Tuesday, June 30, 2020

The Rundown: TWH Knew Of Russian Bounties

The Associated Press reported last night that top White House officials knew in early 2019 about classified intelligence indicating Russia was offering bounties to the Taliban for killing U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, one year earlier than has been reported in recent days.



Sources told AP the intelligence assessment was in at least one of President Trump's daily written intelligence briefings at the time, and John Bolton, who was then national security adviser, told colleagues he briefed Trump on the information in March 2019. AP cited officials as saying they didn't consider the assessment in 2019 to be particularly urgent, since it wasn't new for Russia to be interfering in Afghanistan, and that Bolton's briefing for Trump didn't contain "actionable intelligence," meaning there wasn't enough information to form a strategic plan or response.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reported last night that Trump was given the information in his written President's Daily Brief in late February of this year about Russia offering and paying the bounties, citing two unnamed officials, one of whom said it was specifically on February 27th. That came as the White House yesterday repeated their insistence that Trump was never briefed about the information, while also questioning the intelligence assessment, with White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany saying information in the assessment hadn't been verified because there were dissenting opinions about it among analysts or agencies. However, McEnany didn't answer when asked by reporters if the intelligence was in Trump's written President's Daily Brief.

Amid growing concern about the intelligence being known by the administration for months with no response authorized by the White House to Russia's actions, the White House yesterday briefed a small number of House Republicans on the matter while top congressional Democrats demanded that all members of Congress be briefed. The Republicans in the meeting said they were told the administration was reviewing reporting about the suspected Russian bounties to assess its credibility, and that the Intelligence on the matter was conflicting, echoing McEnany's comments about "dissenting opinions." National Security Adviser Robert C. O'Brien also said yesterday the reports were unsubstantiated.

➤ARIZONA CLOSES BARS, THEATERS, GYMS, ONE OF STATES REVERSING REOPENINGS AMID CORONAVIRUS SURGE: Arizona Governor Doug Ducey yesterday ordered bars, movie theaters, gyms and water parks to shut down, one of several states that are reversing their coronavirus reopenings amid their surges of cases. Ducey also ordered public schools to delay the start of classes until at least August 17th, his actions coming as Arizona reported 3,858 more confirmed cases a day earlier, the highest daily numbers it's had so far. California is another state seeing a surge of cases, particularly in Los Angeles county, and the county is now predicting it could run out of hospital beds in two to three weeks, and ICU beds sometime in July.



In New Jersey, which was the second hardest-hit state early on and has brought its numbers way down since its April peak, Governor Phil Murphy announced that he's postponing allowing indoor dining to return because of concerns about a resurgence after seeing what was happening in other states linked to indoor spaces. A similar postponed is being considered for New York City, which is set to once more allow indoor dining starting next week, for the same reason.


In addition to some states reversing their reopening, more state and local governments are requiring that people wear masks, with the Democratic governors of Oregon and Kansas mandating it for their states yesterday. Amid the surge in cases in states across the country, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell encouraged Americans to wear a face mask, saying in the Senate, "We must have no stigma -- none -- about wearing masks when we leave our homes."

New Studies on Coronavirus-Linked Syndrome in Children: Two new studies out Monday said that at least 285 children in the U.S. have developed a serious inflammatory condition linked to the coronavirus, called multisystem inflammatory syndrome. Most of them recovered, with six deaths among them, but potential long-term or permanent effects are unknown. At least 35 states have had cases, which seem to occur a few weeks after local coronavirus cases peak, with most of the children affected having current or recent COVID-19 infections. About 1,000 children worldwide have been affected by the syndrome.

Daily Count: There have been more than 126,100 deaths in the U.S. as of early this morning, according to Johns Hopkins University's count, and more than 2,590,000 confirmed cases.

➤SUPREME COURT STRIKES DOWN LOUISIANA ABORTION CLINICS LAW, ROBERTS SIDES WITH LIBERALS: The Supreme Court yesterday struck down a Louisiana law requiring that doctors who perform abortions at clinics must have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, with Chief Justice John Roberts siding with the high court's liberals in the 5-4 decision that said the law violates abortion rights. In a 2016 case, the Supreme Court struck down a Texas law that was virtually identical to Louisiana's.


While Roberts actually was with the high court's minority in that case in believing the state's law was acceptable, he explained yesterday that while he still believes the Texas case was wrongly decided, he believes it's important for the Supreme Court to stand by its prior decisions, and that applied here because the cases were nearly identical. This was the third case in two weeks in which Roberts, who was appointed by Republican President George W. Bush, sided with the court's liberals.

➤GOLDEN STATE KILLER ADMITS TO 13 MURDERS, DOZENS OF RAPES: Joseph James DeAngelo Jr., a 74-year-old former California police officer, pled guilty Monday to 13 murders and dozens of rapes in the state that were attributed to the Golden State Killer that began in 1974 and stopped in 1986. DeAngelo avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty and getting a life sentence with no chance of parole. He pled guilty to a total of 161 crimes involving 48 people. DeAngelo was arrested in 2018 after police tracked him down using DNA from crime scenes through a genealogy website that let them build a family tree that eventually led to him.


➤TREASURY WON'T DELAY TAX-FILING DEADLINE AGAIN, REMAINS JULY 15TH: The Treasury Department announced Monday that it won't push back the tax-filing deadline for a second time, so it will remain July 15th. There had been some pressure for the Treasury Department to delay it again amid the coronavirus pandemic, after having originally pushed it back three months from the usual April 15th date. The agency said people who need more time can ask for a normal extension that would give them until mid-October to file their returns. However, they'd still have to pay what they owe by July 15th in order to avoid interest and penalties. IRS figures indicate that almost 90 percent of taxpayers have already filed.


➤MLB'S ZIMMERMAN, ROSS, LEAKE AND DESMOND WON'T PLAY IN SHORTENED SEASON: Four MLB players said Monday that they won't play in the coronavirus-shortened, 60-game season that's due to start on July 23rd or 24th. First baseman Ryan Zimmerman and pitcher Joe Ross of the reigning World Series champion Washington Nationals will sit the season out because of concerns about their own safety and that of their families. Zimmerman specifically said that his mother has multiple sclerosis and is at high risk, and that he has three young children, including a newborn. Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Mike Leake also won't be playing due to concern about the coronavirus, and Colorado Rockies outfielder Ian Desmond won't be playing, citing his four young children and pregnant wife. He also wrote in a lengthy Instagram post about police brutality and racial inequality that referred to George Floyd's death that he wants to be at home to, quote, "answer my older three boys’ questions about Coronavirus and Civil Rights and life."

➤NETS' JORDAN, DINWIDDIE POSITIVE FOR CORONAVIRUS, JORDAN WON'T PLAY IN SEASON RESTART: Brooklyn Nets center DeAndre Jordan and guard Spencer Dinwiddie revealed yesterday that they had tested positive for the coronavirus. Jordan also tweeted that he won't be playing in the NBA's season restart that will begin next month in Orlando. Dinwiddie told The Athletic that he has yet to officially rule himself out from playing in the restart.

➤NHL SAYS 26 PLAYERS POSITIVE FOR CORONAVIRUS: The NHL said Monday that a total of 26 players have tested positive for the coronavirus since voluntary workouts began on June 8th. Yesterday's update included four new cases among those tested at team facilities, in addition to the 11 announced on June 19th, and the NHL said it's aware of 11 other players who've tested positive outside of the voluntary workout protocol. The NHL and players are close to an agreement on resuming the season, with training camps to potentially open as early as July 10th.

➤NBA COURTS TO HAVE 'BLACK LIVES MATTER' PAINTED ON THEM: When the NBA restarts its season in Orlando late next month, the phrase "Black Lives Matter" will be painted on the court inside both sidelines on all three arenas the teams will use at Wall Disney World Resort, ESPN reported Monday. The WNBA is also discussing doing the same thing when it begins its shortened season at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. In the wake of the weeks of protests following George Floyd's death, the players have insisted that the fight for racial equality and social justice be a central part of the NBA's return to play and the WNBA's season. It was reported over the weekend that NBA players will be allowed to wear jerseys with social justice messages on the back in place of their last names.
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