Trump Administration

Don’t believe what you hear and see, says Mike Pence: Vice President Pence on Thursday denied that the country’s response to the coronavirus was in any way hampered by President Trump repeatedly downplaying the threat from the deadly disease. “Absolutely not,” Pence said on Fox News when asked if Trump’s public dismissiveness of the virus limited the ability of the …

The Hill reports: Joy Behar declared Wednesday that she won’t take a coronavirus vaccine until after Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and senior White House adviser, takes it. “The View” co-host noted that most vaccines, including one she took for mumps, take years to safely develop, warning that officials should not rush to approve one for COVID-19 before it is …

The Washington Post reports: The U.S. Postal Service’s Board of Governors signaled strong support for Louis DeJoy on Wednesday after convening a closed-door meeting with the embattled postal chief to discuss congressional investigations tied to the agency’s delivery problems and allegations of political fundraising improprieties. Members of the board, dominated 4 to 2 by Republican members appointed by President Trump, …

The Associated Press reports: Vice President Mike Pence and top officials from President Donald Trump’s campaign are slated to attend a Montana fundraiser next week hosted by a couple who have expressed support for the QAnon conspiracy theory. The hosts of the fundraiser, Caryn and Michael Borland, have shared QAnon memes and retweeted posts from QAnon accounts, their social media …

The New York Times reports: Top officials with the Department of Homeland Security directed agency analysts to downplay the threat of violent white supremacy and of Russian election interference, according to a whistle-blower complaint filed by a top intelligence official with the department. Brian Murphy, the former head of the intelligence branch of the Homeland Security Department, said in a …

Yahoo News reports: The U.S. government on Monday will stop conducting enhanced screening of passengers on inbound international flights for COVID-19, Yahoo News has learned. The screening operations have been held at select airports since January, when the first cases of the disease began to emerge from Wuhan, China. Since March, incoming international flights from select high-risk countries, including much …

Politico reports: A Trump administration appointee at the Department of Health and Human Services is trying to prevent Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, from speaking about the risks that coronavirus poses to children. Emails obtained by POLITICO show Paul Alexander — a senior adviser to Michael Caputo, HHS’s assistant secretary for public affairs — instructing press officers …

The Hill reports: White House senior adviser Jared Kushner told people that the book “Alice in Wonderland” can help them understand the Trump presidency, according to excerpts from Bob Woodward’s new book reported by The Washington Post on Wednesday. In his forthcoming book, titled “Rage,” the Washington Post associate editor writes that Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, advised people that one …

The Associated Press reports: The book documents private grumblings, periods of exasperation and wrestling about whether to quit among the so-called adults of the Trump orbit: James Mattis, Dan Coats and former secretary of state Rex Tillerson. Mattis quietly went to Washington National Cathedral to pray about his concern for the nation’s fate under Trump’s command and, according to Woodward, …

The Washington Post reports: The family of Harry Dunn, the 19-year-old motorcyclist killed by a car driven on the wrong side of an English roadway by the wife of a U.S. official, filed a U.S. federal lawsuit against the driver, Anne Sacoolas, on Wednesday. The lawsuit, which claims wrongful death and seeks financial damages, represents a significant escalation in the …

Mediaite reports: During an interview with Fox News’ Sandra Smith, McEnany was asked for her response to the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) estimation that the federal budget is looking at a record deficit of $3 trillion. “What is the president’s plan as the economy rebounds to take this on?” Smith asked. “Obviously [spending] was needed with the coronavirus pandemic — …

Bloomberg News reports: Deutsche Bank AG, whose global operation is under the microscope of U.S. lawmakers and criminal investigators, has enlisted an old friend of U.S. Attorney General William Barr to help the bank navigate the political waters in Washington. The decision came from Frankfurt, where the bank’s supervisory board led by chairman Paul Achleitner has retained Robert Kimmitt, according …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump’s reelection campaign is paying to replace sod on the White House South Lawn and Rose Garden after damage to the greenery late last month from large crowds and heavy equipment used for Republican National Convention festivities, White House and campaign officials said Tuesday. Trump’s unprecedented decision to stage overtly political events on public property …

Bloomberg News reports: The U.S. Justice Department is seeking to take over the defense of President Donald Trump in a defamation suit brought by advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, who claims Trump raped her two decades ago. In a court filing Tuesday, the Justice Department said Trump was acting “within the scope” of his job as president when he said …

TMZ reports: Joe Exotic has submitted a 257-page case to Donald Trump — arguing various reasons why he should be pardoned from his 22-year murder-for-hire sentence — claiming he was sexually assaulted behind bars. Joe included a letter he sent to Donald Trump Jr. in his documents, in which he claims, “I have been sexually assaulted by jail staff, beat …

ABC News reports: Sarah Sanders, whose memoir was published Tuesday, told ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos that the cacophony of negative comments from former officials — including former  Security Adviser John Bolton, former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis — contrasted sharply with her own account because hers was “honest.” “It’s really simple,” Sanders …

The Washington Post reports: House Democrats are launching an investigation of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and called for his immediate suspension following accusations that he reimbursed employees for campaign contributions they made to his preferred GOP politicians, an arrangement that would be unlawful. Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) said in a statement late Monday that the House Committee on Oversight …

Mediaite reports: Fox News national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin doubled down on her previous reporting which claimed President Donald Trump disrespected veterans and war dead, adding that Secretary of Treasury Steve Mnuchin was in the room with the president when he disparaged four-star generals. Griffin reported Mnuchin was at the Tank meeting in the Pentagon on July 20, 2017, when …

Law & Crime reports: Louis DeJoy, the Postmaster General, reportedly engaged in what is known as a straw-donor scheme back when he was chief executive of the company of New Breed Logistics. That news is on the radar of the attorney general of North Carolina, where DeJoy was based. AG Josh Stein, a Democrat, declined to speak directly to the …

CNN reports: House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff on Sunday accused Attorney General William Barr of lying about intelligence related to foreign interference in the upcoming presidential election. In an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union,” Schiff was asked about Barr’s claim from last week’s interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that China is interfering with the election …