Trump Administration

The New York Times reports: The number of people known to have been infected with the coronavirus in the United States passed four million on Thursday, another grim milestone in a pandemic full of them, according to a New York Times database. And it’s not just cases that are rising. The numbers of hospitalizations and deaths reported in the U.S. …

The New York Daily News reports: A federal New York judge ordered Thursday that Michael Cohen, the former fixer and personal attorney for President Trump, must be released from prison because the Department of Justice threw him back behind bars as an act of “retaliation” over his forthcoming tell-all book about the president. In a virtual court hearing, Manhattan Federal …

“Certainly we all want school to be safe for kids. But the reality is, the science tells us that in – being in school is safe for children. There was just a study that came out from Germany on Monday that suggests that actually kids might even be stoppers of the virus. “That it was over 2,000 kids studied and …

NBC News reports: The White House is conducting contact tracing after a cafeteria worker tested positive for coronavirus, three Trump administration officials tell NBC News. The cafeteria and an eatery in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, or EEOB, were both closed this week after the case was discovered, officials said. It was unclear how long the facility will remain closed, …

The Chicago Tribune reports: President Donald Trump, who once bragged he could solve Chicago’s crime problem within a week, announced plans Wednesday to flood American cities with a “surge of federal law enforcement” to address ongoing violence, beginning with Chicago. Trump singled out the city as the one in the most critical in need of more resources to help drive …

CNBC reports: Former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner Doug Gottlieb signaled Wednesday that the U.S. could reach 300,000 COVID-19 deaths by the end of 2020 if the country’s death rate doesn’t improve. “Right now we have close to 1,000 casualties a day; so if we don’t change that trajectory, you could do the math and see where we are …

CNN reports: The billionaire NFL owner who serves as President Donald Trump’s ambassador to the United Kingdom was investigated by the State Department watchdog after allegations that he made racist and sexist comments to staff and sought to use his government position to benefit the President’s personal business in the UK, multiple sources told CNN. Robert Wood “Woody” Johnson, the …

Randy Rainbow is back today with a tribute to Dr. Anthony Fauci set to the tune of Gee, Officer Krupke from the classic musical, West Side Story.  Some history on the song from Slate: When Stephen Sondheim was writing the lyrics for “Gee, Officer Krupke,” to be sung in the 1957 musical West Side Story, he was hoping to be …

The Washington Post reports: Biotechnical companies Pfizer and BioNTech announced an agreement with the U.S. government Wednesday morning to distribute up to 600 million doses of a jointly produced vaccine for the novel coronavirus starting in December, through 2021. Through the deal, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Defense Department will pay $1.95 billion for the …

The Associated Press reports: The United States said Wednesday that it has ordered China to close its consulate in Houston “to protect American intellectual property” and the private information of Americans. China strongly condemned the move, the latest in a series of steps by the Trump administration as it ratchets up pressure on the world’s second-largest economy over trade, technology, …

The New York Times reports: The American ambassador to Britain, Robert Wood Johnson IV, told multiple colleagues in February 2018 that President Trump had asked him to see if the British government could help steer the world-famous and lucrative British Open golf tournament to the Trump Turnberry resort in Scotland, according to three people with knowledge of the episode. The …

Politico reports: As Americans still struggle to access coronavirus testing and receive prompt results, President Donald Trump is being screened for the disease as many as “multiple times a day,” his top spokesperson acknowledged Tuesday. “As I’ve made clear from this podium, the president is the most tested man in America,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters. “He’s …

ProPublica reports: Companies owned by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and his family received up to $24 million from one of the federal government’s key coronavirus economic relief programs, according to data made public Monday. At least six companies from Justice’s empire showed up on the list of Paycheck Protection Program aid recipients released by the Small Business Administration. The …

“What happened in Portland over the weekend, it was not only unlawful and unconstitutional, it’s just plain wrong. Sending armed, untrained police into the streets wearing fatigues without the knowledge or consent of the local police actually caused more violence. All the people that they arrested, they didn’t file one criminal complaint. “You have a lot of peaceful demonstrators. The …

Via press release: The Washington Nationals are thrilled to announce that Nats super-fan, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has accepted our invitation to throw out the ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day, Thursday, July 23. Dr. Fauci has been a true champion for our country during the Covid-19 pandemic and throughout his …

The Daily Beast reports: A week after he publicly donned a face mask for the first time following months of refusal, President Donald Trump — who still opposes a nationwide mask mandate — posted a photo of himself with a face mask while declaring that “many people say” that it’s “patriotic” to wear a mask. On Monday morning, meanwhile, U.S. …

Reuters reports: President Donald Trump on Monday said he plans to send law enforcement personnel to some major U.S. cities, as a federal crackdown on anti-racism protests including use of unmarked cars and unidentified officers in camouflage in Portland, Oregon, angers people across the country. “We’re sending law enforcement,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We can’t let this …

The Washington Post reports: Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams on Monday cited the controversy over sending federal troops into Portland, Ore., to protect federal property as he argued against imposing a federal mandate on wearing masks as a means to combat the novel coronavirus. During an appearance on Fox News, Adams championed wearing masks but sided with President Trump when …

Axios reports: President Trump and top White House officials are privately considering a controversial strategy to act without legal authority to enact new federal policies — starting with immigration, administration officials tell Axios. The White House thinking is being heavily influenced by John Yoo, the lawyer who wrote the Bush administration’s justification for waterboarding after 9/11. Yoo detailed the theory …

Just out from the Lincoln Project: The Lincoln Project today released a new video, “How It Starts”, a warning about how Trump, Bill Barr and Chad Wolf are ordering unnamed and unmarked agents into our streets. Against a backdrop of falling poll numbers, rising COVID-19 infections, and a revealing Fox News interview, it’s clear that President Trump is rapidly losing …