Trump Administration, Week 188: Friday, 21 August – Thursday, 27 August 2020 (Days 1,309-1,315)

March for Police Accountability, Williamstown, MA, Friday, 21 August 2020

Passages in bold in the body of the texts below are usually my emphasis, though not always. This is an ongoing project, and I update the site frequently during the day. Because I try to stay focused on what has actually happened, I usually let the news ‘settle’ for a day or so before posting. I hope readers will peruse the articles in full for a better understanding of the issues and their context; our democracy and our future depend on citizens who can distinguish between facts and falsehoods and who are engaged in the political process.

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Friday, 21 August 2020, Day 1,309:

Some Global Coronavirus Updates for Friday, 21 August 2020: Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (C.D.C.) Suggests Some Child-Care Centers Can Reopen Safely, The New York Times, Friday, 21 August 2020:

• A new C.D.C. report suggests that child-care centers may reopen safely in areas where the virus is contained.
• U.S. universities have been trying to prepare for months, but outbreaks are forcing last-minute changes.
• Trump administration says some coronavirus tests can bypass F.D.A. scrutiny.
• Trump says his virus response will be a part of his speech at the convention.
• Cases surge in France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
• Herd immunity, Greek life, Venezuela’s crackdown: the week in coronavirus news.
• Romania struggles as cases and deaths rise.

Many other significant developments are included in this article.

Some Business Coronavirus Updates for Friday, 21 August 2020: With Lobster Deal, U.S. and E.U. Trade Talks Advance, The New York Times, Friday, 21 August 2020:

• Theater chains announce moviegoing standards for the pandemic.

• Facebook’s chief marketing officer plans to depart.

• Amazon’s consumer boss Jeff Wilke will step down in 2021.

• Turkey’s gas field discovery is good news for its economy — if it can produce.

• U.S. stocks end record-breaking week with another small gain.

Other significant developments are included in this article.

Some significant developments in the coronavirus pandemic for Friday, 21 August 2020: More than 171,000 people have died from coronavirus in the U.S., The Washington Post, Lateshia Beachum, Derek Hawkins, Kim Bellware, Siobhán O’Grady, Hamza Shaban, Meryl Kornfield, and Paulina Firozi, Friday, 21 August 2020: “As Europe experiences a resurgence of coronavirus cases that appears to be driven primarily by young people, health authorities worry that crowded house parties could become super-spreader events for thousands of returning college students. On Thursday, Purdue University suspended 36 people who attended an off-campus party, officials at Syracuse University warned that a massive gathering ‘may have done damage enough to shut down campus,’ and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill switched to online learning amid an eruption of infections.

Trump Administration Says Some Coronavirus Tests Can Bypass the Scrutiny of the Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.), The New York Times, Sheila Kaplan, Friday, 21 August 2020: “The Trump administration this week ordered the Food and Drug Administration to allow the use of a certain class of laboratory tests, including some for the coronavirus, without first confirming that they work. For months some F.D.A. officials have worried that the pandemic would provide an opening for clinics, academic institutions and commercial labs to get what they had long been lobbying for: the leeway to develop their own laboratory tests for various diseases without F.D.A. oversight. On Wednesday that became a reality. Some lawmakers are also troubled by the change, particularly during a public health emergency when the need for accurate coronavirus tests is high. The F.D.A. has required that it provide emergency authorizations for lab-developed tests during other outbreaks. The announcement ‘is deeply concerning and suggests that the Trump Administration is once again interfering with F.D.A.’s regulation of medical products,’ Representative Frank Pallone, Jr., of New Jersey, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a statement.”

Senator Elizabeth Warren calls for Postal Service board members to fire Postmaster General Louis DeJoy or resign, The Hill, Tal Axelrod, Friday, 21 August 2020: “Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said board members for the U.S. Postal Service should fire Postmaster General Louis DeJoy or resign themselves amid controversy over planned changes he’s announced. ‘The @USPS Board of Governors has a responsibility to serve the public interest. That means delivering the mail on time – not acting as accomplices for the Postmaster General’s partisan sabotage. If the Board won’t fire Louis DeJoy and reverse the damage, they should resign too,’ Warren tweeted Friday. The tweet came after a contentious hearing held by the GOP-led Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in which DeJoy, a major GOP donor and ally of President Trump, defended his proposed operational changes to the Postal Service amid claims from Democrats that they would impact the November election and prescription deliveries among other things.” See also, Postmaster Louis DeJoy Says US Postal Service Won’t Reinstall More Than 600 Removed Mail Sorting Machines, Mother Jones, Ari Berman, Friday, 21 August 2020: “Embattled Postmaster General Louis DeJoy testified before the US Senate on Friday that he will not reinstall more than 600 mail sorting machines that have been removed under his leadership. Postal workers say the removal of these machines has contributed to major mail delays that could affect whether mail ballots are counted in the 2020 election. Earlier this week, DeJoy announced that he was halting some planned changes to the USPS until after the election, following public outcry. But he will not reverse steps that he has already taken.” See also, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy defends proposed changes amid Postal Service furor. DeJoy testified for the first time since sparking outrage among Democrats, who fear he’s undermining the 2020 election. Politico, Andrew Desiderio, Marianne Levine, and Daniel Lippman, Friday, 21 August 2020: “Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Friday defended his proposed changes to the Postal Service amid an onslaught of scrutiny from congressional Democrats, warning that the U.S. Postal Service faces a dire financial situation and is an operational mess. In lengthy prepared remarks before the GOP-led Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, DeJoy acknowledged several concerns lawmakers have raised in recent weeks, including the significant delivery delays because of the Covid-19 pandemic. DeJoy, who attributed those delays in part to his reforms, asked Congress for financial relief and called on lawmakers to urgently address the Postal Service’s fiscal challenges, including its pension system…. USPS plants were ordered to remove 671 mail sorting machines that can efficiently process thousands of pieces of mail by the end of September. More than 90 percent of the machines have already been removed—and won’t be replaced. Many of the machines have been removed in critical swing states: 59 in Florida, 58 in Texas, 34 in Ohio, 30 in Pennsylvania, 26 in Michigan, 15 in North Carolina, 12 in Virginia, 12 in Wisconsin, and 11 in Georgia. (This data was provided to Mother Jones by Jacob Bogage and Christopher Ingraham of the Washington Post, who have detailed removal of the machines.)” See also, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy Tells Senators Election Mail Will Be Delivered ‘Fully and On Time,’ The New York Times, Nicholas Fandos and Emily Cochrane, Friday, 21 August 2020: “Louis DeJoy, the embattled postmaster general whose cost-cutting and operational changes have prompted widespread concern about mail-in voting, said on Friday he was ‘extremely, highly confident’ the Postal Service could handle the largest vote-by-mail program in American history. He said it was ‘outrageous’ for Democrats to suggest that he might intentionally slow ballot delivery to help President Trump. Testifying before Congress for the first time amid a sharp backlash, Mr. DeJoy, a major donor to Mr. Trump, defended many of the changes as necessary to help the Postal Service get its financial house in order. He acknowledged that the moves have slowed some mail delivery and reiterated that he would suspend his cost-cutting measures until after the election. ‘There has been no changes to any policies with regard to election mail,’ Mr. DeJoy told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, adding, ‘The Postal Service is fully capable and committed to delivering the nation’s election mail fully and on time.’ Under intense pressure from Democrats, however, he refused to reverse other steps, like removing hundreds of blue mailboxes and mail-sorting machines, that he said his predecessors had initiated in response to a steady decline in mail volume. He told senators that he did not know about the machine removal when it began, saying it was ‘not a critical issue within the Postal Service.’ And he was unable to offer many specifics about how the Postal Service would ensure on-time delivery of ballots this fall, telling Senator Maggie Hassan, Democrat of New Hampshire, that he would be unable to provide a detailed plan by Sunday because it was still being drafted.” See also, Postal Service will prioritize ballots over other mail, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy testifies, The Washington Post, Jacob Bogage, Elise Viebeck, Michael Brice-Saddler, and Michelle Ye Hee Lee, Friday, 21 August 2020: “Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told lawmakers Friday that ensuring the safe and timely delivery of election mail was his ‘sacred duty,’ disputing accusations his controversial cost-cutting agenda was politically motivated even as he reiterated his intention to execute it after the November election…. Despite his assurances, Democrats were skeptical. DeJoy has ‘wreaked havoc on veterans, seniors, rural communities and people across our country,’ said Sen. Gary Peters (Mich.), the panel’s ranking Democrat, and owed the public an apology. Sen. Thomas R. Carper (Del.), the dean of postal policy among Senate Democrats, criticized the agency’s lack of transparency. ‘With all due respect to our postmaster,’ he said, ‘I reached out to you when you were initially selected. … I tried to reach you again and again for weeks.’ They spoke for the first time on Wednesday, Carper said.” See also, 5 takeaways from the Postal Service hearing in the Senate, The Washington Post, Amber Phillips, Friday, 21 August 2020. See also, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy Defends Changes Before Senate Committee, The Wall Street Journal, Alexa Corse and Jennifer Smith, Friday, 21 August 2020: “Postmaster General Louis DeJoy defended his efforts to make the Postal Service run more efficiently and said the mail agency could handle an expected surge in mailed ballots this fall amid concerns, particularly from Democrats, that his actions would interfere with the presidential election. Mr. DeJoy, who has been at the center of controversy over efforts to curtail costs at the Postal Service, appeared Friday before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, controlled by Republicans.” See also, What Was Missing From Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s Senate Testimony, The New Yorker, Steve Coll, Saturday, 22 August 2020: “Friday morning’s appearance by the Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee had the feel of a Zoom office meeting in which every participant feels the need to speak but no one has time to listen. Senators appeared onscreen from scattered offices that were apparently unenhanced by Room Rater shaming, while DeJoy stood before flags and a Postal Service logo, speaking in business jargon that reflected his long career as a logistics-company executive. The Kefauver or Watergate hearings this was not, and yet, in between political speeches by the senators and vague talking points from DeJoy, the hearing provided startling insights into why the U.S. Postal Service may fail American democracy at this hour of crisis, and what must be addressed if people planning to vote by mail in November are to have high confidence that their ballots will be counted. DeJoy is a longtime Republican and a Trump donor who took office in June, quickly reorganizing the Postal Service’s leadership and implementing new work rules that soon caused a slowdown in performance—a slowdown that has persisted until now, he admitted in his testimony on Friday. The hearing’s ostensible purpose was to investigate why this happened, how it will be fixed, and, above all, how the public can be assured that the Post Office will facilitate timely, reliable voting by mail this fall, when, owing to the pandemic, many more Americans are expected to cast ballots through the mail than ever before. Yet the hearing was often as notable for the questions that weren’t asked as for the ones that were.” See also, How Trump, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy edged the Postal Service into a crisis, The Washington Post, Lisa Rein, Michael Scherer, Jacob Bogage, and Josh Dawsey, published on Saturday, 22 August 2020.

David Williams, former Vice Chairman of the Postal Board of Governors, testifies Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and the Trump White House were involved in slowing the mail, CBS News, Kathryn Watson, Friday, 21 August 2020: “The former Vice Chairman of the Postal Board of Governors testified Thursday that the Trump administration has been ‘politicizing’ the Postal Service and using Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to inappropriately influence the organization for political ends that will eventually harm the customers and businesses the Postal Service is supposed to serve. David Williams, former USPS Inspector General and former Vice Chair of the USPS Board of Governors, testified before the Congressional Progressive Caucus on Thursday that he resigned ‘when it became clear to me that the administration was politicizing the Postal Service with the treasury secretary as the lead figure for the White House in that effort.'” See also, Former Postal Governor David Williams Tells Congress That Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin Politicized the Postal Service. David C. Williams also said he raised concerns about Louis DeJoy, the embattled postmaster general, before he was hired. The New York Times, Nicholas Fandos, Alan Rappeport, Kenneth P. Vogel, and Catie Edmondson, Friday, 21 August 2020: “The former vice chairman of the U.S. Postal Service’s board of governors accused Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday of trying to engineer a hostile takeover of the service, telling lawmakers that Mr. Mnuchin required members of the independent board to ‘kiss the ring’ before they were confirmed and issued demands that agency officials believed were ‘illegal.’ In scathing testimony delivered before lawmakers in the Congressional Progressive Caucus, David C. Williams, a former Postal Service inspector general who resigned as vice chairman in protest in April, said the Trump administration appeared to want to turn the agency into a ‘political tool.’ The Treasury Department, he said, was maneuvering to use its lending authority to strong-arm the agency to adopt policies that would be ‘ruinous,’ like raising prices and cutting back crucial services. ‘If this is the beginning of what the president promised, it’s the end of the Postal Service,’ Mr. Williams said in his first public comments since his resignation.”

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s role in postmaster’s appointment becomes target, NBC News, Heidi Przybyla, Friday, 21 August 2020: “In the weeks before Republican donor Louis DeJoy was installed as postmaster general, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin held a series of one-on-one meetings with members of the Postal Service Board of Governors, multiple people familiar with the encounters told NBC News. Those people said Mnuchin met with Republican board members, as well as with Robert Duncan, the board’s chairman, who once chaired the Republican National Committee…. Any White House or Treasury involvement with the Postal Service would be a breach of its charter as an independent, nonpolitical public entity, said Tim Stretton, a policy analyst for the nonpartisan Project on Government Oversight. The Postal Service operates on its own revenues separate from any federal appropriations process. Trump has railed against the Postal Service while openly nursing grievances against Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, whose giant online retail operation relies on the Postal Service for many of its deliveries. Mnuchin’s undisclosed meetings with Postal Service board members add to a broader narrative about financial and political conflicts of interest by DeJoy and some newly appointed board members, as well as White House influence over the Postal Service.”

Trump pans Biden’s acceptance speech and the Democratic convention. Trump said Joe Biden ‘grimly declared a season of American darkness’ even though Biden said the U.S. will overcome it. NBC News, Friday, 21 August 2020: “President Donald Trump on Friday slammed his 2020 rival Joe Biden and the Democratic National Convention, which concluded with Biden’s presidential nomination acceptance speech Thursday night. ‘Over the last week, the Democrats held the darkest and angriest and gloomiest convention in American history,’ Trump said at a gathering of the conservative Council for National Policy in Arlington, Virginia. ‘They spent four straight days attacking America as racist and a horrible country that must be redeemed. Joe Biden grimly declared a season of American darkness.’ In his speech accepting the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday night, Biden talked about how Americans ‘can and will overcome this season of darkness’ from the Trump presidency.”

Trump pledges to send ‘sheriffs’ and ‘law enforcement’ to polling places on Election Day, but it’s not clear he can, CNN Politics, Fredreka Schouten, Friday, 21 August 2020: “Donald Trump on Thursday said he would send law enforcement officials to polling locations to guard against voter fraud in November’s election, although it’s not clear he has the authority to do so. ‘We’re going to have sheriffs, and we’re going to have law enforcement, and we’re going to have, hopefully, US attorneys, and we’re going to have everybody and attorney generals (sic),’ Trump said during an interview on Fox News with Sean Hannity. Trump’s comments come as his campaign works to recruit tens of thousands of volunteers for what Republican officials have said could be their largest poll-watching operation. Even before Trump’s comments, his party’s plans to monitor the polls have sparked charges from Democrats and voting-rights groups that Republicans are gearing up to suppress voting in key states.” See also, Trump’s suggestion of deploying law enforcement officials to monitor polls raises specter of voter intimidation, The Washington Post, Rosalind S. Helderman, Josh Dawsey, and Matt Zapotosky, Friday, 21 August 2020: “More than 30 years ago, a Republican Party program that dispatched off-duty police officers to patrol polling places in heavily Black and Latino neighborhoods in New Jersey triggered accusations of voter intimidation, resulting in a federal agreement that restricted for decades how the national GOP could observe voting. Now, two years after those limits were lifted, President Trump has revived the idea of using law enforcement officers to patrol polling places, invoking tactics historically used to scare voters of color. In an interview Thursday with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Trump described law enforcement officers as part of a phalanx of authorities he hopes will monitor voting in November.”

Senators Lead an Increasingly Diverse Nation. Their Top Aides Are Mostly White. A new study shows that 11 percent of top aides shaping policy and public messaging in senators’ Washington offices are people of color, compared with almost 40 percent of the American populace. New York Times, Nicholas Fandos, Friday, 21 August 2020: “As senators chart a response to a deadly pandemic and an economic crisis that have disproportionately hurt Black Americans and other people of color, the top aides leading their offices are overwhelmingly white — far more so than the country as a whole. Just 11 percent of top staff members in senators’ Washington offices — the key aides who draft legislation, coordinate public communications and vet nominees for executive branch posts and lifetime judgeships — are people of color, according to a new study by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a nonpartisan think tank that pushes for greater racial diversity in government. By comparison, close to 40 percent of Americans are people of color, and 9 percent of senators. Of the 100 members of the Senate, 72 — including Republicans and Democrats representing states with large minority populations, like Texas, Maryland, Georgia, Florida and Arizona — did not employ a single person of color as one of their top personal aides when researchers made their initial tallies in January 2020. Only four, all Democrats, employed more than one such top aide, defined by the study as chiefs of staff, legislative directors and communications directors in senators’ personal offices in Washington.”

Facebook Braces Itself for Trump to Cast Doubt on Election Results, The New York Times, Mike Isaac and Sheera Frenkel, Friday, 21 August 2020: “Facebook spent years preparing to ward off any tampering on its site ahead of November’s presidential election. Now the social network is getting ready in case President Trump interferes once the vote is over. Employees at the Silicon Valley company are laying out contingency plans and walking through postelection scenarios that include attempts by Mr. Trump or his campaign to use the platform to delegitimize the results, people with knowledge of Facebook’s plans said.”

Saturday, 22 August 2020, Day 1,310:

Some Global Coronavirus Updates for Saturday, 22 August 2020: Global Death Toll From Virus Surpasses 800,000, The New York Times, Saturday, 22 August 2020:

• Global virus deaths surpass 800,000, with South and Central American countries seeing large tallies.
• The filming of a movie starring Ben Affleck shifts to Canada because of the virus outbreak in the U.S.
• The coronavirus circulated at the Sturgis motorcycle rally, then spilled outward.
• India surpasses 3 million cases as a religious festival is allowed to go ahead.
• In Germany, researchers organized a concert to figure out how the virus spreads at big events.
• Who is policing student behavior on campus? Residence hall advisers and students themselves.
• A big wedding in New York State is blocked at the last minute.

Many other significant developments are included in this article.

Some significant developments in the coronavirus pandemic on Saturday, 22 August 2020: Infections are trending upward in the Midwest, The Washington Post, Derek Hawkins and Marisa Iati, Saturday, 22 August 2020: “Novel coronavirus infections are trending upward across the Midwest, raising concerns that those states are struggling to contain their outbreaks even as the nation’s total daily caseload continues to decline. Seven-day averages for new cases rose over the past week in the Dakotas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Wyoming, according to tracking by The Washington Post. South Dakota and Wyoming experienced the biggest jumps, with average daily caseloads up 58 percent and 50 percent, respectively. Other states reported progress against the virus, though it appeared to be marginal in some places. Daily case averages declined by about 3 percent over the previous week in Wisconsin and by 10 to 20 percent in several other Midwestern states, according to The Post’s tracking.

Sunday, 23 August 2020, Day 1,311:

Some Global Coronavirus Updates for Sunday, 23 August 2020: U.S. Authorizes Plasma Treatment for Coronavirus, but the Big Prize for the White House Is a Vaccine. The fast-tracking could come before Phase 3 trials are complete, raising concerns. The New York Times, Sunday, 23 August 2020:

• Trump aides, meeting with lawmakers, reportedly said a vaccine would be approved before the election.
• Trump hails the F.D.A.’s authorization of blood plasma as a treatment, despite the lack of clinical trials.
• Russia expected congratulations for its vaccine. It has been met with skepticism instead.
• Florida and Texas have joined California in topping 600,000 cases.
• A giant motorcycle rally in South Dakota is over. Positive test results are starting to come in.
• In China, where the pandemic began, life is starting to look normal.
• As big storms bear down, those in their path are urged to heed the virus in their preparations.

Many other significant developments are included in this article.

Some significant developments in the coronavirus pandemic for Sunday, 23 August 2020: Extreme weather threatens coronavirus pandemic response in hard-hit states, The Washington Post, Derek Hawkins and Marisa Iati, Sunday, 23 August 2020: “Two tropical storms are expected to strike the Gulf Coast in rapid succession this week, compounding public health concerns in states fighting to keep new coronavirus cases down after a surge of infections earlier in the summer. The most recent forecast by the National Hurricane Center showed the storms, Marco and Laura, headed for coastal Louisiana and eastern Texas and expected to make landfall on Monday and Wednesday, respectively. Louisiana could face an unprecedented one-two punch, with both storms potentially hitting the state as hurricanes in a three-day span.

The Food and Drug Administration authorizes plasma treatment despite scientists’ objections. Until now, most Covid-19 patients who have received plasma have gotten it through an expanded-use program the FDA set up with the Mayo Clinic. Politico, Zachary Brennan and Sarah Owermohle, Sunday, 23 August 2020: “The Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency authorization for blood plasma as a coronavirus treatment, the agency and President Donald Trump announced Sunday — one day after Trump attacked the drug regulator for moving too slowly to back the treatment. The agency held off on the decision last week over concerns from government scientists that evidence for the treatment’s effectiveness is thin, prompting Trump to accuse the FDA of slow-walking the therapy to harm his reelection chances without offering any evidence to support his claim. It is not clear whether the FDA has received additional clinical trial data in the last week that would support the therapy’s use. Trump in a brief Sunday evening news conference appeared to oversell the FDA’s assessment, claiming the agency found plasma ‘safe and very effective.’ The agency itself said more rigorous study is needed to prove whether the treatment effective. Janet Woodcock, the head of FDA’s drug division who is now working on Operation Warp Speed, an interagency effort to accelerate coronavirus treatments and vaccines, on Friday told POLITICO that plasma has not been ‘proven as an effective treatment.'” See also, The Food and Drug Administration Allows Expanded Use of Plasma to Treat Coronavirus Patients. There are concerns among top government scientists about the data behind using plasma to treat coronavirus patients. The New York Times, Sharon La Franiere, Sheri Fink, Katie Thomas, and Maggie Haberman, Sunday, 23 August 2020: “The Food and Drug Administration on Sunday gave emergency approval for expanded use of antibody-rich blood plasma to help hospitalized coronavirus patients, allowing President Trump, who has been pressuring the agency to move faster to address the pandemic, to claim progress on the eve of the Republican convention. Mr. Trump cited the approval, which had been held up by concerns among top government scientists about the data behind it, as welcome news in fighting a disease that has led to 176,000 deaths in the United States and left the nation lagging far behind most others in the effectiveness of its response. At a news briefing, he described the treatment as ‘a powerful therapy’ made possible ‘by marshaling the full power of the federal government.’ The decision will broaden use of a treatment that has already been administered to more than 70,000 patients. But the F.D.A. cited benefits for only some patients. And, unlike a new drug, plasma cannot be manufactured in millions of doses; its availability is limited by blood donations. Mr. Trump urged everyone who has recovered from the virus to donate plasma, saying there is a nationwide campaign to collect it. Mr. Trump has portrayed his demands to cut red tape and speed approval of treatments and vaccines as a necessary response to a public health emergency. But Sunday’s announcement came a day after he repeated his unfounded claim that the F.D.A. was deliberately holding up decision-making until after the election, this time citing a ‘deep state.’ That accusation exacerbated concerns among some government scientists, outside experts and Democrats that the president’s political needs could undermine the integrity of the regulatory process, hurt public confidence in safety and introduce a different kind of public health risk.”

Billions in Hospital Virus Aid Rested on Compliance With Private Vendor. The Department of Health and Human Services told hospitals in April that reporting to the vendor, TeleTracking Technologies, was a ‘prerequisite to payment.’ The New York Times, Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Sunday, 23 August 2020: “The Trump administration tied billions of dollars in badly needed coronavirus medical funding this spring to hospitals’ cooperation with a private vendor collecting data for a new Covid-19 database that bypassed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The highly unusual demand, aimed at hospitals in coronavirus hot spots using funds passed by Congress with no preconditions, alarmed some hospital administrators and even some federal health officials. The office of the health secretary, Alex M. Azar II, laid out the requirement in an April 21 email obtained by The New York Times that instructed hospitals to make a one-time report of their Covid-19 admissions and intensive care unit beds to TeleTracking Technologies, a company in Pittsburgh whose $10.2 million, five-month government contract has drawn scrutiny on Capitol Hill. ‘Please be aware that submitting this data will inform the decision-making on targeted Relief Fund payments and is a prerequisite to payment,’ the message read. The financial condition, which has not been previously reported, applied to money from a $100 billion ‘coronavirus provider relief fund’ established by Congress as part of the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, signed by President Trump on March 27. Two days later, the administration instructed hospitals to make daily reports to the C.D.C., only to change course.”

Trump, without evidence, accuses the Food and Drug Administration of delaying coronavirus vaccine trials and pressures agency chief, CNN Politics, Veronica Stracqualursi, Sunday, 23 August 2020: “Donald Trump on Saturday accused, without providing any evidence, the US Food and Drug Administration of deliberately delaying coronavirus vaccine trials, pressuring the man he had picked to head the agency. ‘The deep state, or whoever, over at the FDA is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines and therapeutics,’ Trump tweeted, continuing to push his unfounded theory that there is a ‘deep state’ embedded within the government bureaucracy working against his reelection. He accused the agency of delaying a vaccine for the virus until after the fall election, tweeting, ‘Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after November 3rd. Must focus on speed, and saving lives!’ Trump ended his tweet by tagging the Twitter account of FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn, who he nominated last year to take up the role. Hahn assured Americans earlier this month that the agency ‘will not cut corners’ to approve a vaccine.”

More than 500,000 mail ballots were rejected in the primaries. That could make the difference in battleground states this fall. The Washington Post, Elise Viebeck, Sunday, 23 August 2020: “More than 534,000 mail ballots were rejected during primaries across 23 states this year — nearly a quarter in key battlegrounds for the fall — illustrating how missed delivery deadlines, inadvertent mistakes and uneven enforcement of the rules could disenfranchise voters and affect the outcome of the presidential election. The rates of rejection, which in some states exceeded those of other recent elections, could make a difference in the fall if the White House contest is decided by a close margin, as it was in 2016, when Donald Trump won Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin by roughly 80,000 votes. This year, according to a tally by The Washington Post, election officials in those three states tossed out more than 60,480 ballots just during primaries, which saw significantly lower voter turnout than what is expected in the general election. The rejection figures include ballots that arrived too late to be counted or were invalidated for another reason, including voter error.”

Chad Wolf, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security, says the department does not have the authority to send agents to polling locations, CNN Politics, Devan Cole, Sunday, 23 August 2020: “The Department of Homeland Security’s acting secretary on Sunday cast doubt on the department’s authority to send its agents to polling locations after President Donald Trump said he would deploy law enforcement in November to protect against voter fraud. ‘We don’t have any authority to do that at the department,’ acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf told CNN’s Jake Tapper on ‘State of the Union.'”

Twitter Flags Trump Tweet for Dissuading Voting. The social media service hid the president’s post about ballot drop boxes, saying it violated Twitter’s election integrity rules. The New York Times, Kate Conger, Sunday, 23 August 2020: “Twitter hid one of President Trump’s tweets behind a notice warning users that the message violated company rules against dissuading people from voting. Mr. Trump posted the tweet, which said that ballot drop boxes were not being sanitized to prevent the coronavirus and could be used for fraud, about five hours before Twitter took action on Sunday. Twitter has begun enforcing its rules more strictly against Mr. Trump as the presidential election approaches. In May, Twitter added fact-check labels to two of Mr. Trump’s tweets that contained misinformation about mail-in voting. Twitter escalated its efforts on Sunday, hiding Mr. Trump’s message behind a warning that said it ‘violated the Twitter Rules about civic and election integrity.’ Twitter also restricted other users from sharing, liking or replying to the tweet, a move intended to prevent the message from spreading.”

Kellyanne Conway to leave the White House at the end of the month, citing the need to focus on her family, The Washington Post, Ashley Parker, Sunday, 23 August 2020: “Kellyanne Conway, a senior adviser to President Trump and one of his longest-serving aides, is leaving the White House at the end of the month. Conway, whose title is counselor to the president, was Trump’s third campaign manager in 2016 and the first woman to successfully manage a presidential bid to victory. She joined the White House at the start of Trump’s term and has been one of his most visible and vocal defenders. Conway informed Trump of her decision Sunday night in the Oval Office. Her husband, George T. Conway III, a conservative lawyer and outspoken critic of the president, is also stepping back from his role on the Lincoln Project, an outside group of Republicans devoted to defeating Trump in November. He will also take a hiatus from Twitter, the venue he has often used to attack the president. In a statement, Conway called her time in the Trump administration ‘heady’ and ‘humbling,’ and said she and George were making the decision based on what they think is best for their four children.”

Monday, 24 August 2020, Day 1,312:

Some Global Coronavirus Updates for Monday, 24 August 2020: Florida Judge Strikes Down Order Requiring Schools to Physically Reopen Amid Covid-19 Risks, The New York Times, Monday, 24 August 2020:

• A judge struck down a state order requiring most Florida schools to open for in-person instruction.
• The F.D.A. ‘grossly misrepresented’ plasma data, scientists say.
• At the Republican National Convention, Trump and his allies engage in revisionism on the virus.
• Zoom fixes partial outages that disrupted the first day of virtual classes for many U.S. students.
• Quarantine rules are expanding around the world, but not in America.
• The virus is found to be circulating in Gaza.
• Reluctant to vacation abroad, Britons are pitching tents and sticking close to home.

Many other significant developments are included in this article.

Some Business Coronavirus Updates for Monday, 24 August 2020: Delta to Furlough 2,000 Pilots, Despite Buyouts, The New York Times, Monday, 24 August 2020:

• Delta says it will need to furlough 2,000 pilots in October.

• Stocks rose on hopes of medical progress against coronavirus.

• Pausing lifelong dreams to pay the rent.

• The latest: T.S.A. records a jump in travel, American will use a new virus-killing cleaner.

Other significant developments are included in this article.

Some significant developments in the coronavirus pandemic on Monday, 24 August 2020: Scientists express doubts about coronavirus treatment touted as breakthrough by Trump, The Washington Post, Leteshia Beachum, Adam Taylor, Hannah Knowles, Brittany Shammas, Hannah Denham, Meryl Kornfield, and Reis Thebault, Monday, 24 August 2020: “The Food and Drug Administration’s decision to give emergency authorization for convalescent plasma as a treatment for novel coronavirus patients — touted as a historic breakthrough by President Trump on Sunday — is raising doubts among some experts who say certain claims of its effectiveness are dubious or wrong.

Social Media Offered Bannon’s Group ‘We Build the Wall’ a Tool to Promote Ties to Trump and to Raise Millions, Eric Lipton, Monday, 24 August 2020: “Since the arrest of his former senior political adviser Stephen K. Bannon, President Trump has tried to distance himself from the nonprofit group that raised more than $25 million for the supposed purpose of building a wall along the border with Mexico. But social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are living documentation of just how hard the backers of the group, We Build the Wall, worked to demonstrate that they not only were close to Mr. Trump and his family, but had been endorsed by them. This alliance with Mr. Trump’s family and other political actors in his circle was an essential part of their fund-raising drive, and it illustrates how social media has become such an essential tool for entrepreneurs seeking to rapidly raise money — even if it means violating federal law.

Tuesday, 25 August 2020, Day 1,313:

Some Global Coronavirus Updates for Tuesday, 25 August 2020: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (C.D.C.) Changes Testing Guidance to Exclude People Without Covid-19 Symptoms, Worrying Experts, The New York Times, Tuesday, 25 August 2020:

• The C.D.C. changes testing guidelines to exclude those exposed to virus who don’t exhibit symptoms.
• The Trump administration ordered hospitals to report data to H.H.S. or risk losing funding.
• At the Republican National Convention, Melania Trump acknowledges the pandemic’s human toll.
• ‘No second chances’: Colleges are coming down hard on students who violate virus restrictions.
• Kim Jong-un acknowledges ‘shortcomings’ in North Korea’s fight against Covid-19.
• Jail time or a $569,000 fine: The price of breaking quarantine can be steep.
• Two more cases of reinfection were reported, this time in Europe.

Many other significant developments are included in this article.

Some significant developments in the coronavirus pandemic for Tuesday, 25 August 2020: Universities sound alarm as coronavirus cases emerge just days into classes, The Washington Post, Brittany Shammas, Lateshia Beachum, Adam Taylor, Hannah Denham, Hannah Knowles, Reis Thebault, and Paulina Firozi, Tuesday, 25 August 2020: “From the University of North Carolina to the University of Missouri to the University of Southern California, colleges that have brought students back to campus are expressing alarm about coronavirus cases emerging with classes barely started. ‘The rise we’ve seen in recent days is unacceptable, and if unchecked, threatens our ability to complete the rest of the semester on campus,’ University of Alabama President Stuart Bell said Monday.

Wednesday, 26 August 2020, Day 1,314:

Some Global Coronavirus Updates for Wednesday, 26 August 2020: Report Says Almost 500 Million Children Are Cut Off From School In the Coronavirus Pandemic, The New York Times, Wednesday, 26 August 2020:

• Almost 500 million schoolchildren have been cut off from learning, a report finds.
• A C.D.C. recommendation to test fewer people for the virus raises concerns.
• As Hurricane Laura slams the U.S., evacuation shelters adjust for the virus.
• Republicans try to rewrite the history of the Trump administration’s pandemic response.
• The Justice Department says it may investigate 4 Democratic-led states over nursing-home outbreaks.
• California makes a deal to more than double testing capacity and get results faster.
• Kenya’s president extends a nationwide 9 p.m. curfew for another 30 days.

Many other significant developments are included in this article.

Some Business Coronavirus Updates for Wednesday, 26 August 2020: Air travel Within China Is Nearly at Pre-Pandemic Levels, The New York Times, Wednesday, 26 August 2020:

• Domestic air travel in China has almost fully recovered from the pandemic.

• Fed Chair Powell will provide an update tomorrow on the Fed’s policy review.

• Tech rally extends Wall Street’s record streak as investors await Fed policy speech.

• Bikes, golf and home fitness fuel a record quarter at Dick’s.

• An idea to reduce racial inequality is gaining momentum in Britain.

Other significant developments are included in this article.

Some significant coronavirus developments in the coronavirus pandemic for Wednesday, 26 August 2020: Democrats denounce rules change for coronavirus testing at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as ‘political propaganda,’ The Washington Post, Miriam Berger, Brittany Shammas, Kim Bellware, Hannah Denham, Reis Thebault, and Paulina Firozi, Wednesday, 26 August 2020: “Democrats across the country on Wednesday denounced an abrupt change in the federal government’s coronavirus testing guidelines, and governors in some of the nation’s largest states said they wouldn’t follow the new policy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now says that many people who have been exposed to the novel coronavirus through close contact with someone who later tested positive ‘do not necessarily need a test’ if they are not experiencing symptoms. Experts are expressing concern about the change, noting that people without symptoms are responsible for a large share of transmissions.

17-year-old is charged with homicide after shooting during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, The Washington Post, Mark Guarino, Mark Berman, Jaclyn Peiser, and Griff Witte, Wednesday, 26 August 2020: “Authorities on Wednesday said a 17-year-old had been charged with homicide after two people were killed and another seriously wounded by gunfire amid a chaotic night of demonstrations and destruction in Kenosha unleashed by the weekend police shooting of Jacob Blake. Police in Antioch, Ill., about 20 miles southwest of Kenosha, said they had arrested Kyle Rittenhouse in the killings. The Antioch resident was charged with first-degree intentional homicide in Wisconsin, authorities said, but they did not specify whether he was being charged in one fatal shooting or both. The shooting came as self-declared militia members and armed counterprotesters have appeared in the city, which is reeling from days of unrest. Authorities have not said whether Rittenhouse is a member of any of the groups. His social media feeds contained messages supporting the police and photos of himself with assault rifles. He had been a member of cadet programs for local police and fire departments, according to department newsletters and statements. ” See also, The Kenosha Shooting Suspect Was in the Front Row of a Trump Rally in January, BuzzFeed News, Ellie Hall, Amber Jamieson, Tasneem Nashrulla, and Kadia Goba, Wednesday, 26 August 2020: “The law enforcement–obsessed 17-year-old who was charged with shooting and killing two people and injuring another in Kenosha, Wisconsin, during protests for Jacob Blake appeared in the front row at a Donald Trump rally in January. Kyle Howard Rittenhouse’s social media presence is filled with him posing with weapons, posting ‘Blue Lives Matter,’ and supporting Trump for president. Footage from the Des Moines, Iowa, rally on Jan. 30 shows Rittenhouse feet away from the president, in the front row, to the left of the podium. He posted a TikTok video from the event.” See also, Trump deploys federal agents to Kenosha. Unrest erupted in the city this week after a police officer shot a Black man multiple times in the back in front of his young children. Politico, Matthew Choi, Wednesday, 26 August 2020. See also, ‘I don’t want pity, I want change’: Jacob Blake’s sister gives powerful testimony–video, The Guardian, Wednesday, 26 August 2020. See also, Justice Department to Open Investigation Into Kenosha Shooting, The New York Times, Julie Bosman and Sarah Mervosh, Wednesday, 26 August 2020: “The Justice Department on Wednesday announced a civil rights investigation into the police shooting of a Black man in Kenosha, Wis., as new details emerged in the case. A white teenager who confronted demonstrators was arrested in connection with two deaths, and protests spread to athletes in three pro sports leagues…. The violence that broke out came as demonstrators scuffled with a group of men carrying long guns who said they were protecting the area from looting. The authorities were investigating whether the white teenager who was arrested on Wednesday, identified as Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, was part of a vigilante group. His social media accounts appeared to show an intense affinity for guns, law enforcement and President Trump.”

Kamala Harris denounces the police shooting of Jacob Blake, closing her first official week on the ticket, The Washington Post, Chelsea Janes, Wednesday, 26 August 2020: “Kamala D. Harris on Wednesday denounced the police shooting of Jacob Blake, an African American man shot multiple times in the back, telling a virtual room of Black women that there ‘are still two systems of justice in America. We need to fight again for that ideal — which is all people are supposed to be treated equally, which is still not happening,’ she said. Harris, a U.S. senator from California, said she and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden had spoken to Blake’s parents earlier in the day. Blake, 29, was shot in Kenosha, Wis., on Sunday, prompting emotional protests in that city and an outcry nationwide.”

Second night of the Republican National Convention is riddled with dishonesty as Melania Trump appeals for ‘total honesty,’ CNN Politics, Wednesday, 26 August 2020: “First Lady Melania Trump concluded the second night of the Republican National Convention with a speech in which she said, ‘Total honesty is what we as citizens deserve from our president.’ We certainly haven’t received total honesty from President Donald Trump. And we certainly didn’t get it on Tuesday night. The convention programming was littered with false or misleading claims, including some from the President’s son Eric Trump, as well as a number of other claims that were missing important context.” See also, Fact-Checking Night 2 of the Republican National Convention, The New York Times, Wednesday, 26 August 2020. See also, Melania Trump, Tiffany, and a Pardon: Takeaways From the Republican National Convention’s Second Night, The Wall Street Journal, Rebecca Ballhaus, Wednesday, 26 August 2020: “You would be forgiven for thinking the Republican National Convention was being hosted at the White House. After trying to hold the convention in Charlotte, N.C., and then in Jacksonville, Fla., before giving up amid rising coronavirus cases, President Trump appears to have settled on the People’s House as his backdrop. The convention was partly pretaped and partly filmed live in a Washington auditorium with no in-person audience, but in the last two days has featured several clips from inside the White House as well as appearances by top administration officials such as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo—a sharp break in tradition that has drawn criticism and at least one investigation from Democrats and ethics advocates. On Thursday, the president will accept the nomination on the White House’s South Lawn.” See also, Trump uses the powers of government in service of his reelection, with pardoning and naturalization ceremonies, The Washington Post, Anne Gearan, Colby Itkowitz, Felicia Sonmez, and John Wagner, Wednesday, 26 August 2020. See also, Mike Pence Closes Out Night 3 of the Republican Convention. Republicans sought to fan fears of violence and lawlessness under Democratic leadership, trying to capitalize on the unrest in Wisconsin. Kellyanne Conway, Dan Crenshaw, Joni Ernst and Richard Grenell were among the speakers. The New York Times, Wednesday, 26 August 2020. See also, Pence emphasizes Trump’s law-and-order credentials while the shooting of Jacob Blake continues to reverberate, The Washington Post, Seung Min Kim, Colby Itkowitz, Felicia Sonmez, and John Wagner, published on Thursday, 27 August 2020: “Republicans used the third day of their national convention to portray President Trump as a strong defender of conservative principles on law enforcement, defense and the economy — emphasizing his law-and-order credentials as social unrest flared again after another police shooting of a Black man.” See also, Walking through Pence’s defense of his coronavirus efforts, word by word, The Washington Post, Philip Bump, Thursday, 27 August 2020. See also, Melania Trump’s Rose Garden speech attendees were not all required to get coronavirus tests, CNN Politics, Jeff Zeleny, Kate Sullivan, and Kate Bennett, Wednesday, 26 August 2020: “Those who attended first lady Melania Trump’s speech in the White House Rose Garden that capped the second night of the Republican National Convention were not required to get tested for coronavirus, a person who attended the speech told CNN. There were screening questions on the form to RSVP, but no coronavirus tests or temperature checks were done at the White House, the person said. The Trump campaign said earlier in the day that about 70 people would be attending the speech, which was the first one with an in-person audience at the Republican convention. Early Wednesday morning, the first lady’s chief of staff Stephanie Grisham told CNN that the audience members ‘in the rows near the President and vice president’ were tested for coronavirus before the speech. Grisham said most of the guests were not tested, especially those ‘in the last five or six rows,’ but she claims anyone who came into close contact with Trump or Pence — including senior aides, staffers and Melana Trump’s parents — were tested. The vast majority of those attending did not wear masks, and the chairs provided for attendees did not appear to be placed six feet apart. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises keeping at least six feet apart from others if possible in order to prevent the spread of the virus, and the agency also advocates for face coverings, especially if it is difficult to keep six feet apart from another person.” See also, With Wisconsin Unrest as Backdrop, Republicans Intensify Law-and-Order Message and Try to Rewrite the History of the Trump Administration’s Pandemic Response, The New York Times, Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns, Wednesday, 26 August 2020.

US intelligence officials say there’s no evidence to back up Trump’s claims about threats to mail-in voting, CNN Politics, Zachary Cohen and Pamela Brown, Wednesday, 26 August 2020: “US officials charged with protecting the 2020 election said Wednesday they have ‘no information or intelligence’ that foreign countries, including Russia, are attempting to undermine any part of the mail-in voting process, contradicting President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly pushed false claims that foreign adversaries are targeting mail ballots as part of a ‘rigged’ presidential race. Specifically, a senior intelligence official discounted the possibility of foreign actors mass producing fake ballots to interfere in the November elections, again breaking with Trump who has continued to insist that mail-in voting poses a significant threat to election security.” See also, Intelligence Officials See No Foreign Effort to Undermine Mail-In Voting. Their assessment contradicted part of President Trump’s attacks on absentee voting. The New York Times, Julian E. Barnes, Wednesday, 26 August 2020: “Mail-in voting for the November presidential election is safe from foreign intervention, intelligence and election security officials said on Wednesday, saying that standard security measures and decentralization make the United States’ election system extremely difficult for a foreign power to penetrate and change the results. The assessment contradicts President Trump’s attacks on mail-in voting and comments by Attorney General William P. Barr that have also sowed doubt about its security. The United States also has no intelligence that any nation-state is making a coordinated attempt to undermine absentee voting or create fake mail-in ballots, a senior official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said. The official and others briefed reporters on the condition that they not be named.”

Black voters are being targeted in disinformation campaigns, echoing the 2016 Russian playbook, The Washington Post, Craig Timberg and Isaac Stanley-Becker, Wednesday, 26 August 2020: “Four years after Russian operatives used social media in a bid to exacerbate racial divisions in the United States and suppress Black voter turnout, such tactics have spread across a wide range of deceptive online campaigns operated from numerous nations — including from within the United States itself. The potency and persistence of the racial playbook was highlighted this week when Twitter deleted an account featuring a profile photo of a young Black man claiming to be a former Black Lives Matter protester who switched his allegiance to the Republican Party.”

After rolling back transgender protections, the Trump campaign is courting the L.B.B.T.Q. vote, The New York Times, Maggie Haberman, Wednesday, 26 August 2020: “The month of June was filled with big moments for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. President Trump was almost entirely silent through it all. There was no tweet in honor of Pride Month, despite several aides’ suggestions to Mr. Trump that he write one. No rollout of a coalition aimed at L.G.B.T.Q. voters by his campaign, despite preparations that had been made for one. Embassies overseas were told they couldn’t fly the Pride flag. There was, however, a rollback by the Trump administration of an Obama-era regulation mandating health care as a civil right for transgender patients under the Affordable Care Act. It is what many in the L.G.B.T.Q. coalition have come to expect from Mr. Trump, who during his 2016 presidential campaign used gay people as a wedge against Muslims, whom he painted broadly as extremists, after the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando by a Muslim man. While Mr. Trump has signaled a willingness to publicly align himself with some gay men and women, he selected a deeply conservative running mate in Vice President Mike Pence, and as president, he has systematically dismantled protections put in place by President Barack Obama, especially for transgender people.”

In October 2018, Border Officials Weighed Deploying Migrant ‘Heat Ray’ Ahead of the Midterm Elections. Even as the Republican convention tries to soften President Trump’s image, he has made it clear that the extreme immigration policies of his first four years will be central to his re-election pitch. The New York Times, Michael D. Shear, Wednesday, 26 August 2020: “Fifteen days before the 2018 midterm elections, as President Trump sought to motivate Republicans with dark warnings about caravans heading to the U.S. border, he gathered his homeland security secretary and White House staff to deliver a message: ‘extreme action’ was needed to stop the migrants. That afternoon, at a separate meeting with top leaders of the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection officials suggested deploying a microwave weapon — a ‘heat ray’ designed by the military to make people’s skin feel as if it is burning when they get within range of its invisible beams. Developed by the military as a crowd dispersal tool two decades ago, the Active Denial System had been largely abandoned amid doubts over its effectiveness and morality. Two former officials who attended the afternoon meeting at the Department of Homeland Security on Oct. 22, 2018, said the suggestion that the device be installed at the border shocked attendees, even if it would have satisfied the president.”

Thursday, 27 August 2020, Day 1,315:

Some Global Coronavirus Updates for Thursday, 27 August 2020: Trump Administration, Under Fire for Discouraging Coronavirus Testing, Says It Will Buy Millions of Test Kits, The New York Times, Thursday, 27 August 2020:

• The White House announces a major virus test-kit deal, just days after the C.D.C. moved to discourage testing.
• Trump promises a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year, and boasts of his pandemic response.
• Hurricane Laura and the virus collide in Louisiana and Texas.
• Researchers are working on a second wave of vaccines that they say could be cheaper and more potent than the first.
• For many schools, back to the classroom means a stop in the courtroom.
• A distance-learning company that has thrived during the pandemic is being criticized for content seen as sexist or racist.
• Weekly unemployment claims in the U.S. again exceed one million.

Many other significant developments are included in this article.

Some Business Coronavirus Updates for Thursday, 27 August 2020: Gap Earnings Improve as Activewear Sales Boom, The New York Times, Thursday, 27 August 2020:

• Gap posts smaller sales drop as consumers turn to activewear and online shopping.

• Fed pledges to focus on low unemployment and tolerate higher inflation.

• Lord & Taylor is liquidating its stores.

• Wall Street’s rally stretches to a sixth day.

• Few states are processing the $300 unemployment benefit so far.

Many other significant developments are included in this article.

Some significant developments in the coronavirus pandemic for Thursday, 27 August 2020: Experts warn six feet may not be enough to protect against coronavirus, The Washington Post, Miriam Berger, Hannah Knowles, Hannah Denham, Darren Sands, Abigail Hauslohner, Paulina Firozi, and Ben Guarino, Thursday, 27 August 2020: “Public health experts are reevaluating guidelines for safe social distancing amid growing evidence that the novel coronavirus can travel farther than six feet under certain conditions. A team of infectious-disease experts argues in a new analysis that six-feet protocols are too rigid and are based on outmoded science and observations of different viruses. Other researchers say six feet is a start — but only a start, warning that more space is almost always better, especially in poorly ventilated areas indoors.

CDC was pressured ‘from the top down’ to change coronavirus testing guidance, official says, CNN Politics, Nick Valencia, Sara Murray, and Kristen Holmes, Thursday, 27 August 2020: “A sudden change in federal guidelines on coronavirus testing came this week as a result of pressure from the upper ranks of the Trump administration, a federal health official close to the process tells CNN, and a key White House coronavirus task force member was not part of the meeting when the new guidelines were discussed. ‘It’s coming from the top down,’ the official said of the new directive from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. White House coronavirus task force member Dr. Anthony Fauci said he was in surgery and not part of the discussion during the August 20 task force meeting when updated guidelines were discussed. ‘I was under general anesthesia in the operating room and was not part of any discussion or deliberation regarding the new testing recommendations,’ Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. ‘I am concerned about the interpretation of these recommendations and worried it will give people the incorrect assumption that asymptomatic spread is not of great concern. In fact it is,’ he said. The new guidelines raise the bar on who should get tested, advising that some people without symptoms probably don’t need it — even if they’ve been in close contact with an infected person.”

Egregious false claims and careless inaccuracies: fact-checking the third night of the Republican National Convention, CNN Politics, Daniel Dale, Jennifer Hansler, Caroline Kelly, Katie Lobosco, Holmes Lybrand, Nathan McDermott, Alex Rogers, Anneken Tappe, and Tara Subramaniam, Thursday, 27 August 2020: “The third night of the Republican National Convention was filled with both egregious dishonesty and careless inaccuracy. Like nights one and two, Wednesday’s proceedings featured false claims related to the coronavirus pandemic, Democrats, the economy, immigration and other important subjects. On Wednesday, some of the speakers also just got things wrong for no apparent strategic reason — one citing a fake Abraham Lincoln quote, one wrongly claiming James Madison signed the Declaration of Independence.” See also, Fact-checking the third night of the 2020 Republican National Convention, The Washington Post, Glenn Kessler, Salvador Rizzo, and Meg Kelly, Thursday, 27 August 2020. See also, 3 Major Themes From Night 3 of the Republican National Convention: Watch the Highlights, The New York Times, Shane Goldmacher and Adam Nagourney, Thursday, 27 August 2020. See also, Republican National Convention delivers whirlwind of lies great and small. Speaker after speaker piled falsehood upon falsehood to recast Trump as a saintly feminist preoccupied with the nation’s health. The Guardian, David Smith Thursday, 27 August 2020: “As Hurricane Laura roared towards the southern US coast, the Republican national convention unleashed Hurricane Liar. There were lies aplenty at the last convention in Cleveland four years ago but, in those innocent days, reporters were still reluctant to call a lie a lie. Donald Trump blew that up on his first day in office when he and his officials claimed his inauguration crowd was bigger than Barack Obama’s. Now there is no getting away from the fact that Republicans are commandeering more than two hours a night of primetime television to lie and mislead so brazenly, frequently and shamelessly that there’s a chance the American public will simply be worn down into submission and untruth will be normalised.” See also, Pence reinvents Trump’s presidency on a disorienting night of crises, CNN Politics, Stephen Collinson and Maeve Reston, Thursday, 27 August 2020.

Biden says Trump is ‘rooting for more violence, not less,’ NBC News, Rebecca Shabad, Thursday, 27 August 2020: “Joe Biden said Thursday that President Donald Trump is ‘rooting for more violence, not less,’ because he thinks it benefits him politically. In an interview on MSNBC’s ‘Andrea Mitchell Reports,’ Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, reacted to Vice President Mike Pence’s speech at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night, in which he said people ‘won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America.’ Biden added about Trump: ‘He views this as a political benefit to him, you know. He’s rooting for more violence, not less, and it’s clear about that. And what’s he doing, he’s kept pouring gasoline on the fire.'” See also, Trump officials see political opportunity in racial unrest rocking the nation. Biden shot back that the Trump team was cynically using the unrest to bolster its own campaign. Politico, Matthew Choi, Thursday, 27 August 2020: “Trump administration officials on Thursday seized on the recent police shooting of Jacob Blake and the resulting unrest to argue that Democrats are encouraging lawlessness, leading Joe Biden to accuse the president of cravenly exploiting a national tragedy. Top Trump advisers argued rioting that has sprung up adjacent to peaceful protests over racial injustice would crystallize voters behind Trump’s ‘law and order’ agenda. Democrats, the president’s team contested, have failed for decades to address the issues that have roiled the country all summer. ‘We’re offering solutions with policy,’ senior White House adviser Jared Kushner said Thursday. ‘The other side’s doing a lot of complaining.’ Biden shot back that the Trump team was cynically using the unrest to bolster its own campaign. He accused Trump of fueling racial discord for his own political aspirations throughout his presidency. Trump ‘views it as a political benefit,’ Biden told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Thursday afternoon. ‘This is the same guy, when people came out of Charlottesville and a young woman gets killed, they’re spewing hate, and their veins bulging, carrying swastikas … he says there are very fine people on both sides. He just keeps pouring fuel on the fire. He’s encouraging this.'” See also, It’s not supposed to be about him’: Harris scorches Trump in prebuttal of acceptance speech. The Democratic vice presidential nominee accused the president of deadly incompetence and ‘a reckless disregard for the well-being of the American People.’ Politico, Caitlin Oprysko and Christopher Cadelago, Thursday, 27 August 2020: “Kamala Harris on Thursday issued a devastating rebuke of Donald Trump, hammering the president for his sluggish response to the coronavirus pandemic and spiraling racial unrest — and what she said was a lack of meaningful attention paid to both at the Republican National Convention. The Democratic vice presidential nominee began her speech by addressing the ‘pain, hurt and destruction’ caused by wildfires raging in California and Colorado and Hurricane Laura in the Gulf of Mexico, and also by this week’s police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis., which has prompted at-times-violent protests. Harris spoke emotionally about Blake, who she emphasized was ‘shot seven times in the back in broad daylight in front of his three young sons.’ The California senator painted a contrast between Trump and the Democratic ticket of herself and Joe Biden, expressing support for peaceful protesters and the Blake family, and calling their experience ‘tragically common in our country.’  Hours earlier, Trump had refused to tell reporters whether he had seen the video of Blake’s shooting. Harris called the video of the episode ‘sickening.'” See also, Kamala Harris blasts Trump on coronavirus response: ‘All we needed was a competent president,’ CNBC, Dan Mangan, Thursday, 27 August 2020: “Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris blasted President Donald Trump on Thursday for failing to protect Americans from the coronavirus pandemic. She charged that he ‘caved’ when he needed ‘to be tough’ with the Chinese government over its refusal to share information about the virus months ago. ‘Donald Trump stood idly by and, folks, it was a deadly decision,’ Harris said in a blistering speech in advance of Trump’s own address to the Republican National Convention on Thursday evening. ‘All we needed was a competent president. One who was willing to listen, willing to lead, take responsibility, have a plan, do their job,’ the California senator said.”

Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, blasts the ‘real Donald Trump’ in a new Democratic attack ad, The Washington Post, Colby Itkowitz, Thursday, 27 August 2020: “Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, stars in a new Democratic attack ad in which he describes Trump as a liar and warns Americans not to trust him. Cohen, who was by Trump’s side for more than a decade, assails Trump from the perspective of someone intimately acquainted with the president’s personal and financial history. ‘I was complicit in helping conceal the real Donald Trump,’ Cohen says. ‘I’m here to tell you he can’t be trusted — and you shouldn’t believe a word he utters.’ The 60-second television commercial from American Bridge 21st Century, the Democrats’ largest super PAC, will air Thursday morning on CNN and Fox News — during Trump’s favorite morning show, ‘Fox & Friends’ — for the last day of the Republican convention. It will air again in the evening ahead of Trump’s acceptance speech.”

White supremacists and militias have infiltrated police across the US, report says. A former FBI agent has documented links between serving officers and racist militant activities in more than a dozen states. The Guardian, Sam Levin, Thursday, 27 August 2020: “White supremacist groups have infiltrated US law enforcement agencies in every region of the country over the last two decades, according to a new report about the ties between police and far-right vigilante groups. In a timely new analysis, Michael German, a former FBI special agent who has written extensively on the ways that US law enforcement have failed to respond to far-right domestic terror threats, concludes that US law enforcement officials have been tied to racist militant activities in more than a dozen states since 2000, and hundreds of police officers have been caught posting racist and bigoted social media content. The report notes that over the years, police links to militias and white supremacist groups have been uncovered in states including Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia. Police in Sacramento, California, in 2018 worked with neo-Nazis to pursue charges against anti-racist activists, including some who had been stabbed, according to records. And just this summer, German writes, an Orange county sheriff’s deputy and a Chicago policeman were caught wearing far-right militia logos; an Olympia, Washington, officer was photographed posing with a militia group; and Philadelphia police officers were filmed standing by while armed mobs attacked protesters and journalists.”

Over 100 Ex-Staff Members for John McCain Endorse Joe Biden, The New York Times, Jonathan Martin, Thursday, 27 August 2020: “More than 100 former staff members for Senator John McCain are supporting Joseph R. Biden Jr., a show of support across the political divide that they hope amplifies the ‘Country First’ credo of the former Arizona senator…. Coinciding with Mr. Trump’s renomination acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention on Thursday and the second anniversary of Mr. McCain’s death this week, the joint endorsement of Mr. Biden represents the latest effort from anti-Trump Republicans to lure conservatives and moderates away from the president.” See also, More than 100 Bush-McCain-Romney alums support Biden, Politico, Jake Sherman and Anna Palmer, Thursday, 27 August 2020. See also, Why dozens of John McCain aides, including me, are endorsing Joe Biden, The Washington Post, Mark Salter, Thursday, 27 August 2020.

Department of Homeland Security sends out Hatch Act memo days after acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf participated in a naturalization ceremony as part of the Republican National Convention, CNN Politics, Vivian Salama, Thursday, 27 August 2020: “The Department of Homeland Security sent an agency-wide email to its employees Thursday morning reminding them not to participate in partisan politics, citing ‘heightened scrutiny.’ While directives like this are standard in election years, the warning comes days after acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf participated in a swearing in ceremony with President Donald Trump for naturalized Americans as part of the Republican National Convention, raising ethics concerns. It also follows an announcement by Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, that he has opened an investigation into Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s controversial decision to address the RNC.”

NBA, WNBA, MLS, and MLB Games Are Postponed as Players Protest Police Shootings, Democracy Now!, Thursday, 27 August 2020: “Professional basketball, baseball and soccer games came to an unprecedented halt Wednesday, after Milwaukee Bucks players refused to take the court for a playoff game against the Orlando Magic to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake. The NBA then canceled all three of Wednesday’s playoff games. On TNT, former basketball star and commentator Kenny Smith walked off the set of ‘Inside the NBA’ in solidarity with protesters. Kenny Smith: ‘As a Black man, as a former player, I think it’s best for me to support the players and just not be here tonight, and figure out what happens after that. I just don’t feel equipped to do that.’ Ernie Johnson Jr.: ‘And I respect that.’ The WNBA also canceled three games Wednesday, after members of the Washington Mystics arrived wearing T-shirts, each with seven bullet holes in the back, with the fronts of the shirts spelling out the name Jacob Blake. This is Mystics guard Ariel Atkins. Ariel Atkins: ‘This isn’t just about basketball. We aren’t just basketball players. And just because we are basketball players doesn’t mean that’s our only platform. We need to understand that when most of us go home, we still are Black.’ Three Major League Baseball games and most of Wednesday’s Major League Soccer games were postponed, as well, following player protests, and the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament also suspended matches after superstar Naomi Osaka — whose father is Haitian — withdrew to protest against racial injustice.” See also, As Young Black Athletes Call for Racial Awakening, Some N.F.L. Retirees Declare Fealty to ‘Winner’ Trump. Several former athletes and coaches including Lou Holtz have appeared at the R.N.C. to deliver a message that the party wants to project — that the president is not racist. Many current Black athletes do not agree. The New York Times, Glenn Thrush, Thursday, 27 August 2020. See also, Trump dismisses NBA protests after Jared Kushner says players have the ‘luxury’ to ‘take a night off,’ The Washington Post, Cindy Boren, Thursday, 27 August 2020: “President Trump on Thursday afternoon dismissed the NBA player-led protest of the police shooting of Jacob Blake, hours after Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, called NBA players ‘very fortunate’ to be ‘able to take a night off from work.’ ‘I don’t know much about the NBA protest,’ Trump told reporters during a news briefing on Hurricane Laura. ‘I know their ratings have been very bad because I think people are a little tired of the NBA. … They’ve become like a political organization, and that’s not a good thing.'”

Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance says Trump’s effort to block subpoena for his financial documents will ‘impair’ investigations into potential financial crimes, Politico, Kyle Cheney, Thursday, 27 August 2020: “Manhattan prosecutors on Thursday said President Donald Trump’s last-ditch attempts to block a subpoena for the president’s financial records are increasingly meritless and would only serve to ‘significantly impair’ an ongoing investigation into potential financial crimes. ‘Continued delay of the grand jury’s investigation is unwarranted, and it would significantly impair the Office’s ability to discharge its constitutionally protected duty to investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute violations of New York law,’ Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. wrote in a filing with the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, urging the court to reject Trump’s demand for additional delay.”

A federal judge in Washington state orders the U.S. Postal Service to provide information about service changes, Associated Press, Thursday, 27 August 2020: “A federal judge in Washington state is giving the Trump administration and the U.S. Postal Service 10 days to turn over records and information about service changes that critics say could undermine mail-in voting in the November election. More than 20 states filed lawsuits last week over the changes, including 14 states that sued in U.S. District Court in Yakima. U.S. District Judge Stanley Bastian on Thursday granted the states’ request to speed up discovery in that case. The Justice Department opposed the request, saying that much of the information the states are seeking is already in the public record, including in congressional testimony that DeJoy gave on Monday, and that responding to the states’ information requests within 10 days would be burdensome.” See also, Federal judge gives the Trump administration 10 days to answer questions about US Postal Service slowdowns, CNN Politics, Katelyn Polantz, Thursday, 27 August 2020.

Unemployment Claims Are ‘Stubbornly High’ as Layoffs Persist, The New York Times, Ben Casselman, Thursday, 27 August 2020: “Just over one million Americans filed new claims for state jobless benefits last week, the latest sign that the economy is losing momentum just as federal aid to the unemployed has been pulled away. Weekly claims briefly dipped below the one million mark early this month, offering a glimmer of hope in an otherwise gloomy job market. But filings jumped to 1.1 million the next week, and stayed above one million last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.” See also, Another 1 million Americans filed for unemployment insurance benefits last week, CNN Business, Anneken Tappe, Thursday, 27 August 2020: “Another 1 million American workers filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The report met economists’ expectations, and was a small decline from the prior week, but the report was still somewhat of a disappointment. So far, we’ve only seen one week — at the start of August — with fewer than a million claims since March, when the pandemic started to take its toll on America’s job market.”

Room rentals, resort fees, and furniture removal: How Trump’s company charged the U.S. Government more than $900,000, The Washington Post, David A. Fahrenthold, Josh Dawsey, and Joshua Partlow, Thursday, 27 August 2020: “The Secret Service had asked for a room close to the president. But Mar-a-Lago said it was too late. The room was booked. Would agents like a room across the street from the president, instead? ‘I do have a Beach Cabana available,’ a staff member at President Trump’s club in Palm Beach, Fla., wrote in March 2017 to a Secret Service agent seeking rooms for the upcoming weekend. ‘cross the street at the Beach Club, North end of the pool.’ The next time, the Secret Service didn’t take the same risk. It paid Mar-a-Lago to book rooms for two weeks at a time — locking them up before the club could rent them to others, according to newly released records and emails. For Trump’s club, it appeared, saying no to the Secret Service had made it a better customer. The agency was paying for rooms on nights when Trump wasn’t even visiting — to be ready just in case Trump decided to go, one former Trump administration official said. Trump has now visited his own properties 271 times as president, according to a Washington Post tally — including a visit Thursday, when he met with GOP donors at his D.C. hotel. Through these trips, Trump has brought the Trump Organization a stream of private revenue from federal agencies and GOP campaign groups. Federal spending records show that taxpayers have paid Trump’s businesses more than $900,000 since he took office. At least $570,000 came as a result of the president’s travel, according to a Post analysis.” See also, White House says it is creating a ‘very large’ dossier on Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post journalist David Fahrenthold and others, CNN Business, Oliver Darcy, Thursday, 27 August 2020: “The White House said in a story published Thursday that it was compiling a ‘very large’ dossier on a Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter and others who it said are a ‘disgrace to journalism and the American people.’ The astonishing revelation about the White House’s efforts to discredit reporter David Fahrenthold came after The Post requested comment for a Thursday story he wrote with two colleagues. The story, co-bylined by reporters Josh Dawsey and Joshua Partlow, detailed how President Trump’s company ‘charged the U.S. government more than $900,000’ for hotel rooms fees among other services at Mar-a-Lago. In a statement, White House spokesperson Judd Deere accused The Washington Post of ‘blatantly interfering with the business relationships of the Trump Organization’ and demanded ‘it must stop.’ ‘Please be advised that we are building up a very large ‘dossier’ on the many false David Fahrenthold and others stories as they are a disgrace to journalism and the American people,’ Deere said.”

Twitter says Viral pro-Trump tweets came from fake African American spam accounts, NBC News, Ben Collins, Thursday, 27 August 2020: “Twitter has taken action to stop a spam operation that pushed messages from fake accounts about Black people abandoning the Democratic Party. “The company removed two fake accounts and deleted the account of a San Diego man who spammed the platform, a Twitter spokesperson confirmed Wednesday. The fake accounts were purported to be run by Black people whose viral tweets received tens of thousands of shares in the past month. One of the accounts, @WentDemToRep, logged over 11,000 retweets on a single tweet that claimed that the user was a lifelong Democrat who was pushed to vote Republican by the Black Lives Matter movement. The tweet was posted shortly after the account was created Tuesday.”