- Following through on the president’s threat to withhold funding from schools which do not reopen their campuses this fall, Education Secretary Betsy Devos is looking into possible ways to do just that.
- Newly confirmed director of the US Agency for Global Media Michael Pack is refusing to extend visas for any foreign journalists currently working with the group in the United States.
- This morning the president said “for the 1/100th [sic] time” that cases are only high in the United States because we do so much testing. He reiterated this claim on Sean Hannity’s show tonight. This is a lie. We can measure test positivity rates and they are increasing.
- The US Attorney fired by AG Barr, Geoffrey Berman, testified that Barr repeatedly pressured him to resign. Berman was overseeing several cases involving Trump and his associates. Barr announced Berman had resigned but Barr lied about that.
- Emmet Sullivan, the judge overseeing Michael Flynn’s case, has asked the appeals court for an en banc hearing over the DoJ’s request to dismiss the case. Recently three judges issued a 2-1 ruling that the case must be dropped despite Flynn pleading guilty to lying to the FBI about his interactions with the Russian ambassador during the transition. If granted, and it likely will be, the en banc hearing can overrule the decision to dismiss the case.
- On Sean Hannity tonight the president once again bragged about how well he performed on a Montreal Cognitive Assessment. Trump said the doctors were amazed and said “rarely does somebody do what you just did.” The test involves identifying animals from a drawing and drawing a clock face after being given a time. The president thinks succeeding on this test is an accomplishment.
- The White House instructed the Pentagon to dig up dirt on Lt. Col. Vindman in retaliation for his testimony during the impeachment hearing. Unable to find any, his due promotion was held up anyway. Vindman this week announced his retirement due to retaliation and harassment from the Trump administration.
- In 2 cases this morning, the Supreme Court ruled that Trump’s claims of immunity against third parties supplying his tax information isn’t valid. This doesn’t automatically mean Congress and the NYAG will receive the documents, but they likely will at some point. This is incredibly unlikely to happen before the election.
