Republican-controlled Senate panel approves subpoena for investigation into Joe Biden and Hunter Biden. Nancy Pelosi needs to subpoeana Ivanka, Eric, Donny Jr. and Jarred to a congressional hearing already.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/targeting-hunter-biden-senate-panel-approves-subpoena-over-democrats-objections/2020/05/20/c8070786-9aa3-11ea-a282-386f56d579e6_story.html
Trump Hopes You Forget How He Praised China And The WHO Before Blaming Them | What the five-page letter, dated Monday, fails to note is his own repeated praise of both China and its dictator, Xi Jinping ― including for that same "alleged transparency." "China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus," Trump wrote in a Jan. 24 Twitter post. "The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!" It was neither the first nor the last such tribute. On Jan. 22, the first day Trump spoke publicly about the coronavirus, he told Fox News there was nothing to worry about. "It's all taken care of. And China is working very hard on the problem. We spoke about it and China is working very hard on it." Even two months later, Trump was still lauding China and Xi. "Look, I have a very good relationship with President Xi and they went through a lot. You know some people say other things. They went through a lot. They lost thousands of people. They've been through hell," he told reporters on March 24.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-china-reversal-coronavirus-blame_n_5ec44c7bc5b61e42ad3d8876
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1220818115354923009
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo illegally spent taxpayer money to have two dozen "Madison Dinners," since he began as Secretary of State role in 2018. He illegally held "elaborate, unpublicized affairs" where Pompeo and his wife Susan Pompeo held regular dinners with Billionaire CEOs, Supreme Court justices, political heavyweights, and others. State Department officials involved in the dinners said they "raised concerns internally that the events were illegally using federal resources to cultivate a donor and supporter base for Pompeo's political ambitions, complete with extensive contact information that gets sent back to Susan Pompeo's personal email address," NBC News reported. The department's legal adviser told the officials that events hosted by the secretary of state should be related to foreign policy. Additionally, congressional aides told NBC News that some congressional committees are looking into the dinners.
https://www.businessinsider.com/pompeo-had-dozens-of-madison-dinners-at-taxpayers-expense-2020-5
Trump Violates Federal Court Order by Blocking Parody Trump Twitter Account
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/trump-violates-federal-court-order-by-blocking-parody-trump-twitter-account/
Tara Reade lied about receiving a bachelor degree from Antioch University. As if lying about a the bachelor degree weren't enough, Antioch University also denied her allegation of an agreement to show her name as Alexandra McCabee instead of Tara Reade. It looks like Tara/Alexandra did not think CNN would contact the institution.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/19/politics/tara-reade-biden-allegation/index.html
This is over. It's done. She's a very confused person. What she says happened didn't happen.
Departure of NASA's human spaceflight chief raises alarm - Douglas Loverro stepped down a week before astronauts are set to launch from U.S. soil for the first time in a decade.
https://www.politico.com/amp/news/2020/05/19/nasa-human-spaceflight-director-ousted-268327
An oil services firm under investigation as of this month by two federal agencies and the state of Alaska illegally received a $6.8 million loan meant for small businesses hammered by the coronavirus pandemic. SAExploration Holdings, Inc., a Houston-based company that specializes in mapping underground pockets of oil and gas in Alaska and elsewhere, illegally received an injection of money earlier this month from the Paycheck Protection Program, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It's been under investigation since last year by the SEC and Justice Department for alleged financial wrongdoing.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-energy-202/2020/05/20/the-energy-202-oil-services-firm-under-federal-investigation-receives-6-8-million-in-coronavirus-stimulus-funds/5ec3e028602ff165d3e3af2b/
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has declared a state of emergency after two dams collapsed following days of heavy rain. Thousands of residents are evacuating as the governor warns one town could soon be nine feet under water. @tomcostellonbc has the latest.
https://twitter.com/TODAYshow/status/1263064178635538432
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is a powerful example of leadership, lately. Impressive.
Michigan is not sending absentee ballots to 7.7 million people. Michigan is sending absentee ballot applications to REGISTERED VOTERS. Just like Georgia, Nevada, and other states.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1263073073839947776
Trump blames Democrats for his grounded campaign, even as bipartisan restrictions ban his signature rallies
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-blames-democrats-for-his-grounded-campaign-even-as-bipartisan-restrictions-ban-his-signature-rallies/2020/05/19/d37e5962-99ee-11ea-ac72-3841fcc9b35f_story.html
Trump threatens to illegally withhold federal funding to Michigan after state's decision to mail absentee ballot applications
https://www.wxyz.com/news/trump-threatens-to-withhold-michigan-funding-after-states-decision-to-mail-absentee-ballot-applications
I thought he was refusing to provide bailout funding in the first place. Oh, no, states will miss out on a bag of zeroes?
Trump calls Nevada mail-in primary ballots illegal and he threatens to illegally withhold funds to state
https://www.fox5vegas.com/news/local/pres-trump-calls-nevada-mail-in-primary-ballots-illegal-threatens-to-withhold-funds-to-state/article_b20fee98-9a9e-11ea-a389-43f1e891d7e3.html
Oregon Supreme Court overrules judge's order halting coronavirus restrictions
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/498692-oregon-supreme-court-overrules-judges-order-halting-coronavirus
Trump tweets conspiracy theories and accuses cable news host of murder while his lawyers argue to the Supreme Court that he is too busy being president to be investigated
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-tweets-conspiracies-while-lawyers-tell-supreme-court-hes-busy-2020-5
Oregon Republicans nominated a QAnon conspiracy theorist for the US Senate
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/20/politics/jo-rae-perkins-qanon-jeff-merkley/index.html
Woman Who Took Hydroxychloroquine For 19 Years To Treat Lupus Tested Positive For Covid19
https://detroit.cbslocal.com/2020/05/20/how-can-i-be-sick-woman-who-took-hydroxychloroquine-for-19-years-to-treat-lupus-still-got-covid-19/
The Trump administration gave a drug-making contract worth up to $812 million to a small Virginia firm was founded less than 6 months ago | According to The New York Times, US companies already produce the same drugs, but they rely on foreign raw ingredients that Phlow aims to source from within the US. | According to the health-news website STAT News, Edwards has come under scrutiny for his previous ventures. An earlier company he founded, Kaleo, was the focus of a 2018 Senate investigation after it abruptly increased the price of an opioid-overdose treatment by more than 600%. Kaleo was also criticized by Sen. Chuck Grassley in 2017 for selling an EpiPen rival product for $4,500.
https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-trump-admin-gives-812m-contract-to-small-virginia-firm-2020-5
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/us/politics/trump-coronavirus-drug-manufacturing.html
https://www.statnews.com/pharmalot/2020/05/19/trump-generics-covid19-drug-shortages-phlow/
https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Naloxone%20Report%20Final%20with%20Annex1.pdf
https://www.statnews.com/pharmalot/2017/03/08/grassley-epipen-kaleo-prices/
https://www.thegreenpapers.com/P20/D-PU.phtml
In the early weeks of the US coronavirus outbreak, staff members in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had tracked a growing number of transmissions in Europe and elsewhere, and proposed a global advisory that would alert flyers to the dangers of air travel. But about a week passed before the alert was issued publicly -- crucial time lost when about 66,000 European travelers were streaming into American airports every day. A whistleblower holding an envelope. We offer several ways to reach our journalists securely. The delay, detailed in documents obtained by CNN, is the latest example to emerge of a growing sense of disconnect between the CDC and the White House. In interviews with CNN, CDC officials say their agency's efforts to mount a coordinated response to the Covid-19 pandemic have been hamstrung by a White House whose decisions are driven by politics rather than science. The result has worsened the effects of the crisis, sources inside the CDC say, relegating the 73-year-old agency that has traditionally led the nation's response to infectious disease to a supporting role. Rising tensions between CDC leadership and the White House over the perception that the agency has been sidelined has been a developing story in the media for weeks. But now, mid- and higher-ranking staff members within the agency -- six of whom spoke with CNN for this story -- are starting to voice their discontent. Those six spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. "We've been muzzled," said a current CDC official. "What's tough is that if we would have acted earlier on what we knew and recommended, we would have saved lives and money."
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/20/politics/coronavirus-travel-alert-cdc-white-house-tensions-invs/index.html
If you are a minority or woman owned, or any company that believes you are eligible for a PPP loan, but have not been approved, please post an overview of your status here and I will do my best to connect you to a bank. There is still more than $100B left. Let's get that money
https://twitter.com/mcuban/status/1263126195002105857
Trump and Republicans and Democrats can't afford to be so ridiculous toward Huawei. The economy is too weak for more irresponsible actions. If Huawei can get 5G to Americans quickest, let's cheer it on. When markets are open, the location of a company is immaterial. Trade isn't war.
one thing to look at is Fox and Friends invited Trump on in 2014 to bash Obama for golfing when there were *2* cases of Ebola in the U.S. while Trump as president attending a birthday party at Mar-a-Lago as coronavirus spiraled out of control in March goes unmentioned.
https://twitter.com/KFILE/status/1263178463885787137
Rather than a series of tweets, another approach would be to simply show up on the Senate floor after the 1:45 p.m. vote tomorrow and say, "Mr. President, I object." to whatever recess pro forma schedule the majority leader wants to set up:
It’s unfathomable that the Senate is set to go on recess without considering any additional #COVID19 assistance for the American people. Anyone who thinks now is the time to go on recess hasn’t been listening. Coloradans and Americans alike have sacrificed and are hurting.
https://twitter.com/SenCoryGardner/status/1263138698708889606
People sometimes put me on blast because I seem to only criticize or mock Donald Trump. They say I'm being unfair and unbalanced. But that's not true! I also often call out Ivanka, Jared, and Trump's entire cabinet for being utterly pathetic, corrupt and inept.
https://twitter.com/GeorgeTakei/status/1263149833751314434
Since the coronavirus broke out, the Trump administration has illegally deported 900+
Latin American children during the months of March and April, mostly without notifying their families. The deportations represent an extraordinary shift in policy that has been unfolding in recent weeks on the southwestern border, under which safeguards that have for decades been granted to immigrant children by both Democratic and Republican administrations appear to have been abandoned. Historically, young migrants who showed up at the border without adult guardians were provided with shelter, education, medical care and a lengthy administrative process that allowed them to make a case for staying in the United States. Those who were eventually deported were sent home only after arrangements had been made to assure they had a safe place to return to.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/20/us/coronavirus-migrant-children-unaccompanied-minors.html
Why is it that these people cannot understand that no one has ever argued that Hydroxychloroquine has been on the market for years? That has never been the argument, no one ever said it wasn't an FDA approved medication... for Malaria.
John Phillips - John, The Wolfking Of L.A.
https://www.4shared.com/zip/7RhsHPafiq/JohnPhillipsJohnTheWolfkingOfL.html
- "Does Trump have a prescription....?"
- "So I'm the WH Press Secretary and that is a question for somebody else..."
Yes let's quote late night talk show hosts instead of all the doctors or studies.
She just fires away more bullshit and repeats it. It's sad and boring at the same time. End the press briefing shit already.
- "What's illegal about Michigan allowing mail-in ballot applications?"
- "So I'm the WH Press Secretary and that is a question for the Trump campaign..."
At least 4 White House reporters pressed the Press Secretary about why Trump is claiming mailing out applications for absentee ballots is illegal, but she deferred to Team Trump. She's a Harvard Law School graduate who does not want to discuss the law.
No one's taking Eric Trump out of context. If you think it sounds that stupid, it's because it was. Not because it was out of context.
Having the TSA do any testing is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. People are gonna flip shit if they get turned away cause they have a fever.
The most recent voter fraud was perpetuated by a Republican election volunteer in Florida. Before that, Republican candidates and Republican elected officials and other Republican party operatives in North Carolina. Voter fraud almost never happens and the few times it does it's committed by Republicans.
"Potential voter fraud" means we have no evidence of Democratic voter fraud
"So thank you for bringing up Susan Rice, I had a pre-written spiel that barely related to what was asked but at least I got to vomit the words out"
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) told reporters Thursday he did not recall signing a letter urging reforms in the office of the Ukrainian prosecutor President Trump has alleged former Vice President Joe Biden improperly had ousted
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/464302-gop-senator-says-he-doesnt-remember-signing-2016-letter-urging-reform-of
Here is the letter he signed, it's still online | Portman, Durbin, Shaheen, and Senate Ukraine Caucus Reaffirm Commitment to Help Ukraine Take on Corruption. February 12, 2016 https://www.portman.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/portman-durbin-shaheen-and-senate-ukraine-caucus-reaffirm-commitment-help
So Republicans are planning on sending subpoenas to Hunter Biden (why? IDK) and Joe Biden and other Obama administration officials. That type of deflection is not going to work because multiple polls show that the #1 issue for voters is covid19 and jobs and bills etc and we know Republicans botched the response to all of that. That is why even after these random attacks on Biden, Biden is leading in the polls. The funny part is they showed during the impeachment hearings that it was okay to ignore subpoenas so I hope that Hunter and all other people sent subpoena simply say "No thanks. Not interested. You should have testified when we requested. Then maybe we would have when you requested."
Brief representing more than 1,000 former DOJ officials who served in Administrations run by presidents of both parties filed in Michael Flynn case. The court has a duty to scrutinize the government's motion and, if dismissal is not in the public interest, to deny it
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6895871-Flynn-Brief-Final.html
Susan Rice is guilty of actually working on her last day on the job
"As @waltshaub notes, federal law makes it a \crime* to hold out appropriations in order to intererfere with individuals’ exercise of their right to vote: "*
https://twitter.com/steve_vladeck/status/1263107753649848320
2005... citing 15 year old data on election fraud.... Also her wording of "is a source of possible voter fraud," doesn't even actually claim any voter fraud exists or how likely it is.
"By the way, you never needed to learn the name of Dr. Fauci during the Ebola Crisis, because @BarackObama just fucking took his advice."
https://twitter.com/BradleyWhitford/status/1260439847606591489
"The Trump emails surfaced in the Mueller investigation include the President’s son saying how much the campaign would love some Russian dirt on Hillary Clinton. The Obama emails are like “make sure everything’s by the book!”"
https://twitter.com/jonfavs/status/1262834230553309185
How great is an economy where people go into desperation?
Michael Flynn’s name was never ‘masked’ in FBI document on his communications with Russian ambassador | But in the FBI report about the communications between the two men, Flynn’s name was never redacted, U.S. officials said. | When the FBI circulated [the report], they included Flynn’s name from the beginning because it was essential to understanding its significance, said a former senior U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive intelligence. There were therefore no requests for the unmasking of that information.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/michael-flynns-name-was-never-masked-in-fbi-document-on-his-communications-with-russian-ambassador/2020/05/20/e94ee050-9a0b-11ea-ac72-3841fcc9b35f_story.html
So the entirety of "Obamagate", which was apparently about Obama and Biden asking who the redacted name in the report was, never actually happened because Flynn’s name wasn’t redacted. So it wasn’t even possible to ‘unmask’ him....
Allegation: Obama was "spying" on Michael Flynn by deliberately unmasking his name.
In reality our IC was spying on the Russian ambassador, and was alarmed that Flynn was lying about his interactions with the Russian ambassador while he was himself secretly serving as a foreign agent of Turkey, including delivering apologetics for Erdogan's dictatorship on election day, for life altering amounts of money.
https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/foreign-policy/305021-our-ally-turkey-is-in-crisis-and-needs-our-support
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/05/michael-flynn-mystery-payment-foreign-agent-turkey-alptekin/
Tesla drops lawsuit against California's Alameda County over coronavirus restrictions
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/20/tesla-drops-suit-against-californias-alameda-county.html
Supreme Court puts hold on release of secret Mueller grand jury testimony to House of Representatives | “The House already has impeached the president, the Senate already has acquitted him, and neither [the committee] nor the House has provided any indication that a second impeachment is imminent,” Francisco wrote. Um, how can they decide if they want to impeach him again until they see the material bub? The Supreme Court’s brief order gave no reasons, saying only that it would block an appeals court ruling ordering release of the full report while the justices considered whether to hear the case. It ordered the Justice Department to file a petition seeking review by June 1. There were no noted dissents.
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/nation-world/story/2020-05-20/supreme-court-puts-hold-on-release-of-secret-mueller-grand-jury-testimony-to-house-of-representatives
Before Impeachment: It's not an impeachment proceeding, this material cannot be released.
During Impeachment: We will release the material after impeachment.
After Impeachment: We lack the authority to release this material.
DoJ Before Scotus: We haven't had Second Impeachment!
This is one of those lies that'll be lost in the history books because there aren't enough pages. But it's menacing in this moment. Trump is spreading lies that will incite his base and fuel talk of a rigged election. State election boards send mail-in ballot APPLICATIONS to registered voters. Not actual ballots, and not sent to "everybody". Trump and Republicans are absolutely try to delegitimize the election. It'll reverberate down the line to future elections, too. It's hard to undo this kind of damage.
He can try to pump a civil war, but the truth is if he loses the election, he will be removed by the army 21st January 2021.
Trump now says he won't withhold federal funding to Michigan or Nevada etc (it's illegal for him to do so.....) which he threatened in a morning Tweet: "I don't think it's going to be necessary"
Why would anybody trust this man to bring back our economy now," Biden asks. "He thinks he's a builder. But he's destroyer of everything he touches."
I guess I'm missing why 20,000 positive cases a day for weeks is good news. This level of virus spread after months of this is somewhat daunting: US daily numbers via @COVID19Tracking:
https://twitter.com/NateSilver538/status/1263215187190067202
Interesting note to Trump's rage tweets: Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, who spearheaded the plan to hold an all-mail primary election by mailing all active voters absentee ballots, is the sole statewide elected Republican in the state.
https://www.axios.com/trump-tweets-michigan-nevada-funding-mail-in-voting-c7c28316-64c6-42c0-9618-3488623a7f8d.html
Knowledge is power. But information exhaustion is a real thing. If people aren’t already outraged by FL and the fed’s crushing failure of crisis management, nobody cares and Trump wins re-election easily
On Feb. 20, Florida health officials warned nursing homes to prepare for a COVID-19 pandemic. But they didn't tell the public -- it wasn't the only thing they didn't say, internal state records show
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/health-care/article242844471.html
Thing that didn't bother Trump: "Iowa's secretary of state (R) will mail every registered voter an absentee ballot application."
Thing that bothered Trump: "Michigan's secretary of state (D) will mail every registered voter an absentee ballot application." How interesting.
Biden would not tie US military assistance to Israel to any political decisions that it makes (and Democratic Administrations never have). Democrats oppose Israeli government basically wiping out Palestinian government in West Bank (which ceased to be a government 20 years ago when Palestinians elected Hamas to lead them....) and declaring West Bank part of Israel boundaries, but Biden wouldn't withhold US aid. | So the vice president has pronounced himself multiple times during this campaign on annexation. He's made clear his his opposition to it. And Margaret, the reason is this. He believes that the only way to secure Israel's future as a Jewish and democratic state and also to make sure that the Palestinian aspirations for a state are fulfilled is through a two state solution and any unilateral action by either side. That makes that a very difficult prospect, even more difficult. He's opposed to annexation is exactly one of those unilateral actions that makes the prospect of getting the two states vastly more complicated. So he's been clear, his opposition. He would say he's opposed to it as a candidate and he would oppose it as president. I don't want to get ahead of the conversation, though, and speculate about what would happen in a nearby demonstration. So much can happen between now and then. We don't know what the environment's going to be. We don't know what the different facts on the ground to be. And, of course, the Israeli government has not actually made a decision yet whether to move forward. So let's see what the government does. My my hope is that to the extent they're thinking about doing this, that they rethink it. Two hundred and twenty leading former Israeli security and defense officials and intelligence leaders, military leaders came out against annexation. Just a couple of weeks ago. So these are not, you know, soft types from an up from an Ivy Tower. These are the folks who are responsible for Israel's security for years and years and years. And they believe it would be bad for Israel security going forward. And I think that's that's also where we are. | Now, let me be clear about one thing, because the vice president can clear about it himself. He would not tie our military assistance to Israel to any political decisions that it makes. Israel's security is challenged on a daily basis. They face existential threats every single day. And he's made clear that he would not tie our military assistance to this. So that's the one thing he's he's he's explicitly ruled out. Now, that's probably the greatest point of leverage. Well, again, it's in our interest that Israel have the means to secure itself. And that's not something he would touch.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/transcript-joe-biden-foreign-policy-adviser-antony-blinken-on-covid-shortfalls-failures-in-syria
Hello @PressSec. Thanks for citing my work, but I wish you had put what I wrote in context. The article says ALL forms of voter fraud are rare, including mailed ballot fraud, and it describes specific steps that states can take to minimize any issues.
https://twitter.com/JessicaHuseman/status/1263221160822571008
Here's the ProPublica report she cited, which says, "all types of voter fraud are rare, including mail-in ballot fraud."
https://www.propublica.org/article/voting-by-mail-would-reduce-coronavirus-transmission-but-it-has-other-risks
Trump actually praised the Obama admin’s swine flu response in 2009. Eleven years later, Trump deflects blame from his own administration’s handling by attacking Obama and Biden.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/20/politics/obama-trump-swine-flu/index.html
Texas church that rushed to reopen cancels masses after priest dies and others contract
https://www.foxnews.com/us/coronavirus-texas-death-church-priest-reopen
Trump walks back threat to withhold funds from Michigan over mail-in voting
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-michigan-trump/trump-walks-back-threat-to-withhold-funds-from-michigan-over-mail-in-voting-idUSKBN22W347
After some confusion, ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen will be released from federal prison due to coronavirus concerns and is expected to serve the rest of his 3-year sentence from home.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-s-ex-lawyer-michael-cohen-will-be-released-to-home-confinement-11590011092
We obtained documents that show AG Barr & John Durham, who Barr assigned to re-examine the Russia probe, met immediately after the Mueller investigation ended, raising further concerns that Barr wanted to rewrite the Mueller report’s legacy. | The point of bringing in an outside prosecutor is to avoid political interference from the attorney general and other top officials, but this shows just the opposite. Barr had repeated meetings and calls with Durham at key moments linked to the Russia investigation, raising serious questions about the independence and credibility of whatever Durham produces.
https://www.americanoversight.org/documents-we-obtained-show-barr-met-with-prosecutor-examining-mueller-investigation-immediately-after-mueller-investigation-ended
Trump pressed the FDA to waive safety rules for a tax-exempt defense company's unproven N95-recycling machines. His task force turned a $60M deal into as much as $600M for the company. | Even worse, scientists and nurses say the recycled masks treated by these machines begin to degrade after two or three treatments, not 20, and the company says its own recent field testing has only confirmed the integrity of the masks for four cycles of use and decontamination. Nurses in several places across the country now say they are afraid of being at greater risk of acquiring COVID-19 while using N95 masks, which they say often don’t fit correctly after just a few spins through a cleaning system that uses vapor phase hydrogen peroxide to disinfect them.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-administration-paying-huge-premium-mask-cleaning-machines-which-don-n1210896
Trump's 'Obamagate' conspiracy theory just got blown to pieces | Primarily, it accuses former Vice President Joe Biden and other Obama administration officials of improperly requesting that Flynn's name be "unmasked" in intelligence reports monitoring former Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak's communications. But a Washington Post report on Wednesday blew up that allegation when it revealed that Flynn's name was never "masked" in the first place. "When the FBI circulated [the report], they included Flynn's name from the beginning" because it was essential to understanding its significance, a former senior US official told The Post. "There were therefore no requests for the unmasking of that information." Moreover, the US intelligence community surveils hundreds of thousands of foreign targets per year, and "unmasking" is a routine and legal tool officials use to make more sense of the communications they're monitoring. The intelligence community gets thousands of unmasking requests a year.
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-obamagate-flynn-unmasking-conspiracy-got-blown-to-pieces-2020-5
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/michael-flynns-name-was-never-masked-in-fbi-document-on-his-communications-with-russian-ambassador/2020/05/20/e94ee050-9a0b-11ea-ac72-3841fcc9b35f_story.html
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/sites/default/files/2020-05-13%20ODNI%20to%20CEG%20RHJ%20%28Unmasking%29.pdf
Pentagon says China's military is challenging the US with 'risky' run-ins in the South China Sea during the pandemic
https://www.businessinsider.com/us-chinese-militaries-tension-south-china-sea-during-pandemic-2020-5
McConnell tells House Republicans in private conference call that Senate won't be deciding on whether to do another coronavirus bill for several weeks. If it does, it will look nothing like the one Speaker Pelosi just passed, he told the House Republicans, according to lawmaker.
https://twitter.com/HouseInSession/status/1263236777478893568
GOP v GOP: Rick Scott on the floor about to block for the second time John Kennedy’s effort to give states and cities more flexibility to use their existing money for operational expenses beyond coronavirus expenses
https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1263236449677316097
Good: Firmly reject the BDS movement, which singles out Israel — home to millions of Jews — and too often veers into anti-Semitism, while letting Palestinians off the hook for their choices.
https://joebiden.com/joe-biden-and-the-jewish-community-a-record-and-a-plan-of-friendship-support-and-action/
Wisconsin Sees Highest Single-Day Rise in Coronavirus Cases Days After Supreme Court Struck Down Lockdown Extension
https://www.newsweek.com/wisconsin-sees-highest-single-day-rise-coronavirus-cases-days-after-supreme-court-struck-down-1505570
17 cell phone towers in New Zealand have been vandalized since the lockdown, coinciding with a boom in 5G conspiracy theories
https://www.businessinsider.com/17-cell-towers-have-been-vandalized-in-new-zealand-since-lockdown-began-2020-5
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is conflating the results of two different types of coronavirus tests, distorting several important metrics and providing the country with an inaccurate picture of the state of the pandemic. We’ve learned that the CDC is making, at best, a debilitating mistake: combining test results that diagnose current coronavirus infections with test results that measure whether someone has ever had the virus. The upshot is that the government’s disease-fighting agency is overstating the country’s ability to test people who are sick with COVID-19. The agency confirmed to The Atlantic on Wednesday that it is mixing the results of viral and antibody tests, even though the two tests reveal different information and are used for different reasons. This is not merely a technical error. States have set quantitative guidelines for reopening their economies based on these flawed data points. Several states—including Pennsylvania, the site of one of the country’s largest outbreaks, as well as Texas, Georgia, and Vermont—are blending the data in the same way. Virginia likewise mixed viral and antibody test results until last week, but it reversed course and the governor apologized for the practice after it was covered by the Richmond Times-Dispatch and The Atlantic. Maine similarly separated its data on Wednesday; Vermont authorities claimed they didn’t even know they were doing this. The widespread use of the practice means that it remains difficult to know exactly how much the country’s ability to test people who are actively sick with COVID-19 has improved. | Viral tests, taken by nose swab or saliva sample, look for direct evidence of a coronavirus infection. They are considered the gold standard for diagnosing someone with COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus: State governments consider a positive viral test to be the only way to confirm a case of COVID-19. Antibody tests, by contrast, use blood samples to look for biological signals that a person has been exposed to the virus in the past. A negative test result means something different for each test. If somebody tests negative on a viral test, a doctor can be relatively confident that they are not sick right now; if somebody tests negative on an antibody test, they have probably never been infected with or exposed to the coronavirus. (Or they may have been given a false result—antibody tests are notoriously less accurate on an individual level than viral tests.) The problem is that the CDC is clumping negative results from both tests together in its public reporting.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/05/cdc-and-states-are-misreporting-covid-19-test-data-pennsylvania-georgia-texas/611935/
https://www.richmond.com/special-report/coronavirus/virginia-misses-key-marks-on-virus-testing-as-leaders-eye-reopening/article_021e12c6-6d20-5030-9068-4caaeda495f7.html
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/05/covid-19-tests-combine-virginia/611620/
https://twitter.com/EPetenko/status/1263138001879797762?s=20
Romney counters Trump: 90 percent of 'very Republican' Utah votes by mail
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/498916-romney-counters-trump-90-percent-of-very-republican-utah-votes-by-mail
Sen. Loeffler’s husband donated $1 million check to pro-Trump super PAC
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/20/kelly-loeffler-trump-super-pac-272626
2.4 million Americans filed jobless claims last week, bringing nine-week total to 38.6 million. 38.6 Million Have Filed For Unemployment Since March
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/05/21/unemployment-claims-coronavirus/
The very air we breathe is poisoned and killing us, the very food most people shovel down their throats is unhealthy and toxic and killing them, fuck covid19 already
The white trash woman who premeditatively and intentionally commited voter fraud for Trump got 2 years probation and $750 fine.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/terri-lynn-rote-iowa-vote-donald-trump-twice-two-years-probation-750-fine-a7900886.html
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2017/07/07/iowa-woman-charged-voting-twice-trump-pleads-guilty/459718001/
The African-American woman in Texas who thought she was legally allowed to vote and filled out a provisional ballot that was rejected (thus not counted) is still sitting in prison serving a 5 year sentence | Crystal Mason, an African-American mother of three, was on supervised release after serving time for tax fraud when she filled out a provisional ballot. She has said she did not know that as a convicted felon in Texas, she could not vote until the supervised release was complete.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/10/us/texas-woman-ineligible-voting-appeal/index.html
By Nov. 8, 2016, when she’d been out for months but was still on supervised release, she was working full-time at Santander Bank in downtown Dallas and enrolled in night classes at Ogle Beauty School, trying, she said, to show her children that a “bump in the road doesn’t determine your future.” On Election Day, there was yet another thing to do: After work, she drove through the rain to her polling place in the southern end of Tarrant County, expecting to vote for the first female president. When she got there, she was surprised to learn that her name wasn’t on the roll. On the advice of a poll worker, she cast a provisional ballot instead. She didn’t make it to her night class. A month later, she learned that her ballot had been rejected, and a few months after that, she was arrested. Because she was on supervised release, prosecutors argued, she had knowingly violated a law preventing felons from voting before completing their sentences. Mason insisted she had no idea officials considered her ineligible — and would never have risked her freedom if she had. | Created in 2002, provisional ballots were intended to serve as an electoral safe harbor, allowing a person to record his/her vote even amid questions about his/her eligibility. In 2016, more than 66,000 provisional ballots were cast in Texas, and the vast majority of those were rejected, most of them because they were cast by individuals who weren’t registered to vote, according to data compiled by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. In Tarrant County, where Mason lives, nearly 4,500 provisional ballots were cast that year, and 3,990 were rejected — but she was the only one who faced criminal prosecution. In fact, Mason’s lawyer told a three-judge panel in North Texas last Tuesday, hers is the first known instance of an individual facing criminal charges for casting a ballot that ultimately didn’t count.
https://www.texastribune.org/2019/09/17/crystal-mason-five-year-illegal-voting-provisional-ballot/
The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee threatened on Thursday to subpoena Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for documents that the State Department provided to two Senate committees investigating former Vice President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter. In a letter to Pompeo obtained by POLITICO, Chairman Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) demanded that the department turn over all documents that it already sent to the Senate Homeland Security and Finance committees as part of Senate Republicans’ investigation, which targets the Obama-era State Department in addition to the Democratic presidential candidate’s son. Engel said he was prepared to issue subpoenas if he does not receive the information by June 1. “I am deeply concerned by what appears to be a partisan misuse of Department of State resources to assist Senate Republicans in a political smear of Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden,” Engel wrote, noting that the department sent documents to the Senate committees just days after President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial wrapped up. Engel’s letter comes a day after the Senate Homeland Security Committee, chaired by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), voted on party lines to authorize a subpoena to Blue Star Strategies, a Democratic public-relations firm. Johnson’s panel is probing allegations that the firm sought to leverage Hunter Biden’s position on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, to influence the Obama State Department.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/21/eliot-engel-threatens-subpoena-mike-pompeo-hunter-biden-273379
https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/_cache/files/5/7/577bfdef-657a-48d7-b8e9-1b91229daf5d/404E6B8B9F59DEDDBA792009808D9C91.5-21-2020.ele-letter-to-pompeo.pdf
Shitface on his coronavirus test today: "I tested very positively, in another sense, this morning. I tested positively toward negative, right? No, I tested perfectly this morning -- meaning I tested negative. But that's a way of saying it: positively toward the negative."
https://twitter.com/NBCPolitics/status/1263523204045430790
Help us win Texas in November by registering hundreds of thousands of new Democrats. We’ve mailed them voter registration forms & now calling to make sure they’ve signed & returned. We made 80,000+ calls on Monday’s phone bank. There’s another on Thursday:
https://twitter.com/BetoORourke/status/1263517404681973767
https://act.betoorourke.com/event/voter-registration/34369/?source=beto-em-20200528
Almost 100,000 Americans DEAD & CNN continues to play games. Melania Trump will for no reason in existance ake part Thursday evening in CNN's weekly global town hall on coronavirus. What does she even have to add to the conversation? Her *einstein visa* expired a decade ago, deport her and her illegal family already. “Pre-recorded” participation so that won't be "bullied" with questions. Ok thanks for letting us know, will make sure to switch channel or turn off tv.
Remember Matt Whitaker? He wrote a book. I read it so you don’t have to. A digital copy of Whitaker’s book clocks in at 266 pages. Only ~130 pages qualify as new material. The rest is padding, including a copy of the U.S. Constitution “for reader reference.”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/matt-whitaker-book-doj-trump-mueller_n_5ec5a522c5b6ab6fffae03f2
Republicans have decided to withdraw from another major arms control accord, according to senior administration officials, and will inform Russia on Friday that the United States is pulling out of the Open Skies Treaty, negotiated three decades ago to allow nations to fly over each other’s territory with elaborate sensor equipment to assure that they are not preparing for military action.The Republicans' decision may be viewed as more evidence that they are preparing to exit the one major arms treaty remaining with Russia: New START, which limits the United States and Russia to 1,550 deployed nuclear missiles each. It expires in February, weeks after the next presidential inauguration.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/21/us/politics/trump-open-skies-treaty-arms-control.html
"He is unashamed to interrupt intelligence officers and riff based on tips or gossip he hears from the former casino magnate Steve Wynn, the retired golfer Gary Player or Christopher Ruddy, the conservative media executive."
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/21/us/politics/presidents-daily-brief-trump.html
Karl Rove is now advising the Trump campaign
https://www.businessinsider.com/karl-rove-helping-trump-campaign-2020-5
Karl Rove is a total loser. Money given to him might as well be thrown down the drain.
9:49 AM - 7 Feb 2013
https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/299575627449761793
If Mitch McConnell wants to win his election, he’d better get rid of jinxed Karl Rove and fast...
2:06 PM - 27 Feb 2013
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/306888079145328643
It’s Tuesday. How many terrible predictions and advice will Karl 1.6% Rove make today?
1:37 PM - 20 Aug 2013
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/369921067453661184
Sick workers mean plant shutdowns, which has led to a backlog of animals. Some farmers are injecting pregnant sows to cause abortions. Others are forced to euthanize their animals, often by gassing or shooting them. It’s gotten bad enough that Senator Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, has asked the Trump administration to provide mental health resources to hog farmers. Despite this grisly reality — and the widely reported effects of the factory-farm industry on America’s lands, communities, animals and human health long before this pandemic hit — only around half of Americans say they are trying to reduce their meat consumption. Meat is embedded in our culture and personal histories in ways that matter too much, from the Thanksgiving turkey to the ballpark hot dog. Meat comes with uniquely wonderful smells and tastes, with satisfactions that can almost feel like home itself. And what, if not the feeling of home, is essential? | Animal agriculture is now recognized as a leading cause of global warming. According to The Economist, a quarter of Americans between the ages of 25 and 34 say they are vegetarians or vegans, which is perhaps one reason sales of plant-based “meats” have skyrocketed, with Impossible and Beyond Burgers available everywhere from Whole Foods to White Castle. | We cannot protect our environment while continuing to eat meat regularly. This is not a refutable perspective, but a banal truism. Whether they become Whoppers or boutique grass-fed steaks, cows produce an enormous amount of greenhouse gas. If cows were a country, they would be the third-largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world. According to the research director of Project Drawdown — a nonprofit organization dedicated to modeling solutions to address climate change — eating a plant-based diet is “the most important contribution every individual can make to reversing global warming.” | We cannot claim to care about the humane treatment of animals while continuing to eat meat regularly. The farming system we rely on is woven through with misery. Modern chickens have been so genetically modified that their very bodies have become prisons of pain even if we open their cages. Turkeys are bred to be so obese that they are incapable of reproducing without artificial insemination. Mother cows have their calves ripped from them before weaning, resulting in acute distress we can hear in their wails and empirically measure through the cortisol in their bodies. No label or certification can avoid these kinds of cruelty. We don’t need any animal rights activist waving a finger at us. We don’t need to be convinced of anything we don’t already know. We need to listen to ourselves. We cannot protect against pandemics while continuing to eat meat regularly. Much attention has been paid to wet markets, but factory farms, specifically poultry farms, are a more important breeding ground for pandemics. Further, the C.D.C. reports that three out of four new or emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic — the result of our broken relationship with animals. | Don’t we need animal protein? No. We can live longer, healthier lives without it. Most American adults eat roughly twice the recommended intake of protein — including vegetarians, who consume 70 percent more than they need. People who eat diets high in animal protein are more likely to die of heart disease, diabetes and kidney failure. | If we let the factory-farm system collapse, won’t farmers suffer? No. The corporations that speak in their name while exploiting them will. There are fewer American farmers today than there were during the Civil War, despite America’s population being nearly 11 times greater. This is not an accident, but a business model. The ultimate dream of the animal-agriculture industrial complex is for “farms” to be fully automated. Transitioning toward plant-based foods and sustainable farming practices would create many more jobs than it would end. | A 2015 study found that a vegetarian diet is $750 a year cheaper than a meat-based diet. People of color disproportionately self-identify as vegetarian and disproportionately are victims of factory farming’s brutality. The slaughterhouse employees currently being put at risk to satisfy our taste for meat are overwhelmingly brown and black. Suggesting that a cheaper, healthier, less exploitative way of farming is elitist is in fact a piece of industry propaganda.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/21/opinion/coronavirus-meat-vegetarianism.html
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-livestock-insight/piglets-aborted-chickens-gassed-as-pandemic-slams-meat-sector-idUSKCN2292YS
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/14/business/coronavirus-farmers-killing-pigs.html
https://www.sentienceinstitute.org/animal-farming-attitudes-survey-2017#main-results
https://worldin2019.economist.com/theyearofthevegan
https://www.gfi.org/blog-state-of-the-industry-2020
https://www.ted.com/talks/bruce_friedrich_the_next_global_agricultural_revolution#t-89923
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2019/11/18/are-my-hamburgers-hurting-planet/
https://drawdown.org/
https://www.farmforward.com/
https://www.farmforward.com/#!/blog?blogid=what-is-hybrid-poultry&site=farm-forward
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=454115015377181
https://www.cdc.gov/onehealth/basics/zoonotic-diseases.html
https://gamechangersmovie.com/food/protein/
https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324423904578523190441042514
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/28/well/eat/how-much-protein-do-we-need.html
http://agcensus.mannlib.cornell.edu/AgCensus/homepage.do
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19320248.2015.1045675?journalCode=when200&#.ViAG_H6rSM8
https://faunalytics.org/who-are-the-vegetarians/
The way we treat animals in this country is a disgrace. The large feedlots are factories of pain where animals are tortured throughout their lives. The pandemic has not changed anything. The conditions of workers (mostly immigrants who come from countries were animals are treated even worse) in slaughterhouses are irrelevant as far as I am concerned. They have the choice to work or not to work there. I hope they all drop dead. Animals don’t have the choice. In addition, obesity is a co-morbidity factor in covid-19 and the meat-rich American diet is the primary contributor to the epidemic of fat in this country. Nobody needs meat or dairy or any animal ingrediant in their food. I seriously want covid19 to kill all the meat-eaters already. Check out the books Proteinaholic by Dr. Garth Davis or The China Study by T. Colin Campbell. They very eloquently detail why eating meat in any capacity is detrimental to human health. All protein originally comes from plants so you might as well get it straight from the source and not second hand through the body of a tortured animal pumped with antibiotics that lived its short life in crowded disgusting conditions that produce high rates of zoonotic disease. You can find all the essential amino acids from varied plant based sources that are the cheapest foods in the supermarket - rice, beans, leafy greens, etc. Your body will thank you. Switching to a plant based diet drastically reduces your risk of heart disease and many cancers, which are the leading causes of death in the US. Our biological traits are more in line with all other herbivorous animals- jaw that moves side to side with flat broad teeth and small incisors for chewing plants instead of only up and down with large canines meant for tearing into flesh. Long intestines meant for digesting plants instead of the short intestines of carnivores/omnivores meant to push through rotting flesh before fat and cholesterol can be too absorbed into the bloodstream. Disgusted at the smell and taste of rotting flesh, whereas carnivores have enzymes in their bodies that make that smell delicious to them and they don’t get sick eating it. I also recommend the documentaries Game Changers and Dominion for more info. B12 originates from bacteria that animals ingest and concentrate in their bodies. Animals are not the original source of B12. So many vegan foods are now fortified with B12, so the idea that you will get enough B12 only from meat seems inaccurate. Do you have contrary information to share?
B12 is not ONLY FOUND in animal products. B12 is CONCENTRATED in animals. There is a big difference. Do you know what B12 is, where it is found and most importantly, why we do not consume enough of it naturally? More importantly, do you know why animals concentrate quantities of B12? B12 is a microbe that literally blankets the earth. We used to get it in sufficient quantities naturally, no question asked. Even before the domestication of certain animals for food production. B12 used to be on the soil and particulate that wasn't washed off of our vegetables, especially root vegetables and tubers, prior to chemically treated water. We used to get it by eating the soil particles and drinking stream, and natural spring water. All of this was prior to chlorination and processing of our water by city and municipal water authorities. Animals concentrate B12 in their tissue because either in natural settings, they eat grass and grains off of the ground, chewing up and swallowing all of the roots and soil particulate. In nature, they drink from streams, lakes rivers and ponds. OR in factory farm situations as the article discusses, they are given supplements and injections. The benefit, really no more cholera to worry about in the developed world. All of that said, you still DO NOT have to eat meat to get your B12. Just take a simple sublingual (Under the Tongue) tablet, pill, lozenge or spray of a vitamin B12 supplement. It's really that easy, and incredibly inexpensive. AND YOU'RE ALREADY NOT CONSUMING ANY B12 OR PROTEIN SO QUIT PRETENDING YOU CARE AND QUIT PRETENDING WHAT YOU'RE EATING HAS B12 AND PROTEIN WHEN IT DOESN'T.
Tempeh, a traditional Japanese food, is a completely vegetable source of Vitamin B12. It comes in a cake about a half-inch thick and the approximate size of a business envelope. You boil the cake first and then you can prepare it anyway you want, for example sliced, diced, marinated, baked etc. It's also a fermented soy food, which is good because it's unlikely to mess with your level of thyroid stimulating hormone if you happen to eat soy food in excess -- like I did every day for years.
Climate degradation on steroids. But eating meat is simply less healthy than not eating it. It's inconvenient because meat tastes good but every study done on this shows that a vegan diet is healthier and that meat contains nothing that you cannot also get from a vegan diet. Not one thing. And just anecdotally, try finding someone who transitioned to vegan diet who doesn't feel a lot better (and I don't mean someone who just removed the meat from an otherwise-unhealthy diet, which is often offered as a counter-"argument." Just fries instead of a burger and fries isn't what we're talking about.).
Texas Supreme Court Justice Debra Lehrmann and her husband have tested positive for COVID-19. “Greg and I have tested positive for COVID-19,” Lehrman tweeted Thursday. “We began to exhibit symptoms last week, despite diligently complying with stay-at-home rules. Thankfully, this has not interfered with #SCOTX work, as the Court is working remotely. We are grateful for your thoughts & prayers.”
https://www.statesman.com/news/20200521/supreme-court-justice-lehrmann-tests-positive-for-covid-19
It isn't FOX's (or any other network's) job to help you or anyone get elected or re-election. That you and Republicans think so makes you terrorists.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1263537553073942528
Trump says the founder of Ford, a proud Nazi who wrote “The International Jew,” a four-volume work all about how Jews were the problem, has good "bloodlines" (eugenics). If you’re not familiar with Henry Ford, I would encourage you to read more about him and specifically his actions during WW2. Henry Ford receiving the Grand Cross of the German Eagle from Nazi officials, 1938. "This was the highest honor Nazi Germany could give to any foreigner and represented Adolf Hitler’s personal admiration and indebtedness to Henry Ford." The "Ford Werke" plant used French POWs as slave labor to manufacture war materiel for the Wehrmacht.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ford#The_Dearborn_Independent_and_antisemitism
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/nov98/nazicars30.htm
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/henryford-antisemitism/
Trump has spoken on several occasions about the idea of 'superior blood lines.' Make no mistake, he said what he said and meant it how we are taking it. It will be funny to watch Trumpers try to spin this into something other than what it is. THIS is why Trump is their guy regardless of how much it harms them personally.
A shooting at a Texas naval air station that wounded a sailor and left the gunman dead is being investigated as “terrorism-related,” the FBI said Thursday.
The shooting began around 6:15 a.m. Thursday at Naval Air Station-Corpus Christi. The shooter tried to speed through a gate at the base in a vehicle, but security personnel put up a barrier in time to stop the shooting, U.S. officials told The Associated Press. The man then got out of the car and opened fire, striking and wounding a Navy sailor who is a member of the security force at the base. During the exchange of gunfire, the shooter was killed by security personnel, the officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details about an ongoing investigation. The FBI is investigating the shooting as “terrorism-related,” FBI Special Agent Leah Greeves said at a news conference Thursday afternoon, and investigators were working to determine whether a second person of interest was at large in the community. “We have determined that the incident this morning at the Naval Air Station Corpus Christi is terrorism related,” Greeves said. “We are working diligently with our state, local and federal partners on this investigation, which is fluid and evolving.”
https://apnews.com/938e786d6e2f5a27d8c63370c0fa3e2c
A panel of Appeals Court judges (including a Trump appointee) have ordered Flynn judge Emmet Sullivan to explain why he didn't drop the case after the Justice Department asked him to. His answer is due in 10 days. The answer is, JUDGES decide whether or not to dismiss filed charges that resulted in a plea agreement and/or conviction. Not lawyers. Judges don't have to withdraw charges. Prosecutorial discretion is not law or absolute. Flynn pled guilty twice in court. Period. Flynn he was either lying when he twice pleaded guilty or he is lying now, which means HE LIED IN A FEDERAL COURT OF LAW MULTIPLE TIMES.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/21/appeal-court-flynn-judge-273967
Rainforest deforestation more than doubled under cover of coronavirus: Tropical rainforests shrank by 6,500 square kilometers in March. Criminal groups are taking advantage of the pandemic and the unemployed are getting desperate
https://www.dw.com/en/wwf-rainforest-deforestation-more-than-doubled-under-cover-of-coronavirus/a-53526064
Good thing Trump is so calm, collected, and respectful when women disagree with him, I'm sure he'll be fine: Michigan Attorney General says Donald Trump is no longer welcome in the state of Michigan after the President did not wear a mask in public. "He is a petulant child who refuses to follow the rules. This is not a joke."
https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1263587730841194496
YEP: gonna ban everyone for not using a mask now? gestapo says what?
https://twitter.com/musings_n/status/1263577895332573184
YEP: Talk about overplaying your hand. Dems aren’t good at this, they aren’t good at anything. Teflon Don gives zero f*cks
https://twitter.com/Rockprincess818/status/1263584353709252608
YEP: Follow the rules?? Democrats are the laughing stock of our country!! I’m in Texas and went grocery shopping without a mask, nobody said anything to me. Blue states are on a power trip, this is not a joke.
https://twitter.com/ShurrieP/status/1263579004520390656
Contrary to the White House's stated reasons for the president voting by mail, Trump was across the street from two early-voting places in Florida on March 7 and 8.
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-ne-trump-mail-ballot-inaccurate-explanation-20200520-7e2oegvlbjfrbf6wgh7lhpmdqu-story.html
A great article on why facts just don't matter: "They cite research suggesting that people experience genuine pleasure-a rush of dopamine-when processing information that supports their beliefs. “It feels good to ‘stick to our guns’ even if we're wrong.”"
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/02/27/why-facts-dont-change-our-minds
William “Roddie” Bryan, who recorded the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery, was arrested for murder and attempted false imprisonment, authorities say.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-who-recorded-ahmaud-arbery-s-shooting-death-video-arrested-n1212496
On the eve of the 2016 election, a Pulitzer Prize–winning columnist opined in The Washington Post: “If Trump wins, he’ll be held more or less in check by the House and Senate, because that’s the way our system of government is set up. Not even Republicans are eager to follow Trump’s lead.” I cite that column—published under the headline “Calm Down. We’ll Be Fine No Matter Who Wins”—not to single it out, but precisely because it was so un-singular. The keepers of the institutions could imagine Trump testing the system. They could not imagine the system failing the test. And yet fail it did. The story of the Trump years is a story of institutions that failed. The Department of Justice failed. The inspectors general failed. Congressional oversight failed. The national-security establishment failed. The courts failed. Trump has done things that no previous American president would ever have dared, that no previous president sank low enough even to imagine. Sometimes he was stopped, more often not. But whether stopped or not in any particular case, he has never ceased pressing ahead to do even worse the next time. The only check remaining is that of the 2020 ballot box. Not Trump alone, but the great political party behind him, is working to ensure that election is as unfree and unfair as possible. In that effort, they have mobilized the active or tacit support of millions of Americans. | Trump’s followers live in an isolated knowledge community that has developed its own situational ethics. They wanted to lock up Hillary Clinton for sending and receiving emails on a personal server, not caring even slightly when Ivanka Trump did the exact same thing or when Trump outright blabbed to the Russian foreign minister secrets much more vital than anything Clinton could possibly have risked. They plunged into the QAnon fantasy of a wise and good Trump poised to crush a global ring of child molesters, in order to avoid the reality of a malignant Trump who by his own admission had preyed upon teenage beauty-pageant contestants. And if Trump’s supporters are not interested in holding him to account, most of the institutions of American government haven’t proved capable of doing so either. The Trump years demonstrated the very great extent to which presidential cooperation with the law is voluntary, especially if he retains a loyal attorney general, and a sufficient blocking vote in Congress. It’s illegal for federal employees to overspend on travel to benefit themselves or their colleagues. In 2012, a senior executive at the General Services Administration was sentenced to three months in prison, three months under house arrest, and three years’ parole for taking personal side jaunts and overspending on lavish retreats for his staff. Yet when Vice President Pence visited Ireland in 2019, he wasted hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars by staying not in Dublin, the site of his meetings, but at Trump’s golf course 180 miles away, on the opposite coast of the island. Pence tried to make things right by paying for his own room, but that only added a direct personal payoff to Trump to the many other ethical breaches of the trip. Any other federal employee who wasted travel expenses in order to direct money to his supervisor would find himself in serious trouble: facing at least a firing, possibly prison time if the behavior was egregious enough. But not Pence. Not the Trump staffers who meet every Tuesday evening with lobbyists at the Trump hotel in Washington, D.C. In the George W. Bush White House, where I once worked, you showed you belonged by wearing cowboy boots; in the Trump White House, by repaying some of your salary back into the boss’s pockets. | Almost all Republicans in the House of Representatives, and the great majority of Republicans in the Senate, will act to defend a president they despise against charges they know to be true. The worst of them will hare after crazy conspiracy theories. Most, though, will voice their concern and then find ways to avoid their duty. The system that protects all of us has failed because the protectors of that system have failed to protect it for us.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/system-failed-test/611911/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/calm-down-well-be-fine-no-matter-who-wins/2016/11/04/e5ca3c32-a2d3-11e6-a44d-cc2898cfab06_story.html
https://federalnewsnetwork.com/management/2015/07/judge-sentences-former-gsa-official-neely-3-months-jail/
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/07/us/politics/trump-hotel.html
Since she won, Perkins deleted the video she made on primary election day for Q believers and has pulled an outstanding pivot to now claim she is not a QAnon follower.
https://twitter.com/PerkinsForUSSen/status/1263313102839246848
A Court of Claims judge has ruled that Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer had the legal authority to extend Michigan's state of emergency under the Emergency Powers of the Governor Act.
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/05/21/whitmer-had-authority-extend-michigans-state-emergency-judge-says/5238989002/
This grandfather built his grandson a a rollercoaster in the backyard during the pandemic and it’s definitely the Twitter content I’m here for...
https://twitter.com/RexChapman/status/1263613225146482694
A Trump election conspiracy collapses: “The state took more than 17 months to wrap up its investigation Wednesday, and found none of the wrongdoing alleged by Trump and [Rick] Scott.”
https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2020/05/21/a-trump-election-conspiracy-collapses-1285442
The Class of 2020 started its senior year in a boom time, with the national unemployment rate at a near-record low of 3.7%. But in the bust driven by the coronavirus, 4 million new graduates are now entering the worst jobs market since the Great Depression. | Even for those in Generation Z who do find work, research suggests their careers and earnings will be impacted for more than a decade.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/20/us/bad-job-market-graduates-coronavirus/index.html
Defense lawyers look to reopen cases where Tara Reade testified as an expert | Six cases involving Reade’s testimony are already under review by the Sixth District Appellate Program, Executive Director Patrick Murray told POLITICO Thursday. The state-funded office oversees appointed defense counsel in appellate cases covering four California counties, including Monterey County, where the prosecution often tapped Reade as an expert witness. The review will determine whether the attorneys can petition a judge to review their clients’ conviction, and potentially order a new trial. “I have at least six cases where she testified and I have lists pending from various attorney groups where she testified as a violence expert. I expect that list will expand significantly,” said Murray. “We’re trying to get the lists together. We’re aware of Ms. Reade, we’re in the mode of trying to review the transcripts to see if she misrepresented herself in court.” He said the calls for a review came as news reports raised questions about her background and detailed her credentials, including the fact that she did not complete an undergraduate degree. “Last week, I was informed she testified as an expert. Last week I was also informed she lied about her credentials. I didn’t connect the dots on the significance of those two things until yesterday when I was contacted by an attorney,” Murray said.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/21/tara-reade-biden-expert-testimony-274460
Then known as Alexandra McCabe, Ms. Reade testified as a government witness in Monterey County courts for nearly a decade, describing herself as an expert in the dynamics of domestic violence who had counseled hundreds of victims. But lawyers who had faced off against her in court began raising questions about the legitimacy of her testimony, and the verdicts that followed, after news reports this week that Antioch University had disputed her claim of receiving a bachelor’s degree from its Seattle campus. The public defender’s office in Monterey County has begun scrutinizing cases involving Ms. Reade and compiling a list of clients who may have been affected by her testimony, according to Jeremy Dzubay, an assistant public defender in the office. Roland Soltesz, a criminal defense lawyer, says he believes Ms. Reade’s testimony made a significant difference in the outcome of the 2018 trial of his client Victoria Ramirez. Both Ms. Ramirez and her co-defendant, Jennifer Vasquez, received life sentences for attempted murder, arson and armed robbery. “People have been convicted based upon this, and that’s wrong,” said Mr. Soltesz, adding that he “could care less about the politics of this whole thing.” | “I was a legislative assistant,” she said, according to the testimony. “He worked on the Violence Against Women Act, the federal act.” Staff lists published in 1993 show Ms. Reade listed as a staff assistant, a different position from the legislative assistant job she cited in her testimony. Both titles are common in congressional offices, with legislative assistant indicating a slightly more senior post that involves working on policy. In multiple interviews, Ms. Reade described her duties as managing the interns, never mentioning any direct work on the Violence Against Women Act. | But both Mr. Soltesz and Scott Erdbacher, the lawyer for Ms. Vasquez, raised objections to Ms. Reade’s testimony, according to the transcript, saying they were skeptical that her work experience qualified her as an expert. The judge overruled them. Now, Mr. Soltesz says he is exploring whether he can reopen his case. On Wednesday evening, he emailed a network of more than 100 public defenders, alerting them to questions about Ms. Reade’s background and credibility. Monique S. Hill, a lawyer in another domestic violence case in which Ms. Reade served as an expert witness, said she also saw grounds to challenge the conviction. “Had I had the information that I have now, this case, in my mind, would have gone differently,” said Ms. Hill, who served as a public defender. The Monterey County chief assistant district attorney, Berkley Brannon, said that if Ms. Reade had misrepresented her academic credentials, the office would alert all defense lawyers involved in cases that featured her as an expert. | The Sixth District Appellate Program, a state-funded public interest law firm that represents low-income clients in the region, is also reviewing all the cases involving Ms. Reade. | Lying in court is generally considered to be a crime, though one that can be hard to prosecute. To be considered perjury, usually the false statement has to be a knowing lie. Even if Ms. Reade was not found to have perjured herself, exaggerating qualifications as an expert witness could be grounds for reversal of a verdict.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/21/us/politics/tara-reade-credentials.html
The buried lede in the NYT account (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/21/us/politics/tara-reade-credentials.html) is the screenshot of her transcript from Antioch. She obtained 35 hours from Antioch (and she needed 180 credits to graduate), and she would have only been eligible for 45 credits of past studies at Pasadena City College. Nowhere near the 180 credits required to graduate. She never graduated ANY college, SHE HAS NO DEGREE. Her own "proof" submitted to the Times proves she didn't have the necessary hours to obtain her degree. Reade tonight offered a statement indicating that she had changed her name because of domestic abuse and that she had a special arrangement with the Antioch chancellor. That's not true, the university confirms tonight.T he most important factor in all of this: expert witnesses are paid. This was clearly a money-making scheme for her that will likely result in domestic abusers being released. Two of the cases on which she testified resulted in life sentences.
Reade is a lying obese blob scam artist who was never molested by her father nor raped or sexually assaulted by anybody nor abused by her husband (her husband was awarded sole custody of their daughter.....). For her story about her degree to be plausible would break all sense. To never have gotten a diploma, never asked for one, and then saying that getting one wouldn't even be possible? Because they wouldn't have a record for it? What? There's really no other explanation for this other than that it's just not true. This whole fiasco has actually made me respect Joe Biden even more. He didn't attack or dismiss her, though he likely had every right to do so. He said she deserved to be heard and tried to be as transparent as possible, even as people tried to these allegations as excuse to get unfettered access to unrelated records. Contrast this to Donald Trump who has attacked and smeared his accusers -- calling some of them ugly and saying others weren't attractive enough for him to assault. Ryan Grim who pushed the Tara Read story is a total Ass Clown. He owes Joe Biden, Jill Biden, the entire Biden family, the Dem Party, and the American people a massive public apology. Unfortunately nothing he does can make up for the harm he's caused. He should resign and go work for Russia Today. Never mind, he already works for a Russian stooge. And he's busy fighting with Neera Tanden on Twitter. Multiple people have now reported her scamming them over rent, horse adoption and vet bills, and possible outright theft. This makes you wonder about how she may be monetarily benefiting from the Biden lies. Reade likes to be the center of attention. These people from her past life say she bragged about her time “working in congress” and “helping Biden write legislation.” The court assigned psychiatrist in her divorce case said she was an exaggerator mand liar (and not capable of raising her daughter and not a victim of spousal abuse or sexual abuse). She was gung ho to go on CNN until Biden went on MSNBC and gave a firm and believable refutation of her allegation. I hope that she gets charged with felonies for all the times she committed perjury. I feel sorry for the actual real victims or domestic violence who might see their abusers go free over this.
Katie Halper, who originally interviewed Reade, hasn’t tweeted anything about her for nearly three weeks, including today in light of this story. Nathan Robinson, who accidentally admitted on twitter to coaching Reade’s brother on his story, is now deleting all his tweets about Reade. Ryan Grim, the journalist who outed Kavanaugh’s accuser, spent some time earlier today trying to discredit this story and utterly failed. The conduct and behaviour by those still pushing this story is shameful. It’s a disgrace to anyone who considers themselves to be an ally to victims of sexual assault.
Large study finds hydroxychloroquine Covid-19 treatments linked to greater risk of death and heart arrhythmia
https://edition.cnn.com/us/live-news/us-coronavirus-update-05-22-20/h_a5569b9e019b7c5f2d0c916b21bc0959
Her law degree is legally invalid because it was obtained on the basis of the fraudulent non-existent undergrad degree. She also does not have a law licence, she never took the bar exam. She wrote multiple times in blog posts that she failed the exam twice but then she told Time magazine that she never took it. She not only lies compulsively, she lies effortlessly and convincingly.
Lawyer Douglas Wigdor Drops Biden Accuser Tara Reade as a Client. Even her Trump supporting lawyer is backing off. That's all you need to know. It's pretty clear that he signed up to attack Biden, not to advocate for Reade. After last night's news it's looking like she's about to be pounded with perjury charges, and he was not interested in being her defense attorney. "He said he believed her story". He believes her story so much, he doesn't want to actually represent her for it! Makes perfect sense. Standard lawyer-speak. Can't trust a lawyer who will publically call a former client a liar. Behind closed doors they know she’s crazy, but if they come out and say “yeah she’s crazy for sure” it could have a negative impact on them
https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/lawyer-doug-wigdor-drops-biden-accuser-tara-reade-as-a-client/
Dozens of mammoth skeletons found under future Mexico City airport: A team of archaeologists have found the remains of more than 60 mammoths at the site of a new airport being built to serve Mexico City. Excavators have also found animal and human bones in the area
https://www.dw.com/en/dozens-of-mammoth-skeletons-found-under-future-mexico-city-airport/a-53527334
Biden: ‘If you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black’. This wasn't a response to a question, the interview was wrapping up and he was bantering. He clearly meant to say it in jest but it came across as insensitive. Now it’s a sound bite for the “both sides” people. The comments made at the end of the Breakfast Club interview were in jest, but let’s be clear about what the VP was saying: he was making the distinction that he would put his record with the African- American community up against Trump’s any day. "I'm confident in my track record compared to Trump's track record" is what he meant and should have said. Regardless, whoever told Biden to go on this show should be fired. Charlamagne’s shtick is antagonizing his guests until they say something stupid. We’re going to hear “You ain’t black” until November from Trumpists and Twitter while the "both sides" people conveniently ignore TRUMP saying "you ain't a real Native American, you're a scam, I'm a real Native American, I have real Native American blood running through my white veins...." The both sides media and Sanders base are already making a false equivalency between the first Black President's BFF and the Grand Wizard of birtherism.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/22/joe-biden-breakfast-club-interview-274490
Charlamagne is considered a controversial figure in the world of radio due to his willingness to ask personal questions and his open criticism of musicians, athletes and other media personalities. Charlamagne's direct criticism of guests during interviews has resulted in numerous altercations and arguments on air.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlamagne_tha_God#Controversy
Me watching white folks act outraged on behalf of black folks because Biden said “if you vote for Trump, you ain’t black” ... as if these same white folks are in any position to speak about black identity or the black experience
https://twitter.com/jemelehill/status/1263868095728283648
The issue wasn’t what Joe Biden said, because it was accurate. The issue was that it came from Biden. It also was clearly a joke that didn’t land. But I’m wondering where all this outrage was yesterday when y’all president declared his public devotion to a Nazi sympathizer.
https://twitter.com/jemelehill/status/1263871146258100229
I don’t want to be caping for Joe Biden but ... is he wrong? There is a clear difference. People tried that lesser of two evils shit with Hillary and there was a difference. A big one. Obama hurt our community via policy too, but there is a difference, yes?
https://twitter.com/jemelehill/status/1263876058333327362
It’s accurate because of Trump’s very clearly anti-black policies and positions. So if you’re a black person voting for Trump, you are actively choosing to vote against yourself and black people. So if you’re anti-black then that makes you ... what exactly?
https://twitter.com/jemelehill/status/1263872469049307136
Trump administration moves to illegally eliminate rules for hunting bears and wolves on federal lands in Alaska
https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/2020/05/21/trump-administration-moves-to-ease-rules-for-hunting-bears-and-wolves-on-federal-lands-in-alaska/
Trump illegally orders governors to reopen churches, this will be nullified by a court within 48 hours, "houses of worship" in lock-down states will remain closed because they know the order is illegal
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/05/22/coronavirus-trump-share-guidelines-churches-places-worship/5242780002/
FBI director orders internal review of original investigators and prosectors who investigated and prosecuted Flynn
https://apnews.com/1f0dbd991a80148abbf7cef80c8e43a8
Biden regrets remarks about black support: 'I shouldn't have been such a wise guy' | Speaking on a call with black business leaders, Biden described the remarks as “cavalier” and said he never meant to seem as if he was taking black voters for granted or telling them who they ought to support. “I shouldn’t have been such a wise guy. I shouldn’t have been so cavalier,” Biden said. “I don’t take it for granted at all and no one should have to vote for any party based on their race, religion or background. There are African Americans who think Trump is worth voting for. I don’t think so and I’m prepared to put my record against his, that was the bottom line and it was really unfortunate, I shouldn’t have been so cavalier.”
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/499213-biden-regrets-remarks-about-black-support-i-shouldnt-have-been-such-a-wise
Republicans clears way for new arms sale to UAE, despite evidence it violated last one, and is co-slaughtering Yemeni wholesale
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/22/world/state-department-uae-arms-sale-yemen-intl/index.html
80 million children at risk of measles, polio as vaccines disrupted: WHO, UNICEF
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-who-immunisation/80-million-children-at-risk-of-measles-polio-as-vaccines-disrupted-who-unicef-idUSKBN22Y25S
“Michigan, Pennsylvania and Florida all lost over 1 million jobs each, and Ohio came very close to that. Michigan lost over one fifth of its jobs.” | If there’s any hope of getting Trump and Republicans to give in and extend more aid to those suffering economically, it might be this: New data shows that, in terms of unemployment claims, the battleground states are getting absolutely hammered. | Trump and Republicans are opposing an extension, arguing too much help will discourage the jobless from returning to work — never mind that the economy is largely in deliberate deep freeze, to limit the coronavirus’s spread. Democrats, by contrast, argue that an extension is urgent for precisely that reason, and because this rolling calamity will only get far worse. | North Carolina lost over half a million jobs; Georgia lost almost that many; and Wisconsin isn’t far behind. Biden almost certainly won’t make Georgia that close, but that state has a competitive Senate race, as does North Carolina (which will also be contested in the presidential election).
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/22/shocking-new-economic-data-confirms-it-swing-states-are-getting-hammered/
Trump’s former deputy chief of staff sold our government $3 million worth of Chinese masks. A quarter million of the masks seem not to work; another 130,000+ are the wrong kind: A former White House aide won a $3 million federal contract to supply respirator masks to Navajo Nation hospitals in New Mexico and Arizona 11 days after he created a company to sell personal protective equipment in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Zach Fuentes, President Donald Trump’s former deputy chief of staff, secured the deal with the Indian Health Service with limited competitive bidding and no prior federal contracting experience. The IHS told ProPublica it has found that 247,000 of the masks delivered by Fuentes’ company — at a cost of roughly $800,000 — may be unsuitable for medical use. An additional 130,400, worth about $422,000, are not the type specified in the procurement data, the agency said.
https://www.propublica.org/article/the-feds-gave-a-former-white-house-official-3-million-to-supply-masks-to-navajo-hospitals-some-may-not-work
Fauci tells TheHill that he thinks it's possible to have 100 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year. "That's assuming that the vaccine is actually effective" after clinical trials
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/499219-the-hill-interview-fauci-on-why-a-vaccine-by-end-of-year-is
It’s almost Friday evening. Do you know where your inspector general is?
Trump campaign is already selling "You ain't black" shirts for $30.
https://shop.donaldjtrump.com/products/youaintblack-tee-1
The ability of the Trump campaign to take a minor Biden gaffe and kick up a whole day's worth of coverage on it (so far) at least with Biden apologizing and write-ups in the NYT and elsewhere should scare the hell out of Democrats. Democrats are viciously attacking Biden.
Charlamagne defends Biden's support for black community | "We have been loyal to Democrats for a long time, black people have invested a lot into that party and the return on investment has not been great," he wrote. "As Biden said in our brief interview when I asked him if Dems owe the black community, 'ABSOLUTELY' was his answer. So let's see what you got!!! Votes are Quid Pro Quo. You can't possibly want me to Fear Trump MORE than I want something for my people."
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/499234-charlamagne-tha-god-defends-bidens-support-for-black-community
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