Maine wedding ‘superspreader’ event is now linked to seven deaths. None of those people attended.

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Only about 65 close family members and friends were on the guest list for a bride and groom’s rustic wedding celebration in a small Maine town in early August.

But the nuptials began an outbreak now traced to more than 175 reported novel coronavirus infections and also to the deaths of seven people, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday.

The cluster of coronavirus infections that originated from the Big Moose Inn outside Millinocket on Aug. 7 continues to grow in Maine, state health officials said, after guests flouted social distancing and mask guidelines. Now people who have no association with the party have died, including six residents of the Maplecrest Rehabilitation and Living Center in Madison, Maine CDC Director Nirav Shah said in a news briefing Tuesday. Continue reading.

Joe Biden to visit union training center in Duluth on Friday

President Donald Trump will also be in the state Friday, in Bemidji. 

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden will visit a union training center in Duluth on Friday, his campaign said Wednesday.

Following the tour, the former vice president will give public remarks. The visit coincides with the first day of early voting in the state.

President Donald Trump will also be coming to northern Minnesota on Friday, hosting an event at Bemidji Aviation Services. Continue reading.

Critics warn of ‘transparent effort to retaliate’ after DOJ issues subpoenas in criminal probe of John Bolton’s memoir

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The Department of Justice (DOJ) has opened a criminal investigation into whether President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton disclosed classified information in his recent book.

The DOJ convened a grand jury, which issued subpoenas to Simon & Schuster, the publisher of Bolton’s memoir “The Room Where It Happened,” according to The New York Times. The grand jury also issued a subpoena to Bolton’s literary agency Javelin, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The Trump administration previously tried to block the release of the book — which was highly critical of the president — over claims that it contained classified information. The move was ultimately unsuccessful. Nevertheless, Trump’s handpicked director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe referred the matter to the DOJ’s national security division last month, which opened a criminal investigation, according to The Times. Continue reading.

In the Know: September 18, 2020

Days Until the Election: 46

Early voting starts today!
Check out iwillvote.com/mn to learn more about early voting in person or by mail!

Joe Biden in Duluth
Today, Joe Biden will travel to Duluth, Minnesota. In the afternoon, Vice President Biden will tour a union training center and deliver remarks. You can watch HERE. 

46 Days OUT – Let’s get to work!
If you’d like to help the DFL Party fight for criminal justice reform, better schools, wages, our environment, and health care, click here to get more involved there are events happening in your area!

2020 Election News
Postmaster reassures state officials about voting by mail, NPR
FBI Director Wray warns of ‘very active efforts’ by Russians to influence the 2020 election, CNBC
400K people register to vote on Snapchat, The Hill

Continue reading “In the Know: September 18, 2020”

Trump, in town hall, says he wouldn’t have done anything differently on pandemic

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President Trump faced tough questions from undecided voters during a wide-ranging town hall Tuesday night on ABC in which he was pressed to defend his responses to the coronavirus pandemic, racial justice protests and health care.

Trump often praised his own performance and said problems were the fault of others.

He said he would not do anything differently with regard to his response to the pandemic, despite nearly 200,000 Americans having died from the outbreak. He blamed China for the pandemic and said he saved many lives by “closing up the country.” His claim he could not have done more to slow the deadly virus has been rebutted by a number of epidemiologists. Continue reading.

Uninsured rate rose again last year, ahead of the pandemic

Experts warn current outlook could be worse amid downturn

The number of Americans who had health insurance dropped last year although incomes rose, according to new federal data, ahead of the coronavirus outbreak that led to dual health and economic crises.

In 2019, 9.2 percent of people, or 29.6 million, reported not having health insurance coverage when they were interviewed last year, compared with 8.9 percent, or 28.6 million, in 2018, U.S. Census Bureau data that was released Tuesday found.

A separate survey conducted this year, which officials cautioned was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic so that fewer people than usual responded, found that 8 percent of people, or 26.1 million, did not have health insurance for all of last year.  Continue reading.

Justice Dept. Opens Criminal Inquiry Into John Bolton’s Book

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Investigators are examining whether the former national security adviser illegally disclosed classified information.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into whether President Trump’s former national security adviser John R. Bolton unlawfully disclosed classified information in a memoir this summer, an inquiry that the department began after it failed to stop the book’s publication, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The department has convened a grand jury, which issued a subpoena for communications records from Simon & Schuster, the publisher of Mr. Bolton’s memoir, “The Room Where It Happened.” The Javelin Agency, which represents Mr. Bolton, also received a subpoena, according to a person familiar with the investigation.

The inquiry is a significant escalation of the turmoil over the publication of the book, whose highly unflattering account of Mr. Bolton’s 17 months in the White House prompted Mr. Trump to attack him and call for his prosecution even as the Justice Department sued earlier to try to stop its release. Continue reading.

Pelosi seeks to put pressure on GOP in COVID-19 relief battle

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Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday sought to heighten the pressure on Republicans to move a new round of coronavirus relief, announcing that the House will return to the Capitol next month to vote on another aid package if a bipartisan agreement is struck before the elections. 

Pelosi stopped short of promising a House vote on a new emergency stimulus proposal before the chamber recesses at the end of September — a tactic endorsed by a growing number of moderate Democrats concerned about the political optics of leaving Washington without acting to address the health and economic fallout of the deadly pandemic.  

Although the House passed the $3.4 trillion HEROES Act in May — a bill ignored by Senate Republicans — conditions on the ground have changed significantly in the four months since then, as the coronavirus death toll approaches 200,000, schools struggle to reopen, and tens of millions of workers remain unemployed. A growing chorus of centrist lawmakers are wary of returning to their districts just weeks before the elections with nothing new to show.  Continue reading.

Pro-Trump youth group enlists teens in secretive campaign likened to a ‘troll farm,’ prompting rebuke by Facebook and Twitter

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One tweet claimed coronavirus numbers were intentionally inflated, adding, “It’s hard to know what to believe.” Another warned, “Don’t trust Dr. Fauci.”

A Facebook comment argued that mail-in ballots “will lead to fraud for this election,” while an Instagram comment amplified the erroneous claim that 28 million ballots went missing in the past four elections.

The messages have been emanating in recent months from the accounts of young people in Arizona seemingly expressing their own views — standing up for President Trump in a battleground state and echoing talking points from his reelection campaign. Continue reading.

New Woodward audio is the starkest illustration yet of how Trump misled about coronavirus

Trump in an April 10 tweet: “The Invisible Enemy is in full retreat!” Trump three days later: “This thing is a killer.”

Newly released audio of a conversation President Donald Trump had with Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward on April 13 reveals more starkly than ever how Trump misled the American public about the threat posed by Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Trump told Woodward that “this thing is a killer if it gets you. If you’re the wrong person, you don’t have a chance.”

“So this rips you apart,” Trump added. “It is the plague.” Continue reading and listen to the audio here.