Tag Archives: Trump administration

Politico reports: Top HHS spokesperson Michael Caputo called an emergency staff meeting on Tuesday to apologize for leveling a series of false accusations on Facebook Live over the weekend, according to three people with knowledge of the meeting. Caputo told staffers that his remarks — which included unfounded allegations the Centers for Disease Control was harboring a “resistance unit” — …

The New York Times reports: The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into whether President Trump’s former national security adviser John R. Bolton unlawfully disclosed classified information when he published a memoir this summer, a case that the department opened after it failed to stop the book’s publication this summer. The department has convened a grand jury, which issued …

Bloomberg News reports: Bill Gates used to think of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as the world’s premier public-health authority. Not anymore. And he doesn’t trust the Centers for Disease Control and Protection either. Both, in his view, are casualties of a presidency that has downplayed or dismissed science and medicine in the pursuit of political gain. “We saw …

Fox News reports: The top spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services deleted his Twitter in the aftermath of a late-night rant in which he suggested tear gassing journalists and battled with other users on the social media platform. Michael Caputo, who was using his verified Twitter account, commented “gas all of them” in response to a post …

Politico reports: The White House has blocked trade adviser Peter Navarro from testifying at a House oversight hearing Wednesday about a partially canceled Defense Production Act contract to manufacture ventilators. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), who heads the Oversight Economic and Consumer Policy Subcommittee, issued a staff report in late July that argued the administration vastly overpaid Philips Respironics, agreeing to …

Mother Jones reports: Two months after a controversial State Department commission elevated religious freedom at the expense of LGBTQ equality and reproductive rights, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is planning to promote its findings at the United Nations, Mother Jones has learned. During the UN General Assembly, which begins on September 15 in New York, Pompeo is expected to lead …

The Associated Press reports: Vice President Mike Pence has canceled plans to attend a Trump campaign fundraiser in Montana following revelations that the event’s hosts had expressed support for the QAnon conspiracy theory. The change comes after the AP reported Wednesday that hosts Cayrn and Michael Borland in Bozeman, Montana, had shared QAnon memes and retweeted posts from QAnon accounts. …

CBS News reports: A top prosecutor in the probe into the origins of the investigation of President Donald Trump and Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election has quit, reportedly in part due to fears that political concerns were behind pressure to produce a report before the probe’s work is completed. The Hartford Courant on Friday reported that Nora Dannehy, …

The New York Daily News reports: The Trump administration admitted Friday to stripping millions of dollars from an FDNY fund that foots healthcare bills for 9/11 survivors and promised to try to put an end to the heartless practice. The administration’s about-face came after the Daily News exclusively reported Thursday that the Treasury Department has over the past four years …

Gothamist reports: A planned military flyover marking the anniversary of 9/11 was cancelled on Friday morning, after the decision to honor terror victims with a low-flying warplane was widely panned as tasteless and inappropriate. The Department of Defense announced their intention late Thursday to fly an F-18 jet over the Hudson River on Friday afternoon on the 19th anniversary of …

The Hill reports: The Trump administration on Friday issued a proposal to expand its DNA and other biometric data collection of immigrants to include citizens sponsoring them. In a document published on the Federal Register, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposed that “any applicant, petitioner, sponsor, beneficiary, or individual filing or associated with an immigration benefit or request, including …

NBC News reports: The Trump administration is siding with religious leaders who ordered a Catholic school in Indiana to fire a teacher in a same-sex marriage, saying the church’s actions are protected by the First Amendment. In a 35-page amicus brief filed on Tuesday, the Department of Justice argued that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis — which fired gay …

The Associated Press reports: A panel of three federal judges said Thursday that Presidential Trump’s order to exclude people in the county illegally when redrawing congressional districts violates the law. The federal judges in New York granted an injunction stopping the order, saying the harm caused by it would last for a decade. The judges prohibited Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, …

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 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, …

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 …

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 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: 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 …