Trump's 'Obamagate' comments and Barr's Flynn meddling suggest troubling new pivot

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-s-obamagate-comments-barr-s-flynn-meddling-suggest-troubling-ncna1204856

In my 25 years as an FBI special agent and (now retired) head of the bureau's counterintelligence, I learned the value of predictive analysis. Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the FBI transitioned from an investigative agency adept at investigating what happened after the fact to an intelligence agency capable of forecasting and preventing harm from happening in the future.

Trump is clearly still sensitive about the 2016 election, and especially about concerns that he may not have beaten former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton fairly. He therefore has a special interest in undermining accusations of Russian meddling, something he has done since entering the Oval Office. What better way to do this than to flip the script? He didn't have an advantage; in fact, he was the victim

As other commentators have pointed out, attempting this bait and switch would likely involve efforts to censure, discipline or even criminally charge current and former government officials, such as former CIA Director John Brennan, fired FBI Director James Comey, former national security adviser Susan Rice, former National Intelligence Director James Clapper and perhaps even Obama and Biden. During his Monday news conference in the Rose Garden, a reporter asked Trump what crime he might accuse Obama of committing. Trump responded: "Obamagate, it's been going on for a long time. It's been going on from before I got elected, and it's a disgrace that it happened. You look at, now, all of this information that's being released, and from what I understand, that's only the beginning."

What is 'Obamagate' and why is Trump so worked up about it?

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/12/what-is-obamagate-and-why-is-trump-so-worked-up-about-it

The US president spent Mother’s Day diving into the rightwing fever swamps and unleashing a barrage of tweets and retweets assailing his predecessor

 

Senate Republicans break with Trump over ‘Obamagate’

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/11/senate-republicans-trump-obamagate-249734

After the Justice Department’s abrupt decision last week to drop the criminal case against Flynn, Trump shifted his public focus over the weekend to mount a three-day tear against his predecessor on Twitter, accusing Obama of committing the “biggest political crime in American history.” Trump sought to popularize the hashtag “Obamagate,” which he said makes the Watergate scandal “look small time.” Trump also said Obama “got caught” and later retweeted comments by Flynn’s lawyer, Sidney Powell, who said Obama was part of an effort to frame and entrap her client.

 

Trump hardens campaign tone after virus batters economy

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/12/politics/donald-trump-coronavirus-reelection/index.html

Trump also signaled a new fallback strategy designed to whip up the fervor of his base by accusing his predecessor of mounting an attempt to cancel out his win in 2016 in what his supporters refer to as a "deep state plot."

"Obamagate. It's been going on for a long time. It's been going on from before I even got elected, and it's a disgrace that it happened," Trump claimed without evidence. Asked by a reporter to identify the crime he had accused Obama in a tweet of committing, he responded: "You know what the crime is. The crime is obvious to everybody."

The conservative media machine is pulsating with the reverberations of Attorney General William Barr's decision last week to drop charges against Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who had twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in a case that arose from the Russia investigation.

Shortly after Trump spoke, the scope of the Republican election attack became even more clear as Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa pressed the conspiracy theory on the Senate floor.

"The rule of law is at risk if the federal government can get away with violating the Constitution to do what they did to Lt. Gen. Flynn," said Grassley. "Given all that we know now regarding the fake foundation to the inquiry, it's time we asked: What did Obama and Biden know and when did they know it?"

Republican Group Releases Ad Encouraging Americans to Hold Trump Accountable for Abusing His Power

https://www.newsweek.com/republican-group-releases-ad-encouraging-americans-hold-trump-accountable-abusing-his-power-1503281

Conservative group Republicans for the Rule of Law (RRL) released two new advertisements on Monday highlighting how President Donald Trump has allegedly attempted to avoid all forms of oversight.

The group's latest videos, which ran on Fox News' Fox & Friends, Tucker Carlson Tonight and Hannity, come ahead of Tuesday's oral arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court which could determine if Trump could be indicted for crimes while in office. Trump's legal team argues that the president cannot be investigated for wrongdoings while he is in office.

Pulse oximeters are selling out because of the pandemic. Most people don’t need them

https://qz.com/1832464/pulse-oximeters-for-coronavirus-unnecessary-but-selling-strong/

Amazon is currently flooded with listings for pulse oximeters, many of which are not FDA-approved. People who use such devices are at risk of getting an inaccurate reading. A 2016 study in Anesthesia & Analgesia looked at a number of inexpensive pulse oximeters not cleared by the FDA, and found that many of them were prone to large errors.

A number of wearables offer SpO2 features, including ones offered by Fitbit and Garmin. Apps that use your smartphone’s camera to deliver SpO2 measurements can be hit-or-miss. Such technology hasn’t been cleared by the FDA. One study looked at three pulse oximeter apps: iOx, OX, and POx. All three apps delivered inaccurate SpO2 measurements, according to the authors, from the University of Alabama and the University of Michigan.

 

Something Appears To Be Wrong With Donald Trump | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC

White House Orders Staff to Wear Masks as Trump Misrepresents Testing Record

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/11/us/politics/white-house-masks-trump-coronavirus.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage

Declaring once again that “if somebody wants to be tested right now, they’ll be able to be tested,” Mr. Trump said that his administration was working with states to allow them to conduct 12.9 million tests in May, insisting that the testing ability in the United States compares favorably with other countries.

“We are testing more people per capita than South Korea, the United Kingdom, France, Japan, Sweden, Finland and many other countries,” he said, ignoring countries where testing on a per capita basis is higher, including Germany, Russia, Spain, Canada, Switzerland and at least 20 others, according to statistics compiled by Our World in Data.

Mr. Trump also mischaracterized the trajectory of new cases in the United States.

“The numbers are way down from what they were two weeks ago,” the president said. “The numbers are really coming down very substantially. This weekend was one of the lowest we’ve had. The numbers are coming down very rapidly.”

The number of new cases reported across the country this weekend was 45,227. That is lower than the 60,872 cases reported from April 25 to April 26. But over the past two weeks, the numbers of new cases over all have declined only slightly — not substantially.

The stakes of Trump's tax return case couldn't be higher

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/11/opinions/trump-tax-returns-supreme-court-stakes-honig/index.html

 After years of political wrangling and multi-front litigation, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Tuesday on the battle over President Donald Trump's tax returns. The stakes are enormous. The court will decide by the end of its current term not only whether Trump's tax returns ever see light of day, but also whether the President stands so far above the law that he cannot meaningfully be held accountable to other branches of government and the American public.

 

The dispute over Trump's tax returns has been politically heated but, legally, this should be an easy call for the court. Trump has fought to the bitter end, though ultimately the law should give him no refuge: the tax returns must go to Congress, and even as a sitting president, he cannot be immune from investigation by prosecutors.

Trump Concerned About Re-Election Chances: Report | Morning Joe | MSNBC

What’s a Pulse Oximeter, and Do I Really Need One at Home?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/well/live/coronavirus-pulse-oximeter-oxygen.html

A tiny fingertip device can give you valuable information about your health during a bout of Covid-19 or any respiratory illness.

 

Health officials are divided on whether home monitoring with a pulse oximeter should be recommended on a widespread basis during Covid-19. Studies of reliability show mixed results, and there’s little guidance on how to choose one. But many doctors are advising patients to get one, making it the go-to gadget of the pandemic. We’ve answered common questions about the device, how it works and what to do with the information it gives you.

Senate panel backs assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 election

https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/senate-panel-backs-assessment-that-russia-interfered-in-the-2016-election

 A bipartisan Senate report released Tuesday affirms the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusions that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election in a far-ranging influence campaign approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin and aimed at helping Donald Trump win the White House.

The report rejects Trump's claims that the intelligence community was biased against him when it concluded that Russia had interfered on his behalf in the election. It says instead that intelligence officials had specific information that Russia preferred Trump in the election, that it sought to denigrate Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton and that Putin had “approved and directed aspects" of the Kremlin's influence campaign.

The Senate just proved Donald Trump wrong -- again -- on Russian interference in 2016

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/22/politics/senate-intelligence-committee-donald-trump-russia/index.html

The Senate Intelligence Committee, which is chaired by Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, released its long-awaited 156-page report detailing its investigation into allegations that Russia sought to interfere in the 2016 election.

Opinion: Was Michael Flynn cleared ‘in the interests of justice’ — or to please Trump?

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-05-07/opinion-was-flynn-cleared-in-the-interests-of-justice-or-to-please-trump

 The criminal case against Michael Flynn, President Trump’s disastrous first national security advisor, took the latest of many twists Thursday when the Justice Department moved to drop the prosecution against him. Never mind that Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador between the 2016 election and Trump’s inauguration. (He later tried to withdraw the plea and have the charge dismissed.)