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Category: Latest News
Justice Dept. says Trump’s tax returns should be released
The Justice Department on Friday said the Treasury Department must turn over former President Trump’s long-sought tax returns to the Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee.
In a Friday memo from the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), Acting Assistant Attorney General Dawn Johnsen said that the Treasury Department was required to defer to the congressional committee.
“The statute at issue here is unambiguous: ‘Upon written request’ of the chairman of one of the three congressional tax committees, the Secretary ‘shall furnish’ the requested tax information to the Committee,” Johnsen wrote in the 39-page memo. Continue reading.
Fox News Attacks Biden For Implementing Fox’s Own Vaccine Policy
Fox News is turning the White House’s upcoming push for COVID-19 vaccinations among the federal workforce into just another front in its right-wing culture war and campaign to undermine public health — even though Biden’s upcoming policy will be seemingly identical to Fox’s practices in its own offices.
To be exact, federal workers would reportedly be given the choice of either showing proof of vaccination or instead submitting to regular testing. This policy will in fact be very similar to what is already going on at Fox News’ own offices, under a program called the “Fox Clear Pass” in which employees who provide their vaccine information are allowed to bypass daily health screenings. But Fox hosts have railed against the possibility of vaccine passports as “segregation,” “medical Jim Crow,” and “East German-style ‘show me your papers.'”
And in Fox’s telling, the upcoming policy is an insult to regular people across America — who are now being dubbed “unvaccinated Americans” — and an effort to dominate them. (Just to be clear, over 60 percent of the adult U.S. population has been fully vaccinated by now.) Continue reading.
Did Trump follow his pledge to donate the last 6 months of his presidential pay? It’s a mystery.
Donald Trump promised to give away his $400,000 presidential salary. And he kept that promise, publicly announcing each gift — at least, for his first 3½ years in office.
Then, in the middle of last year, the announcements stopped.
Trump’s White House never said where — or even if — he donated the last $220,000 of his salary, covering the final six months of 2020 and the first 20 days of 2021. Continue reading.
As smoke blankets Minnesota, Walz prepares to meet with Biden to discuss wildfires
Today’s virtual meeting comes amid some of the worst air quality ever recorded in Minnesota.
As Minnesotans toiled in dramatically smoky, dangerous air Thursday, Gov. Tim Walz prepared to discuss the nation’s growing wildfire crisis with President Joe Biden and several other governors.
The virtual meeting Friday comes as the state faces a worsening drought and one of the worst air quality crises it has ever recorded. On Thursday, much of the state, including the metro area, was enveloped in air so smoky that it blocked out the sun. An air quality alert was in effect for most of state until 3 p.m. Friday, and wildfire smoke is likely to cause problems beyond that, experts warn.
Biden and the governors, along with Vice President Kamala Harris, will discuss efforts to strengthen wildfire prevention and responses and hear firsthand about the burgeoning wildfire crisis, White House officials said. Continue reading.
Aid bill for Capitol security, Afghan refugees headed to Biden’s desk
Vote of 416-11 in House came hours after 98-0 Senate vote
Lawmakers voted overwhelmingly Thursday to approve a $2.1 billion spending bill meant to shore up their own safety in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, reimburse the National Guard for a monthslong activation to secure the complex and relocate Afghans who helped the U.S. government during the war.
The 416-11 House vote Thursday afternoon clears the measure for President Joe Biden’s signature with just days to spare before the Capitol Police and National Guard are expected to face funding shortfalls related to the insurrection by pro-Trump rioters.
House passage came just hours after the Senate’s 98-0 vote. Though lawmakers in that chamber gave the measure a strong bipartisan vote, House members weren’t entirely pleased with the final product or that it took the Senate about two months to approve its version after the House acted on an earlier version. Continue reading.
Covid-19 linked to cognitive decline, acceleration of Alzheimer’s-like symptoms, research finds
Covid-19 may be associated with cognitive decline and acceleration of Alzheimer’s-like symptoms, researchers reported Thursday.
Researchers with an international consortium looking to understand the long-term consequences of Covid-19 on the central nervous system are finding memory issues and biological markers similar to those seen in Alzheimer’s disease patients. Both diseases have been marked by inflammation of the brain.
Dr. Gabriel de Erausquin, a professor of neurology at the University of Texas Health Science Center, and colleagues studied more than 200 adults 60 and older from Argentina who were infected with Covid-19. Continue reading.
‘The war has changed’: Internal CDC document urges new messaging, warns delta infections likely more severe
NOTE: This article is provided free of charge for all to read.
The internal presentation shows that the agency thinks it is struggling to communicate on vaccine efficacy amid increased breakthrough infections
The delta variant of the coronavirus appears to cause more severe illness than earlier variants and spreads as easily as chickenpox, according to an internal federal health document that argues officials must “acknowledge the war has changed.”
The document is an internal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention slide presentation, shared within the CDC and obtained by The Washington Post. It captures the struggle of the nation’s top public health agency to persuade the public to embrace vaccination and prevention measures, including mask-wearing, as cases surge across the United States and new research suggests vaccinated people can spread the virus.
The document strikes an urgent note, revealing the agency knows it must revamp its public messaging to emphasize vaccination as the best defense against a variant so contagious that it acts almost like a different novel virus, leaping from target to target more swiftly than Ebola or the common cold. Continue reading.
Officer Michael Fanone received threatening, expletive-laced voicemail as he testified about Jan. 6
The caller repeated former President Donald Trump’s false claim that the presidential election was stolen.
WASHINGTON — Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone, who suffered a heart attack and traumatic brain injury after being violently assaulted Jan. 6, received a threatening, expletive-laced voicemail on his cellphone as he testified Tuesday about his experience during the Capitol riot.
“I could slap you up the side of your head with a backhand and knock you out, you little f—–,” the caller said in his message, which Fanone shared on CNN.
“I wish they would have killed all you scumbags, ’cause you people are scum,” the man, who used homophobic and racist slurs in his message, continued after repeating former President Donald Trump’s false claim that the presidential election was stolen. Continue reading.
Capitol insurrectionist may be jailed after hostility in court
Accused Capitol rioter Dan Goodwyn apparently had a hard time being respectful while in court this week and now he might end up in jail as a result.
According to NBC News’ Scott MacFarlane, who is following the indictments closely, Goodwyn is accused of refusing to meet with any pretrial services. He also refused to wear a mask during meetings and would play “word games” with court employees.
“During the execution of the search warrant, FBI learned that at least one individual in the residence believed they had COVID-19. When FBI asked the defendant if he was positive for COVID-19, the defendant refused to answer the question. The defendant additionally refused to take a COVID-19 test and refused to wear any personal protective equipment,” said the court documents. Continue reading.