Trump Administration

The Daily Beast reports: The U.S. State Department has issued warnings to Russia that there will be repercussions if Moscow pays bounties to the Taliban for successfully killing American soldiers, according to two senior American officials and another individual with knowledge of the matter. The warnings were issued through the department’s diplomatic channels after public news reports in June that …

Politico reports: A new mandatory Pentagon training course aimed at preventing leaks refers to protesters and journalists as “adversaries” in a fictional scenario designed to teach Defense Department personnel how to better protect sensitive information. The new course was recently launched as part of Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s effort to improve “operational security,” or OPSEC, and clamp down on leaks. …

Reuters reports: U.S. deaths from the novel coronavirus surpassed 150,000 on Wednesday, a number higher than in any other country and nearly a quarter of the world’s total, according to a Reuters tally. The United States ranks sixth in deaths per capita, at 4.5 fatalities per 10,000 people. Only the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Peru and Chile have a higher …

“If a study that’s a good study comes out and shows efficacy and safety for hydroxychloroquine or any other drug that we do, if you do it in the right way, you accept that scientific data. “But right now today, the cumulative scientific data that has been put together, and done over a number of different studies, has shown no …

Weren’t we told that everybody that gets near Glorious Leader must be tested? Attorney General William Barr will be tested for coronavirus one day after he came into close contact with a GOP lawmaker who since tested positive for the virus, a Justice Department spokeswoman confirmed. Barr, who testified on Capitol Hill Tuesday before the House Judiciary Committee, came within …

The Texas Tribune reports: Vance Ginn, the chief economist for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, is facing fierce backlash for a recent racist tweet that said schools should open since most of the people dying from the coronavirus in Texas are elderly or Hispanic. Ginn later removed the tweet and apologized. “I believe strongly based on my deep faith that …

The Hill reports: Attorney General William Barr changed course and stated that it is not appropriate for a presidential candidate to accept foreign assistance after he initially responded to a question from a Democratic congressman stating it “depends” on the assistance. Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) asked Barr during a Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday if it is ever appropriate for a …

The New York Times reports: Attorney General William P. Barr will travel to Capitol Hill on Tuesday for his first congressional testimony in more than a year, and lawmakers are prepared to press for explanations on the federal response to nationwide protests of police killings of Black Americans and the handling of criminal cases involving President Trump’s allies. The hearing …

The Washington Post reports: Attorney General William P. Barr will tell the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that President Trump has not inappropriately intervened in Justice Department business — even though Barr has more than once moved in criminal cases to help the president’s allies — and he will defend the administration’s response to civil unrest in the country, according …

Via press release from the Justice Department: A Florida man was arrested and charged with fraudulently obtaining $3.9 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and using those funds, in part, to purchase a sports car for himself. Authorities seized a $318,000 sports car and $3.4 million from bank accounts at the time of arrest. David T. Hines, 29, of …

Bloomberg News reports: President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien has tested positive for Covid-19, according to people familiar with his situation. O’Brien has been out of the office since late last week, one of the people said. O’Brien came down with the coronavirus after a family event and has been isolating at home while still running the National …

The New York Times reports: Melania Trump, the first lady, will announce a plan on Monday to renovate the White House Rose Garden, a signature showcase of power used by presidents for decades, as her husband enters a crucial stretch of his re-election effort. The project, which includes electrical upgrades for television appearances, a new walkway and new flowers and …

The Hill reports: Adm. Brett Giroir, the assistant secretary of Health and Human Services who is leading the administration’s coronavirus testing efforts, said Sunday that nobody on the White House coronavirus task force is afraid to press President Trump on the need to expand testing. “Everyone at the administration understands the importance of testing. Nobody in the task force is …

CBS News reports: The U.S. Ambassador to Iceland wants to carry a gun. Despite being assigned to one of the safest countries in the world, Jeffrey Ross Gunter has been “paranoid” about his security since coming to Reykjavik last year, according to a dozen diplomats. As a result, Gunter wanted the State Department to obtain special permission from the Icelandic …

Courthouse News reports: Federal police are now under a court order not to arrest or assault journalists and legal observers for doing their jobs, after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order Thursday that the government said it would appeal. “An open government has been a hallmark of our democracy since our nation’s founding,” U.S. District Judge Michael Simon …

CNN reports: A Covid-19 vaccine likely won’t be “widely available” in the US until “several months” into next year, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Friday. “I think as we get into 2021, several months in, that you would have [a] vaccine that would be widely available to people in the …

Deadline reports: Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany was finishing up her briefing with reporters on Friday when she criticized so-called “cancel” culture, citing decisions to drop shows like Cops and Live PD in the wake of protests over the death of George Floyd. McEnany said that President Donald Trump “is also appalled by cancel culture, and cancel culture specifically as it …

Politico reports: Chris Christie dreamed of becoming president. Now, he’s settling for a different role in Washington: lobbyist. The former New Jersey governor is making big money from businesses trying to tap the gusher of coronavirus relief funds coming from the federal government. Newly filed disclosures show Christie’s firm pulled in $240,000 in less than three months for lobbying the …

Business Insider reports: Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious-disease expert, who serves on the White House coronavirus task force, says he and his family have been assigned personal security after receiving “serious threats.” Speaking on CNN’s “The Axe Files” podcast, Fauci said the threats were of a different magnitude from those he received while working on the federal government’s …

The Associated Press reports: In early April, when government scientists learned of a proposal to spend millions in federal research funding to study Pepcid, they found it laughable, according to interviews, a whistleblower complaint and internal government records obtained by The Associated Press. But that didn’t stop the Trump administration from granting a $21 million emergency contract to researchers trying …