Tag Archives: Trump adminstration

“So, let’s me get this straight. The Atlantic released the so-called ‘war plans’ and those ‘plans’ include: No names. No targets. No locations. No units. No routes. No sources. No methods. And no classified information. “Those are some really shitty war plans. This only proves one thing: Jeff Goldberg has never seen a war plan or an ‘attack plan’ (as …

Axios reports: A House Democrat is introducing long-shot legislation to make it a crime punishable by up to 5 years in prison to share classified information on messaging apps like Signal, Axios has learned. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) told Axios in a phone interview that his bill will ensure that the Espionage Act’s prohibition against disclosing classified information extends to …

Mediaite reports: The challenge for politicians in our digital age is that it’s all too easy for digital sleuths to dig up video clips of their past selves and smack them with charges of hypocrisy. Such is the tale of National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, who accidentally added a reporter on a group chat discussing secret war plans but less …

“I think the commerce secretary was reiterating that the president supports an American-made company like Tesla, who produces a very good product for the American people, which was beloved by the American people — particularly Democrats — until Elon Musk decided to vote for Donald Trump. And now we’ve seen despicable and unacceptable violence taking place across our country at …

The Military Times reports: Veterans Affairs officials this week unveiled new rules banning LGBTQ Pride flags and other unofficial banners at department offices and spaces, saying the move will bring “consistency” to agency messaging. VA Secretary Doug Collins said the new policy would limit the display of all flags except for the American flag at all VA facilities. Exceptions include …

Reuters reports: Medical advocacy group Doctors for America on Tuesday sued the main U.S. health agencies over the sudden removal of websites containing “a broad range of health-related data and other information” after President Donald Trump took office. The lawsuit, filed in Washington, D.C. federal court, names the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food and Drug Administration, Department of …

The New York Times reports: The White House has removed the scientist responsible for the National Climate Assessment, the federal government’s premier contribution to climate knowledge and the foundation for regulations to combat global warming, in what critics interpreted as the latest sign that the Trump administration intends to use its remaining months in office to continue impeding climate science …

CNBC reports: Attorney General William Barr has authorized federal prosecutors across the U.S. to pursue “substantial allegations” of voting irregularities before the 2020 presidential election is certified, despite little evidence of fraud. Barr’s action comes days after Democrat Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump and raises the prospect that Trump will use the Justice Department to try to challenge the …

CNN reports: Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, has approached the President about conceding the election, two sources tell CNN. The move comes following Trump’s assertion in a statement from his campaign — moments after CNN projected that President-elect Joe Biden will become the 46th president of the United States — that Biden is “rushing to falsely …

Politico reports: When Vice President Mike Pence first took charge of the White House’s coronavirus task force, among his earliest moves was establishing a standing call with all 50 governors aimed at closely coordinating the nation’s pandemic fight. Yet as the U.S. confronts its biggest Covid-19 surge to date, Pence hasn’t attended one of those meetings in over a month. …

The Washington Post reports: A senior executive at the U.S. Postal Service delivered a PowerPoint presentation in July that pressed officials across the organization to make the operational changes that led to mail backups across the country, seemingly contradicting months of official statements about the origin of the plans, according to internal documents. The presentation stands in contrast with agency …

The New York Post reports: President Trump is ordering the federal government to begin the process of defunding New York City and three other cities where officials allowed “lawless” protests and cut police budgets amid rising violent crime, The Post can exclusively reveal. Trump on Wednesday signed a five-page memo ordering all federal agencies to send reports to the White …

Via press release from the Justice Department: The Department of Justice today filed a statement of interest in Idaho federal court defending Idaho’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act against a challenge under the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause. “Allowing biological males to compete in all-female sports is fundamentally unfair to female athletes” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “Under the Constitution, …

NBC News reports: It’s been more than six months since President Donald Trump claimed to have started his annual physical at Walter Reed hospital but the White House is declining to explain why he has yet to complete the yearly doctor’s examination. Administration officials did not espond to NBC News’ request for comment about the delay — despite Trump announcing …

Talking Points Memo reports: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) stood by the biting comments he made to top White House COVID-19 task force official Dr. Anthony Fauci about the doctor’s opinion that it would be premature to reopen the country right now. Paul argued that “we really need to have competition among the experts,” pointing to British epidemiologist Neil Ferguson’s projection …

The Washington Post reports: U.S. intelligence agencies issued warnings about the novel coronavirus in more than a dozen classified briefings prepared for President Trump in January and February, months during which he continued to play down the threat, according to current and former U.S. officials. The repeated warnings were conveyed in issues of the President’s Daily Brief, a sensitive report …

Bloomberg News reports: The U.S. budget deficit may quadruple this year to almost $4 trillion. Projections from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) say that by 2023 U.S. debt held by the public will surpass records set in the post-World War II years. And these projections only include spending enacted so far—in a three-month-old crisis that has seen …

The Hill reports: The Pentagon will ask for billions of dollars in the next version of a stimulus package to help defense contractors hit by closures or other effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer said Monday. “We’re taking billions and billions on that one,” Ellen Lord, under secretary of Defense for acquisition and sustainment, said at …

The New York Times reports: At one of the most perilous moments in modern American history, Mr. Kushner is trying in a disjointed White House to marshal the forces of government for the war his father-in-law says he is waging. A real estate developer with none of the medical expertise of a public health official nor the mobilization experience of …

The Hill reports: Surgeon General Jerome Adams said Wednesday that the White House coronavirus guidelines should be interpreted as a national stay-at-home order. “My advice to America would be that these guidelines are a national stay-at-home order,” he said on NBC’s “Today” show. His comment was in response to a question about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who has said …