Summary
- Donald Trump traveled to a medical equipment distribution facility in Pennsylvania, to tout a plan to replenish the federal stockpile. He did not wear a mask. Prior to the event, Trump announced that he had signed a new Defense Production Act authority to invest in US-based pharmaceutical producers.
- Rick Bright, the ousted federal scientist who was in charge of efforts to develop a coronavirus vaccine, told a congressional committee that the “window is closing to address this pandemic” because the Trump administration still lacks a comprehensive plan. Bright was reassigned from his role after he raised concerns about the administration’s touting hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for Covid-19 despite a lack of evidence.
- Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell announced that senator Richard Burr would step down from his post as Senate intelligence committee chair. But Burr will remain on the committee while his stock purchases amid the coronavirus pandemic are being investigated.
- The CDC finally released an abridged, edited version of guidance for states to reopen businesses. An earlier, heftier version of the guidelines was shelved. The White House told scientists the initial version step-by-step guidance would “never see the light of day”, according to reporting by AP.
- Only about half the small businesses that applied for loans through the Paycheck Protection Program received them, according to a survey from the Census Bureau. Most of those surveyed anticipated it would take months before they could return to normal levels of operations. Three-fourths said revenue had dropped.
Only about half the small businesses who applied for PPP loans have recieved them
According to a new survey from the Census Bureau, about 75% of small businesses applied for a forgivable loan through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). But only 38% received the aid.
About three-quarters of businesses said revenues had deceased. The majority of those surveyed said it would take at least two months if not 4-6 months or more before their business would return to normal levels of operation.
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus has written to the Federal Reserve, asking that its $600b lending program is made available to nonprofits that serve Latino and immigrant communities.
Here’s the full @HispanicCaucus letter to the @federalreserve ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/q8RtAs6nJv
— Hispanic Caucus (@HispanicCaucus) May 14, 2020
Main Street is a loan program designed to help companies make it through the lockdown. Businesses that receive loans have a year before they need to start paying back loans ranging from $500,000 to $400m. But the minimum loan amounts are too high for most small businesses like mom-and-pop restaurants and local boutiques hit hard by the economic fallout from the pandemic.
Women are the less visible victims of Covid-19 behind bars – as they are so often overlooked in a criminal justice system that was not designed for them.
Cary Aspinwall, Keri Blakinger and Joseph Neff report:
Though only a small number have died – at least 13 had been reported by Wednesday – their stories illuminate the unique problems women face in prison. They also reflect the all too common ways they get there in the first place: drug addiction and violence involving the men in their lives.
One of the victims was days away from giving birth to her sixth child, but first had to report to prison 900 miles away from her South Dakota home, for a federal drug conviction. Another was a 61-year-old New York woman who survived a life marred by trauma and violence, only to die from the virus. A third was a North Carolina prisoner with a model record, who had served decades of a life sentence for a murder committed by a male accomplice in the aftermath of an armed robbery.
Far more men are locked up in prisons in the US and far more of them have died from coronavirus outbreaks, according to figures compiled by the Marshall Project.
But women in crowded prisons are as much at risk. The Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women, south of Baton Rouge, now has more than 165 Covid-19 positive prisoners, the most of any facility in that state. Two women have died, and nearly every prisoner in one dormitory has the virus. And in Connecticut on Tuesday, a federal judge ordered Bureau of Prison officials to speed up their process to release prisoners at risk, including women at Danbury prison.
After every female death, corrections officials have highlighted pre-existing medical conditions that made the women easier targets for the virus. But few prison officials appear to be considering those same risk factors and actually releasing many women before an outbreak.
Updated
The Supreme Court has rejected a request to require that a Texas prison for elderly inmates provide coronavirus protections.
After a district judge ordered the prison to provide hand sanitizer, disinfect common areas every 30 minutes and provide all inmates and staff members with masks, a federal appeals court blocked the order while the case was appealed.
Texas officials said they were already complying with the CDC recommendation for prisons. But inmates at the geriatric prison said the policies were inadequate to protect the elderly, who were more at risk for complications from Covid-19. One inmate at the facility died hours after being taken to the hospital for difficulty breathing. It was later confirmed that he had contracted coronavirus.
In a dissenting argument, Justices Sonya Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsberg wrote:
It has long been said that a society’s worth can be judged by taking stock of its prisons. That is all the truer in this pandemic, where inmates everywhere have been rendered vulnerable and often powerless to protect themselves from harm. May we hope that our country’s facilities serve as models rather than cautionary tales.
The French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi walked back a promise to prioritize the US market if the company develops a coronavirus vaccine. The company’s CEO Paul Hudson sparked controversy by saying the US had “the right to the largest pre-order because it’s invested in taking the risk”.
The US Department of Health and Human Services has paid Sanofi $30m, Hudson said.
But French prime minister Edouard Philippe said that everyone has equal access to a potential vaccine is “non-negotiable”.
Sanofi chairman Serge Weinberg told France 2 TV that Hudson’s comments had been misconstrued. “I am going to be extremely clear: there will be no particular advance for any country,” he said.
The global toll from Covid-19 has just passed 300,000, with nearly 4.5 million people infected.
According to data collected by Johns Hopkins University, at least 300,074 people have now died as a result of the outbreak.
The institution says it has counted 4,405,688 confirmed cases worldwide.
It’s important to point out that the actual death toll is believed to be far higher than the tally compiled from government figures.
Texas officials reported 58 new deaths since yesterday. The state began the process of reopening businesses on 1 May.
BREAKING: Texas officials report 58 new deaths since yesterday - single largest death toll in one day since this started. We have had 116 deaths over three days. Worst three day total this month.
— Jeremy Wallace (@JeremySWallace) May 14, 2020
Since the state began reopening, there have been more than 1,000 new cases reported each day, almost every day.
Dr Anthony Fauci warned on Tuesday that the official coronavirus death toll in the US is an undercount, and “the consequences could be really serious” if America reopens businesses, schools and other establishments too quickly.
Updated
Gregory McMichael, the white retired law enforcement officer who helped chase down and kill Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed 25-year-old African American man, failed to complete sufficient basic law enforcement training for years, a deficiency that led to him losing his power of arrest.
The Guardian’s Oliver Laughland and Sam Levine report:
McMichael, who worked as an investigator in the Brunswick judicial circuit district attorney’s office from 1995 to 2019, lost his power of arrest in January 2006 for failing to complete the required 20 hours of training the previous year, according to personnel records obtained by the Guardian.
He continued to be deficient in his training for the years that followed and didn’t get the waiver required to reinstate his power of arrest authority. Some of the training McMichael lacked included required courses on use of force and firearms.
The personnel records, which have been reported by local media, come to light as McMichael faces murder charges for chasing down Arbery, who was jogging through a residential neighborhood. McMichael and his son Travis claimed they believed Arbery looked like a suspect in a string of neighborhood break-ins.
The records also shed light on McMichael’s close relationship with Jackie Johnson, the district attorney for the Brunswick judicial circuit, who recused herself from the case and is now subject to a federal investigation of how the case was handled.
CDC releases reopening guidelines
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted guidelines for businesses and other establishments looking to reopen, even after many states have already begun the process.
The CDC initially shelved an earlier, more extensive version of the reopening guidelines. The longer document, which the Associated Press obtained, would have given organizations specifics about how to limit the spread of disease, including suggestions like keeping employees six feet apart and closing break rooms and communal kitchens.
The guidance that CDC released today includes six one-page documents for schools, workplaces, camps, childcare centers, mass transit systems, and bars, and restaurants. The agency has yet to release any guidelines specifically for churches and other religious centers.
Updated
Summary
That’s it for me. I’m handing the blog baton over to my colleague Maanvi Singh. To recap:
- Donald Trump was relatively mum on Dr. Rick Bright’s congressional testimony save for one tweet just before the hearing began.
- Bright warned that time is running out on coordinating a sufficient response to prevent the coronavirus from spreading any more.
- Trump once again predicted lackluster unemployment numbers for the next few quarters.
- Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell announced that senator Richard Burr would step down from his post as Senate intelligence committee chairman while an investigation is conducted into his stock purchases amid the coronavirus pandemic. Burr will remain on the committee.
“These are not normal times” said California’s governor Gavin Newsom as he took off his face mask and stepped to the podium. “And this is not a normal budget presentation.”
In January, when Newsom projected a budget based on the moment’s economic forecast, California was looking at record-low unemployment rates, 120 consecutive months of job growth and a projected surplus of $5.6 billion.
Today, the state is staring down a budget deficit of $54.3 billion — a shortfall that will force cuts to programs across the state. To keep the impact away from schools and public safety services, California will need more help from the federal government, Newsom said.
“The enormity of the task at hand can’t just be borne by a state. The federal government has a moral, ethical and economic [duty] to support the states. What’s the point of government, if not to protect people and the wellbeing of citizens? This is the opportunity to make our purpose real”, said Newsom.
Without extra funding, and fast, the state is looking at cancelling billions in program expansions. One likely casualty of a paired-down budget: an expansion to the state’s health care program for undocumented immigrants over 65.
To help close some of the budget gap, the state will draw from $16 m in “rainy-day” funds over three years. It will also attempt to negotiate a 10% pay cut with government workers -- cuts that will also impact Newsom and his staff.
But throughout the presentation, Newsom implored the federal government to take action, calling for support for the sprawling Heroes Act package, which includes $875 billion for cash for state and local governments
“The federal government, we need you. Our cuts can be mitigated with your support. I encourage my Republican friends in the Senate to help support the states, cities, counties, America, and Americans. The Heroes Act is the best approach. Everything is negotiable”, Newsom said.
Donald Trump traveled to a medical equipment distribution facility in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Thursday to tout a new plan to replenish and upgrade the nation’s vital stockpile of medical equipment.
Trump vowed to “create a stockpile that is not only the best resourced in the world but also evolved to meet all of the new threats that can happen things that you’re not even thinking about right now.” He also announced that on the flight to Pennsylvania, he signed a new Defense Production Act authority to invest in US based pharmaceutical producers.
But the event also had the unmistakable trappings of a campaign rally. He approached the podium as “God Bless the USA” blared.
“All that social distancing. Look at you people,” he said, noting that the facility’s employees were spaced six feet apart. Trump did not wear a mask during his tour of the facility.
“That’s pretty impressive,” he continued of their efforts to socially distance themselves. “But we like it the old way a little bit better don’t we? And we’ll be back, we’ll be back to that soon. I really believe it.”
But he also appeared to go off script to assail the media – “They’re a disaster” – and Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, who he mocked as “Sleepy Joe.”
Referring to an occasion in which Biden garbled the name of the H1N1 virus, Biden asked the crowd: “N1H1, who said that?”
“Sleepy Joe!” he replied, eliciting a ripple of nervous laughter.
Trump went on to argue that the Obama administration mishandled the response to the H1N1 virus, though the scale and scope of the outbreak was nothing compared to the death toll and social disruption that has been made worse, critics say, by Trump’s mismanagement.
Former vice president Joe Biden is currently doing a live stream with three Democratic governors on how they have handled the coronavirus pandemic. Notably, Biden is not broadcasting from his basement, as he’s done previously. He’s outside.
Joe Biden appears to not be in the basement for this livestream. pic.twitter.com/NyYznpjLPS
— Daniel Strauss (@DanielStrauss4) May 14, 2020
Biden is interviewing governors Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Phil Murphy of New Jersey, and Ned Lamont of Connecticut.
Whitmer has been mentioned as a possible runningmate for Biden. Biden alluded to the selection process for his runningmate on Thursday night during a fundraiser.
“They’re now in the process of thoroughly examining a group of women, all of whom are capable in my view of being president,” Biden said of the search committee set up to help Biden pick a runningmate. “And there’s about a dozen of them. We’re keeping the names quiet because if anyone isn’t chosen I don’t want anybody to think it’s because there was something that was a -- some liability that existed.”
Updated
New York opens rural parts as cases decline
New York’s North Country, a sprawling, rural swath that includes the Adirondack Mountains, has been added to the regions of the state poised to restart some economic activity in the days ahead as the state slowly relaxes pandemic-induced social restrictions, governor Andrew Cuomo said a little earlier.
The region, which draws hikers, boaters and campers up from New York City and beyond during warmer months, met all seven benchmarks the state requires before selected businesses can be approved for reopening, according to the administration, The Associated Press reported.
It joins New York’s Southern Tier, along the Pennsylvania border, the Mohawk Valley and the Finger Lakes regions in preparing to reopen in phases as early as tomorrow.
None of those parts of the state have been particularly hard hit by the virus, but all are within a few hours drive of still locked-down metropolitan areas where the virus has killed thousands of people.
New York’s 10 regions can start reopening once they demonstrate that Covid-19-related deaths and hospitalizations are consistently down; that there are enough hospital beds to meet any new surge in cases; and that there is sufficient local testing and contact-tracing efforts.
New York state recorded 166 new deaths from the virus Tuesday, bringing the total since March to more than 22,000.
New York City is launching an ad campaign to educate parents about a rare and serious inflammatory syndrome that is thought to be linked to Covid-19 and has been diagnosed in more than 80 children in the city, the mayor, Bill de Blasio, said.
Latest statistics:
There are now 1.4 million confirmed cases of coronavirus in the US and the death toll will surpass 85,000 today (with those deaths occurring in just two months).
Worldwide there are 4.4 million cases and an official toll so far of 300,000 deaths.
As Donald Trump and his team were lead around the Owens & Minor facility reporters noted that the president and chief of staff Mark Meadows were the only two people of the entourage not wearing masks.
"Much of this is made in the USA," says Pres Trump of the medical supplies being distributed by the Owens & Minor Company he's visiting in Allentown, PA. Nearly all the company and US officials are wearing face masks including @SecAzar, but not Pres Trump. pic.twitter.com/qHZaoa4rP1
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) May 14, 2020
And according to The Huffington Post’s S.V. Date, the pool reporter during the Allentown trip, “The president and his entourage were led around by Owens and Minor employees, who explained their distribution system and the products they handle. Trump and COS Mark Meadows did not wear masks. Everyone else did.”
It’s become common for lawmakers (both Republican and Democratic) to wear masks during work and public appearances to prevent spreading the coronavirus.
Updated
Donald Trump has arrived in Allentown, Pennsylvania, for a tour of Owens and Minor, a medical equipment distribution company where he plans to tout his administration’s efforts ramping up testing and boosting production of vital protective equipment.
The Pennsylvania jaunt marks the second time in as many weeks that Trump has visited a battleground state at a time when campaign travel has been almost entirely suspended.
On a tour of the facility, Trump did not wear a mask, though nearly everyone else in his entourage was spotted wearing a face covering.
Trump approached reporters as Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean played over the loudspeaker, part of what appeared to be a playlist similar to the ones featured at his signature campaign rallies.
“Most of this equipment is made in the USA,” he told them. “That’s the way we like it.”
More details about Burr’s decision to step down, from the congressional reporters at Politico:
The North Carolina Republican told reporters he stepped aside because the investigation is a “distraction to the hard work of the committee, and the members and I think that the security of the country is too important to have a distraction.” He will remain on the committee, a source familiar with the situation said, and his decision to step down for now is not required by the Senate Republican Conference.
[...]
It’s unclear who will take the helm of the powerful committee, but Thune predicted it could be Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who currently chairs the Small Business Committee. Sens. Jim Risch of Idaho and Susan Collins of Maine are also senior members of the panel, though Risch chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and may not want to take on the Intel chairmanship.
[...]
A senior Justice Department official confirmed on Thursday that a warrant was served on Burr’s lawyer for the senator’s cell phone. The warrant was approved at the highest levels of the Justice Department, the official said, adding that authorities did not conduct a raid. It was first reported by the Los Angeles Times.
It’s also important to note that it’s extremely rare for a sitting senator to be the target of a federal investigation. Politico noted it’s also very rare for such a lawmaker to be served a search warrant.
Besides Burr, federal law enforcement officials also questioned California senator Dianne Feinstein on stock trades her husband made after the coronavirus pandemic began. According to the San Francisco Chronicle:
Sen. Dianne Feinstein was questioned by federal law enforcement agents about stock trades her husband made after the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States, her office said Thursday.
The California Democrat also provided documents to federal agents to show she was not involved in the transactions by her husband, investment banker Richard Blum, her spokesman said.
“She was happy to voluntarily answer those questions to set the record straight,” said spokesman Tom Mentzer. “There have been no follow-up actions on this issue.”
More on the flurry of stock trading amidst the pandemic here:
A cast of high-profile climate advocates are coming together to launch three different efforts to elevate the climate crisis in the 2020 election and highlight president Trump’s failures on the issue.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and former secretary of state John Kerry will lead a task force to advise Joe Biden and the Democratic Party on climate change policy. Biden this week announced task forces on six separate issues, aimed at unifying with supporters of Vermont senator Bernie Sanders.
Other members of the climate task force include Florida congresswoman Kathy Castor, who leads the select committee on climate; and Obama-era environment chief Gina McCarthy, who now runs the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Another effort, Evergreen Action, will be run by staff from Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s presidential campaign. The group says it will provide “an open-source climate policy platform based on Inslee’s ‘gold standard’ climate plan, in order to inspire bold action by the next president and Congress.” Inslee’s ambitious climate plans during the primary paved the way for other candidates to ramp up their own policy
proposals.
“Evergreen is picking up where Gov. Inslee left off: Leading the fight for bold climate policies and a national mobilization to defeat the climate crisis,” said political director Maggie Thomas, who advised both Inslee and senator Elizabeth Warren on climate.
Evergreen launched a policy memo with Data for Progress to lay out a $1.5 trillion “Clean Jumpstart” stimulus plan. A third group, Climate Power 2020, describes itself as “a team of seasoned political strategists, content creators, digital organizers, activists, and communications operatives,” launching “a campaign dedicated to changing the politics of climate in 2020.”
The group’s board includes a number of Obama officials: John Kerry, John Podesta, John Holdren, Gina McCarthy, Ernest Moniz, Samantha Power and Mustafa Ali. It also includes Rhiana Gunn-Wright, co-author of the Green New Deal; Varshini Prakash, founder of the youth-led Sunrise Movement; Jamal Raad, from Evergreen Action; and Maria Urbina, from Indivisible. Former Senate majority leader Harry Reid and philanthropist Tom Steyer are also on the board
Rick Bright has warned in his Congressional hearing that minority communities are being “hit very hard” by Covid-19 and that this will be worsened by a “devastating” fall and winter if there isn’t a proper federal government plan to test and trace people with the virus.
“If we don’t, this virus will overcome us in significant ways,” says Bright, who was ousted as a top vaccines official last month. “We have limited time. Everyone needs to get busy stopping this virus.”
Bright reiterated his claim that the US was not fully prepared for the outbreak, adding that a vital opportunity to educate the public on social distancing and wearing a mask was missed in January and February. “That could’ve slowed the outbreak and saved lives,” Bright told lawmakers.
Updated
Michigan lawmakers canceled their legislative session in the face of armed protests and death threats directed at Gretchen Whitmer, the state’s governor.
According to Bloomberg’s David Welch:
Michigan closed down its capitol in Lansing on Thursday and canceled its legislative session rather than face the possibility of an armed protest and death threats against Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
The gathering, meant to advocate opening the state for business despite the coronavirus pandemic, followed one April 30 that resulted in pictures of protesters clad in military-style gear and carrying long guns crowding the statehouse. They confronted police and taunted lawmakers.
The shutdown was done with little fanfare at the end of Wednesday’s State Senate session. About 4:30 p.m., lawmakers in the Republican-majority chamber simply adjourned until Tuesday rather than call the next previously scheduled meeting for Thursday morning at 10 a.m. The Michigan State Police are closing the buildings due to the coronavirus, said spokesman Lieutenant Brian Oleksyk.
For the past week, lawmakers have been debating how to safely enable lawmakers to work and vote in session while the state’s laws allow people to bring firearms into the capitol building. The debate grew more tense in recent days as some lawmakers read about threats to the governor’s life on social media, which were published in the Detroit Metro Times.
Updated
Small but angry armed protest in Michigan
Despite a thunderstorm with heavy rains, dozens of protesters are on the Michigan State Capitol steps and lawn calling for an end to Michigan’s stay-at-home order, and demanding governor Gretchen Whitmer’s resignation.
The protest is organized by Michigan United For Liberty, a militia group that’s suing Whitmer over her orders.
The demonstrators include a small number of militiamen carrying assault rifles, and the protest is part of a high-tension week in Lansing.
After armed militia members glared and shouted at the legislature on April 30 during a heated debate over extending Whitmer’s stay-at-home order through the end of May, Democrats called for a ban on guns in the State Capitol building.
They charge that the protests are no longer about the stay-at-home orders, but a forum for intimidating Democrats in the legislature.
Republicans, however, effectively killed that effort on Monday just as reports of assasination threats against Whitmer and other Democratic lawmakers on right wing social media pages surfaced.
That’s led to more emotional debates on the Senate floor, and the organizers billed today’s protest as “Judgement Day.” State Police and Michigan attorney general Dana Nessel responded with warnings that those who brandish weapons, obstruct police, or don’t follow social distancing guidelines will be ticketed or arrested.
But the first hour of the protest was largely calm, save for a brief scuffle with a counter-protestor. Some demonstrators are wearing masks, but few are following social distancing guidelines.
Phil Robinson, a member of the Michigan Liberty Militia, carried an assault rifle and wore full armor on Thursday morning.
He told reporters that the idea that militia members are there to intimidate is wrong and characterized his group as peacekeepers and “law-abiding citizens.” The militia, he added, has worked security for past protests, though they weren’t on security detail for this demonstration.
“[Our mission] is simply to keep the peace and exercise not only our Second Amendment but First Amendment [rights]. This is our freedom of expression,” he said
Burr’s phone, readers should recall, was recently seized by the FBI amid an ongoing investigation over whether the North Carolina senator engaged in insider trading.
Burr was served a warrant Wednesday evening. Per the Raleigh News & Observer:
Burr, a North Carolina Republican and the chairman of the Senate’s intelligence committee, was served a search warrant at his Washington, D.C.-area residence, according to the LA Times, which cited a law enforcement official.
Burr’s office declined to comment on the report when contacted by McClatchy late Wednesday night.
Virginia senator Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence committee, was made aware that his counterpart would step down, according to CNN’s Lauren Fox.
Top Dem on Intel Sen. Warner says that he got a heads up from Burr before news broke that Burr was stepping down as chair of Intel.
— Lauren Fox (@FoxReports) May 14, 2020
Updated
McConnell: Burr will step aside from Intel chairmanship
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell announced on Thursday that Senator Richard Burr will step down from his post as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. McConnell made the announcement in a statement:
“Senator Burr contacted me this morning to inform me of his decision to step aside as Chairman of the Intelligence Committee during the pendency of the investigation. We agreed that this decision would be in the best interests of the committee and will be effective at the end of the day tomorrow.”
Updated
Asked about a specific moment when he realized that the country was unequpped to respond to the pandemic, Bright recalled an email from Prestige Ameritech co-owner Mike Bowen.
“We’re in deep shit” Bright recalled Bowen writing in the email. See the exchange below:
"We're in deep shit" -- Bright talks about a moment from this winter when he realized the US government was unprepared for the coronavirus pic.twitter.com/gT5hCPXmZ6
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 14, 2020
Bright, during this hearing, said that his increasingly urgent warnings about the coronavirus spread caused a “commotion” and he was pushed out of meetings as a result.
“I was told that my urgings were causing a commotion and I was removed from those meetings,” Bright said, as Axios highlighted.
Bright, in responding to questions from Eshoo, also said “I believe we could have done better. I believe there were critical steps that we did not take in time.”
Asked if there was a failure to respond when he pushed to obtain early viral samples from China to better study the virus, Bright said “as soon as we were aware that this virus was a significant threat to human lives I began pushing for those virus samples.”
HHS pushes back on Rick Bright allegations
During this hearing, the Department of Health and Human Services pushed back on Bright’s allegations.
HHS just sent a release discounting Dr. Bright's statements, saying in part they are "reviewing the complaint and strongly disagree with the allegations and characterizations made by Rick Bright."
— Alex Miller (@AlexMillerNews) May 14, 2020
The HHS press release is titled: “CLAIM vs. REALITY” and reads:
Rick Bright was transferred from his role as BARDA director to lead a bold new $1 billion testing program at NIH, critical to saving lives and reopening America. Mr. Bright has not yet shown up for work, but continues to collect his $285,010 salary, while using his taxpayer-funded medical leave to work with partisan attorneys who are politicizing the response to COVID-19. His whistleblower complaint is filled with one-sided arguments and misinformation. HHS is reviewing the complaint and strongly disagrees with the allegations and characterizations made by Rick Bright.
Updated
Trump wants to force Obama to testify, although it’s unclear as to what
While this Rick Bright testimony is going on Donald Trump urged South Carolina senator Lindsay Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to force former president Barack Obama to testify on “the biggest political crime” in American history.
If I were a Senator or Congressman, the first person I would call to testify about the biggest political crime and scandal in the history of the USA, by FAR, is former President Obama. He knew EVERYTHING. Do it @LindseyGrahamSC, just do it. No more Mr. Nice Guy. No more talk!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 14, 2020
It’s unclear exactly what Trump is referring to. But in recent days the hashtag #obamagate has floated around Twitter after Obama criticized the Department of Justice for dropping the charges against former national security adviser Mike Flynn.
Trump was asked about Obamagate during a press conference last week. He didn’t elaborate specifically what alleged crime or crimes that refers to.
Updated
Bright warns 'time is running out' as virus continues spread
The tone of Dr Bright’s testimony during this hearing is one of urgency.
Just now he warned that “The window is closing to address this pandemic because we still do not have a standardized coordinated plan to take our nation through this response”
But, Bright cautioned, “we can devise a comprehensive strategy, we can devise a plan ... time is running out because the virus is still spreading everywhere. People are getting restless to leave their homes.”
His comments come as states with both Republican and Democratic governors, move to reopen. In some parts of the country Americans have started to gather in larger groups than health officials recommend to prevent the virus from spreading.
Updated
Anna Eshoo, chair of the House subcommittee on health, kicks off the Rick Bright hearing by lacerating the Trump administration’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Americans are “afraid, sick, hungry and jobless”, says Eshoo, a California Democrat. “The government that was supposed to protect them has failed.”
Eshoo, who has pulled her blue mask under her chin so she can talk, blames an “inept and ineffective” performance by the administration and raises concerns that the US is overly-dependent upon other countries for drugs and protective equipment.
Bright, Eshoo says, “was not only ignored, he was fired for getting it right.” She then hands over to Michael Burgess, a Republican from Texas, who complains that the hearing is “premature” and “political sport.” There are further quarrels over the format of the hearing. Bright hasn’t spoken yet.
Donald Trump offered an important concession during an interview with Fox Business Network Thursday morning —he doesn’t see the unemployment rate dropping below 10 percent before election day.
Via Bloomberg:
President Donald Trump said he doesn’t see the U.S. unemployment dropping below 10% by September, two months before Election Day.
Trump said in an interview with Fox Business that the economy, which has been crippled by fallout from the coronavirus, “will transition” in the third quarter and that the U.S. is “going to be strong again” next year.
Trump has repeatedly predicted that after two rough quarters the fourth quarter of 2020 would see a dramatic positive uptick in major economic metrics. Still, that’s not ideal for any administration facing a tough reelection fight.
Updated
Bright testimony begins
Rick Bright, a former top vaccine official who was removed from his federal government role last month, is settling into his seat at a Congressional committee on the pandemic response.
Bright turned whistleblower after being shifted from his role as director of Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, claiming it was a retaliatory move by the Trump administration due to Bright’s resistance to the promotion of unproven drugs to treat Covid-19.
In his testimony, Bright is expected to say he was pressured by superiors to make “potentially harmful drugs widely available,” including chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, anti-malarial drugs repeatedly touted by Donald Trump as a treatment for the coronavirus.
Bright, who is wearing a black mask for the hearing, is also expected to say the US faces its “darkest winter in modern history” if it does not manage to develop a coordinated response to the pandemic.
Updated
Trump says Roger Stone “going to be ok”
Donald Trump has repeatedly offered praise on Roger Stone, even as the lobbyist and convicted felon’s trial has continued. On Thursday judge rejected a request for a new trial, per CNBC:
A federal judge on Thursday denied a request for a new trial by President Donald Trump friend Roger Stone, who was convicted last fall of lying to Congress and witness tampering, flatly rejecting his claim of juror misconduct.
Stone, 67, had sought a new trial based on his allegation that the jury forewoman lied on a questionnaire as the panel was being selected.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson’s denial of that motion theoretically sets the stage for the Republican political operative to begin serving within two weeks a 40-month prison term for felonies related to lying to a House committee about his discussions with members of Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Jackson had suspended that sentence from taking effect until she ruled on the motion for a new trial in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
But Stone is certain to appeal his conviction now that his bid for a retrial has failed.
Meanwhile, Trump said everything will be fine for Stone.
Interesting from Trump on Roger Stone, who says he refused to ocoperate with the feds, and whose allies hope will get a pardon: "I have great respect for these people, because look at Roger Stone. Look at the horrible treatment he’s got. He’s going to be OK. He’s going to be OK."
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) May 14, 2020
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Donald Trump continued his off-and-on again criticism of Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, during an interview with Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo:
Trump continued with his Fauci criticism this morning on Bartiromo, praising him as a good guy and then pointing out he initially disagreed with the limited ban on flights from China.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) May 14, 2020
Fauci has been one of the most visible medical officials during the coronavirus pandemic. At times Fauci has undercut Trump on various aspects of how to handle the crisis. Still, at moments he’s won praise from the president and at other times he’s been the target of the president’s ire. After Fauci warned against the country reopening too hastily Trump shot back (according to a transcript of the president’s remarks on Wednesday):
Well, I was surprised -- I was surprised by his answer, actually, because, you know, it’s just -- to me, it’s not an acceptable answer, especially when it comes to schools.
The only thing that would be acceptable, as I said, is professors, teachers, et cetera, over a certain age. I think they ought to take it easy for another few weeks -- five weeks, four weeks, who knows. Whatever it may be.
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Another 3 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, bringing the total number of unemployed to 36 million people amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims
— US Labor Department (@USDOL) May 14, 2020
Initial claims were 2,981,000 for the week ending 5/9 (-195,000).
Insured unemployment was 22,833,000 for the week ending 5/2 (+456,000).https://t.co/ys7Eg5LKAW
The Guardian’s Dominic Rushe and Lauren Aratani have more:
The latest figures from the labor department show the rate of claims is slowing but the record-breaking pace of layoffs has already pushed unemployment to levels unseen since the Great Depression of the 1930s. For comparison just 188,264 unemployment claims were filed in the same week in 2019.
This week the department of labor started releasing figures for those eligible to file for benefits under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, a federal unemployment scheme set up for the self employed and gig workers like Uber drivers who had previously not been eligible to make claims. Some 841,995 people made claims under PUA for the week ending 9 May.
A court resurrected a lawsuit over whether Donald Trump’s hotel only a few blocks from the White House and the Capitol can accept payments from foreign government.
Here’s more from The Washington Post:
A federal appeals court on Thursday revived a lawsuit seeking to block President Trump’s hotel in downtown Washington from accepting payments from foreign and state governments.
In a divided decision, the court refused to dismiss the novel lawsuit that accuses the president of illegally profiting from foreign and state government patrons at his D.C. hotel. The case, brought by the top lawyers for Maryland and the District of Columbia, is one of a set of lawsuits alleging the president’s private business transactions violate the Constitution’s anti-corruption emoluments ban.
“We recognize that the President is no ordinary petitioner, and we accord him great deference as the head of the Executive branch,” Judge Diana Motz wrote for a majority of judges. But the court denied Trump’s request to dimiss the lawsuit, saying it would not “grant the extraordinary relief the President seeks.”
The ruling from the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit is at odds with a decision in March in a separate, similar case that barred individual members of Congress from suing the president over his private business.
The split rulings suggest the Supreme Court will have the final word in the cases involving the rarely tested emoluments provisions intended to prevent foreign and state officials from having undue influence on U.S. leaders, including the president.
Trump lashes out at Rick Bright
Before the hearings even started, Donald Trump offered his thoughts on whistleblower Rick Bright on Twitter.
I don’t know the so-called Whistleblower Rick Bright, never met him or even heard of him, but to me he is a disgruntled employee, not liked or respected by people I spoke to and who, with his attitude, should no longer be working for our government!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 14, 2020
It’s unclear whether Trump will continue to tweet out about Bright as the hearings commence. The president’s public schedule for the day lists his first public event as departing Washington for Allentown, Pennsylvania at noon.
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Whistleblower testifies on coronavirus crisis
Good morning, US live blog readers, welcome to another day of our up-to-the-minute coverage of news events in American politics and the coronavirus crisis.
Here are the main developments so far today:
- Government scientist and now whistleblower Rick Bright will testify before the House energy and commerce committee at 10am ET. The top vaccine expert says he was fired for resisting Donald Trump when the president was pushing hydroxychloroquine as an unproven (and ultimately inferior) treatment for coronavirus. He is expected to warn that without a radically ramped-up national effort to combat Covid-19, America risks “the darkest winter in modern history”. The official title of the hearing is Protecting Scientific Integrity in the Covid-19 Response.
- Republican Senator Richard Burr had his phone seized by investigators last night, at his home in Washington, as part of a search warrant in an investigation into whether he used inside information from private briefings on Capitol Hill to dump stocks and make a fortune just before the market plummeted amid the unfolding coronavirus crisis. Burr, of North Carolina, the chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, denied he had kept the public in the dark about the scale of the threat. Burr and his wife sold between around $628,000 and $1.7m in more than 30 separate transactions in late January and mid-February.
- Armed protests are expected this morning in Michigan against stay-at-home orders from governor Gretchen Whitmer. Angry demonstrations in Michigan recently kicked off a flurry of protests in various state capitals, demanding that the US reopen for business immediately – and the Guardian reported on how many protests were coordinated and backed by various wealthy right-wing interests.
- This as the state supreme court in Wisconsin sent shockwaves through the country by striking down that state’s governor’s lockdown order, and businesses immediately began opening.
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