BEHIND THE SCENES … Treasury Secretary STEVEN MNUCHIN and White House Chief of Staff MARK MEADOWS this morning held one of their regular lectures with Senate Republicans. Here are the highlights: Senate Majority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL said the Senate probably wouldn’t return to the consultation next week; will return after Labor Day (planned to return next week to start work). MEADOWS told the senators that Thursday’s call with President NANCY PELOSI was a waste of time, and MNUCHIN said he did not believe PELOSI was in negotiating mode.
SIREN – “House Panel begins a contempt process against Mike Pompeo,” through Kyle Cheney and Andrew Desiderio: “The House Foreign Affairs Committee initiates a contempt process against Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for what he says is his repeated refusal to cooperate with the Investigation Committee.
President Eliot Engel (DN.Y.) cited Pompeo’s refusal to hand over documents from the House’s case trial investigation last fall, as well as some other subpoena to download documents that the State Department has already voluntarily passed on to a Republican-led Senate committee targeting the former vice president. Joe Biden. “Politico
Breaking… SHEILA KAPLAN and KATIE THOMAS of NYT: “Two FDA public relations experts were overthrown after the “blood plasma fiasco”:” Two high-level PR experts advising the Food and Drug Administration were removed from the workplace after President Trump and the head of the FDA exaggerated the shown benefits of a blood plasma remedy for Covid-19.
“On Friday, FDA The Commissioner, Dr. Stephen M. Hahn, got rid of Emily Miller as the agency’s leading spokesman. The White House had installed her at the post only 11 days earlier. Miller had worked in the past on communications for Senator Ted Cruz’s Re-Election Crusade and as a reporter for the conservative cable network One America News. Miller may not be contacted for comment.
IT IS ALWAYS INTERESTING TO SEE how big events like Thursday night are taking place across the country. And in many states attacked by President DONALD TRUMP, his speech of acceptance of the conference and violence took over (h/t Mosheh Oinounou):
– MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE: “Mpls stunned. Part selections …” He’s still coming.”
– MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL: “Tension is still boiling in Kenosha… Trump touches the issues of law and order in the speech … Trump will have to get some other “rural defeat”
– WISCONSIN STAT JOURNAL: “In the midst of the pandemic, the protests Trump led”
FIRST SCHOOL DAY: As its debt-free education benefits expand, Walmart is now making the program available to all part-time and full-time staff on their first day of employment so that enrollees can download a degree or certificate and a paycheck without accumulating life debt. Learn even more.
FRIDAY AFTERNOONS … THE ATLANTIC EMBALTOR GEORGE: “This is how Biden loses”: “Here’s a prediction about the November election: if Donald Trump wins, in a reliable vote, whatever happens this week in Kenosha, Wisconsin, will be one of the reasons.” Maybe the reason. And yet Joe Biden has the strength to spare the country a moment of Trump’s tenure.
“Nothing will harm a crusade like illusions, fearful hesitation or pure complacency that does not respond to what the electorate can obviously see. Kenosha gives Biden a chance for him and the country. It is usually the task of the outgoing president to arrive at the scene of a national tragedy and give a unifying speech. But Trump is temperamentally incapable of doing so and, in fact, has a political interest in America’s open wounds and burning peoples.
“Biden, then, deserves to pass without delay to Wisconsin, the very important state that Hillary Clinton has unfortunately ignored. He deserves to meet with Blake’s circle of relatives and give them comfort. He is also expected to meet Kenoshans as the small business owners cited in the Times article, who doubt that Democrats will worry about the disaster of their dreams. Then, in the burnt streets, without a script, from the bottom of his heart, Biden deserves to communicate with the city and the countryside. He will have to speak for justice and security, for reform and to oppose unrest, for the desperate desire to unite the country. If he says those things are as good as Julia Jackson did, we probably wouldn’t have to live with four more. Trump years.
– FIVETHIRTYEIGHT’S BACON PERRY JR. Not so temporarily he says, “Could an opposite reaction to black people’s lives harm Biden?” The two don’t seem to be similar so far “:” These dynamics can damage Biden. It’s hard to wait for the future. But beware of self-confident arguments that they will harm you, because Black Lives Matter’s popularity declined weeks ago, but not Biden’s. In fact, there are some pretty logical reasons why BLM’s help has declined that actually have nothing to do with Biden and would not be his electoral prospects. “
Good Friday afternoon.
CHARLOTTE OBSERVER: ‘4 other people at Charlotte RNC tested positive for coronavirus, depending on the county,’ through Alison Kuznitz and Austin Weinstein
CNN’s BARBARA STARR: “A Corps of Pentagon workers who were a member of The Pacific team of Esper tested positive for coronavirus”: “A member of Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s team in the Indo-Pacific region tested positive for Covid-19,” 3 U.S. officials said. CNN on Friday. Array officials said the delegation learned of the positive result when they arrived in Guam on Friday.
“It is not known if the user had direct contact with Esper. According to the protocols, the individual would be tested again. CNN has not learned any main points about whether additional tests have been conducted.”
TODAY in WASHINGTON – About 50,000 more people in Washington are expected to stand in favor of racial justice, equality and criminal justice reform to mark the 57th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech. WaPo Live Updates
RECKONING RACIAL – “Black Lives Matter occupies an important place on the political agenda,” through Maya King: “The BREATHE Act, a four-part proposal named after the word uttered through black men Eric Garner and George Floyd while suffocated by police, aims to codify the movement’s main goal: redirect the federal police budget , prisons and other parts of the corrupt judicial system.
“The policy document deserves a middle level [tonight] at the Black National Convention, which aims to create ‘a vision of the lives of blacks before the great choice of our time, and much after.'” While its architects recognize that it does have the mandatory for Capitol Hill, even in a Democratic-majority space, they argue that it is a vital marker for activists looking to turn the momentum gained through a summer of prochecks into political victories. How far they will go in construction will be critical control of the lasting influence of the movement after George Floyd. “POLICY … The proposal
– NYT: “Black Lives Matter is presented as a motion as you face new challenges,” through John Eligon in Kenosha, Wisconsin: “[T]here to a new wave of protests reflects much more: the remarkable way the Black Lives Matter motion has come to be a lever for replacement and a guiding voice on racial problems in America The Black Lives Matter protests , or even their ability, have replaced the way other people react in strength.
“Elected leaders, in addition to Governor Tony Evers of Wisconsin, now have a tendency to interact immediately and emphatically about issues that had been dealt with primarily through the police. Officers are appointed, the main points are shared, and there are promises of – deep investigations – wednesday, through the Justice Department. In some cases, officials are charged or ignored much more temporarily than ever before. And testimony and public participation are broader. Array.. However, even when activists are still on the streets, many are also too slow and modest.
KENOSHA LAST … SHOW ‘TODAY’: ‘Kamala Harris: officer in Jacob Blake shooting to be charged’
IN-TIME, PORTLAND – “The Court of Appeals Lifts the Order of the Federal Government of Portland,” through Josh Gerstein: “Two judges appointed through President Donald Trump, Eric Miller and Daniel Bress, provided the votes to suspend the order… Miller and Bress’ order was primarily directed at [Judge Michael] Simon’s insistence that federal officials allow hounds and legal observers to remain in their positions when tactical groups seek demonstrations that have been declared illegal.
– DOJ: “Another 74 people facing federal crime charges committed The Portland Protests”
CDC SKEPTICISM … NYT: “Two organizations representing thousands of local public fitness in the United States sent a letter Friday to senior Trump management officials asking them to ‘withdraw revised guidelines’ on coronavirus testing and reinstate recommendations from others who have been exposed to the virus, whether or not they have symptoms.
“The letter … sent through the leaders of the National Association of County and City Health Officials and the Big Cities Health Coalition. Organization leaders wrote that their members were “extremely concerned” about the changes. The letter
VACCIN CHASSE – “Chinese vaccine manufacturer Covid-19 in conversations with countries for early approval,” through WSJ’s Saeed Shah: “Early distribution through CanSino Biologics Inc. would give the company an advantage to start its competition by making its vaccine the First for foreign outdoor public use in clinical trials , the initial doses are likely to be intended for fitness personnel and others deemed essential.
“The effort shows the intensity of the race to become the first to expand a vaccine, public fitness experts say that large-scale immunization of others before large-scale testing is completed can pose serious fitness risks. Array.. [Interested countries] come with Pakistan and Latin American countries, as well as some evolved countries. So far, no country has agreed to approve the drug as an emergency. Wsj
WAPO: “Modern has not disclosed federal aid in vaccine patents,” the researchers say, through Christopher Rowland: “Modern, the Massachusetts biotechnology company leading the global race to expand a coronavirus vaccine, has not disclosed the government’s monetary aid in any of the 126 patents it has registered in its 10-year history , in obvious violation of the federal Array act according to a new report through activist investigators. Wapo… The Knowledge Ecology International report
NYT’S CARL HULSE and NICK FANDOS: “A very important war to maintain control of the Senate gets little attention at the Republican Convention”: “A struggle for control of the Senate is being fought across the country, but the audience has heard the Republican National’s convention this week’s convention can be forgiven if they didn’t realize it. Array.. Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and majority leader, suggested the electorate to Republican senators as a “firewall” opposed to Democrats. On the night of the convention, vulnerable Republican senators struggling to hold on to most of their party were almost absent from the stage.
“The one that gave the impression in prime time, Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa, pointed to a windstorm that hit her state without even mentioning that she was running for re-election, or that of the Senate – very important to the next president – was on the ballot. And when Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, the Republican leader accused of taking the House of Representatives, spoke Thursday night in his own recorded comments, he said nothing about his party’s efforts to recover the majority, a company that he now recognizes in person is unlikely. Succeed. The only candidate who discussed it was President Trump.
WHAT WEEK PROCHAINE – “Vice President Mike Pence will go to Raleigh for an anti-abortion occasion,” through Brian Murphy of McClatchy’s The News and Observer and Francesca Chambers: “Vice President Mike Pence will travel to Raleigh on September 3 to participate in an anti-abortion and stopover occasion at a pregnancy center. Susan B. Anthony’s list is the hostess of the occasion. Array.. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis and Republican Deputy Governor Dan Forest are also expected to attend.
SKY FOR BETSY – “DeVos out of sight even when your distinctive school number gets the most visibility at the RNC,” via Nicole Gaudiano: “School selection still attracts attention at prime time, as President Donald Trump makes this factor a central point of his re-election presentation , attractive to parents who are asking for an option for community public schools of the pandemic. But the political factor’s biggest cheerleader, her education secretary Betsy DeVos, has stayed out of those spotlights. Training..
“Trump’s crusade did not answer questions about why DeVos was excluded from programming. Array… DeVos didn’t even land a role in a video montage at the Trump administration’s women’s leaders convention. Political
DATA GAP – “Democrats lag behind the REPUBLICAN Party in the race of knowledge, despite the progress made,” through WSJ’s Emily Glazer and Deepa Seetharaman: “The Republican Party has made a leap in the arms race of knowledge. In 2016, President Trump’s crusade used The Data Trust, a for-profit data warehouse with an exclusive knowledge-sharing agreement with the Republican National Committee, to boost its virtual operations.
“The DNC has added new equipment and purchased tons of mobile phone numbers for those systems, possibly useful in the presidential and legislative elections in a year in which the party hopes to overthrow the White House and Senate. But the knowledge of the DNC is not so complete. And the Data Trust has been structured so that all candidates, party committees and outdoor teams can access it without violating the Federal Election Commission’s coordination bans. Wsj
IMMIGRATION DOSSIER – “Legal obstacles, a pandemic would damage Biden’s efforts to undo Trump’s immigration reform,” through Reuters’ Ted Hesson: “Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden says he will cancel out some of President Donald Trump’s restrictive immigration policies if he wins in November, yet the dizzying amount of adjustments can take months or even years to reverse… These logistical hurdes mean that Trump’s immigration legacy can last far beyond his presidency.
YIKES – “Belarusian officials are cutting the Internet with generation designed through an American company,” through Bloomberg’s Ryan Gallagher: “Sandvine Inc. manufactures what is called “deep packet inspection” equipment, which is used to monitor and eliminate network traffic. received through the Belarus National Traffic Exchange Center, which manages the country’s Internet networks, as part of a $2.5 million contract with Russian generation provider Jet Infosystems …
“[T] By genuine force of the generation he received only became transparent about two weeks ago, when giant portions of the Internet in Belarus darkened in one of the highest elections in nearly 30 years.”