As Trump played down virus, health experts’ alarm grew

 https://apnews.com/48f77170558376db143da5f0a3f2b3e8

 White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany highlighted comments from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, to try to make the case that Trump didn’t lie to the public. She cited a Feb. 17 interview in which Fauci focused his concern on the seasonal flu then playing out.

 But a day later, Fauci had spoken of alarming potential implications from the new virus, saying, “Not only do we not have an appreciation of the magnitude, even more disturbing is that we don’t have an appreciation of where the magnitude is going.”

 Larry Gostin, a professor at Georgetown University who has advised Republican and Democratic administrations on public health issues, said there should be no confusing honest mistakes and expressions of uncertainty from public health officials with Trump’s effort to minimize the threat of COVID-19.

“It is irrefutable that he has played down the epidemic and sidelined trusted scientists, and in some cases, muzzled them,” Gostin said.

Sarah Sanders on Trump’s coronavirus response: Why is the media ignoring Fauci’s defense?

 https://www.foxnews.com/media/sarah-sanders-on-trumps-coronavirus-response-why-is-the-media-ignoring-faucis-defense

 The media continues to bash President Trump for his toned-down response to the coronavirus pandemic, even though allegations have been debunked by officials, former White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said to Fox News’ “Media Buzz.”

Since journalist Bob Woodward publicly pinned the president for “downplaying” the virus in his book "Rage," Coronavirus Task Force member Dr. Anthony Fauci has come out and defended Trump, saying he listened to the professionals and followed their advice.

“I wonder why the media’s not leaning on Dr. Fauci’s statement anymore,” Sanders asked.

Peter Navarro abruptly cut from CNN interview after telling Jake Tapper network 'is not honest with the American people’

 https://www.foxnews.com/media/peter-navarro-abruptly-cut-from-cnn-jake-tapper-trump-covid

 "Why wasn’t the president straightforward with the American people?" he asked. "He was straightforward," Navarro replied. "You're cherry-picking...You just don’t want to listen, Jake."

Tapper claimed Trump "knew [COVID] was deadlier than the flu" and "was lying to the American public two weeks later."

Navarro flipped the script and accused CNN of lying to the American people, which led Tapper to end the interview.

Full Panel: Trump Facing 'An Aggressive One-Two Punch' After New Report | Meet The Press | NBC News

Tapper presses Navarro: You're not answering the question

Rpt: Top Durham Aide Resigns From Russia Probe Amid Concern Over Pressure From A.G. Barr | MSNBC

The Upcoming Durham Report, Election Interference and Other Bill Barr Abuses

Trump ignores science at dangerous indoor rally

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/14/politics/donald-trump-coronavirus-indoor-rally-wildfires/index.html

 President Donald Trump offered a glaring new example of his refusal to put medical science before politics with a large indoor rally Sunday night that made a mockery of social distancing, while the pandemic he mismanaged has now claimed more than 194,000 American lives.

The event in Nevada -- his second rally in the state in as many days -- did not only risk the health of those present, thousands of whom were packed together inside a manufacturing facility in defiance of the state's ban on local gatherings of 50 people or more. It also has the potential to turn into a super spreader event that could seed Covid-19 outbreaks in the wider community. Trump hadn't held an indoor rally in nearly three months, since his last one, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, after which the city saw a surge in cases and multiple campaign staffers along with Secret Service agents tested positive for the virus.

President Trump Questions Integrity of Upcoming Election at Nevada Campaign Rally

 https://time.com/5888534/trump-rally-nevada/

Kicking off a Western swing, President Donald Trump barreled into Nevada for the weekend, looking to expand his path to victory while unleashing a torrent of unsubstantiated claims that Democrats were trying to steal the election.

Trump defied local authorities by holding a Saturday night rally in tiny Minden after his initial plan to hold one in Reno was stopped out of concern it would have violated coronavirus health guidelines. Unleashing 90-plus minutes of grievances and attacks, Trump claimed the state’s Democratic governor tried to block him and repeated his false claim that mail-in ballots would taint the election result.

“This is the guy we are entrusting with millions of ballots, unsolicited ballots, and we’re supposed to win these states. Who the hell is going to trust him?” Trump said of Gov. Steve Sisolak. “The only way the Democrats can win the election is if they rig it.”

 

 

Donald Trump vs. Science

Pandemic brings Trump's war on science to the boil – but who will win?

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/03/science-donald-trump-coronavirus

 Three years of hostility to evidence-based policy have led to a crisis in which the president’s ill-informed, self-serving ‘hunches’ have deadly consequences

Trump lied about science

 https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/09/11/science.abe7391

 Over the years, this page has commented on the scientific foibles of U.S. presidents. Inadequate action on climate change and environmental degradation during both Republican and Democratic administrations have been criticized frequently. Editorials have bemoaned endorsements by presidents on teaching intelligent design, creationism, and other antiscience in public schools. These matters are still important. But now, a U.S. president has deliberately lied about science in a way that was imminently dangerous to human health and directly led to widespread deaths of Americans.

This may be the most shameful moment in the history of U.S. science policy.

 It also meant silencing health officials who tried to tell the truth. On 25 February, Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), said, “It’s not so much a question of if this will happen anymore, but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illness.” She was right and Trump knew it. But he shut her down. He also tried to control messaging from Anthony Fauci, the nation’s foremost leader on infectious diseases. Trump’s supporters insisted that Fauci and Messonnier were not being muzzled, but now we have clear evidence in emails that they were.

 

Donald Trump tries to quash two hugely damaging stories

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/13/opinions/trump-tries-to-quash-two-stories-opinion-galant/index.html

 In Lewis Carroll's 1865 storybook for children of all ages, Alice jumps down a rabbit hole. It spools into a Wonderland where eating a cake can make you grow nine feet tall. A place where rabbits wear waistcoats and kid gloves. Where Dodo birds set the rules for running races. And where the grinning Cheshire Cat sits in a tree and tells Alice that if you don't care where you're going to wind up, it really "doesn't matter which way you go."

 That quip is the reason senior White House adviser Jared Kushner recommended "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" to author Bob Woodward as one of the crucial texts for understanding his father-in-law, President Donald Trump. But remember that when Alice says, "I don't want to go among mad people," the Cat replies, "Oh, you can't help that. We're all mad here." Or, in the words of the Jefferson Airplane song "White Rabbit" -- "logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead."

 

Fareed: We need to prepare for this 'deeply worrying' scenario

Don Jr reacts to Mueller team wiping phones: There's different rules for people

Kayleigh McEnany responds to evidence of potential Mueller team misconduct

Saluting the Heroes of the Coronavirus Pandumbic | The Daily Show

Bret Baier Shuts Down Trump Campaign Spokesperson’s Lies About Woodward Tapes

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-bret-baier-shuts-down-trump-campaign-spokesperson-tim-murtaughs-lies-about-woodward-tapes

 On Thursday’s edition of Special Report, Fox anchor Bret Baier interviewed both Biden national press secretary TJ Ducklo and Trump campaign spokesperson Tim Murtaugh about Trump’s intentional efforts to downplay the severity of the coronavirus pandemic back in February and March. 

But as Murtaugh went on to claim that Trump was saying the “same things” publicly that he was telling Woodward, Baier stopped him in his tracks. 

“That’s not true, Tim” the anchor said, interrupting his guest. “It’s not true. When he was saying publicly that the virus would go from 15 to zero and then it was magically going to wash away, that is not the same thing he’s telling Bob Woodward, that it’s a deadly virus that travels over the air and it’s really serious and ‘I like to downplay it.’ He was not saying the same things publicly that he was privately to Bob Woodward.”

Sean Hannity: Biden 'did everything wrong' in response to coronavirus, is hoping 'you will all forget'

 https://www.foxnews.com/media/sean-hannity-joe-biden-everything-wrong-coronavirus

  DEFENDING TRUMP'S LIES BY CLAIMING BIDEN LIES ALSO

 According to Hannity, Biden is "lying" when he claims President Trump did everything wrong in response to the coronavirus outbreak, while the former vice president was the one to “sound the alarm” on the pandemic.

In fact, the host pointed out, Biden adviser Ron Klain had praised China on Jan. 27 for being “more transparent and more candid than it has been during past outbreaks.”

RNC speakers exaggerate Trump’s military drawdown from ‘endless wars’

 https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/aug/27/rnc-speakers-exaggerate-trumps-military-drawdown-e/

• Speakers at the Republican National Convention exaggerated President Donald Trump’s progress toward getting the U.S. out of “endless wars” in the Middle East.

• The Pentagon said there are currently more than 8,000 U.S. forces in Afghanistan, about 5,200 in Iraq and about 500 in Syria, with plans for future withdrawals.

• Experts said the “endless wars” haven’t ended, peace in the Middle East hasn’t been achieved, and the U.S. presence in the region hasn’t significantly slimmed under Trump.

 

‘Civil Military Relations Are As Bad Today As They’ve Ever Been’: Fmr. Army Major General | MSNBC

Full Retired Gen. Zinni: 'Where Are Our Veterans In Congress?' | MTP Daily | MSNBC

'Closing In On Him': Trump Co-Author Says He 'Can't Hide' From COVID Lies | MSNBC

9

Watch The 11th Hour With Brian Williams Highlights: September 10 | MSNBC

McEnany calls out White House press corps for lack of interest in Mueller team wiping phones

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mcenany-calls-out-press-mueller-phone-wiping

 The White House press corps isn't paying enough attention to new and important developments surrounding the Justice Department's conduct in the Russia investigation, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said on "Hannity" Friday.

"They don't care," McEnany told host Sean Hannity. "How many times have I been asked questions about very legitimate things like Michael Flynn, the injustice done to him?

 "Now we learn what Mueller's team was doing," she said. "Several dozens, think about that, several dozens of devices returned damaged, wiped clean, some of them intentionally so. One of those devices was Andrew Weissmann's ... who was rebuked 9-0 by the Supreme Court for prosecutorial overreach and misconduct -- and Lisa Page too, among these offenders.

 

Trump officials interfered with CDC reports on Covid-19

 https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/11/exclusive-trump-officials-interfered-with-cdc-reports-on-covid-19-412809

 The health department’s politically appointed communications aides have demanded the right to review and seek changes to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s weekly scientific reports charting the progress of the coronavirus pandemic, in what officials characterized as an attempt to intimidate the reports’ authors and water down their communications to health professionals.

Trump aides review CDC coronavirus reports to better align with president's upbeat messaging: report

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-aides-review-cdc-coronavirus-reports-to-better-align-with-presidents-messaging-report

 The president's political aides have successfully demanded to review and, in some cases, modify weekly Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports on the coronavirus to better align scientific reports with Trump's upbeat messages, Politico reported.

Top Senate Republicans pressing for investigation on Mueller team phones being 'wiped'

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/12/politics/senate-doj-mueller-phones/index.html

Two top Senate Republicans are pressing Justice Department officials to investigate whether special counsel Robert Mueller's team violated federal record keeping laws during a probe by the Justice Department's watchdog into the FBI's Russia investigation

Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley on Friday pointed to a recent Freedom of Information Act release from the Justice Department that shows at least 27 instances of phones assigned to Mueller's team being "wiped" or reset for various reasons, including 15 due to passcodes forgotten or being entered too many times.

Trump Bragged About Protecting Saudi Prince Whose Goons Dismembered a Journalist via Bone Saw

 https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/09/donald-trump-mbs-saved-his-ass

 In a world in which Donald Trump is president, it can be hard to remember scandals that happened two years ago, let alone last week. But try, if you can, to recall the incident in which journalist, U.S. resident, and Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi was kidnapped and dismembered via bone saw, allegedly on the order of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Trump let Prince Mohammed get a way with it, because the kingdom bought some weapons from the U.S. and the guy was bros with Jared Kushner. (Also, because he has a fondness for dictators.) While you’re recollecting, also remember that Trump continued to defend the de facto Saudi leader even after Saudi Arabia admitted the killing was premeditated and the CIA separately concluded the prince directed the murder. (The prince, naturally, denies the whole thing.) All in all, it was a pretty messed up situation, even for a guy who muses about dating his own daughter. Also messed up? That Trump apparently boasted about helping bin Salman get away with the whole thing, according to—what else?— Bob Woodward’s new book. Per Business Insider:

 Donald Trump bragged that he protected Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman from congressional scrutiny after the brutal assassination of the American journalist Jamal Khashoggi. That’s according to the veteran reporter Bob Woodward’s upcoming book, Rage, set to be released next Tuesday.… Woodward wrote that Trump called him on January 22 shortly after attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. During the conversation, Woodward pressed the president about Khashoggi’s gruesome murder. Khashoggi, 59, a longtime Washington Post columnist known for his criticism of the Saudi kingdom, was assassinated and dismembered at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, after going there to get paperwork for his upcoming marriage. “The people at the Post are upset about the Khashoggi killing,” Woodward told Trump on January 22, his book says. “That is one of the most gruesome things. You yourself have said.”

 “Yeah, but Iran is killing 36 people a day, so—” Trump began, before Woodward redirected the conversation and continued to press Trump about MBS’s role in ordering Khashoggi’s killing. “I saved his ass,” Trump had said amid the U.S. outcry following Khashoggi's murder, the book says. “I was able to get Congress to leave him alone. I was able to get them to stop.”

Poll suggests Trump may be losing support of some evangelical voters

Here's How Much Time Trump Spends Watching FOX News | The 11th Hour | MSNBC

It's hard to write a tell-all book when Trump is constantly telling on himself

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/12/opinions/woodward-book-impact-trump-zelizer/index.html

Veteran journalist Bob Woodward's new book, "Rage," hasn't even been released yet and it's already causing quite a stir. In it, President Donald Trump acknowledged in early February that the novel coronavirus was airborne and deadlier than the flu, even though he continued to downplay the threat of the virus in public.

 This is hard to believe given that the President does little to evoke calm. Indeed, as the story broke, and Woodward released recordings of his conversations with Trump, the President continued to tweet about the alleged breakdown of law and order in the country, stoking fears of violence in response to largely peaceful protests.

 Fast forward to 2020 and things are vastly different. It is possible that Woodward's book won't do much to sway public opinion. The intense partisan polarization in the electorate means that there are fewer undecided voters who might be swayed either way by the revelations in Woodward's new book.

 

Trump’s nomination makes a mockery of the Nobel Peace Prize

 https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/trump-nobel-peace-prize-israel-peace-deal-uae-b421672.html

 President Trump is unfit for nomination and his inclusion makes a mockery of this important accolade. This is not merely due to his incendiary Twitter rants and threats of nuclear war. Trump has not dealt with persistent systemic inequalities and has mostly refused to deal with the climate crisis – as well as leaving a large Covid-19 death toll in his wake. This is not peace.

 “It’s hard to imagine an individual less worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize,” said Tim Wright, a 2017 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, recognised for his work with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. “He has fomented violence against his own citizens, abandoned longstanding arms control agreements, and undermined multilateralism at every opportunity. His few diplomatic initiatives, such as the summits with North Korea, have been little more than photo-ops.” It is unlikely that Trump will win the Nobel Peace Prize, announced via a virtual ceremony on 9 October, but regardless he has been nominated by right-wing Norwegian MP Christian Tybring-Gjedde for his purported role in the Israel-UAE deal.

 Anybody can be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize but only “qualified nominators” may throw their hat into the ring and offer suggestions for future nominees. You might be surprised to learn who qualifies to make this important choice – and you may even be able to make a qualified nomination of your own.

The Atlantic calls to 'end the Nobel Peace Prize' following Trump nominations

 https://www.foxnews.com/media/the-atlantic-end-nobel-peace-prize-trump

 The Atlantic magazine raised eyebrows on Friday when it published a piece calling for the abolition of the Nobel Peace Prize after President Trump was nominated for the prestigious honor.

The president's name was submitted for the 2021 prize by Norwegian lawmaker Christian Tybring-Gjedde, who cited Trump's role in brokering a peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Trump has since earned a second nomination from Swedish lawmaker Magnus Jacobsson for overseeing an economic deal between Kosovo and Serbia.

The nominations, however, apparently didn't sit well with the liberal magazine, which declared Friday that "peace had its chance, and blew it."

 

"Effect of Calcifediol Treatment and best Available Therapy versus best Available Therapy on Intensive Care Unit Admission and Mortality Among Patients Hospitalized for COVID-19: A Pilot Randomized Clinical study"

 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960076020302764

 Highlights

•The vitamin D endocrine system may have a variety of actions on cells and tissues involved in COVID-19 progression.

•Administration of calcifediol or 25-hydroxyvitamin D to hospitalized COVID-19 patients significantly reduced their need for Intensive Care United admission.

•Calcifediol seems to be able to reduce severity of the disease.

The First Clinical Trial to Support Vitamin D Therapy For Covid-19

 https://medium.com/microbial-instincts/the-first-clinical-trial-to-support-vitamin-d-therapy-for-covid-19-906a9d907468

Oral calcifediol, the main metabolite of vitamin D3, reduced ICU admission from 50% to 2% among Covid-19 patients.

Flynn Case "Prosecutor" Gleeson Slams Barr's Position, Urges Judge Sullivan to Sentence Flynn

Britain is risking a car-crash Brexit of food shortages, another recession and isolation

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/12/business/brexit-no-deal-uk-economy/index.html

 In the four years that have passed since Britain voted to leave the European Union, business executives have consistently delivered one message to the country's political leaders: Do not under any circumstances crash out of our largest export market without a deal to protect trade.

Now, after painstaking negotiations that resulted in an amicable divorce with the European Union earlier this year, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has instigated a confrontation with Brussels that could turn the nightmare "no-deal" scenario for business into reality.

The UK government said this week that it intends to break the terms of the divorce agreement that settled the country's departure from the European Union at the end of January. EU officials have given Johnson until the end of this month to abandon his would-be violation of international law.

QAnon fans spread fake claims about real fires in Oregon

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/11/tech/qanon-oregon-fire-conspiracy-theory/index.html

 Authorities in Oregon are pleading with the public to only trust and share information verified by official sources about the unprecedented wildfires sweeping the state. The pleas come as law enforcement agencies described 911 dispatchers being overrun with calls about a false online rumor that "Antifa" members had been arrested for setting the fires — a claim promoted by the anonymous account behind the QAnon conspiracy theories.

The incident highlights how online conspiracy theories, a sustained right-wing campaign to create increased fear of anti-fascist groups, and amplification of false claims by QAnon followers, have real consequences.

On Friday, the FBI responded, saying, "reports that extremists are setting wildfires in Oregon are untrue."

 

 

Trump and the GOP Rocked by Bombshell Woodward Tapes: A Closer Look

Rep. Schiff on MSNBC: Trump and Barr Using Durham Probe to Go After Those on Trump’s “Enemies List”

Woodward's Tapes, Trump's Covid Admissions & a Homicide Prosecutor's Take on Criminal Liability

FBI Calls Rumors of Extremists Starting Oregon Wildfires ‘Untrue’

 https://time.com/5888371/oregon-wildfires-antifa-proud-boys-rumors-false/

The FBI and other law enforcement officials issued statements on Friday to dispute rumors that wildfires in Oregon had been intentionally started by extremists.

“FBI Portland and local law enforcement agencies have been receiving reports that extremists are responsible for setting wildfires in Oregon. With our state and local partners, the FBI has investigated several such reports and found them to be untrue,” the FBI Portland Division said in a statement.

“Conspiracy theories and misinformation take valuable resources away [from] local fire and police agencies working around the clock to bring these fires under control,” the statement continued. “Please help our entire community by only sharing validated information from official sources.”

Nora Dannehy, Connecticut prosecutor who was top aide to John Durham’s Trump-Russia investigation, resigns amid concern about pressure from Attorney General William Barr

 https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-news-john-durham-dannehy-resignation-20200911-20200911-xcsapnq7g5e63kvtw5aqi7cv34-story.html

 Federal prosecutor Nora Dannehy, a top aide to U.S. Attorney John H. Durham in his Russia investigation, has quietly resigned — at least partly out of concern that the investigative team is being pressed for political reasons to produce a report before its work is done, colleagues said.

 

 

Trump administration admits defunding FDNY’s 9/11 healthcare program

 https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-trump-admin-apologizes-fdny-911-program-20200911-d63ohrqqljbpre434qpygp7rti-story.html

The Trump administration admitted Friday to stripping millions of dollars from an FDNY fund that foots healthcare bills for 9/11 survivors and promised to try to put an end to the heartless practice.

The administration’s about-face came after the Daily News exclusively reported Thursday that the Treasury Department has over the past four years siphoned nearly $4 million from the FDNY World Trade Center Health Program, which helps cover medical services for firefighters, EMTs and paramedics still suffering from 9/11-related illnesses.

A Treasury Department official said in an email after repeated requests from The News that it was “an unfortunate situation” that the funds were being redirected from the FDNY program.

 

States Bow to Pressure to Reverse Course on HCQ

 https://yated.com/states-bow-to-pressure-to-reverse-course-on-hcq/

 As Covid-19 continues to burn its way across previously unscathed regions in the country, public pressure in ten states has forced governors and pharmaceutical boards to lift or ease restrictions on HCQ to fight the disease.

 

 

Prosecutor In Durham’s Investigation Resigns Over Concern Of Political Pressure | Deadline | MSNBC

Barr Games With Flynn Case Ripped As 'Corrupt Political Errand' | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC

Kapporus and adultery

https://agudah.org/agudath-israel-reissues-kaporos-kol-korei-2/

 R. Shmuel Kamenetzky clearly signs his name on a קול קורא stating that ladies and gentlemen should be separated during כפרות, which is a חומרא בעלמא. How much more so must Ms. Epstein move away from Mr. Fleischer, which is not a חומרא בעלמא, but a דין of יהרג ואל יעבור, as explained here:

http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2020/08/response-to-r-shmuel-kamenetzky-tanar.html?m=1

 

 

 

Reporter to Trump: Why did you lie to the American people?