Trump Administration

The Washington Post reports: White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Monday that Trump will travel to Kenosha, Wis., on Tuesday despite a plea from the state’s governor for him to stay away. She also said the White House has been unable to make contact with the family of Jacob Blake, whose shooting by police sparked unrest in the city. …

Axios reports: The day after President Trump fired FBI boss James Comey, the president phoned John Kelly, who was then secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, and offered him Comey’s job, the New York Times’ Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Michael Schmidt reports in his forthcoming book, “Donald Trump v. The United States.” Driving the news: “But the president added something …

The New York Post reports: The head of the US Food and Drug Administration is willing to fast-track a coronavirus vaccine as quickly as possible – even before Phase Three clinical trials end — as long as officials are convinced the benefits outweigh the risks, according to a report. Commissioner Stephen Hahn told the Financial Times that the move would …

“When I went through confirmation, people watched that. They heard me make a couple of promises. One of them was to always follow the law. “The other was that I would do everything I could to protect the unauthorized disclosure of classified information, allowing people to leak it for political purposes. “The action that I announced yesterday is entirely consistent …

Axios reports: Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told ABC’s “This Week” that “all options continue to be on the table” in terms of sending federal law enforcement into Portland to quell violent protests. On Friday, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler sent President Trump a letter rejecting his offer of federal assistance. “I do understand that there were a number of …

The New York Times reports: The Justice Department secretly took steps in 2017 to narrow the investigation into Russian election interference and any links to the Trump campaign, according to former law enforcement officials, keeping investigators from completing an examination of President Trump’s decades-long personal and business ties to Russia. The special counsel who finished the investigation, Robert S. Mueller …

The Hill reports: White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said Sunday that most of President Trump’s America is “peaceful” in response to fatal shootings at protests in Kenosha,Wis. and Portland Ore. that Meadows blamed on Democrat-run cities. Chuck Todd, the moderator of NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” challenged Meadows on the Trump campaign’s narrative that Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s …

The Hill reports: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), acting chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said congressional oversight is facing a “historic crisis” after the Director of National Intelligence, John Ratcliffe, notified Congress on Saturday that the intelligence community will be scaling back in-person congressional briefings on election security. “Congressional oversight of intelligence activities now faces a historic crisis,” Rubio said …

More diligent oversight by the Treasury Department: Two South Florida men used fake and stolen identities to steal over $3 million in coronavirus relief funds, authorities said. Jean Fleuridor, 41, of Weston, and Hasan Brown, 44, of Miami, made separate appearances this past week in Miami federal court on bank fraud conspiracy charges, according to court records. According to a …

CNN reports: The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has informed the House and Senate Select Committees on Intelligence that it’ll no longer be briefing on election security issues, a senior administration official told CNN. It’ll provide written updates, the official said. The official added that other agencies supporting election security, including the Department of Justice, Department of Defense …

The New York Times reports: It started with an unexpected call last week from Lynne Patton [photo], a longtime Trump associate who oversees federal housing programs in New York. Ms. Patton told a leader of a tenants’ group at the New York City Housing Authority, the nation’s largest, that she was interested in speaking with residents about conditions in the …

Fox News reports: Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden only condemned the ongoing violence in Kenosha, Wis. and cities across the country this week because he “sees this as a political liability,” White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows charged on “The Daily Briefing” Friday. “After 90 days [of] Portland rioting, and … month after month things have gone on, he’s …

Vanity Fair reports: During the inauguration, Wolkoff writes that she and Melania launched “Operation Block Ivanka,” making sure that she was seated out of frame in the photos of President Trump being sworn in. Once they were in the White House, Wolkoff writes that Ivanka and her staff wrote to her and Melania about co-hosting several events that were traditionally …

Politico Europe reports: German Chancellor Angela Merkel reacted with a smile — and no comment — when a reporter asked if it was true that U.S. President Donald Trump had enchanted her. Richard Grenell, the former U.S. director of National Intelligence and ambassador to Germany, claimed earlier this week that he watched Trump “charm” Merkel, despite the famously chilly relationship …

The New York Daily News reports: The House Foreign Affairs Committee pulled out the big guns against Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday, announcing its plans to hold him in contempt over his “alarming disregard for the law,” including his potentially illegal speech at the Republican National Convention this week. The committee’s chairman, Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), said Pompeo …

Politico reports: FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn [photo] is ousting his top spokesperson after only two weeks on the job, in a move that follows unhappiness with the agency’s communications strategy, according to an email he sent to senior leaders on Friday that was shared with POLITICO. “Effectively immediately, Emily Miller will no longer serve the FDA as the assistant commissioner …

The Daily Beast reports: The outgoing White House counselor was talking about the “unfortunate” violence in American cities and the need for “law and order” when CNN reporter Joe Johns asked, “Is the president calling on his supporters in Kenosha, people like Kyle Rittenhouse, to stop the violence?” “The president wants everybody to stop the violence,” Conway said in response. …

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports: Wisconsin Lutheran College said Vice President Mike Pence won’t serve as the school’s commencement speaker Thursday after “careful consideration of the escalating events in Kenosha.” The college, which is in Milwaukee, said it has chosen Rev. Mark Jeske of St. Marcus Lutheran Church as a substitute speaker for Saturday’s event. The commencement is not on …

The New York Times reports: The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has scaled back the agency’s recommendation advising some people not to get tested after exposure to the novel coronavirus, now saying “testing may be considered for all close contacts of confirmed or probable Covid-19 patients.” The statement by Dr. Robert R. Redfield was issued to …

The White House has responded to new Washington Post reporting on how Trump is spending millions in public money on visits to his properties. In response to questions for this report, White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement that Trump has “turned over the day-to-day responsibilities of running the company though he was not required to, [and] has …