Chaos rocks Trump White House on virus' most tragic day

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/08/politics/donald-trump-coronavirus/index.html

 The chaos and confusion rocking President Donald Trump's administration on the most tragic day yet of the coronavirus pandemic was exceptional even by his own standards.

Trump set out Tuesday to cement his image of a wartime leader facing down an "invisible enemy" at a dark moment as the country waits for the virus to peak and with the economy languishing in suspended animation.

"What we have is a plague, and we're seeing light at the end of the tunnel," the President said, on a day when a record number of Americans succumbed to the wicked respiratory disease.

But instead of putting minds at rest, Trump's wild performance instead put on a display many of the personal and political habits that have defined his tumultuous presidency. It was a troubling spectacle coming at such a wrenching chapter of national life, the kind of moment when Presidents are called to provide consistent, level leadership.

 

Trump's top economic adviser Larry Kudlow admitted that a small business rescue program was off to "a bad start" after recipients struggled to register funds, only for the President to celebrate the program's roaring success -- and to credit his daughter Ivanka with personally creating 15 million jobs.

 

 

US Navy boss resigns amid uproar over firing of ship captain

https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-navy-boss-resigns-amid-uproar-over-firing-of-ship-captain/

Modly came to his own conclusion and offered his resignation. Modly’s options were few. Officials said it would have been difficult for him to rebuild his relationship with sailors in the fleet, and equally hard to restore his reputation among senior military leaders and retired naval officers who believed his sharp remarks on the Roosevelt crossed a line.

 

Trump removes watchdog tapped for $2 trillion virus rescue oversight

https://q13fox.com/2020/04/07/trump-removes-watchdog-tapped-for-2t-virus-rescue-oversight/

The move threatens to upend the rigorous oversight that Democrats in Congress demanded for the huge sums of money being pumped into the American economy because of the virus.

It’s also part of a broader conflict between Trump, a president averse to outside criticism, and the watchdog community tasked with identifying mismanagement and problems inside government agencies.

 

Trump has bristled at the oversight of the coronavirus law, suggesting in a statement last month that some of the mandates from Congress were unconstitutional.

“I’ll be the oversight,” Trump declared as lawmakers were finalizing the rescue plan.

He has also drawn criticism for naming a White House lawyer to a new Treasury Department position overseeing $500 billion in coronavirus aid to industry.

Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, a longtime whistleblower advocate, tweeted at Trump not to view inspectors general as critics, though he didn’t mention Fine by name. He said the officials hold the federal bureaucracy accountable.

President Trump Removes Watchdog Overseeing Rollout Of $2 Trillion Coronavirus Bill | MSNBC

Fact check: Did the coronavirus originate in a Chinese laboratory?

 https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/03/21/fact-check-did-coronavirus-originate-chinese-laboratory/2881150001/

A statement in the Lancet, a medical journal, written by public health officials who have been following the progression of the virus also asserted that animals are the likely source: “Scientists from multiple countries have published and analysed genomes of the causative agent, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and they overwhelmingly conclude that this coronavirus originated in wildlife.”

The coronavirus did not escape from a lab. Here's how we know

https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-not-human-made-in-lab.html

The persistent myth can be put to bed.

 

Acting secretary of the Navy has submitted his resignation after calling ousted aircraft carrier captain 'stupid'

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/07/politics/modly-resign-crozier-esper-trump/index.html

 

Washington (CNN)Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly has submitted his resignation a day after leaked audio revealed he called the ousted commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt "stupid" in an address to the ship's crew, according to a US official and a former senior military official.

On Monday, Modly told the crew of the Roosevelt that their former commander, Capt. Brett Crozier, was either "too naive or too stupid" to be in command or that he intentionally leaked a memo to the media, in which Crozier warned about coronavirus spreading aboard the aircraft carrier and urged action to save his sailors, according to remarks obtained by CNN.

Late Monday night, Modly apologized in a statement for calling Crozier "stupid" in his earlier remarks.

Trump removes independent watchdog for coronavirus funds, upending oversight panel

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/07/trump-removes-independent-watchdog-for-coronavirus-funds-upending-oversight-panel-171943

 

President Donald Trump has upended the panel of federal watchdogs overseeing implementation of the $2 trillion coronavirus law, tapping a replacement for the Pentagon official who was supposed to lead the effort.

A panel of inspectors general had named Glenn Fine — the acting Pentagon watchdog — to lead the group charged with monitoring the coronavirus relief effort. But Trump on Monday removed Fine from his post, instead naming the EPA inspector general to serve as the temporary Pentagon watchdog in addition to his other responsibilities.

Trump replaces Pentagon IG, removing him from coronavirus relief oversight panel

https://thehill.com/policy/defense/491560-trump-replaces-pentagon-watchdog-removing-him-from-coronavirus-relief

 

President Trump has replaced the Pentagon’s top watchdog a week after he was named to lead a committee charged with overseeing the $2 trillion coronavirus relief package.

Fine was appointed as chairman of the committee last week, a move that won praise across the political spectrum

 

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Passover closure comes into effect, with all intercity travel banned

https://www.timesofisrael.com/passover-closure-comes-into-effect-with-all-intercity-travel-banned/

Roads empty throughout Israel as lockdown enacted ahead of holiday; measures to remain in place until Friday evening and include 16-hour curfew from Seder night