trump's public attacks on him regarding U.S. Attorney John Durham's investigation of the investigation. But the story seems to be a Friends-of-Bill plant to allow Barr to pretend he's trying to be a careful, apolitical AG -- right up to the time he dumps his October surprise. Remember that Barr has refused to withhold DOJ findings that could affect the outcome of the election. I won't be surprised to see a headline like "DOJ Indicts Biden" on October 29. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Mrs. McCrabbie: Well, shucks, maybe I'm wrong. Alayna Treene of Axios: "Attorney General Bill Barr has begun telling top Republicans that the Justice Department's sweeping review into the origins of the Russia investigation will not be released before the election, a senior White House official and a congressional aide briefed on the conversations tell Axios." Of course this too could be a feint.

Elizabeth Thomas of ABC News: "... Donald Trump on Thursday attacked Sen. Kamala Harris as 'a monster' the day after the vice presidential debate. 'This monster that was on stage with Mike Pence, who destroyed her last night by the way, but this monster, she says no no there won't be fracking, everything she said is a lie'" Trump said in an interview with Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo. He went on to call her 'horrible,' and 'totally unlikeable,' as well as a 'communist.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

From the Washington Post's live election updates Thursday. Felicia Sonmez @ 10:59 am ET: "The organizers of last night's vice-presidential debate had strict rules regarding mask use amid the coronavirus pandemic: Anyone not wearing a mask could be ejected from the venue. But that didn't stop Karen Pence from appearing maskless onstage as she greeted her husband at the end of the debate. By contrast, Harris's husband, Doug Emhoff, was wearing a face mask as he joined his wife onstage at the debate's end.... After the debate, former Wisconsin governor Scott Walker (R) tweeted a photo of himself posing with a group including [mike] Pence and Pence's chief of staff, Marc Short. Members of the group were smiling, embracing -- and not wearing masks." Mrs. McC: Too bad a burly security guard didn't wrangle Karen to the ground. That would have been more amusing than the fly alighting on mike's head. (Also linked yesterday.)

Mike's Lesson on How to Deflect without Lying. Jen Christensen of CNN: "Asked [during last night's debate] if the human-caused climate crisis made wildfires bigger and hurricanes wetter, slower and more damaging, Pence did not answer the question directly. Instead, he claimed that, 'with regard to hurricanes, the National Oceanic Administration tells us that actually, and as difficult as they are, there are no more hurricanes today than there were 100 years ago.' This needs context. Mike Pence is correct, based on the limited data we have on storms from that time period. The number of hurricanes generally are about the same as they were 100 years ago, according to historical records. However, scientists also believe hurricanes today are becoming stronger and potentially more deadly as the planet warms due to the climate crisis, according to a 2020 study from the US government's own researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The scientists also said the data did not go back far enough for them to definitively link the strength of storms to human-induced global warming. Researchers have found that the probability of storms reaching major hurricane status has increased decade after decade." (Also linked yesterday.)

Administration Officials Scramble to Send Bribe Letters. Dan Diamond of Politico: "Caught by surprise by ... Donald Trump's promise to deliver drug-discount cards to seniors, health officials are scrambling to get the nearly $8 billion plan done by Election Day, according to five officials and draft documents obtained by Politico. The taxpayer-funded plan, which was only announced two weeks ago ... is being driven by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.... The administration is seeking to finalize the plan as soon as Friday and send letters to 39 million Medicare beneficiaries next week, informing seniors of Trump's new effort to lower their drug costs, although many seniors would not receive the actual cards until after the election." (Also linked yesterday.)

Michigan. Gregory Lemos and Chandelis Duster of CNN: "Two right-wing political operatives accused of orchestrating robocalls aimed at deterring voters in Detroit and other major cities from casting their ballots by mail were arraigned Wednesday on voter intimidation charges, according to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl were each charged last week with one count of intimidating voters, one count of conspiracy to commit an election law violation, one count of using a computer to commit the crime of intimidating voters and using a computer to commit the crime of conspiracy.... Both men turned themselves in to Detroit law enforcement early Thursday morning...."

Ohio. Ross Levitt & Devan Cole of CNN: "A federal judge on Thursday blocked an order from Ohio's secretary of state that would have required counties in the state to install ballot drop boxes just at the local election office, allowing additional drop boxes to be placed in areas that need them. At issue was an order earlier this week from Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose that limited ballot drop boxes to one location per county: a county's election office.... But federal Judge Dan Polster said LaRose's order puts a burden on more populous counties -- like Cuyahoga, which includes Cleveland -- and which he says has 'a very serious looming problem' that could jeopardize the right to vote.... 'The Secretary is continuing to restrict boards from implementing off-site collection, and he appears to be doing so in an arbitrary manner,' Polster wrote. 'The Court has given the Secretary every opportunity to address the problem ... and he has been unwilling or unable to do so.'"

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

Rebecca Shabad of NBC News: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., says she plans to talk about the 25th Amendment, which outlines presidential transfer of power procedures, on Friday. Pelosi told reporters during her weekly press conference at the Capitol Thursday to come to the Hill 'tomorrow' because she said, 'We're going to be talking about the 25th Amendment.'... In an interview immediately after her press conference, Pelosi suggested that the president may not be thinking clearly because of the drugs he has taken while being treated for the disease. 'The president is, shall we say, in an altered state right now,' Pelosi said on Bloomberg TV." ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Md.) plan to introduce legislation Friday that would create a commission to 'help ensure effective and uninterrupted leadership' in the presidency. The panel would be called the Commission on Presidential Capacity to Discharge the Powers and Duties of Office, 'the body and process called for in the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,' the offices of Pelosi and Raskin said in a statement announcing the move. The 25th Amendment formalizes that the vice president takes over the duties of the presidency in the event of a president's death, inability to perform his duties or resignation from office. It also lays out a process by which a sitting president may be removed from office.... Raskin introduced a similar measure in 2017 that would establish a congressionally appointed commission of physicians and top leaders who could evaluate the president's health -- both mental and physical -- and work with the vice president on a transfer of power."

BBC: "Republican leader Mitch McConnell, 78, on Thursday revealed he had not been to the White House since August [6] because of the way it has handled Covid-19.... Speaking to reporters in Kentucky, Mr McConnell said he steered clear of the White House in the last two months 'because my impression was their approach to how to handle this was different from mine'.... 'And they are, you know, paying the price for it,' the top Republican said, adding that the Senate was operating normally thanks to its Covid-19 precautions

"Truly Unbelievable." Will Feuer of CNBC: "... Donald Trump said Thursday that he's not contagious 'at all' days after he was discharged from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after a brief stay to treat him for Covid-19. 'First of all, I think I'm better. I'd love to do a rally tonight. I wanted to do one last night, but I think I'm better to a point that I feel better than I did, I jokingly said, 20 years ago. I feel perfect. There's nothing wrong,' he told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo on a call Thursday morning. 'I don't think I'm contagious at all.'... Dr. Leana Wen, former Baltimore health commissioner, said the president's comments are 'truly unbelievable.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Quint Forgey of Politico: "... Donald Trump suggested Thursday that he might have contracted Covid-19 from Gold Star family members who were too close to him when telling stories of their loved ones who died in the line of duty. In an interview on Fox Business, Trump told host Maria Bartiromo that he 'figured there would be a chance' he would become infected with the coronavirus, citing his meetings with the families of America's war dead.... Trump explained that as he was being told these stories about fallen soldiers, 'I can't say, "Back up, stand 10 feet," you know? I just can't do it.'... Trump's remarks Thursday were most likely in reference to a White House event on Sept. 27 celebrating Gold Star families, which several high-ranking military leaders also attended." (Also linked yesterday.) A New York Times story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Last week, Trump said Hope Hicks may have contracted Covid-19 from soldiers & law enforcement officers who always wanted to hug her. He said this knowing that he, too, had tested positive, though he lied about that. So he essentially blamed the military & law enforcement for making him sick.

Griff Witte of the Washington Post: "In interviews, Americans whose lives have been upended by the [corona]virus said they felt disappointed that the president missed an opportunity to model responsible behavior. They expressed anger that Trump has continued to minimize the virus's threat after receiving deluxe care that the vast majority of people can only dream of at a time when testing and treatments are running low. And they voiced fear that Trump's words and actions would lead to more reckless behavior among his supporters.",(Also linked yesterday.)

Leslie Josephs of CNBC: "Airline stocks fell Thursday after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said there won't be a standalone bill for additional aid for carriers without a larger coronavirus stimulus package. Pelosi's comments come two days after ... Donald Trump halted talks for a national coronavirus package until after the election, but urged additional aid for the ailing airline sector." Mrs. McC: Stand-alone bills tend to be poison. They allow Republicans to pick & choose among bills so that poor people, supported only by Democrats, get nothing while wealthier entities get support from both Republicans & Democrats, & those bills pass. (Also linked yesterday.)

Ha Ha. Jennifer Kelleher of the AP: "The U.S. surgeon general was cited for being in a closed Hawaii park in August while in the islands helping with surge testing amid a spike in coronavirus cases, according to a criminal complaint filed in court. A Honolulu police officer cited Jerome Adams after seeing him with two men 'looking at the view taking pictures' at Kualoa Regional Park on Oahu's northeastern coast, the citation said." (Also linked yesterday.)

Dan Mangan, et al., of CNBC: "Elliott Broidy, a formerly influential campaign fundraiser for ... Donald Trump and the Republican party, was charged Thursday by federal authorities with violating a foreign lobbying law. Broidy was charged in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., with an instrument known as as a criminal information, which is typically used when a defendant has agreed to plead guilty. The charging document says Broidy agreed to lobby the Trump administration and the Justice Department to drop or favorably resolve the investigation of a foreign national for his role in the embezzlement of billions of dollars from the Malaysia state development fund, known as 1MDB." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here.

Jodi Kantor of the New York Times examines the claims by Amy Dorris, who said that in 1997 Donald Trump "groped & forcibly kissed her." Two then-friends of Dorris said she shared the story with them in 1997 and that they believed her. Dorris's mother & another friend also said she called them for advice shortly after Trump attacked her. (Also linked yesterday.)

Pranshu Verma of the New York Times: "Five officials suspended from the government's global media agency sued its chief executive and top aides on Thursday, claiming they broke the law in repeatedly seeking to turn a news service under its purview into a mouthpiece for pro-Trump propaganda. The 84-page lawsuit asserts that Michael Pack, the chief executive of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, or his aides have interrogated journalists at the Voice of America who have censured Mr. Pack or written articles top officials believed were critical of President Trump, instilling fear across the agency." Read on for a summary of Pack's performance. NPR's story is here.

News Ledes

Weather Channel: "Hurricane Delta is a Category 2 storm heading for a Gulf Coast landfall Friday evening with life-threatening storm surge, damaging winds and rainfall flooding from Louisiana and east Texas to Mississippi. This includes some of the same areas that were ravaged by Hurricane Laura more than a month ago. As expected, Delta has begun to weaken slightly but it is important to not focus on its maximum sustained winds, as it will still be a powerful hurricane when it reached the Gulf Coast."

New York Times: "Whitey Ford, the Yankees' Hall of Fame left-hander who was celebrated as the Chairman of the Board for his stylish pitching and big-game brilliance on the ball clubs that dominated baseball in the 1950s and early '60s, died on Thursday night at his home in Lake Success, N.Y., on Long Island. He was 91."

New York Times: "The World Food Program was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for its efforts to combat a surge in global hunger amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has swept around the world with devastating impact. The Nobel committee said that work by the organization, a United Nations agency, to address hunger had laid the foundations for peace in nations ravaged by war."

New York Times: "Jim Dwyer, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, columnist and author whose stylish journalism captured the human dramas of New York City for readers of New York Newsday, The Daily News and The New York Times for nearly four decades, died on Thursday in Manhattan. He was 63." The obituary describes the lede of a story Dwyer wrote when he was a reporter at the Fordham U. student newspaper & stopped to help a "rough-looking man having an epileptic seizure"

Charlie Martinez, whoever he was, lay on the cold sidewalk in front of Dick Gidron's used Cadillac place on Fordham Road. He had picked a fine afternoon to go into convulsions: the sky was sharp and cool, a fall day that made even Fordham Road look good.' ~~~

~~~ The Times published links to a selection of Dwyer's writings today, and the one, written in 2015, about Donald Trump's becoming principal for a day in 1997 is more evidence that Trump was always a jerk & proof that New Yorkers knew it.

The Commentariat -- October 8, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

AP: "Six people plotted to try to kidnap Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at her vacation home, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Thursday in federal court. Four of the six men had planned to meet Wednesday to 'make a payment on explosives and exchange tactical gear,' the FBI said in the cour filing. The FBI quoted one of the accused as saying Whitmer 'has no checks and balances at all. She has uncontrolled power right now. All good thing must come to an end.'" This is a breaking story.

Dan Mangan, et al., of CNBC: "Elliott Broidy, a formerly influential campaign fundraiser for ... Donald Trump and the Republican party, was charged Thursday by federal authorities with violating a foreign lobbying law. Broidy was charged in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., with an instrument known as as a criminal information, which is typically used when a defendant has agreed to plead guilty. The charging document says Broidy agreed to lobby the Trump administration and the Justice Department to drop or favorably resolve the investigation of a foreign national for his role in the embezzlement of billions of dollars from the Malaysia state development fund...."

Jodi Kantor of the New York Times examines the claims by Amy Dorris, who said that in 1997 Donald Trump "groped & forcibly kissed her." Two then-friends of Dorris said she shared the story with them in 1997 and that they believed her. Dorris's mother & another friend also said she called them for advice shortly after Trump attacked her.

Rebecca Shabad of NBC News: z'House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., says she plans to talk about the 25th Amendment, which outlines presidential transfer of power procedures, on Friday. Pelosi told reporters during her weekly press conference at the Capitol Thursday to come to the Hill 'tomorrow' because she said, 'We're going to be talking about the 25th Amendment.'... In an interview immediately after her press conference, Pelosi suggested that the president may not be thinking clearly because of the drugs he has taken while being treated for the disease. 'The president is, shall we say, in an altered state right now,' Pelosi said on Bloomberg TV."

Another Trumpertantrum. Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump said Thursday that he would not participate in a virtual debate, minutes after the organizing commission announced that next week's event would be virtual to protect the health of those involved. 'I'm not going to do a virtual debate,' Trump ... said in an interview on Fox Business, claiming the Commission on Presidential Debates is 'trying to protect' Democratic nominee Joe Biden. 'I'm not going to waste my time with a virtual debate. That's not what debating is all about. You sit behind a computer and do a debate, that is ridiculous,' Trump continued. He indicated that his campaign was not informed of the decision before it was announced.... Biden's campaign indicated that the former vice president would participate.... Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien, who also was diagnosed with COVID-19 last week, issued a statement later Thursday morning, describing the decision by the commission as a 'pathetic' effort to 'rush to Joe Biden's defense.' He said that Trump would hold a campaign rally instead." Mrs. McC: It isn't just that Trump doesn't care if he infects others with the coronavirus; he seems to want to infect Joe Biden. The idea that the committee would protect Biden & others from Trump's deadly virus offends Trump. ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Chelsea Janes & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "... Joe Biden, speaking to reporters in Wilmington, Del., before boarding a flight to Arizona, said he is unsure what will happen now. 'We don't know what the president is going to do. He changes his mind every second, so for me to comment on that now would be irresponsible,' Biden said. 'I'm going to follow the commission's recommendations. If he goes off and he has a rally, I don't know what I'll do.'... Both campaigns said that their organizations had not been consulted about the switch to a virtual debate. Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr., the head of the Presidential Debate Commission, said that both campaigns were given five minutes' notice before the decision was announced, and that they were not asked to consent to the decision."

"Truly Unbelievable." Will Feuer of CNBC: "... Donald Trump said Thursday that he's not contagious 'at all' days after he was discharged from the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after a brief stay to treat him for Covid-19. 'First of all, I think I'm better. I'd love to do a rally tonight. I wanted to do one last night, but I think I'm better to a point that I feel better than I did, I jokingly said, 20 years ago. I feel perfect. There's nothing wrong,' he told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo on a call Thursday morning. 'I don't think I'm contagious at all.'... Dr. Leana Wen, former Baltimore health commissioner, said the president's comments are 'truly unbelievable.'"

Quint Forgey of Politico: "... Donald Trump suggested Thursday that he might have contracted Covid-19 from Gold Star family members who were too close to him when telling stories of their loved ones who died in the line of duty. In an interview on Fox Business, Trump told host Maria Bartiromo that he 'figured there would be a chance' he would become infected with the coronavirus, citing his meetings with the families of America's war dead.... Trump explained that as he was being told these stories about fallen soldiers, 'I can't say, "Back up, stand 10 feet," you know? I just can't do it.'... Trump's remarks Thursday were most likely in reference to a White House event on Sept. 27 celebrating Gold Star families, which several high-ranking military leaders also attended."

Elizabeth Thomas of ABC News: "... Donald Trump on Thursday attacked Sen. Kamala Harris as 'a monster' the day after the vice presidential debate. 'This monster that was on stage with Mike Pence, who destroyed her last night by the way, but this monster, she says no no there won't be fracking, everything she said is a lie'" Trump said in an interview with Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo. He went on to call her 'horrible,' and 'totally unlikeable,' as well as a 'communist.'"

From the Washington Post's live election updates Thursday, also linked below. Felicia Sonmez @ 10:59 am ET: "The organizers of last night's vice-presidential debate had strict rules regarding mask use amid the coronavirus pandemic: Anyone not wearing a mask could be ejected from the venue. But that didn't stop Karen Pence from appearing maskless onstage as she greeted her husband at the end of the debate. By contrast, Harris's husband, Doug Emhoff, was wearing a face mask as he joined his wife onstage at the debate's end.... After the debate, former Wisconsin governor Scott Walker (R) tweeted a photo of himself posing with a group including [mike] Pence and Pence's chief of staff, Marc Short. Members of the group were smiling, embracing -- and not wearing masks." Mrs. McC: Too bad a burly security guard didn't wrangle Karen to the ground. That would have been more amusing than the fly alighting on mike's head.

Griff Witte of the Washington Post: "In interviews, Americans whose lives have been upended by the [corona]virus said they felt disappointed that the president missed an opportunity to model responsible behavior. They expressed anger that Trump has continued to minimize the virus's threat after receiving deluxe care that the vast majority of people can only dream of at a time when testing and treatments are running low. And they voiced fear that Trump's words and actions would lead to more reckless behavior among his supporters."

Leslie Josephs of CNBC: "Airline stocks fell Thursday after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said there won't be a standalone bill for additional aid for carriers without a larger coronavirus stimulus package. Pelosi's comments come two days after ... Donald Trump halted talks for a national coronavirus package until after the election, but urged additional aid for the ailing airline sector." Mrs. McC: Stand-alone bills tend to be poison. They allow Republicans to pick & choose among bills so that poor people, supported only by Democrats, get nothing while wealthier entities get support from both Republicans & Democrats, & those bills pass.

Ha Ha. Jennifer Kelleher of the AP: "The U.S. surgeon general was cited for being in a closed Hawaii park in August while in the islands helping with surge testing amid a spike in coronavirus cases, according to a criminal complaint filed in court. A Honolulu police officer cited Jerome Adams after seeing him with two men 'looking at the view taking pictures' at Kualoa Regional Park on Oahu's northeastern coast, the citation said."

Mike's Lesson on How to Deflect without Lying. Jen Christensen of CNN: "Asked [during last night's debate] if the human-caused climate crisis made wildfires bigger and hurricanes wetter, slower and more damaging, Pence did not answer the question directly. Instead, he claimed that, 'with regard to hurricanes, the National Oceanic Administration tells us that actually, and as difficult as they are, there are no more hurricanes today than there were 100 years ago.' This needs context. Mike Pence is correct, based on the limited data we have on storms from that time period. The number of hurricanes generally are about the same as they were 100 years ago, according to historical records. However, scientists also believe hurricanes today are becoming stronger and potentially more deadly as the planet warms due to the climate crisis, according to a 2020 study from the US government's own researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The scientists also said the data did not go back far enough for them to definitively link the strength of storms to human-induced global warming. Researchers have found that the probability of storms reaching major hurricane status has increased decade after decade."

Administration Officials Scramble to Send Bribe Letters. Dan Diamond of Politico: "Caught by surprise by ... Donald Trump's promise to deliver drug-discount cards to seniors, health officials are scrambling to get the nearly $8 billion plan done by Election Day, according to five officials and draft documents obtained by Politico. The taxpayer-funded plan, which was only announced two weeks ago ... is being driven by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.... The administration is seeking to finalize the plan as soon as Friday and send letters to 39 million Medicare beneficiaries next week, informing seniors of Trump's new effort to lower their drug costs although many seniors would not receive the actual cards until after the election."

~~~~~~~~~

The Vice Presidential Debate

Alexander Burns & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris clashed over the Trump administration's handling of the coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday night, with Mr. Pence defending the White House's record without addressing its fundamental failures, while Ms. Harris accused him and President Trump of presiding over a catastrophic failure in public-health policy. Ms Harris, the California Democrat who is Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s running mate, delivered a comprehensive denunciation of the Trump administration's policies, ranging from the economy and climate change to health care regulation and taxes. As Ms. Harris attacked Mr. Trump, the vice president sought to recast Mr. Trump's record on the pandemic and other issues in conventional and inoffensive terms, often in plain defiance of the facts. The vice president made misleading or plainly false claims about White House policies on a range of subjects weighing down Mr. Trump in the presidential race.... Mr. Pence repeatedly attempted to interrupt Ms. Harris -- usually without success -- and also talked over the moderator, Susan Page of USA Today." Here's the Times' highlights reel:

Dave Weigel, et al., of the Washington Post: "Both Vice President Pence and Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) returned again and again to attacking the top of the other campaign's ticket. Harris went after Trump's efforts to stem the coronavirus, his attempts to upend President Barack Obama's health-care program, his trade policies and his reluctance to condemn white supremacists at the first presidential debate last week.... Pence focused on Biden's plan to raise some taxes for the wealthy and his efforts to move past fossil fuels, repeatedly returning to mentions of the 'Green New Deal.' He called Biden a 'cheerleader for communist China' and attacked the former vice president for recommending that Obama delay the raid that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden."

The debate transcript, courtesy of Rev, is here.

Astead Herndon & Adam Nagourney of the New York Times: "By the standards set by President Trump at his debate with Joseph R. Biden Jr., the matchup on Wednesday night between Senator Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence was almost civil. Almost.... They were as likely not to answer a question as to answer one.... Even by the standards of modern debates, Mr. Pence ignored questions he presumably did not want to answer and often spoke over Ms. Harris and the moderator, Susan Page of USA Today, though at considerably less volume than Mr. Trump." Herndon & Nagourney point to key moments.

Ha! whaur ye gaun, ye crowlin ferlie?
Your impudence protects you sairly;
I canna say but ye strunt rarely,
Owre pence's face;
Tho', faith! I fear ye dine but sparely
On sic a place.

     -- Apologies to Robert Burns ~~~

~~~ Politico reporters choose some highlights. Here's one: "An uninvited guest stole the spotlight for a portion of the debate: a fly that perched upon Pence's hair. The fly remained on the vice president's head for about two minutes. As Harris and Pence spoke about racial justice and police brutality, it did not budge, nor did Pence acknowledge its presence.... The black fly was hard to miss against Pence's white hair...." Mrs. McC: Had the fly landed in Trump's "hair," it would have nested & laid maggots.

The Way We Were. Ryan Lizza of Politico: "... This was a boring, unfocused debate between two well-prepared and polished candidates who had little interest in answering the questions posed to them -- and were under virtually no pressure from the moderator to do so. In other words, it was sort of how debates used to be: professional politicians who are mostly civil to each other making their points, occasionally skirting the rules, and frequently spinning the facts. There was a lot to critique, but the participants were bound by some shared sense of propriety.... Considering the challenges anyone would have defending the Trump record on the pandemic, Pence's ability to leave the stage after 90 minutes without being gutted by Harris was a bar cleared.... Like the fly, the physical barriers were more memorable and more embarrassing to Pence than anything Harris said.... The vice presidential debate did nothing to alter the course of the race.... Pence's robotic drone and Harris's practiced jabs won't get the media to avert its eyes as Trump tweets conspiracy theories in all caps and praises criminal acts against protesters...."

Ken Meyer of Mediaite: "Vice President Mike Pence decided to invoke the 2009 H1N1 health crisis in order to defend President Donald Trump's leadership against the coronavirus pandemic -- and he chose to invent a nonexistent, worse-case scenario about the 'swine flu' to make his administration's performance look better.... 'If the swine flu had been as lethal as the coronavirus in 2009, when Joe Biden was vice president, we would have lost 2 million American lives.'" Mrs. McC: Yes, and what if the common cold were as lethal? Or headaches? What did you do about migraines, Joe? Here's more about H1N1 (August 2020).

Justin Baragona of the Daily Beast: "At the tail end of Wednesday night's vice-presidential debate -- one that was noticeably less fiery and chaotic than last week's presidential clash -- Vice President Mike Pence completely avoided answering what he would do if ... Donald Trump refuses to step down if he loses the election."

Glenn Kessler, et al., of the Washington Post: "In the vice-presidential debate, Vice President Pence took a number of flimsy claims out of the Trump playbook, although he often delivered them more deftly. Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) also stretched the truth at times. Here is a roundup of 15 suspect claims that were made." ~~~

~~~ Dan Merica & CNN Staff: "Vice President Mike Pence echoed some of ... Donald Trump's most common falsehoods and misleading statements during the lone vice presidential debate with Sen. Kamala Harris on Wednesday night -- though in a more restrained, neatly packaged way. The Salt Lake City debate was a less chaotic affair when compared to September's first meeting between Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden. But there were traces of that event in Pence's delivery of some of the same lines that the President often repeats. Harris, too, made some claims that were misleading or lacked context, but those paled in comparison to the litany of statements from Pence that were either untrue or needed additional context." The report lists some of pence's & Harris's false or misleading claims.

Jennifer Agiesta of CNN: "More Americans said Sen. Kamala Harris did the best job in the vice presidential debate Wednesday night, according to a CNN Instant Poll of registered voters who watched. About 6 in 10 (59%) said Harris won, while 38% said Vice President Mike Pence had the better night. Those results roughly matched voters' expectations heading into the debate. In interviews conducted before the debate, 61% of those same voters said they expected Harris to win, 36% thought Pence would."

Defending the Indefensible. Richard Wolffe of the Guardian: "The night did not start well for Pence because it started with the pandemic.... 'Our nation has gone through a very challenging time this year,' lamented our vice-veterinarian. 'But I want the American people to know that from the very first day, President Donald Trump has put the health of America first.' This will be news to the families of more than 200,000 dead Americans, as well as the White House staff currently struggling with a president spreading a full viral load around the executive mansion and the West Wing. 'When you [Harris] say what the American people have done over these last several months hasn't worked, that's a great disservice to the sacrifices the American people have made,' said Pence, as if his boss was the entire American population rolled into the Covid-filled body of a former reality TV star.... This kind of piously indignant pabulum is not a new performance for the current vice-president but rather something he perfected as a talkshow radio host in Indiana in the late 1990s. Pence styled himself as 'Rush Limbaugh on decaf' which is just the kind of awshucks deception that is so vital to serving as a cardboard cutout behind Donald Trump's shoulder."

Tim Murphy of Mother Jones: Pence "spoke directly to 'the American people' a few times, furrowed his brow when he wanted to look disappointed (which was often), and even said something nice about Sen. Kamala Harris, congratulating her on her selection to the ticket. But his performance showed just how weak the Republican ticket's hand really is right now.... Pence did his best to pick and choose stats and moments that would demonstrate leadership, but there's not really anything he can say that can reverse what Trump has done.... The best card in Pence's hand -- the one that at one point they believed made them favorites for reelection -- was the economy.... But it's not 2019 anymore. The economy is a disaster.... At this point, trying to brag about the economy is only reminding voters how bad things have gotten -- and how much worse they'll likely get."

New York Times reporters' live snark analysis of the debate is here. It includes video of the debate.

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: In the first series of questions, pence did nearly all the talking, refusing to shut up when Page tried to stop him & talking over Harris's brief responses. He did this without raising his voice, but he's still bullying the women. I think I've had enough already. Update: I stuck it out for about an hour, & pence continued in the same vein. Were I Page, I would have calmly told him that if he interrupted again, he would have to leave the stage & she would devote the rest of the time to chatting with Harris about house pets. I'm not kidding. Meanwhile, the NYT reporters are so accustomed to Trumpertantrums that they kept calling the debate "civil." Thanks to Trump, the candidates have to get in the equivalent of a bar brawl for people to label their exchanges "uncivil." And I remain surprised that Harris, who has years of experience in the courtroom, is not a better debater. If pence had not been so obnoxious, she would have lost the debate. However, being a good debater is not a qualification for the top jobs. On the job, presidents & veeps don't engage in public debates.

Patrick Hipes of Deadline on where to watch the debate, which begins at 9 pm ET Wednesday.

Shane Goldmacher & Adam Nagourney of the New York Times on what to watch for: "It is difficult to overstate how much this debate has been shaped by the Covid-19 pandemic.... Mr. Pence, as the head of the White House task force on the coronavirus, will presumably be pressed to account for the faltering White House response to a pandemic that has killed over 200,000 people in the United States. Since returning from the hospital, Mr. Trump has sought to recast the entire discussion on the pandemic, arguing that the virus is in fact not that serious and that Americans should continue to live their lives.... Vice-presidential candidates have only two things to accomplish in a debate: Defend the person at the top of your ticket. And attack the person at the top of the opposition ticket. But that basic rule of thumb got a little more tricky for Ms. Harris. With Mr. Trump's Covid-19 diagnosis and him just being back at the White House after three nights in a hospital, harsh attacks against an ailing president might be politically unwise."

Apoorva Mandavilli of the New York Times: "Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris will be seated more than 12 feet apart on the podium, with plexiglass barriers between them. Mr. Pence and his aides had objected to the barriers, but relented on Tuesday night. The barriers might make more sense if Mr. Pence and Ms. Harris were seated more closely together on the podium, scientists said. But the risk in this setting is airborne transmission of the coronavirus, and the barriers will do nothing to protect Ms. Harris and the moderator, Susan Page, Washington bureau chief of USA Today, if Mr. Pence were infected. Linsey Marr, an expert on airborne viruses at Virginia Tech..., laughed outright when she saw a picture of the debate setup. 'It's absurd,' she said." The plexiglass barriers will do nothing to mitigate an airborne disease.

Being in the same office, likely unmasked, counts as close contact. It is irresponsible for VP Pence to debate Senator Harris in person tonight, and it is unfortunate that the director of the CDC has chosen to overrule his own agency’s guidelines. -- Angela Rasmussen, Columbia University virologist ~~~

~~~ Lena Sun & Yasmeen Abutaleb of the Washington Post: "A letter sent by the top public health official attesting to Vice President Pence's health and proclaiming him safe to debate Wednesday night is sparking outcry from public health experts. The letter was released Tuesday evening by the White House. It was sent by Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to Marc Short, Pence's chief of staff. In his three-paragraph letter, Redfield said he had a 'detailed discussion' with Pence's physician about the vice president's possible exposure to 'persons with COVID-19.' Based on the consultation with Pence's doctor, Jesse Schonau, and Schonau's 'investigation and the serial negative testing results of the Vice President, the CDC concludes from a public health standpoint, it is safe for the Vice President to participate in the upcoming Vice-Presidential debate,' Redfield wrote.... Redfield said Pence was not a 'close contact' of anyone who was infected.... It is highly unusual, and perhaps unprecedented, for the CDC director to release a letter vouching for the health of a top public official."

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updated of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here.

The New York Times' live updated of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here. The Washington Post's live updates for Wednesday are here.

Quint Forgey of Politico: "The White House's top doctor relayed an optimistic assessment from his patient Wednesday, the second public update on ... Donald Trump's health since he returned from the hospital with Covid-19 two days ago. 'The President this morning says "I feel great!"' Trump's physician, Sean Conley, wrote in a memo released by the White House press office. Trump's vital signs, oxygen saturation level and respiratory rate 'all remain stable and in normal range' Conley wrote." ~~~

~~~ Orion Rummler of Axios: "President Trump has been 'symptom-free' from the coronavirus for over 24 hours, White House physician Sean Conley said in a Wednesday update." Mrs. McC: Really?? I just heard Trump in a rambling, 5-minute infomercial-type videotape he cut Wednesday, & he was hoarse. Isn't "hoarse" a "symptom"? Also, one has to wonder if that odd new shade of make-up he's wearing for the camera is to cover up another symptom. In the infomercial he pushes Regeneron, which he promises to get you, too, and for free! ~~~

~~~ Maggie Haberman & Katie Thomas of the New York Times: "President Trump claimed on Wednesday that catching the coronavirus was 'a blessing from God' and portrayed as a miracle cure the unproven therapeutic drug he was given after testing positive last week for the virus. Mr. Trump said he planned to make the antibody cocktail being developed by the drug maker Regeneron, which does not yet have government approval, free to anyone who needs it. He did not explain how he would do it, although on Wednesday night, Regeneron said it had submitted an application to the Food and Drug Administration for emergency approval. The president's statement, in a video released early Wednesday evening by the White House, was his latest effort to repair the political damage he has suffered after months of trying to minimize the effects of a pandemic that has killed more than 211,000 Americans.... In the video released Wednesday night, Mr. Trump, whose skin appeared darkened by makeup and who appeared to struggle to get air at times, seemed to be saying that he had discovered, without evidence, a new drug that suddenly made him feel better and could do the same for everyone else with Covid-19." Mrs. McC: Actually what he said that was, although the medical profession calls Regeneron a "therapeutic," he considers it to be a "cure" for Covid-19.

** About That "Blessing from God.” Antonio Regalado in MIT's Technology Review: "This week..., Donald Trump extolled the cutting-edge coronavirus treatments he received as 'miracles coming down from God.' If that's true, then God employs cell lines derived from human fetal tissue. The emergency antibody that Trump received last week was developed with the use of a cell line originally derived from abortion tissue, according to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, the company that developed the experimental drug. The Trump administration has taken an increasingly firm line against medical research using fetal tissue from abortions.... But when the president faced a deadly encounter with covid-19, his administration raised no objections over the fact that the new drugs also relied on fetal cells, and anti-abortion campaigners were silent too." The story is subscriber-firewalled, but you get three freebies.

Jordan Phelps of ABC News: "Even as ... Donald Trump remained infected with the novel coronavirus and contagious, he returned to the Oval Office Wednesday, disregarding isolation rules and putting staffers at increased risk. White House chief of staff Mark Meadows ... said ... that safety precautions would be taken to accommodate the president ... and said that those who have direct contact with the president at this time are wearing 'full PPE, masks, goggles, and the like.'... The president's return to the Oval Office comes as he is supposed to be observing a period of self-isolation, in accordance with CDC guidelines.... A White House official said the president used an outdoor entrance to access the Oval Office Wednesday to avoid contacts with White House staff and that only a select few staff members are coming into direct contact with the president." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: To demonstrate what a big, whiney, demanding baby Trump is, it was entirely unnecessary for him to "work" out of the Oval Office. According to the ABC News report, "The White House had outfitted the Map Room and Diplomatic Reception Room in the White House residence as remote working spaces for the president during his period of expected isolation after his made-for-TV return from three nights in the hospital on Monday." BTW, here's the "work" Trump did Tuesday night & Wednesday: ~~~

     ~~~ "Arrest Somebody!" Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Donald Trump mounted an overnight Twitter blitz demanding to jail his political enemies and call out allies he says are failing to arrest his rivals swiftly enough. Trump twice amplified supporters' criticisms of Attorney General William Barr, including one featuring a meme calling on him to 'arrest somebody!' He wondered aloud why his rivals, like President Barack Obama, Democratic nominee Joe Biden and former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton hadn't been imprisoned for launching a 'coup' against his administration. 'Where are all of the arrests?' Trump said, after several dozen tweets on the subject over the past 24 hours. By early afternoon, Trump was letting loose his frustrations in an all-caps missive that seemed aimed at nobody in particular. 'DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS, THE BIGGEST OF ALL POLITICAL SCANDALS (IN HISTORY)!!! BIDEN, OBAMA AND CROOKED HILLARY LED THIS TREASONOUS PLOT!!! BIDEN SHOULDN'T BE ALLOWED TO RUN - GOT CAUGHT!!!' Trump tweeted. The day-long run of tweets and retweets marked the most frantic stretch of Trump's public activity since he left the presidential suite at Walter Reed Medical Center.... They also underscored the degree to which Trump remains fixated on his grievances over the Russia probe, and often on obscure aspects of that investigation that are unintelligible to all but its most careful followers."

Spencer Ackerman, et al., of the Daily Beast: "On the same day President Trump acknowledged contracting the coronavirus, the White House quietly informed a veterans group that there was a COVID-19 risk stemming from a Sept. 27 event honoring the families of fallen U.S. service members, the head of that charitable organization told The Daily Beast. The White House warning, which came on Oct. 2 [last Friday], is the earliest known outreach to visitors of the complex that there was a risk of coronavirus emerging from the grounds where the president, the first lady, and at least 17 of his aides, according to Politico, have now tested positive for the virus.... Pictures from the Gold Star family event, which Trump attended, show minimal mask wearing and social distancing. It took place indoors, though attendees said they were tested prior to attending."

** Josh Margolin & Lucien Bruggeman of ABC News: "The coronavirus outbreak has infected '34 White House staffers and other contacts' in recent days, according to an internal government memo, an indication that the disease has spread among more people than previously known in the seat of American government. Dated Wednesday and obtained by ABC News, the memo was distributed among senior leadership at FEMA.... The new figures underscore both the growing crisis in the White House and the lengths to which government officials have gone to block information about the outbreak's spread." Mrs. McC: You knew this would prove the case.

White House Keeps Secret "Gravely Ill" Staffer. Aris Folley of the Hill: “A White House security official is reportedly 'gravely ill' after contracting COVID-19 in September, Bloomberg reports. The publication identified the official as Crede Bailey, who heads the White House's security office. He has reportedly been receiving hospital care since September.... According to Bloomberg, which cited four sources familiar with official's condition, Bailey grew sick before the Rose Garden event held on Sept. 26, in which President Trump nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court."

All the Best Super-spreaders. Josh Salman & Dinah Pulver of USA Today: "... Donald Trump and other White House insiders infected with COVID-19 carried the virus across the country in a matter of days, potentially exposing hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people as they went about their business, a USA Today investigation found. From a religious summit outside Atlanta to a campaign rally at a Pennsylvania airport and a private fundraiser in Minnesota, Trump, his aides and political allies attended events with thousands of people, often without masks and little regard for social distancing."

Missy Ryan of the Washington Post: "A senior military official who was quarantining following interaction with another uniformed leader who contracted covid-19 has tested positive for the coronavirus, the Marine Corps said on Wednesday. Gen. Gary Thomas, the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, received the positive test a day after he began quarantining, the service said in a statement."

Presidential Race, Etc.

The Washington Post's live election updates Thursday are here. John Wagner (@7:28 am ET): "The second presidential debate will be virtual, with Trump and Biden appearing 'from separate remote locations,' the Commission on Presidential Debates announced Thursday morning. The Oct. 15 town-hall-style debate had been planned for Miami with a live audience asking questions.... [The commission] said the change was being made 'to protect the health and safety of all involved.'"

Vote Them Out! A Unique Non-Endorsement. Jacqueline Howard of CNN: "In an unprecedented move, the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday published an editorial written by its editors condemning the Trump administration for its response to the Covid-19 pandemic -- and calling for the current leadership in the United States to be voted out of office. 'We rarely publish editorials signed by all the editors,' said Dr. Eric Rubin, editor-in-chief of the medical journal and an author of the new editorial.... 'This crisis has produced a test of leadership. With no good options to combat a novel pathogen, countries were forced to make hard choices about how to respond. Here in the United States, our leaders have failed that test. They have taken a crisis and turned it into a tragedy,' the editorial says. It does not endorse a candidate, but offers a scathing critique of the Trump administration's leadership during the pandemic. 'Anyone else who recklessly squandered lives and money in this way would be suffering legal consequences. Our leaders have largely claimed immunity for their actions. But this election gives us the power to render judgment,' the editorial says.

Scott Bland & Elena Schneider of Politico: "Starting this week, a generation of voters in Texas will see something they've never witnessed before: a heavy rotation of presidential TV ads. In a move that would have been far-fetched even a few months ago, Joe Biden is set to spend $6.2 million on ads in the state over the next month -- attempting to put the state in play for the first time in decades. The latest polling averages show ... Donald Trump leading by only 2 to 3 points in Texas, and Biden's push there illustrates both how much the state has changed and how much the political environment is tilting against Trump less than a month from the Election Day. Perhaps even more astounding: Trump doesn't have the money to counter the cash-flush Biden on TV. Over the past two weeks, Biden had the airwaves to himself in Iowa, Ohio, Texas and New Hampshire, while Trump went dark, according to Advertising Analytics, a TV tracking firm."

Henry Gomez of BuzzFeed News: "... Donald Trump's reelection campaign is slashing television spending in the Midwest, canceling millions of dollars in advertising in states that carried him to victory in 2016. He's been off the local airwaves completely in Iowa and Ohio. The campaign also has given up at least $2 million worth of reservations in both Michigan and Wisconsin since early September. And in Minnesota, a state Trump almost won four years ago and has expressed confidence in flipping, his team already has chopped about $5 million from its projected fall TV budget.... The Trump campaign, meanwhile, according to data shared by Democratic ad trackers, has in recent weeks boosted its TV presence in the Sun Belt battlegrounds -- Arizona, Florida, and Georgia -- and Nevada, a state Trump lost in 2016."

President* Plans to Continue Super-spreader Campaign. Zack Budryk of the Hill: "President Trump plans to take to the campaign trail again next Monday starting in Pennsylvania, just more than a week after he was diagnosed with the coronavirus and taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bloomberg reported. The president plans to visit Pennsylvania on Monday. Later in the week, he plans to visit the battleground states of Florida and Michigan, according to the publication, citing people familiar with the matter."

National Security Leaders Stand Up Against Trump's Lies. AP: "Four weeks ahead of Election Day, senior national-security officials provided fresh assurances about the integrity of the elections in a video message Tuesday, putting them at odds with ... Donald Trump's efforts to discredit the vote.... Though Trump was not mentioned during the nine-minute video, the message from the speakers served as a tacit counter to his repeated efforts, including in last week's presidential debate, to allege widespread fraud in the mail ballot process and to preemptively cast doubt in the legitimacy of the election.... 'I'm here to tell you that my confidence in the security of your vote has never been higher,' Chris Krebs, the director of the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, said in the video message. 'That's because of an all-of-nation, unprecedented election security effort over the last several years.'... 'No matter which method you choose, your voice is important,' said FBI Director Chris Wray. 'Rest assured that the security of the election, and safeguarding your vote, is and will continue to be one of our highest priorities.'" ~~~

     ~~~ The video & a transcript are here, via the FBI. ~~~

~~~ But Bill Barr Is Doing His Best to Help Trump. Robert Faturechi & Justin Elliott of ProPublica: "The Department of Justice has weakened its long-standing prohibition against interfering in elections, according to two department officials. Avoiding election interference is the overarching principle of DOJ policy on voting-related crimes. In place since at least 1980, the policy generally bars prosecutors not only from making any announcement about ongoing investigations close to an election but also from taking public steps -- such as an arrest or a raid -- before a vote is finalized because the publicity could tip the balance of a race. But according to an email sent Friday by an official in the Public Integrity Section in Washington, now if a U.S. attorney's office suspects election fraud that involves postal workers or military employees, federal investigators will be allowed to take public investigative steps before the polls close, even if those actions risk affecting the outcome of the election.... Specifically citing postal workers and military employees is noteworthy, former DOJ officials said. But the exception is written so broadly that it could cover other types of investigations as well, they said. Both groups have been falsely singled out, in different ways, by ... Donald Trump and his campaign for being involved in voter fraud." ~~~

~~~ DNI John Ratcliffe, Too. Jonathan Swan of Axios: "Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe has approved the release to the Department of Justice of a large binder full of documents to assist a review of the Obama administration's handling of the Trump-Russia investigation, according to a source with direct knowledge of the materials and confirmed by Ratcliffe.... The release, which is being revealed publicly for the first time today, comes as President Trump is urging his agencies to expedite the release of materials that he believes will be politically advantageous to him. It follows a flurry of tweets by the president accusing the Obama administration of orchestrating a 'treasonous plot' against him by investigating his campaign's ties to Russia.... Former CIA Director John Brennan, a frequent target of the president and his allies, has accused Ratcliffe of selectively declassifying documents in order to 'advance the political interests' of Trump ahead of the election." Mrs. McC: Brennan, of course, would know the general tenor of classified documents re: the Trump-Russia investigation during President Obama's administration.

Defender of the Faith! Celine Castronuovo of the Hill: "President Trump's son Eric Trump claimed that his father 'literally saved Christianity' when touting the commander in chief's accomplishments during a recent interview on a North Dakota radio show.... 'I mean, there's a full out war on faith in this country by the other side.... The Democratic Party, the far left, has become the party of the "atheists," and they want to attack Christianity, they want to close churches, they're totally fine keeping liquor stores open,' he said, referring to COVID-19 orders by governors in some states labeling liquor stores as 'essential' businesses, while also putting limitations on the number of people allowed in houses of worship.... Despite Trump's public praise of conservative Christian leaders, The Atlantic reported last week that Trump had allegedly called evangelical pastors 'hustlers' in a 2015 conversation with his then-lawyer Michael Cohen. Former aides also told the magazine that they heard the president mock conservative religious leaders, adding that he saw them as a group to be 'schmoozed, conned or bought off,' according to The Atlantic."

Elizabeth Dwoskin of the Washington Post: "Facebook said it plans to temporarily suspend all political and issue-based advertising after polls close Nov. 3, a move the company said was intended to limit confusion, misinformation and abuse of its services in the days after the presidential election. The social media giant also said it would remove calls for people to watch the polls when those posts use militaristic or intimidating language. Executives said the policy applies to anyone, including President Trump and other officials. Trump has made calls for people to engage in poll-watching, including at the presidential debate, and son Donald Trump Jr. appeared in an ad last month urging people to 'defend your ballot' and join an 'army' to protect the polls."

Congressional Races. Eleventh-Hour Regrets. Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "Vulnerable Republicans are beginning to distance themselves from President Trump's dismissive response to the coronavirus pandemic and his dramatic termination of negotiations with congressional Democrats over federal economic relief, with the latest cracks carrying enormous implications for Trump and the party with just four weeks until Election Day. Facing a political reckoning as Trump's support plummets and a possible blue tsunami looms, it is now conservatives and Trump allies who are showing flashes of discomfort with the president, straining to stay in the good graces of his core voters without being wholly defined by an erratic incumbent."

Maine. Ariane de Vogue & Chandelis Duster of CNN: "Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer cleared the way Tuesday night for ranked-choice voting to be used in Maine, delivering a blow to Republican challengers. In September, Maine's Supreme Court had sided with the state's Democratic secretary of state and rejected a Republican challenge to the system, which allows voters to rank all the candidates by preference and for a voter's next choice to be considered if their first candidate doesn't have enough votes to be viable. The winner must have more than 50% of the votes. Republicans in the state asked the high court to step in and put the state Supreme Court opinion on hold. The petition went to Breyer, who has jurisdiction over the lower court." ~~~

~~~ Susan Collins Goes Low. Burgess Everett of Politico: During an interview last week, Sen. Susan Collins attacked her Democratic challenger Sara Gideon for building a campaign "on a foundation of falsehoods." She said 'that Gideon's campaign was being run as an arm of Chuck Schumer's Washington operation.... Perhaps most pointedly, she suggested that Gideon is from away -- a serious charge in a state that can turn its nose up at outsiders. 'I grew up in Caribou, I've lived in Bangor for 26 years. My family's been in Maine for generations. She's been in Maine for about 15 years and lives in Freeport,' Collins said acidly of Gideon, who was born and raised in Rhode Island. 'That's a big difference in our knowledge of the state.'" Mrs. McC: Collins' attack sounds xenophobic to me. She accuses Gideon of being an outsider, a shill for a Jewish "operator" from New York City & Washington, D.C. Gideon's father is an Indian immigrant, and her mother is a second-generation Armenian-American. In a state with a small minority population, Collins really wants Mainers to know Gideon is "from away." Way away.

North Carolina. Paul Specht of PolitiFact & Cullen Browder of WRAL News: "A California woman on Tuesday confirmed to The Associated Press that she had a physical relationship with Cal Cunningham, North Carolina's Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate. Both are married to other people. On Wednesday morning, the Army Reserve confirmed to WRAL News that it has opened an investigation into Cunningham, who is a lieutenant colonel in the Reserve.... Adultery is listed as 'unacceptable conduct' by the military and may be 'service discrediting.'... Political experts say the North Carolina race could decide the balance of power in the U.S. Senate. Many polls show Cunningham with a small lead over Republican Sen. Thom Tillis. On Wednesday morning, a statement from Cunningham spokeswoman Rachel Petri indicated that the Democrat intends to move forward with his campaign." Emphasis added.

Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected ... Donald Trump's efforts to keep his financial records from a Manhattan prosecutor, putting the president on track for a second date at the Supreme Court in his campaign to keep those documents private. A three-judge panel of the New York-based 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments from Trump's legal team that the subpoena issued to Trump's accounting firm at the request of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance was too broad and that the subpoena amounted to retaliation for the refusal of Trump's businesses to cooperate with Vance's office.... 'We will be filing a stay with the Supreme Court,' Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow said." A Washington Post story is here.

Carol Lee & Courtney Kube of NBC News: "... Donald Trump required personnel at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to sign nondisclosure agreements last year before they could be involved with treating him, according to four people familiar with the process. During a surprise trip to Walter Reed on Nov. 16, 2019, Trump mandated signed NDAs from both physicians and nonmedical staff, most of whom are active-duty military service members, these people said. At least two doctors at Walter Reed who refused to sign the NDAs were subsequently not permitted to have any involvement in the president's care, two of the people said. The reason for his trip last year remains shrouded in mystery." Mrs. McC: Seems to me the doctors who refused to sign were following best medical practices, as there are some instances where medical professionals are required by law to reveal diagnoses, though not to publicly name the patient. For instance, what if Trump had had an STD? Or Ebola?

John Hudson of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration has decided to impose new sanctions on Iran's financial sector in defiance of European allies who warned that the move could have devastating humanitarian consequences on a country reeling from the novel coronavirus and an ongoing currency crisis, three officials familiar with the decision said Wednesday. The measures will target the few remaining banks not currently subject to secondary sanctions in a move European governments say is likely to diminish channels Iran uses to import humanitarian goods, such as food and medicine, officials said."

Kentucky. Marisa Iati, et al., of the Washington Post: "Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron (R) filed a court motion Wednesday seeking to bar an unidentified grand juror in the Breonna Taylor case from speaking about the proceedings, which the juror alleges Cameron has publicly mischaracterized. The motion comes the same day as the city of Louisville released a trove of documents from the police department's internal investigation into the fatal shooting of Taylor while officers carried out a search warrant in March. The documents show other Louisville officers criticizing the raid and cast doubt on the police department's justifications for the warrant, a key question addressed only in passing in recently released audio of the grand jury proceedings."

Minnesota. Holly Bailey of the Washington Post: "Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was filmed with his knee on George Floyd's neck and who is now facing murder charges for Floyd's death, posted bond and was released from jail Wednesday morning."

News Ledes

Weather Channel: "Hurricane Delta is strengthening in the Gulf of Mexico as it heads for a Friday landfall on the Gulf Coast with life-threatening storm surge flooding, damaging winds and rainfall flooding from Louisiana and east Texas to Mississippi. A hurricane warning is in effect from High Island, Texas, to Morgan City, Louisiana, including Lake Charles and Lafayette, Louisiana, and Port Arthur, Texas. This means hurricane conditions are expected within 36 hours."

Guardian: "The poet Louise Glück has become the first American writer to win the Nobel prize for literature in 27 years. Glück, cited for 'her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal', is the 16th woman to win the Nobel, and the first American since Toni Morrison took the prize in 1993. One of America's leading poets, Glück has won the Pulitzer prize and the National Book Award, tackling themes including childhood and family life, often reworking Greek and Roman myths."