The Commentariat -- May 23, 2020

Afternoon Update:

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

GOP Governor: Wear a Mask! Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: North Dakota's Republican governor "Doug Burgum on Friday offered a plea to stop the madness. Burgum suggested the debate over masks was being needlessly politicized and that those who are bucking federal health officials' guidance should rethink their posture. 'I would really love to see in North Dakota that we could just skip this thing that other parts of the nation are going through where they're trading a divide -- either it's ideological or political or something -- around masks versus no mask,' Burgum said. 'This is a, I would say, senseless dividing line, and I would ask people to try to dial up your empathy and your understanding.... If someone is wearing a mask, they're not doing it to represent what political party they're in or what candidates they support,' Burgum said, before his voice began breaking. 'They might be doing it because they've got a 5-year-old child who's been going through cancer treatments. They might have vulnerable adults in their life who currently have covid, and they're fighting.'"

Minnesota. Kaelan Deese of the Hill: "A reporter was allegedly harassed for wearing a mask outside an Albany, Minn., tavern's reopening that turned into a protest following a judge's move to impose a restraining order keeping the bar shut.... In video footage captured from the event, two women appeared to be chanting, 'Take it off!' at [KARE 11 reporter Lou] Raguse, referring to a mask he was wearing. Sounds of coughing could be heard as protesters followed him while he walked away from the scene.... The reopening of the tavern was intended to be a celebration before Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a lawsuit and requested an injunction by Stearns County Judge William Cashman to stop its reopening. The gathering of 200 people outside the tavern quickly became a protest of the judge's order. Reopening the tavern would have directly violated Democratic Gov. Tim Walz's 'Stay Safe Minnesota' order....

Florida. Kaelan Deese of the Hill: "A Florida man who spat and coughed on a police officer after claiming to have COVID-19 was indicted on federal terrorism charges. A federal grand jury in Tampa returned the indictment Wednesday against James Jamal Curry, 31, for committing a biological weapon hoax, a local CBS affiliate in Miami reported."

** The Big Grift, Ctd. Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times: "Many Americans understand that Trump bungled the public health response to the coronavirus, but polls suggest that they don't appreciate the degree to which Trump and Congress also bungled the economic response -- or manipulated it to benefit those who least need help.... While ... Trump and his allies in Congress seek to tighten access to food stamps, they are showing compassion for one group: zillionaires. Their economic rescue package quietly allocated $135 billion ... for the likes of wealthy real estate developers. [The average benefit to these developers is $1.6 million.] My Times colleague Jesse Drucker notes that Trump himself, along with his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, may benefit financially from this provision.... A single mom juggling two jobs gets a maximum $1,200 stimulus check -- and then pays taxes so that a real estate mogul can receive $1.6 million.... The fine print was mysteriously slipped into the March economic relief package, even though it has nothing to do with the coronavirus and offers retroactive tax breaks for periods long before Covid-19 arrived. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Representative Lloyd Doggett of Texas, both Democrats, have asked the Trump administration for any communications that illuminate how this provision sneaked into the 880-page bill.... The House of Representatives is trying to repeal the Zillionaire Giveaway, but Trump and his congressional allies are resisting."

The federal government needs to get its s@#t together. -- Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, in a tweet March 14 ~~~

~~~ ** Greg Miller, et al., of the Washington Post: "In the final days before the United States faced a full-blown epidemic, President Trump made a last-ditch attempt to prevent people infected with the coronavirus from reaching the country. 'To keep new cases from entering our shores,' Trump said in an Oval Office address on March 11, 'we will be suspending all travel from Europe to the United States for the next 30 days.'... Harrowing scenes of interminable lines and unmasked faces crammed in confined spaces [at airports] spread across social media. The images showed how a policy intended to block the pathogen's entry into the United States instead delivered one final viral infusion. As those exposed travelers fanned out into U.S. cities and suburbs, they became part of an influx from Europe that went unchecked for weeks and helped to seal the country's coronavirus fate. Epidemiologists contend the U.S. outbreak was driven overwhelmingly by viral strains from Europe rather than China.... The travel mayhem was triggered by many of the same problems that plagued the U.S. response to the pandemic from the outset: Early warnings were missed or ignored. Coordination was chaotic or nonexistent. Key agencies fumbled their assignments. Trump's errant statements undermined his administration's plans and endangered the public." This is a damning report of how Trump & his administration, which should have known better after the chaos caused by his Muslim ban, exacerbated the coronavirus pandemic.

News Flash: Darryl Issa Is Still a Jerk. Jeremy White of Politico: "Republican congressional candidate Darrell Issa and a conservative group [Judicial Watch] are suing to block California's move to an all-mail November election. They are legally challenging Gov. Gavin Newsom's directive that elections officials mail every registered voter a ballot for the November election, making California the first state to switch to vote by mail due to coronavirus concerns. Newsom called the move a necessary response to the pandemic since voters at crowded vote centers could be exposed if they cast in-person ballots." Issa is the Republicans' nominee in California's 50th Congressional district.

~~~~~~~~~~

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

Alayna Treene of Axios: "President Trump announced Friday that he was declaring churches and places of worship as 'essential places that provide essential services,' and said that he would override governors to allow them to open 'right now.'... 'Some governors have deemed liquor stores and abortion clinics as essential, but have left out churches and other houses of worship. It's not right,' Trump said from the White House podium." Mrs. McC: Trump took no questions & of course he didn't elaborate on what authority a president* has to "override governors." Because Article II, I guess. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

The most frightening thing about Trump's threat to order churches reopened isn't that he has the power to do that -- he doesn't. It's that Republican judges will be emboldened to order churches reopened now that the president is calling for it. -- Ian Millhiser of Vox, in a tweet (via LG&$) ~~~

~~~ Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump ... [read] from a prepared text before leaving after just about a minute without taking questions. The White House could not explain what power the president actually has to override the governors, and legal experts said he did not have such authority, but he could take states to court on religious freedom grounds, which could be time consuming. Attorney General William P. Barr ... has been threatening legal action against California.... Mr. Trump took a far more confrontational approach on Friday than his public health advisers. After delays and revisions ordered by the White House, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released nonbinding guidelines for places of worship to reopen while still advising them to act 'in accordance with the guidance and directives of state and local author.'" ~~~

~~~ So like, this would seem to be out: ~~~

~~~ Elana Schor of the AP: "... Donald Trump's declaration that religious services should be 'essential' comes at a precarious point in the national balancing act that pits the call of worship against the risk of coronavirus. Even before Trump's comments Friday, which came alongside the release of guidance for reopening faith organizations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Christian leaders in several states made plans to welcome back congregants on the week of Pentecost, May 31. The new CDC guidance could energize houses of worship that might want to reopen their doors, despite evidence of ongoing risk of the virus spreading through communal gatherings. While it suggests steps such as asking congregants to cover their faces and limiting the sharing of worship aids, the CDC document says it is 'not meant to regulate or prescribe standards for interactions of faith communities.'" ~~~

~~~ Because here's what happened when some Americans went to church during the pandemic: ~~~

~~~ Jill Colvin of the AP: "Twice this week, Trump has not only dismissed the findings of studies but suggested -- without evidence -- that their authors were motivated by politics and out to undermine his efforts to roll back coronavirus restrictions. First it was a study funded in part by his own government's National Institutes of Health that raised alarms about the use of hydroxychloroquine, finding higher overall mortality in coronavirus patients who took the drug while in Veterans Administration hospitals.... The Lancet, one of the world's oldest and most well respected medical journals, published a new study Friday that echoed those findings. 'If you look at the one survey, the only bad survey, they were giving it to people that were in very bad shape. They were very old, almost dead,' Trump told reporters Tuesday. 'It was a Trump enemy statement.' He offered similar pushback Thursday to a new study from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. It found that more than 61% of COVID-19 infections and 55% of reported deaths -- nearly 36,000 people -- could have been been prevented had social distancing measures been put in place one week sooner.... 'Columbia's an institution that's very liberal,' Trump told reporters Thursday. 'I think it's just a political hit job, you want to know the truth.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Roger Cohen of the New York Times: "The European Union, that entity with a stubborn heartbeat, has emerged better from the pandemic than China or the United States. The fear-driven Chinese cover-up of the coronavirus and the chaotic denialism of the Trump administration have been the two main contributors to the disaster.... This is the Age of Undoing -- of world order, of international law, of truth, of America's word. It is a dangerous time, as Germany knows better than any nation. Autocracy feeds on fear, misery, resentment and lies. It did in the 1930s; it does now. Better to love your country with a broken heart than to love it blind." Thanks to P.D. Pepe for the link. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: I have long cringed at the notion of "American exceptionalism." I did not fully imagine how far down that embarrassing, xenophobic concept would take us nor how quickly, but here we are. And the country can descend further. Politicians will never stand up to exceptionalists, many or most of whom are nationalists in see-through disguise. Rather, even relatively liberal democrats like Barack Obama embrace the myth of American exceptionalism, although liberal politicians will temper it a bit with aspirations for improvement. We have been carefully taught.

Monica Hesse of the Washington Post: "... a lot of bonkers behavior can be overlooked when it's committed by a man in a suit at a lectern." ~~~

How to testing pic.twitter.com/y9iwLK0N12

— Sarah Cooper (@sarahcpr) May 9, 2020

     ~~~ Also watch Cooper's "How to Medical" at the WashPo link above. (If you don't have a WashPo subscription, here's the Twitter link for "How to Medical.") Thanks to Ken W. for the links.

Reid Wilson of the Hill: "In an interview with The Hill, Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), urged caution and said the rapid development of a safe and effective vaccine was not guaranteed.... Vaccine candidates, even promising ones, fail more often than they succeed, [Fauci indicated].... Fauci said he was 'fairly certain' that if production is started this summer and ramped up, 'you could have 100 million doses by the end of the year and maybe a couple of hundred million doses by the beginning of next year.' 'I mean that's aspirational,' he said. 'The companies think that they can do that with the right financial backing.'... Fauci declined to comment on President Trump's decision to take hydroxychloroquine, a drug that studies show is actually associated with higher death rates among those who take it."

Laura Reiley of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration withdrew one of the largest contracts in its signature effort to use farm surplus to feed hungry Americans, capping a chaotic process that industry experts say relied too heavily on companies with little demonstrated experience in farming, food chains or food banks. Contracts totaling more than $107 million went to a San Antonio event planner, an avocado mail-order company, a health-and-wellness airport kiosk company and a trade finance corporation, according to the Agriculture Department's announcement of contract awards. But the USDA bypassed the country's three largest food distribution companies, as well as nonprofit organizations with long histories of feeding the poor on a large scale, according to Tom Stenzel, president of the United Fresh Produce Association (UFPA).... The contracts were awarded under the Farmers to Families Food Box program, launched last week with a visit by Ivanka Trump to a Laurel, Md., wholesale produce company. About $1.2 billion in contracts have been awarded." Mrs. McC: Obviously, food is rotting & people are going hungry unnecessarily because the Trump administration can't do anything right. But, hey, all that matters is that Ivanka got a nice photo-op out of it. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Yet Another Trumpy Grifter. Yeganeh Torbati & Derek Willis of ProPublica: "A former White House aide won a $3 million federal contract to supply respirator masks to Navajo Nation hospitals in New Mexico and Arizona 11 days after he created a company to sell personal protective equipment.... Zach Fuentes..., Donald Trump's former deputy chief of staff, secured the deal with the Indian Health Service with limited competitive bidding and no prior federal contracting experience. The IHS told ProPublica it has found that 247,000 of the masks delivered by Fuentes' company -- at a cost of roughly $800,000 -- may be unsuitable for medical use. An additional 130,400, worth about $422,000, are not the type specified in the procurement data, the agency said. What's more, the masks Fuentes agreed to provide -- Chinese-made KN95s -- have come under intense scrutiny from U.S. regulators amid concerns that they offered inadequate protection."

** Doctor Trump, Medicine Man, Ctd. Ariana Cha & Laurie McGinley of the Washington Post: "A study of 96,000 hospitalized coronavirus patients on six continents found that those who received an antimalarial drug promoted by President Trump as a 'game changer' in the fight against the virus had a significantly higher risk of death compared with those who did not. People treated with hydroxychloroquine, or the closely related drug chloroquine, were also more likely to develop a type of irregular heart rhythm, or arrhythmia, that can lead to sudden cardiac death, it concluded." This story is free to nonsubcribers. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Joseph Goldstein & Jesse McKinley of the New York Times: "Even as doctors and scientists around the world race to develop treatments and vaccines for Covid-19, New York State has become the center of a parallel effort to investigate an unnerving aspect of the outbreak: an illness that is sickening a small but growing number of children. The ailment has now been reported in at least 161 children in New York[, three of whom died], making the state's caseload one of the largest publicly reported anywhere. Hundreds of other children across the United States and in Europe have also been sickened with the illness, now called multisystem inflammatory syndrome.... The inquiries into why it is occurring, and whether a treatment can be found, could have an impact on how the authorities handle the reopening of schools and other activities for children."

Joel Achenbach, et al., of the Washington Post: "The coronavirus may still be spreading at epidemic rates in 24 states, particularly in the South and Midwest, according to new research that highlights the risk of a second wave of infections in places that reopen too quickly or without sufficient precautions.... Some states have had little viral spread or 'crushed the curve' to a great degree and have some wiggle room to reopen their economies without generating a new epidemic-level surge in cases. Others are nowhere near containing the virus. The [study's] model, which has not been peer reviewed, shows that in the majority of states, a second wave looms if people abandon efforts to mitigate the viral spread.... Other models released in recent days captured a similarly mixed picture." The main model cited, created by Imperial College London, is explained here. Mrs. McC: Either I'm too dense or the report is too dense, but I found it too difficult for the casual reader to follow.

California. Garcetti Hurt Trump's Feelings. Brooke Seipel of the Hill: "Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti received a letter from the Trump administration on Friday warning extended or 'heavy-handed' stay-at-home orders may be illegal. 'Reports of your recent public statements indicate that you suggested the possibility of long-term lockdown of the residents in the City and County of Los Angeles, regardless of the legal justification for such restrictions, reads the letter addressed to Garcetti and Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer. 'Any such approach may be both arbitrary and unlawful.'... The letter from the Trump administration comes a day after Garcetti swiped at Trump for not wearing a face mask at many of his public outings. Asked during an interview with MSNBC about Trump's decision against wearing a face mask, Garcetti responded: 'Simply put, I say real men wear face masks.'" Not specified in the Hill story who signed the retribution letter.

New York. Bernard Condon, et al., of the AP: "More than 4,300 recovering coronavirus patients were sent to New York's already vulnerable nursing homes under a controversial state directive that was ultimately scrapped amid criticisms it was accelerating the nation's deadliest outbreaks, according to a count by The Associated Press.... Whatever the full number, nursing home administrators, residents' advocates and relatives say it has added up to a big and indefensible problem for facilities that even Gov. Andrew Cuomo -- the main proponent of the policy -- called 'the optimum feeding ground for this virus.'... Cuomo, a Democrat, on May 10 reversed the directive, which had been intended to help free up hospital beds for the sickest patients as cases surged. But he continued to defend it this week...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Geoff Bennett & Monica Alba of NBC News: "It's been more than six months since ... Donald Trump claimed to have started his annual physical at Walter Reed hospital but the White House is declining to explain why he has yet to complete the yearly doctor's examination ... despite Trump announcing this week he was taking an unproven and potentially dangerous drug after being exposed to an aide who tested positive for coronavirus."

Matt Zapotosky & Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "FBI Director Christopher A. Wray has ordered an internal review of how the bureau handled its investigation of Michael Flynn..., the bureau said in a statement Friday. The review, which will be handled by the FBI's inspection division, will both seek to 'determine whether any current employees engaged in misconduct' and evaluate broader FBI policies and procedures to 'identify any improvements that might be warranted,' the statement said. The review is unusual, particularly because Attorney General William P. Barr already had commissioned St. Louis U.S. Attorney Jeff Jensen earlier this year to examine the handling of Flynn's case. The statement said the FBI's review will 'complement' that work, and Jensen's examination will take priority. Jensen is one of a number of U.S. attorneys whom Barr has commissioned to investigate matters of interest to [Donald] Trump." Mediaite has an item here.

John Hudson & Paul Sonne of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration has discussed whether to conduct the first U.S. nuclear test explosion since 1992 in a move that would have far-reaching consequences for relations with other nuclear powers and reverse a decades-long moratorium on such actions, said a senior administration official and two former officials familiar with the deliberations. The matter came up at a meeting of senior officials representing the top national security agencies May 15, following accusations from administration officials that Russia and China are conducting low-yield nuclear tests -- an assertion that has not been substantiated by publicly available evidence and that both countries have denied."

Annie Karni of the New York Times: "... on Friday, Kayleigh McEnany, the White House press secretary, did not just reveal that the president was sending his salary to the Department of Health and Human Services to help 'support the efforts being undertaken to confront, contain and combat the coronavirus.' She also displayed the president's private bank account and routing numbers.... For an average civilian, that information could be used to withdraw or deposit money, make online purchases or hack an account.... A bank was almost certain to have additional protections in place on the account of a high-profile person like the president." Mrs. McC: So if you've been laid off or otherwise financially damaged by the coronoavirus, it seems completely legit for you to arrange for Donald J. Trump to transfer some of his ill-gotten gains into your account. If you're questioned, just say McEnany made clear, by the very nature of the donation, that Trump wants to help you.

Presidiential Race

Quint Forgey of Politico: "Former Vice President Joe Biden told a popular black radio personality Thursday that he 'ain't black' if he was still weighing whether to support ... Donald Trump in November's general election -- provoking outrage from the White House's Republican allies and inducing queasiness among even some Democratic operatives." Mrs. McC: Chuck Todd was very upset by Biden's remark. I'm not. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Astead Herndon & Katie Glueck of the New York Times: "Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. ... apologized Friday afternoon for telling a radio host that black voters torn between voting for him and President Trump 'ain't black,' remarks that ignited a firestorm online. 'I shouldn't have been such a wise guy,' Mr. Biden said in a call with the U.S. Black Chambers. 'I shouldn't have been so cavalier.'" Mrs. McC: Sorry. If you're still trying to decide between Biden & Trump, you ain't black, you ain't female, you ain't woke, you ain't hardly a human bean. ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post: "What has been described as a 'testy exchange' between the popular African American interviewer [Charlamagne tha God] with 2.1 million Twitter followers and the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee was nothing of the sort.... When heard in the context of the previous 17 minutes and 21 seconds, you know that Biden is joking around. Perhaps he got a little too comfortable talking to a community with which he has a strong relationship that spans decades." ~~~

Lisa Lerer, et al., of the New York Times: "The lawyer for Tara Reade, the former Senate aide who has accused Joseph R. Biden Jr. of sexual assault, said Friday that he was no longer representing her, just two weeks after taking her on as a client.The lawyer, Douglas H. Wigdor, has been a leading plaintiff's attorney of the #MeToo era. His firm is best known for bringing discrimination cases against Fox News -- and its former star host Bill O'Reilly -- and Harvey Weinstein, and his presence at Ms. Reade's side gave her claims added legal heft.... Mr. Wigdor, a conservative Republican [who supported] ... President Trump in 2016 ..., had a parting shot for the news media.... 'Much of what has been written about Ms. Reade is not probative of whether then-Senator Biden sexually assaulted her, but rather is intended to victim-shame and attack her credibility on unrelated and irrelevant matters,' he said." (This is an update of a story linked early yesterday.) A Politico story is here.

~~~ Gabby Orr of Politico: "The anxiety over Trump's standing with the Christian right surfaced after a pair of surveys by reputable outfits earlier this month found waning confidence in the administration's coronavirus response among key religious groups, with a staggering decline in the president's favorability among white evangelicals and white Catholics. Both are crucial constituencies that supported Trump by wide margins in 2016 and could sink his reelection prospects if their turnout shrinks this fall. The polls paint a bleak picture for Trump, who has counted on broadening his religious support by at least a few percentage points to compensate for weakened appeal with women and suburban populations.... To safeguard his relationship with religious conservatives, Trump on Friday demanded that America's governors permit houses of worship to immediately reopen, and threatened to 'override' state leaders who decline to obey his directive." ~~~

      ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Joe Biden, BTW, is an actual, practicing white Roman Catholic. If you're still trying to decide between Biden & Trump, you ain't Catholic. ~~~

~~~ Trump Prefers Fake Polls. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "Every once in a while, President Trump tweets something like this: '96% Approval Rating in the Republican Party. Thank you!'... He doesn't offer a source for the purported poll number because there is literally no evidence that a source exists. For more than a year, Trump's just occasionally shared random assessments of his popularity within his party, never offering any explanation for where the figure came from.... Unlike any real poll number, the figure never goes down, only up. This is as good a sign as any that Trump's just making this up. Real polling shows that Trump's approval with Republicans, while high, is substantially less than 96 percent.... [Poor] poll results from Trump's favorite network [Fox 'News'] clearly stung. The next tweet after Trump shared his fake 96 percent approval rating was one disparaging Fox's legitimate poll as fake. '.FoxNews should fire their Fake Pollster. Never had a good Fox Poll!'"

Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Justin Baragona of the Daily Beast: "Fox News anchor Chris Wallac debunked ... Donald Trump's false claims that fraud is rampant in mail-in voting, noting on Friday morning that there is simply no evidence to support the president's assertions. With Trump threatening to withhold federal funds from Nevada and Michigan if they went forward with sending absentee ballots and applications to voters, Wallace -- who has been a favorite target of Trump's -- pointed out that the president's repeated complaints about mail-in voting are largely baseless."

Congressional Races

Alabama. Dennis Romero of NBC News: "Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions stood up to his old boss Friday after ... Donald Trump encouraged Alabama voters to reject Sessions in his bid to return to the U.S. Senate. Trump on Friday afternoon once again tweeted his endorsement for Sessions' rival, college football coach Tommy Tuberville, in the primary contest for the seat Sessions held before joining Trump's Cabinet. Trump tweeted, 'Alabama, do not trust Jeff Sessions.'... Sessions responded ... on Twitter, 'Your personal feelings don't dictate who Alabama picks as their senator, the people of Alabama do.'... Sessions and Tuberville finished neck and neck in March in a Republican primary, setting up the July 14 runoff contest. The winner of the runoff will face Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., in November."

California. AP: "National and state Republicans have withdrawn their support from a California congressional candidate over offensive online posts about Muslims and Hillary Clinton that he says are not his words. House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy has called the posts disturbing but has not withdrawn his endorsement of Ted Howze, who is facing freshman Democrat Josh Harder in the farm belt's swing 10th District. However, McCarthy said in a statement that he 'will take action immediately if Mr. Howze is found to be the originator of these posts.'... Howze said he was the target of 'maliciously false attacks...,' [which] he attributed ... to 'national Democrats and their left-wing media' who see him as a threat to Harder, who ousted Republican Rep. Jeff Denham in 2018."

Georgia. Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump's advisers are increasingly concerned about Senator Kelly Loeffler's campaign in Georgia, a newly competitive state where the president's own poll numbers have tightened against former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., according to people briefed on the discussions. Ms. Loeffler, a financial services executive with no previous government experience, was appointed to the position in December 2019 [by Gov. Brian Kemp] after the long-serving Republican, Johnny Isakson, announced he would retire for health reasons. She is running in a special election for the seat this fall, facing nearly two dozen candidates in the jumbled race, including two well-financed Democrats. One opponent in particular -- Representative Doug Collins, a Republican ally of Mr. Trump -- has gained strength in the field.... Because the field is so crowded, Georgia officials expect no candidate to get a majority, forcing a runoff. And the president's team is planning to stay out of the race until the runoff approaches, which wouldn't be until January 2021, according to the people briefed on the discussions."

Oregon. Will Steakin & Meg Cunningham of ABC News: "Republicans in Oregon this week nominated a Senate candidate [-- Jo Rae Perkins --] with a deep history of promoting and vowing support for the QAnon conspiracy theory, providing the fringe movement its largest electoral platform yet and roiling Republicans over having a candidate who openly embraces baseless conspiracy theories.... When asked about supporting Perkins in the general election, the Republican National Committee did not comment. The Oregon state Republican Party issued a lukewarm and seemingly reluctant statement saying, 'By virtue of being the GOP nominee, this is what we do - support them in winning the general election.' The National Republican Senatorial Committee would not express support for Perkins and instead responded when asked with a list of unrelated allegations against Democratic Senate candidates before saying 'and THIS is what ABC News is focused on.'"

South Carolina. Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post: "A new ad out today from LindseyMustGoPAC, a super PAC with an obvious objective, uses the three-term senator's own words to dramatize what happened to [Lindsey] Graham in an effort to destroy his credibility and sow doubts about his character." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

Ted Johnson of Deadline: "A federal judge in San Diego dismissed One America News Network's defamation lawsuit against Rachel Maddow, MSNBC and Comcast, concluding that Maddow was stating her opinion when she said that the right-leaning channel 'really, literally is paid Russian propaganda.' [U.S. District Judge Cynthia Bashant] also said that the defendants could seek attorneys fees and costs.... Herring Networks, the owner of One America, said that it would appeal."

Way Beyond the Beltway

Valerie Pacheco of AFP: "Brazilians got a shocking look Friday at an expletive-laced meeting between President Jair Bolsonaro and his cabinet when a Supreme Court judge released a video at the center of an investigation targeting the far-right leader. The April 22 cabinet meeting is under scrutiny by prosecutors probing allegations by former justice minister Sergio Moro that Bolsonaro tried to interfere in federal police investigations. But it could prove just as damaging to Bolsonaro's 18-month-old government for other sordid details it contains. They include the president using profanity to insult governors, the education minister calling to throw Supreme Court justices in jail and the environment minister urging the government to legalize mining and farming in the Amazon rainforest while the world is distracted by the coronavirus pandemic. The video came to light when Moro resigned two days after the meeting. In a damaging final press conference, the then-justice minister, a popular anti-corruption crusader, accused Bolsonaro of 'political interference' in the federal police." Mrs. McC: Obviously Bosonaro, like Trump, suffers from Ditator Personality Disorder.

The Commentariat -- May 22, 2020

Afternoon Update:

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

** Doctor Trump, Medicine Man, Ctd. Ariana Cha & Laurie McGinley of the Washington Post: :A study of 96,000 hospitalized coronavirus patients on six continents found that those who received an antimalarial drug promoted by President Trump as a 'game changer' in the fight against the virus had a significantly higher risk of death compared with those who did not. People treated with hydroxychloroquine, or the closely related drug chloroquine, were also more likely to develop a type of irregular heart rhythm, or arrhythmia, that can lead to sudden cardiac death, it concluded." This story is free to nonscribers. The Raw Story has a summary report here. ~~~

~~~ Jill Colvin of the AP: "Twice this week, Trump has not only dismissed the findings of studies but suggested -- without evidence -- that their authors were motivated by politics and out to undermine his efforts to roll back coronavirus restrictions. First it was a study funded in part by his own government's National Institutes of Health that raised alarms about the use of hydroxychloroquine, finding higher overall mortality in coronavirus patients who took the drug while in Veterans Administration hospitals.... The Lancet, one of the world's oldest and most well respected medical journals, published a new study Friday that echoed those findings. 'If you look at the one survey, the only bad survey, they were giving it to people that were in very bad shape. They were very old, almost dead,' Trump told reporters Tuesday. 'It was a Trump enemy statement.' He offered similar pushback Thursday to a new study from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. It found that more than 61% of COVID-19 infections and 55% of reported deaths -- nearly 36,000 people -- could have been been prevented had social distancing measures been put in place one week sooner.... 'Columbia's an institution that's very liberal,' Trump told reporters Thursday. 'I think it's just a political hit job, you want to know the truth.'"

Alayna Treene of Axios: "President Trump announced Friday that he was declaring churches and places of worship as 'essential places that provide essential services,' and said that he would override governors to allow them to open 'right now.'... 'Some governors have deemed liquor stores and abortion clinics as essential, but have left out churches and other houses of worship. It's not right,' Trump said from the White House podium." Mrs. McC: Trump took no questions & of course he didn't elaborate on what authority a president* has to "override governors." Because Article I maybe.

Laura Reiley of the Washington Post: "The Trump administration withdrew one of the largest contracts in its signature effort to use farm surplus to feed hungry Americans, capping a chaotic process that industry experts say relied too heavily on companies with little demonstrated experience in farming, food chains or food banks. Contracts totaling more than $107 million went to a San Antonio event planner, an avocado mail-order company, a health-and-wellness airport kiosk company and a trade finance corporation, according to the Agriculture Department's announcement of contract awards. But the USDA bypassed the country's three largest food distribution companies, as well as nonprofit organizations with long histories of feeding the poor on a large scale, according to Tom Stenzel, president of the United Fresh Produce Association (UFPA).... The contracts were awarded under the Farmers to Families Food Box program, launched last week with a visit by Ivanka Trump to a Laurel, Md., wholesale produce company. About $1.2 billion in contracts have been awarded." Mrs. McC: Obviously, food is rotting & people are going hungry unnecessarily because the Trump administration can't do anything right. But, hey, all that matters is that Ivanka got a nice photo-op out of it.

New York. Bernard Condon, et al., of the AP: "More than 4,300 recovering coronavirus patients were sent to New York's already vulnerable nursing homes under a controversial state directive that was ultimately scrapped amid criticisms it was accelerating the nation's deadliest outbreaks, according to a count by The Associated Press.... Whatever the full number, nursing home administrators, residents' advocates and relatives say it has added up to a big and indefensible problem for facilities that even Gov. Andrew Cuomo -- the main proponent of the policy -- called 'the optimum feeding ground for this virus.'... Cuomo, a Democrat, on May 10 reversed the directive, which had been intended to help free up hospital beds for the sickest patients as cases surged. But he continued to defend it this week...."

Quint Forgey of Politico: "Former Vice President Joe Biden told a popular black radio personality Thursday that he 'ain't black' if he was still weighing whether to support ... Donald Trump in November's general election -- provoking outrage from the White House's Republican allies and inducing queasiness among even some Democratic operatives." Mrs. McC: Chuck Todd was very upset by Biden's remark. I'm not.

Lisa Lerer, et al., of the New York Times: "The lawyer for Tara Reade, the former Senate aide who has accused Joseph R. Biden Jr. of sexual assault, said Friday that he was no longer representing her, just two weeks after taking her on as a client.The lawyer, Douglas H. Wigdor, has been a leading plaintiff's attorney of the #MeToo era. His firm is best known for bringing discrimination cases against Fox News -- and its former star host Bill O'Reilly -- and Harvey Weinstein, and his presence at Ms. Reade's side gave her claims added legal heft.... Mr. Wigdor, a conservative Republican [who supported] ... President Trump in 2016 ..., had a parting shot for the news media.... 'Much of what has been written about Ms. Reade is not probative of whether then-Senator Biden sexually assaulted her, but rather is intended to victim-shame and attack her credibility on unrelated and irrelevant matters,' he said." This is an update of a story linked earlier. A Politico story is here.

Senate Race. South Carolina. Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post: "A new ad out today from LindseyMustGoPAC, a super PAC with an obvious objective, uses the three-term senator's own words to dramatize what happened to [Lindsey] Graham in an effort to destroy his credibility and sow doubts about his character." ~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~

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

Arman Azad of CNN: "In new guidance for mathematical modelers and public health officials, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is estimating that about a third of coroftrumnavirus infections are asymptomatic. The CDC also says its 'best estimate' is that 0.4% of people who show symptoms and have Covid-19 will die, and the agency estimates that 40% of coronavirus transmission is occurring before people feel sick. The agency cautions that those numbers are subject to change as more is learned about Covid-19.... Still, the agency says its estimates are based on real data collected by the agency before April 29." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Since the vast majority of those tested in the U.S. before April 29 did have symptoms, what this means to me is that the number of coronavirus infections in the U.S. is much higher than the 1.61 million American residents with confirmed cases, a number that of course does not include those who did have symptoms but could not or did not get tested.

Seeing Way Too Much Fuckface on von Clownstick. Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Thursday did not wear a mask during a tour of a Ford factory in Michigan being used to produce ventilators, despite the company's policy requiring everyone to wear personal protective equipment to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The president walked around the factory floor without a face covering, even as Ford executives who joined him wore masks." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

Who Was That Masked Man? Mark Meadows (I think) with an unidentified MOOM at a Michigan Ford factory Thursday. One clue as to the ID of the masked MOOM: short fingers. Photo via Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.). H/T to Rachel Maddow.

     ~~~ Update. Alana Wise of NPR: "President Trump on Thursday briefly wore a protective face mask during his visit to a Ford Motor Co. plant -- away from reporters' view -- after stoking concern about his resistance to wearing the expert-recommended gear.... Ford said in a statement that Chairman Bill Ford had 'encouraged President Trump to wear a mask when he arrived. He wore a mask during a private viewing of three Ford GTs from over the years. The President later removed the mask for the remainder of the visit.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Kevin Liptak of CNN: "... Donald Trump brought a navy blue mask stamped with the presidential seal to a Ford plant in Michigan on Thursday. But he refused to wear it in front of cameras. 'I didn't want to give the press the pleasure of seeing it,' Trump said before showing off his fabric face covering, which he said he'd briefly strapped on backstage before removing for a tour of the factory. 'It was very nice. It looked very nice. They said not necessary.'" Mrs. McC: Another lie. Ford chair Bill Ford said Trump should wear the mask. That made it "necessary." ~~~

~~~ Paul Farhi of the Washington Post: "By ultimately not wearing a mask in front of the cameras at Ford, Trump managed to subvert the carefully-arranged 'optics' of the visit -- which for any other president would serve as a feel-good story about leadership, corporate nimbleness and the production of lifesaving medical gear. Instead, his mask-querade dominated news coverage." ~~~

~~~ David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "Since resuming their travel schedules, President Trump and Vice President Pence have focused on battleground states crucial to their reelection chances, staging official government events at a time when presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden and his top surrogates say they are unable to safely return to the campaign trail.... The president's trips, in particular, have taken on clear campaign overtones as he pushes for states to move beyond the pandemic and restart their economies despite continuing public health concerns and the rising death toll. Supporters have lined the streets to greet his motorcade as they hold American flags and Trump campaign signs, disregarding social distancing rules and outnumbering a smaller set of protesters. 'This country is poised for an epic comeback. This is going to be an incredible comeback. Watch. It's already happening,' Trump told the audience at the Ford plant. He added: 'I think we're going to do better the second time and it's very important that we win the second time or everything that we've done, including manufacturing jobs, all this, it's going to be not in a very good position.'"

Michigan. Beth LeBlanc of the Detroit News: "A Court of Claims judge ruled Thursday that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had the legal authority to extend Michigan's state of emergency under the Emergency Powers of the Governor Act, calling claims to the contrary 'meritless' in a ruling GOP leaders vow to appeal. But Judge Cynthia Stephens noted the governor exceeded her authority by trying to extend the emergency under the Emergency Management Act of 1976, which requires legislative authority. But Stephens upheld the constitutionality of the Emergency Powers of the Governor Act of 1945."

Tom Winter & Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "Michael Cohen is just the latest well-connected federal prisoner to be sent home early because of the coronavirus, even though he has served only a third of his sentence -- well shy of the 50 percent threshold federal officials often cite in denying requests for early release. By contrast, prisoners like Eddie Brown, an Oklahoma man who has served a bigger portion of his sentence than Cohen and also cites health problems, remain behind bars, raising questions about the Bureau of Prisons' opaque process and its fairness.... Groups and relatives advocating for the release of prisoners at risk from the virus say they don't begrudge well-connected people achieving that goal. The problem, they said, is that many other people who could meet [AG William] Barr's criteria languish in prison, without legal help, unable to understand the complex process or lacking connections to help them as the pandemic spreads.... The release process has been marked by foot-dragging and confusion, critics say, and a federal judge in a ruling Tuesday labeled the results 'paltry.'"

Julian Barnes & Adam Goldman of the New York Times: "President Trump has blamed many others for his administration's flawed response to the coronavirus.... In recent weeks, he has also faulted the information he received from an obscure analyst [named Beth Sanner] who delivers his intelligence briefings. Mr. Trump has insisted that the intelligence agencies gave him inadequate warnings about the threat of the virus, describing it as 'not a big deal.' Intelligence officials have publicly backed him, acknowledging that ... Sanner ... underplayed the dangers when she first mentioned the virus to him on Jan. 23.... But by focusing on a single briefing, some former officials said, his criticism seemed both personal and misplaced.... In blaming Ms. Sanner, a C.I.A. analyst with three decades of experience, Mr. Trump ignored a host of warnings he received around that time from higher-ranking officials, epidemiologists, scientists, biodefense officials, other national security aides and the news media about the virus's growing threat. Mr. Trump's own health secretary had alerted him five days earlier to the potential seriousness of the virus.

"Mr. Trump ... is particularly difficult to brief on critical national security matters, according to interviews with 10 current and former intelligence officials familiar with his intelligence briefings. The president veers off on tangents and getting him back on topic is difficult, they said. He has a short attention span and rarely, if ever, reads intelligence reports, relying instead on conservative media and his friends for information. He is unashamed to interrupt intelligence officers and riff based on tips or gossip he hears from the former casino magnate Steve Wynn, the retired golfer Gary Player or Christopher Ruddy, the conservative media executive. Mr. Trump rarely absorbs information that he disagrees with or that runs counter to his worldview, the officials said. Briefing him has been so great a challenge compared with his predecessors that the intelligence agencies have hired outside consultants to study how better to present information to him."

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Do As We Say, Not As We Do. Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: "The denizens of Fox & Friends urged New York businesses to reopen en masse despite lockdown orders and a still-deadly coronavirus pandemic, but they did so from the safety of their own homes and secure locations. On Thursday morning, the trio of regular hosts were joined by legal analyst Andrew Napolitano to discuss Thursday's New York Post cover, which features a photograph of the city's skyline and a giant headline that blares 'IT NEEDS TO END. NOW.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

David Sanger of the New York Times: "President Trump has decided to withdraw from another major arms control accord, according to senior administration officials, and will inform Russia on Friday that the United States is pulling out of the Open Skies Treaty, negotiated three decades ago to allow nations to fly over each other's territory with elaborate sensor equipment to assure that they are not preparing for military action. Mr. Trump's decision may be viewed as more evidence that he is preparing to exit the one major arms treaty remaining with Russia: New START, which limits the United States and Russia to 1,550 deployed nuclear missiles each. It expires in February..., and Mr. Trump has insisted that China must join what is now a U.S.-Russia limit on nuclear arsenals." A Hill summary report is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Edward Wong & Lara Jakes of the New York Times: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo "has not tried to hide his political ambitions. But he has chosen not to disclose certain meetings that appeared to be linked to those plans while on taxpayer-funded trips. The exact number of the meetings is unclear, though there is a pattern of activity.... In [at least three such meetings], Mr. Pompeo did not put the visits on his public schedule. He and his aides avoided telling the reporters traveling with them about the meetings.... Such activities are coming under greater scrutiny after congressional aides said last weekend that the State Department inspector general, Steve A. Linick, who was fired by Mr. Trump last Friday at Mr. Pompeo's urging, had opened an investigation into potential misuse of department resources by Mr. Pompeo for the personal benefit of him and his wife." ~~~

~~~ Lara Seligman, et al., of Politico: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo disregarded the advice of high-level officials at the State Department, Pentagon and within the intelligence community in invoking an emergency waiver last year to circumvent congressional review of billions of dollars in arms sales to the U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf region, according to two former administration officials and three congressional sources. That decision was under investigation by a government watchdog who was fired last week at Pompeo's urging, and it has fueled renewed accusations from lawmakers that the Trump administration bucked the will of Congress and even violated the law when it fast-tracked the weapons sales.... During meetings last spring of the National Security Council at several levels, high-level career and political officials from the Pentagon, State Department and intelligence community agreed that there had been no change in Tehran's behavior to justify invoking emergency authorities and advised against doing so.... 'Our conclusion was, "Nobody supports this being an emergency, so we think that the declaration wouldn't have any grounds and we shouldn't do it,"' the ex-official added." ~~~

~~~ Kylie Atwood of CNN: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pushed State Department officials to find a way to justify the emergency declaration that he had already decided to implement in order to fast-track the $8 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia last year -- stunning career diplomats, four sources have told CNN. 'They seemed to have a game plan and it had to be justified,' said a State Department official who told CNN they had communicated what happened to the State Department's Office of the Inspector General during an interview late last year, as part of the watchdog's investigation into Pompeo's move to fast track the sale. 'The attitude was very Trumpian,' the official added. Pompeo's demand meant State Department officials had to reverse engineer the situation to provide the justification for a decision which was made in an aggressive and unconventional manner, the sources said. The probe into the secretary's push on the Saudi weapons sale is in the spotlight after ... Donald Trump fired State Department inspector general Steve Linick, at Pompeo's request last week."

All the Best People, Ctd. Martin Matishak of Politico: "The Senate on Thursday confirmed Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) as ... Donald Trump's top intelligence official, in a move aimed at ending nine months of reshuffling at the top of the nation's spying establishment. Lawmakers voted 49-44 in a party-line vote to confirm Ratcliffe as the sixth director of national intelligence since the office was created in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.... Trump had originally picked Ratcliffe for the job in July, after the Texas Republican had put on an aggressive public display in his grilling of ... Robert Mueller. But ... [Ratcliffe] soon withdrew his name amid questions about whether he had inflated his resume." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The federal judge overseeing the tumultuous case of former national security adviser Michael Flynn has until May 31 to explain his rationale for declining to immediately dismiss the case against Flynn after the Justice Department moved to drop the matter. A panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia say district court judge Emmet Sullivan must respond within 10 days to a request by Flynn that the higher court force him to drop the case. Circuit Court Judges Karen Henderson, Robert Wilkins and Neomi Rao also offered the Justice Department a chance to weigh in on the matter by the same deadline."

Elections 2020

Mr. President, it is a federal crime to withhold money from states with the purpose of interfering with people's right to vote. So, you may want to talk to your lawyer, Bill Barr, about that. -- Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) on MSNBC, Wednesday

Every once in a while you get the president of the United States popping up and screaming against vote-by-mail, but states and both political parties are organizing their people for it. It's a bizarre cognitive dissonance. -- Michael Waldman of the Brennan Center for Justice ~~~

~~~ Michael Wines of the New York Times: "By threatening on Wednesday to withhold federal grants to Michigan and Nevada if those states send absentee ballots or applications to voters, President Trump has taken his latest stand against what is increasingly viewed as a necessary option for voting amid a pandemic. What he has not done is stop anyone from getting an absentee ballot. In the face of a pandemic, what was already limited opposition to letting voters mail in their ballots has withered. Eleven of the 16 states that limit who can vote absentee have eased their election rules this spring to let anyone cast an absentee ballot in upcoming primary elections -- and in some cases, in November as well. Another state, Texas, is fighting a court order to do so. Four of those 11 states are mailing ballot applications to registered voters, just as Michigan and Nevada are doing. And that does not count 34 other states and the District of Columbia that already allow anyone to cast an absentee ballot, including five states in which voting by mail is the preferred method by law." ~~~

~~~ Trump Lied about Why He Voted Absentee. Anthony Man of the Orlando Sun Sentinel: "On April 7, Trump said he voted by mail 'because I'm allowed to.' When a reporter asked about his mail ballot for the March primary, he explained it's 'called "out of state." You know, why I voted? Because I happen to be in the White House and I won't be able to go to Florida to vote.' [White House Press Secretary Kayleigh] McEnany [said] ... Wednesday that [Trump] voted by mail in Florida's presidential primary [because] his job kept him away from his legal residence in Palm Beach County.... [BUT] Trump was in Palm Beach County ... on March 7 and 8, the first weekend of early voting for the March 17 presidential primary. He didn't leave until Monday morning March 9.... White House press pool reports show he spent part of the both weekend days at his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. The golf club is across the street from a library where early voting was offered from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days." ~~~

~~~ Another Trump Election Conspiracy Theory Falls Apart. Marc Caputo of Politico: "A Trump election conspiracy theory has fallen apart after Florida's law enforcement agency said it had found no widespread voter fraud in the 2018 races for Senate and governor.... Donald Trump had complained repeatedly about election 'fraud' and theft in heavily populated, Democrat-rich Broward and Palm Beach counties, which had slowly but erratically updated their vote totals after polls closed on Election Day.... As Republican margins shrank, Trump stepped up his misleading attacks on 'the Broward Effect' of 'found' votes and, later, 'missing or forged' ballots. In all, he tweeted Florida election conspiracy theories and complaints 10 times over the course of a week. Two days after the election, [then-Gov. Rick] Scott [R] was perilously close to losing his Senate bid to unseat incumbent Bill Nelson. He held a rare press conference at the governor's mansion to demand an investigation and said he was suing Palm Beach and Broward counties."

Michigan is a great state. I've gotten tremendous business to go to Michigan. Michigan is one of the reasons I ran. I was honored in Michigan long before I thought about -- I was honored as the Man of the Year in Michigan at a big event. I remember so well. -- Donald Trump, Wednesday ~~~

An absolutely authentic portrait of me, Mrs. Bea McCrabbie, back when Time named me "Person of the Year."~~~ Michigan's Man of the Year. Daniel Dale, CNN's Trump fact-checker, has a good post on Trump's oft-repeated false claim that he was once named Michigan's Man of the Year. Dale also found a explanation that seems to solve the mystery of the genesis of Trump's crazy claim.

Kate Taylor & Sarah Mervosh of the New York Times: "The actress Lori Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, a fashion designer, have agreed to plead guilty to charges that they conspired to get their daughters admitted to the University of Southern California as crew recruits, prosecutors announced on Thursday, a reversal for the couple after months of maintaining their innocence in the nation's largest-ever admissions prosecution. Under the terms of the agreement, which still needs approval by a judge, Ms. Loughlin, 55, agreed to serve two months in prison, pay a $150,000 fine and serve two years of supervised release with 100 hours of community service. If the deal is approved, Mr. Giannulli, 56, is expected to serve five months in prison, pay a $250,000 fine and serve two years of supervised release with 250 hours of community service." An ABC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

California. Lisa Lerer, et al., of the New York Times: "Defense lawyers in California are reviewing criminal cases in which Tara Reade, the former Senate aide who has accused Joseph R. Biden Jr. of sexual assault, served as an expert witness on domestic violence, concerned that she misrepresented her educational credentials in court. Then known as Alexandra McCabe, Ms. Reade testified as a government witness in Monterey County courts for nearly a decade, describing herself as an expert in the dynamics of domestic violence who had counseled hundreds of victims. But lawyers who had faced off against her in court began raising questions about the legitimacy of her testimony, and the verdicts that followed, after news reports this week that Antioch University had disputed her claim of receiving a bachelor's degree from its Seattle campus. The public defender's office in Monterey County has begun scrutinizing cases involving Ms. Reade and compiling a list of clients who may have been affected by her testimony, according to Jeremy Dzubay, an assistant public defender in the office." Politico's story is here. ~~~

~~~ Alexander Nieves of Politico: "University of California regents voted Thursday to stop requiring high school students to submit an SAT or ACT score for admission, the biggest blow yet to the traditional standardized tests as leaders of the elite public system attempt to address fairness concerns. UC's new policy, proposed by system President Janet Napolitano, calls for the SAT and ACT to be suspended through 2024 as the university attempts to develop its own testing standard. The tests will be completely eliminated in 2025, regardless of whether a new or modified UC-specific standard has been approved for use.... The vote comes after decades of opposition to standardized testing from civil rights groups and education experts who say it favors wealthier, predominantly white students who can pay for extensive test prep." A New York Times story is here.

Georgia. Rick Rojas of the New York Times: "The man who filmed the pursuit and shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, the 25-year-old black man who was killed after an encounter with two white men, was arrested on Thursday in connection with the killing, Georgia authorities said. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a statement that the man, William Bryan, 50, [who is white,] was arrested on charges of felony murder and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment. The two other men, Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, were charged with murder and aggravated assault this month.... Mr. Bryan was considered a participant in the pursuit long before the video emerged online.

Way Beyond

China/Hong Kong. Keith Bradsher, et al., of the New York Times: "China is moving to impose new national security laws that would give the Communist Party more control over Hong Kong, threatening to erode the freedoms that distinguish the global, commercial city from the rest of the country. The proposal, announced on Thursday, reignited the fear, anger and protests over the creeping influence of China's authoritarian government in the semiautonomous region. It also inflamed worries that Beijing is trying to dismantle the distinct political and cultural identity that has defined the former British colony since it was reclaimed by China in 1997." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

News Lede

New York Times: "A Pakistan International Airlines plane with at least 99 people aboard crashed on Friday in a residential neighborhood near the airport in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, and rescue officials reported dozens of casualties. The plane, Flight 8303, an Airbus A320, was en route from the eastern city of Lahore to Karachi and crashed at 2:37 p.m., officials said. There were at least 91 passengers and eight crew members on board, Pakistani officials said. Nasir Hussain Shah, a provincial minister, said at least two people had survived the crash but had injuries."

The Commentariat -- May 21, 2020

Afternoon Update:

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

MOOM Goes Maskless. Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump on Thursday did not wear a mask during a tour of a Ford factory in Michigan being used to produce ventilators, despite the company's policy requiring everyone to wear personal protective equipment to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The president walked around the factory floor without a face covering, even as Ford executives who joined him wore masks."

Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Do As We Say, Not As We Do. Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: "The denizens of Fox & Friends urged New York businesses to reopen en masse despite lockdown orders and a still-deadly coronavirus pandemic, but they did so from the safety of their own homes and secure locations. On Thursday morning, the trio of regular hosts were joined by legal analyst Andrew Napolitano to discuss Thursday's New York Post cover, which features a photograph of the city's skyline and a giant headline that blares 'IT NEEDS TO END. NOW.'"

David Sanger of the New York Times: "President Trump has decided to withdraw from another major arms control accord, according to senior administration officials, and will inform Russia on Friday that the United States is pulling out of the Open Skies Treaty, negotiated three decades ago to allow nations to fly over each other's territory with elaborate sensor equipment to assure that they are not preparing for military action. Mr. Trump's decision may be viewed as more evidence that he is preparing to exit the one major arms treaty remaining with Russia: New START, which limits the United States and Russia to 1,550 deployed nuclear missiles each. It expires in February, weeks after the next presidential inauguration, and Mr. Trump has insisted that China must join what is now a U.S.-Russia limit on nuclear arsenals." A Hill summary report is here.

Martin Matishak of Politico: "The Senate on Thursday confirmed Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) as ... Donald Trump's top intelligence official, in a move aimed at ending nine months of reshuffling at the top of the nation's spying establishment. Lawmakers voted 49-44 in a party-line vote to confirm Ratcliffe as the sixth director of national intelligence since the office was created in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.... Trump had originally picked Ratcliffe for the job in July, after the Texas Republican had put on an aggressive public display in his grilling of former special counsel Robert Mueller. But ... [Ratcliffe] soon withdrew his name amid questions about whether he had inflated his resume."

Keith Bradsher, et al., of the New York Times: "China is moving to impose new national security laws that would give the Communist Party more control over Hong Kong, threatening to erode the freedoms that distinguish the global, commercial city from the rest of the country. The proposal, announced on Thursday, reignited the fear, anger and protests over the creeping influence of China's authoritarian government in the semiautonomous region. It also inflamed worries that Beijing is trying to dismantle the distinct political and cultural identity that has defined the former British colony since it was reclaimed by China in 1997."

Kate Taylor & Sarah Mervosh of the New York Times: "The actress Lori Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, a fashion designer, have agreed to plead guilty to charges that they conspired to get their daughters admitted to the University of Southern California as crew recruits, prosecutors announced on Thursday, a reversal for the couple after months of maintaining their innocence in the nation's largest-ever admissions prosecution. Under the terms of the agreement, which still needs approval by a judge, Ms. Loughlin, 55, agreed to serve two months in prison, pay a $150,000 fine and serve two years of supervised release with 100 hours of community service. If the deal is approved, Mr. Giannulli, 56, is expected to serve five months in prison, pay a $250,000 fine and serve two years of supervised release with 250 hours of community service." An ABC News story is here.

~~~~~~~~~~

Jeff Cox of CNBC: "First-time filings for unemployment insurance totaled 2.44 million last week as the tail effects of the coronavirus shutdown continued to impact the U.S. jobs market.... The seasonally adjusted total, while still well above anything the nation had seen in pre-coronavirus America, represents the seventh straight week of a declining pace following the record peak of 6.9 million in late March. In addition, a review from last week brought the number down substantially, from 2.98 million to 2.69 million. In the nine weeks since the coronavirus-induced lockdown has shut down large parts of the U.S. economy, some 38.6 million workers have filed claims."

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

If you're having trouble getting your head around all the statistics & charts related to coronavirus testing, the Dear Leader is here to help:

When you see 'per capita,' there's many per capitas. Is it's like, 'Per capita relative to what?' But you could look at just about any category, and we're really at the top. Meaning positive on a per capita basis, too. They've done a great job. -- Donald Trump, during a meeting with the governors of Arkansas & Kansas ~~~

~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Strangely, Trump's garbled "explanation" is accidentally half-right. If you're trying to understand rates of infection, the CDC seems to be going out of its way to misinform you AND state decision-makers: ~~~

~~~ ** Alexis C. Madrigal & Robinson Meyer of the Atlantic: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is conflating the results of two different types of coronavirus tests, distorting several important metrics and providing the country with an inaccurate picture of the state of the pandemic.... The CDC is making, a best, a debilitating mistake: combining test results that diagnose current coronavirus infections with test results that measure whether someone has ever had the virus. The upshot is that the government's disease-fighting agency is overstating the country's ability to test people who are sick with COVID-19. The agency confirmed to The Atlantic on Wednesday that it is mixing the results of viral and antibody tests.... This is not merely a technical error. States have set quantitative guidelines for reopening their economies based on these flawed data points.... A negative test result means something different for each test. If somebody tests negative on a viral test, a doctor can be relatively confident that they are not sick right now; if somebody tests negative on an antibody test, they have probably never been infected with or exposed to the coronavirus.... The problem is that the CDC is clumping negative results from both tests together in its public reporting.... 'You've got to be kidding me,' Ashish Jha ... of the Harvard Global Health Institute told us when we described what the CDC was doing. 'How could the CDC make that mistake? This is a mess.'" ~~~

~~~ Confused by the CDC's mixed-up stats? How about the CDC's mixed-up health advice? ~~~

~~~ Jessica Flores of USA Today: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has always warned that 'it may be possible' to become infected with coronavirus by touching contaminated surfaces or objects. It just 'does not spread easily' in that manner, the agency now says, nor by animal-to-human contact, or vice versa. 'COVID-19 is a new disease and we are still learning about how it spreads,' says the CDC's recently updated guidelines. 'It may be possible for COVID-19 to spread in other ways, but these are not thought to be the main ways the virus spreads.' Dr. John Whyte, chief medical officer for the healthcare website WebMD, told Fox News that the CDC's slight update brings clarity and helps to reduce fears. 'Many people were concerned that by simply touching an object they may get coronavirus and that's simply not the case. Even when a virus may stay on a surface, it doesn't mean that it's actually infectious,' Whyte was quoted." Mrs. McC: I'm sticking with my possibly nutso system of disinfecting my grocery containers.

~~~ The CDC Is Tired of Trying to Reason with You White House People. Nick Valencia & Caroline Kelly of CNN: "The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has posted 60 pages of detailed guidelines on how to reopen the United States from coronavirus pandemic stay-at-home orders on the agency's website. The guidance was a slightly shorter version of a 68-page document shelved by the White House last week after concerns it was too specific. Still, the latest CDC document was very descriptive, providing a detailed road map for schools, restaurants, transit and child care facilities on the categories to consider before reopening. The guidance was posted without fanfare amid reported tensions between the agency and the White House. CNN previously reported one of the main hold ups for publishing the CDC documents was the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Civil Rights Division felt that faith-based organizations were being unfairly targeted." ~~~

     ~~~ Lena Sun, et al., of the Washington Post: "Guidance for reopening houses of worship amid the coronavirus pandemic has been put on hold after a battle between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the White House, which was resistant to putting limits on religious institutions, according to administration officials.... There are currently no plans [for the CDC] to issue guidance for religious institutions, according to three administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity...."

James Glanz & Campbell Robertson of the New York Times: "If the United States had begun imposing social distancing measures one week earlier than it did in March, about 36,000 fewer people would have died in the coronavirus outbreak, according to new estimates from Columbia University disease modelers. And if the country had begun locking down cities and limiting social contact on March 1, two weeks earlier than most people started staying home, the vast majority of the nation-s deaths -- about 83 percent -- would have been avoided, the researchers estimated. Under that scenario, about 54,000 fewer people would have died by early May. The enormous cost of waiting to take action reflects the unforgiving dynamics of the outbreak that swept through American cities in early March.... After Italy and South Korea had started aggressively responding to the virus, President Trump resisted canceling campaign rallies or telling people to stay home or avoid crowds. The risk of the virus to most Americans was very low, he said. 'Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on,' Mr. Trump tweeted on March 9.... 'At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!' In fact, tens of thousands of people had already been infected by that point, researchers later estimated." MSN has republished the NYT report here.

Carl Zimmer, et al., of the New York Times: "In labs around the world, there is now cautious optimism that a coronavirus vaccine, and perhaps more than one, will be ready sometime next year. Scientists are exploring not just one approach to creating the vaccine, but at least four. So great is the urgency that they are combining trial phases and shortening a process that usually takes years, sometimes more than a decade. The coronavirus itself has turned out to be clumsy prey, a stable pathogen unlikely to mutate significantly and dodge a vaccine." Mrs. McC: This last bit -- if correct -- is good news. A few weeks ago, I linked a story suggesting the coronavirus was mutating rapidly & therefore would be hard to stop with a vaccine as vaccines could not "keep up" to protect against the latest mutations.

Trump to Stop Taking Meds He Probably Wasn't Taking. CBS News: "President Trump will soon be ending his course of hydroxychloroquine, he told reporters Wednesday. 'I think the regimen finishes in a day or two -- yeah, I think it's two days, two days,' he said during a meeting with Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson and Kansas Governor Laura Kelly."

Sheila Kaplan, et al., of the New York Times: "The chief scientist brought on to lead the Trump administration's vaccine efforts has spent the last several days trying to disentangle pieces of his stock portfolio and his intricate ties to big pharmaceutical interests, as critics point to the potential for significant conflicts of interest. The scientist, Moncef Slaoui, is a venture capitalist and a former longtime executive at GlaxoSmithKline. Most recently, he sat on the board of Moderna, a Cambridge, Mass., biotechnology firm with a $30 billion valuation that is pursuing a coronavirus vaccine. He resigned when President Trump named him last Thursday to the new post as chief adviser for Operation Warp Speed, the federal drive for coronavirus vaccines and treatments.... In agreeing to accept the position, Dr. Slaoui did not come on board as a government employee. Instead, he is on a contract, receiving $1 for his service. That leaves him exempt from federal disclosure rules that would require him to list his outside positions, stock holdings and other potential conflicts. And the contract position is not subject to the same conflict-of-interest laws and regulations that executive branch employees must follow."

Where's Tony? Oliver Darcy of CNN: "The nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, has been conspicuously absent from national television interviews over the last two weeks, as the White House moves ahead with reopening the economy. Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, last gave a television interview when he spoke to CNN anchor Chris Cuomo on May 4th. Prior to his recent absence from the airwaves, Fauci was regularly appearing on national news programs to update the American people on the country's fight against the coronavirus. While Fauci has been on 'modified quarantine' after possible exposure to the virus, he has still been present at the White House and testified remotely before the Senate last week. Fauci's absence was particularly noteworthy this week, given the positive early results regarding a vaccine developed by the biotech company Moderna in partnership with the National Institutes of Health, which Fauci's NIAID falls under."

Aris Folley of the Hill: "Wilson Roosevelt Jerman, who served as a White House butler for more than five decades, has died of COVID-19 at the age of 91, local media report. Granddaughter Jamila Garrett said in an interview with FOX 5 DC that that Jerman first began working at the White House as a cleaner under the Eisenhower administration in 1957. She said it wasn't until former President John F. Kennedy came into office in the 1960s that her grandfather was promoted to butler after building a rapport with the first couple."

The Kleptocracy, Ctd. Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "A North Dakota construction firm that has received backing from President Trump has now secured the largest border wall contract ever awarded, a $1.3 billion deal to build 42 miles of black-painted fencing through the rugged mountains of southern Arizona. The company that won the contract, Fisher Sand and Gravel, has been repeatedly lauded by the president in White House meetings with border officials and military commanders, the result of a long and personalized marketing pitch to Trump and ardent supporters of his barrier project. After its initial bids for border contracts were passed over, the company and its CEO, Tommy Fisher, cut a direct path to the president by praising him on cable news, donating to his Republican allies and cultivating ties to former Trump adviser Stephen K. Bannon, GOP Senate candidate Kris Kobach and other conservative figures in Trump's orbit. Fisher's first and only other major border contract, for $400 million, is under review by the Defense Department inspector general after Democratic lawmakers raised concerns about improper White House influence on the procurement process."

Josh Rogin of the Washington Post: "On Friday, President Trump announced the firing of State Department Inspector General Steve Linick, based on the recommendation of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a move that surprised official Washington and infuriated Democrats. Now, there is additional concern about Linick's replacement, Stephen Akard, who is already on the job -- and is also keeping his existing State Department position, setting up a clear conflict of interest. According to the law, the administration must notify Congress 30 days in advance before firing an inspector general. But multiple sources told me that Linick's last day was Friday, the same day Congress learned about his ouster. Akard showed up at the office on Monday morning and immediately assumed the boss's role. Yet Akard is keeping his job as the head of the State Department's Office of Foreign Missions.... Adding the inspector general's job to his duties essentially means he will be overseeing himself.... Last May, the State Department Inspector General's office issued a report after inspecting ... the Office of Foreign Missions. This was before Akard took over, but the report was scathing.... OFM had spent $48 million over the years to build an information system that didn't work and warranted urgent management attention, the OIG reported." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Of course Trump & the Trumpettes see nothing wrong with a Trump-appointed IG's inspecting himself. This is akin to Trump's declaration "I'll be the oversight" of his distribution of half-a-trillion dollars of coronavirus relief monies. MEANWHILE, Trump has named "the real criminals" in what he describes as "the biggest crime in American history." ~~~

~~~ ** "Obamagate" Unmasked. Ellen Nakamura of the Washington Post: "A Republican effort to determine who may have leaked the name of Michael Flynn in connection to his 2016 contact with the Russian ambassador has centered on the question of which Obama administration officials requested his identity be 'unmasked' in intelligence documents. But in the FBI report about the communications between the two men, Flynn's name was never redacted, former U.S. officials said. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) announced this week that he wants to subpoena witnesses over the unmasking of Flynn.... 'When the FBI circulated [the report (on the Flynn-Kislyak conversations], they included Flynn's name from the beginning' because it was essential to understanding its significance, said a former senior U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.... 'There were therefore no requests for the unmasking of that information.'... [Acting DNI Richard Grenell] ... declassified [a list of Obama-era officials (including Joe Biden) who had requested the 'unmasking' of Flynn] and provided [it] to GOP senators.... The list, prepared at Grenell's request by the National Security Agency, covered requests made between Nov. 30, 2016 and Jan. 12, 2017. The majority of requests occurred before Flynn's communications with Kislyak on Dec. 29. It was the FBI, not the NSA, that wiretapped Kislyak's calls and created the summary and transcript, the former officials said....

"The unmasking issue appears to be part of an effort by the president and his allies to tar former president Barack Obama with what Trump says was an unfounded criminal investigation into potential conspiracy between Russia and Trump associates -- or what he now calls 'Obamagate.'... The president's allies are casting the unmasking requests as evidence of a malign effort to damage Trump through leaks to the media.... Grenell’s move amounts to 'selective declassification' for political purposes, said Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) in a letter to the DNI on Wednesday." The Week has a summary report here.

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This report is extraordinary. If correct, it means that Trump, GOP lawmakers & Trump allies made up out of whole cloth the "controversy" over the "unmasking" of the hapless Flynn. What Trump called "the biggest crime in American history" not only was not a crime; it never happened. ~~~

~~~ Natasha Bertrand of Politico: "The top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee has requested that the acting director of national intelligence hand over the underlying intelligence reports at the center of the so-called unmasking controversy. In a letter sent Wednesday and obtained by Politico, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) raised concerns with Richard Grenell about the intel chief's decision last week to declassify the names of Obama administration officials involved in unmasking the name in intelligence reports of a U.S. person later determined to be Michael Flynn.... As the committee's top Democrat, Warner has no power to compel Grenell to comply.... The declassified list, which was provided by the National Security Agency, appears to have nothing to do with the Flynn-Kislyak calls, which were discovered by the FBI.... Grenell has been on a declassification tear in recent days as he prepares to hand the office over to his successor.... Now, Warner is asking that Grenell 'declassify and make publicly available any intelligence report concerning conversations between Lt. Gen. Flynn (ret.) and Russian Ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak.'..."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Wednesday temporarily blocked the release of parts of the report prepared by Robert S. Mueller III.... The court's order, concerning a request by the House Judiciary Committee for grand jury materials that the Justice Department had blacked out from the report provided to Congress, could mean that the full report would not be made available before the 2020 election.The Supreme Court's brief order gave no reasons for blocking an appeals court ruling ordering the release of the full report while the justices considered whether to hear the case. It ordered the Justice Department to file a petition seeking review by June 1. There were no noted dissents." A Hill report is here, and an NBC News story is here.

Benjamin Weiser, et al., of the New York Times: "Michael D. Cohen, President Trump's former personal lawyer and fixer, will be released from a federal prison on Thursday on furlough, a Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman said on Wednesday. He had asked to be released over health concerns tied to the coronavirus.... Mr. Cohen's projected release date was November 2021, according to the bureau's website, but he had sought to be released sooner because of medical issues and the risk that they would be exacerbated by the virus's spread at the prison. One law enforcement official briefed on the matter said it was expected that Mr. Cohen would serve the balance of his sentence under home confinement, but it was unclear on Wednesday whether a final decision had been made with regard to that." ~~~

~~~ David Shortell & Paul LeBlanc of CNN: Michael Cohen "is expected to serve out the remainder of his sentence at home as coronavirus continues to spread behind bars, according to a person familiar with the matter. Cohen will be released on furlough while he completes the process of being moved to home confinement...."

David L. Stern & Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on his law enforcement agencies Wednesday to investigate leaked audio of private phone calls several years ago between Vice President Joe Biden and Ukraine's then-president, Petro Poroshenko, and said that the conversations 'might be perceived, qualified as high treason.'... The recordings, which were first played at a news conference Tuesday in Kyiv, shed relatively little new light on Biden's role in ousting Ukraine's prosecutor general four years ago.... The recordings showed that Biden, as he has previously said publicly, linked loan guarantees for Ukraine in 2015 to the ouster of Viktor Shokin, then the country's prosecutor general.... But Zelensky's comments Wednesday could have been aimed at appeasing Trump, discrediting a rival in Poroshenko and deflecting to investigators all in one swipe.... Hours before Zelensky's news conference, he wrote in a New York Times op-ed that 'the impeachment story was not comfortable for me.... It took American and international attention away from the issues that mattered most to Ukraine and turned our country into a story about President Trump.'..."

Elections 2020

Michigan. Zach Montellaro & Quint Forgey of Politico: "... Donald Trump mischaracterized Michigan's mail-in ballot policies on Wednesday while threatening federal funding to the state if election officials there do not retreat from measures meant to facilitate mail-in voting.... 'Breaking: Michigan sends absentee ballots to 7.7 million people ahead of Primaries and the General Election,' Trump tweeted. 'This was done illegally and without authorization by a rogue Secretary of State. I will ask to hold up funding to Michigan if they want to go down this Voter Fraud path!' He then followed up with another message mentioning the official Twitter accounts for acting White House budget director Russ Vought, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and the Treasury Department. The president's tweets mischaracterized a recent policy change in Michigan. On Tuesday, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, announced that all of the state's 7.7 million registered voters would be mailed absentee ballot applications for the August down-ballot primaries and November general election, not a ballot directly. Responding to the president, the secretary tweeted that 'I also have a name, it's Jocelyn Benson,' and noted that her office was sending applications 'like my GOP colleagues in Iowa, Georgia, Nebraska and West Virginia.'" ~~~

State of Nevada 'thinks' that they can send out illegal vote by mail ballots, creating a great Voter Fraud scenario for the State and the U.S. They can't! If they do, 'I think' I can hold up funds to the State. Sorry, but you must not cheat in elections. @RussVought45 @USTreasury -- Donald Trump, in a tweet Wednesday morning ~~~

~~~ Nevada. Jon Ralston of the Nevada Independent: Trump's "tweet early Wednesday morning alleging illegalities that are not illegal and threatening an unlawful withholding of federal funds unless Nevada officials bend the knee would have been comical if it were not so insidious. It has become de rigueur to dismiss Trump's tweets as a distraction, the online maundering of a pathological liar designed to distract from real issues."

~~~ Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "We ... know Trump fears vote-by-mail can hurt his []re-election chances. Trump explicitly admitted that with such Democratic voting rights measures, 'you'd never have a Republican elected in this country again.' And so, in lodging this threat, Trump is saying the corrupt part out loud -- with a bullhorn.... As a threshold matter, what Trump is threatening is illegal, according to Stephen Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin. 'The federal government does not have the power to withhold funding from states because the president disagrees with something the states are doing,' Vladeck told me. 'There's no legal mechanism by which he can do that.'... Trump could try to instruct the Treasury Department not to dole out [coronavirus relief] money. Note that Trump actually cc'd the Treasury Department in his tweet-threat, an act that becomes a lot more disgusting when you understand that this is how the mechanism actually does work.... This episode shows Trump functioning as a pathetic wannabe autocrat who can't even get his corrupt threats right in another sense as well." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Sure puts the "I'll be the oversight" of coronavirus relief distribution in perspective, doesn't it?

Lachlan Markay of the Daily Beast: "Embattled Sen. Kelly Loeffler's (R-GA) husband made his largest-ever federal political contribution last month with a seven-figure donation to a super PAC supporting ... Donald Trump's re-election, according to Federal Election Commission records released on Wednesday. A filing from the pro-Trump group America First Action shows that Jeff Sprecher, the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, donated $1 million to the group in late April, as Loeffler sought to beat back allegations of insider trading after she and Sprecher unloaded millions of dollars in stock in the wake of a closed-door Senate briefing on the novel coronavirus."

Meet Your Official, Party-Approved GOP Candidates:

California Congressional Race. Not a Bigoted Bone in His Body. Ally Mutnick of Politico: "Republican congressional candidate Ted Howze said earlier this month he had nothing to do with social media posts from his personal accounts that demeaned Muslims, accused prominent Democrats of murder and mocked a survivor of the Parkland school shooting. The 'negative and ugly ideas,' he asserted, were penned by others whom he'd given access to his accounts, but he declined to name them. In the weeks since his denial, new questions have emerged about that explanation. At least a dozen additional posts from Howze's account over a two-year period espouse conspiracy theories, suggest Hillary Clinton and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) are responsible for murder, or denigrate Dreamers, Islam and the Black Lives Matter movement. As of Tuesday afternoon, they were accessible on his personal Facebook account. Howze, his party's nominee in a competitive central California district, is endorsed by the National Republican Congressional Committee and House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy. He explicitly signed his name to one of these posts and tags family members in others."

Oregon Senate Race. Mike Baker of the New York Times: "Republicans in Oregon have selected a Senate candidate who promotes the QAnon conspiracy theory, the latest sign that conservatives are increasingly willing to embrace a movement built on a baseless series of plotlines about President Trump battling a shadowy globalist cabal. Jo Rae Perkins was carrying about 50 percent of the vote in Oregon's primary as of Wednesday afternoon, vanquishing three other Republican candidates to become the party's nominee for the seat currently held by Senator Jeff Merkley, a Democrat. While the incumbent is considered a strong favorite, and Ms. Perkins's embrace of fringe ideas could alienate mainstream voters, she has th backing of party leaders for a seat Republicans held as recently as 2009." ~~~

~~~ Kate Riga of TPM: "Republican Jo Rae Perkins, now the official challenger to Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) in November, acknowledged her Tuesday night primary win with a proclamation of her solidarity with acolytes of the QAnon conspiracy theory. 'Where we go one, we go all,' she says in a Twitter video, brandishing a '#WWG1WG' sticker with the group's motto in hashtag form. 'I stand with President Trump, I stand with Q and the team,' she continues. 'Thank you anons and thank you patriots. And together, we can save our republic.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Will Sommer of the Daily Beast: "Perkins deleted the video on Wednesday afternoon, amid press coverage of her primary win.... In a May 5 video with QAnon promoters 'ShadyGrooove' and 'InTheMatrixxx' -- two prominent QAnon figures who have teamed up with an alleged cult leader to push their theories -- Perkins said she was initially convinced that the coronavirus lockdown was actually cover for Trump to arrest top Democrats.... QAnon supporters ... are ... convinced that Trump will soon imprison or execute top Democrats, including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.... Perkins added that the coronavirus is a 'fake virus' and described herself as 'red-pilled' -- QAnon code meaning she's been 'awakened' by the conspiracy theory. When Obama failed to be arrested and tried at Guantanamo, however, Perkins ... claimed on the YouTube show that the arrests had failed to happen because of some unspecified failing of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY, adding that 'the judges aren't in place.'"