Steve Linick, the State Department inspector general Trump fired last week, was investigating whether Pompeo made a staffer perform a variety of personal errands, including walking his dog, picking up dry cleaning and making a dinner reservation for him and his wife. A senior State Department official previously confirmed to CNN that Pompeo recommended Linick be removed, but they did not … Read More
COVID-19 Update: A Local Spike
World: US: The US is over 90,000 now, but here’s my concern…. NC and local: This… Yikes. In spite of warnings by Dr. Fauci, and in spite of *FDA safety warnings issued in April, President Trump announced today that he has been taking hydroxychloroquine as a preventative medicine against the coronavirus. Apparently, the potential side effects on a 73-year old, overweight man with high … Read More
Obamagate and the Unmasking “Scandal”
The buzzword of the week is “Obamagate”. Trump has tweeted that word several times this week. OBAMAGATE! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 14, 2020 What IS Obamagate? Well, Trump was asked that himself. .@PhilipRucker: You appeared to accuse Obama of a crime yesterday. What did he do? TRUMP: "Obamagate." RUCKER: What is the crime? TRUMP: "You know what the … Read More
COVID-19 Update: A Local Surge?
World: US: NC and local: The local paper: The Forsyth County Department of Public Health announced Thursday 60 new cases of COVID-19 and two coronavirus-related deaths. It’s the third day in a row with at least 50 new cases announced. One of the patients who died was in their early 60s and the other in their early 70s, according to … Read More
Emoluments Case Revived
The concurrence starting at page 22 is very good.
COVID-19 Update: Again
World: U.S.: NC and local: A little fact check on Trump’s little “victory” lap Monday: It had all the trappings of a “Mission Accomplished” moment: the banner, the presidential pomp, and a message that wasn’t true. But what President Donald Trump wanted Monday to be a show of strength over his administration’s coronavirus testing push, complete with a banner touting “AMERICA leads the … Read More
COVID-19 Update: Oops! White House Becomes Hot Zone While Urging Country To Open Up
World: U.S.: NC and local: The news of the weekend of course is that yet another White House person has contracted COVID-19. This time it is Pence’s press secrteary, who is also the wife of Trump advisor Stephen Miller. It’s not a good look when you’re trying to open up the country again so that everything looks good for the … Read More
If Nothing Bad Was Said, Why Haven’t We Seen Transcripts Of The Flynn-Kislysk Conversation?
There’s a giant hole in Bill Barr’s motion to dismiss the Mike Flynn prosecution: the call transcripts of the General’s calls with Sergey Kislyak. The Timothy Shea-signed motion claimed that the transcripts showed “arms-length communications” which provided no suggestion that Flynn might be “directed and controlled” by Russia. Nor was anything said on the calls themselves to indicate an inappropriate relationship between … Read More
CDC Guidelines That Were Never See The Light Of Day
Here they are: The US response is looking more and more like the Soviet response to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. This is how super-powers on the brink of collapse behave in a crisis: The Trump administration has shelved a document created by the nation’s top disease investigators with step-by-step advice to local authorities on how and when to reopen restaurants and … Read More
If It Ain’t COVID, It’s Corruption
After an extraordinary public campaign by President Trump and his allies, the Justice Department dropped its criminal case on Thursday against Michael T. Flynn, Mr. Trump’s first national security adviser yesterday. Flynn had previously pleaded guilty twice to lying to F.B.I. agents about his conversations with a Russian diplomat during the presidential transition in late 2016. The Justice Department’s decision to drop the … Read More
COVID-19 Update: Too Soon To Open
World: US: NC and local: For a while there, I was beginning to think that opening up a few states might be in the cards. Apparently even the Trump Administration disagrees (even though they are advocating opening up themselves. As President Trump presses for states to reopen their economies, his administration is privately projecting a steady rise in the number … Read More
COVID-19 Update: Day 1,285,342
World: US: NC and local: The United States today topped 60,000 COVID-19 deaths, a milestone once suggested by Donald Trump as a potential “success,” if the pandemic’s toll could be held to just that. It shows no evidence of being held to just that; instead, the 60,000 deaths marker came over three months sooner than the White House-cited pandemic model used in Trump’s claim … Read More
DOJ Gets Marching Orders From Trump Donators
. The Department of Justice is consulting with the fever swamp: A network of conservative leaders, donors and organizations has launched a legal onslaught against state and local restrictions intended to slow the spread of the coronavirus, pushing to allow churches to hold services, businesses to reopen and people to be able to visit with family and friends. They have been … Read More
COVID-19 Update: 1 Million Infected in US
World: US: The only reason the U.S. has reported one million cases of CoronaVirus is that our Testing is sooo much better than any other country in the World. Other countries are way behind us in Testing, and therefore show far fewer cases! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 29, 2020 The only reason the U.S. has reported one million … Read More
COVID-19 Update: It’s Exhausting!
World: US: North Carolina: And why did I not blog all last week? I was EXHAUSTING. The repetition of each day — like a bad version for Groundhog Day. Numbers going up. Then leveling. Idiots calling for the re-opening of their state, including the leader of ReOpen NC. And Trump. OMG, Trump. I’m just going to cut and paste Digby. … Read More