General
As Trump Praises Plasma, Researchers Struggle to Finish Critical Studies
Katie Thomas and Noah Weiland, The New York Times
An American Airlines flight took off from La Guardia Airport in New York last Wednesday morning, carrying 100 pouches of blood plasma donated by Covid-19 survivors for delivery to Rio de Janeiro. American scientists are hoping Covid-19 patients in Brazil will help them answer a century-old question: Can this golden serum, loaded with antibodies against a pathogen, actually heal the sick?
Saudi Arabia, With China’s Help, Expands Its Nuclear Program
Warren P. Strobel et al., The Wall Street Journal
Saudi Arabia has constructed with Chinese help a facility for extracting uranium yellowcake from uranium ore, an advance in the oil-rich kingdom’s drive to master nuclear technology, according to Western officials with knowledge of the site. The facility, which hasn’t been publicly disclosed, is in a sparsely populated area in Saudi Arabia’s northwest and has raised concern among U.S. and allied officials that the kingdom’s nascent nuclear program is moving ahead and that Riyadh is keeping open the option of developing nuclear weapons.
N.Y.C. Health Commissioner Resigns After Clashes With Mayor Over Virus
J. David Goodman, The New York Times
New York City’s health commissioner, Dr. Oxiris Barbot, resigned on Tuesday to protest her “deep disappointment” with Mayor Bill de Blasio’s handling of the pandemic, renewing scrutiny of his leadership during the crisis just as the city faces pressing decisions about how quickly to reopen schools and businesses. Dr. Barbot’s departure came after escalating tensions between City Hall and top city health department officials, which had begun at the start of the coronavirus outbreak in March, burst into public view and raised concerns that the feuding was undermining crucial public health policies.
Democratic donor Ed Buck faces additional charges linked to overdose deaths
Dennis Romero, NBC News
Democratic Party donor Ed Buck, who has been accused of plying men with drugs during sexual encounters, is facing new charges. Prosecutors say Buck solicited men to consume drugs and perform sexual acts at his West Hollywood apartment.
White House & Administration
US defense officials contradict Trump: No indication yet of attack in Beirut
Barbara Starr et al., CNN
Three US Defense Department officials told CNN that as of Tuesday night there was no indication that the massive explosion that rocked Beirut on Tuesday were an “attack,” contradicting an earlier claim from President Donald Trump. While speaking to reporters at the White House on Tuesday, Trump offered sympathy and assistance to the people of Lebanon after the explosion, which left dozens dead and thousands injured and he referred to the incident as a “terrible attack.”
Trump administration sticks to schools plan as U.S. nears 5 million coronavirus cases
Anne Gearan, The Washington Post
The Trump administration is sticking by its view that schools must reopen on time and in person as the United States approached 5 million confirmed coronavirus cases Tuesday and as Mississippi’s conservative governor reversed course to delay school for many students and demand that all wear masks. President Trump received some rhetorical backup from U.N. Secretary General António Guterres, albeit with more nuance than Trump’s latest “OPEN THE SCHOOLS” tweet.
U.S. Health Secretary to Visit Taiwan, in a Move Likely to Anger Beijing
Amy Qin, The New York Times
The United States’ top health official, Alex M. Azar II, will lead a delegation on a trip to Taiwan, a rare high-level visit to the island by an American official that is likely to further fray ties between Beijing and Washington. Mr. Azar, the secretary of health and human services, will be the highest-ranking American official to visit since 1979, the year the U.S. severed its formal ties with Taiwan and established diplomatic relations with the Chinese government in Beijing.
Trump’s national security adviser recovers from COVID-19
The Associated Press
President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, who tested positive for the coronavirus, returned to work Tuesday after recovering from a mild case of COVID-19, the White House said. Robert O’Brien has resumed his meetings with the president, said National Security Council spokesman John Ullyot.
Trump Signs Landmark Land Conservation Bill
Annie Karni, The New York Times
President Trump on Tuesday signed into law the Great American Outdoors Act, a measure with broad bipartisan support that guarantees maximum annual funding for a federal program to acquire and preserve land for public use. Mr. Trump — who has exited the Paris Agreement on climate change, loosened restrictions on toxic air pollution and removed climate change from a list of national security threats — heralded the new law as a groundbreaking environmental achievement that he deserved credit for.
Justice Department Seeks as Much as $18.1 Billion From Purdue Pharma
Sara Randazzo, The Wall Street Journal
The Justice Department is seeking as much as $18.1 billion from bankrupt opioid maker Purdue Pharma LP, new filings show, a demand that could disrupt the company’s monthslong effort to reach a settlement with states and local communities that accuse it of helping fuel the opioid crisis. The filings, made by the Justice Department in connection with Purdue’s bankruptcy case, also telegraph for the first time the nature and scope of yearslong criminal and civil investigations into the OxyContin maker.
Senate
Not in the room where it happens: U.S. Senate’s McConnell opts out of coronavirus talks
Richard Cowan, Reuters
As coronavirus aid negotiations between top White House officials and Democratic leaders in the U.S. Congress bogged down over the past week, the question reverberating through near-empty Capitol hallways has been “Where’s Mitch?” That’s Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader with the reputation of being a legislative mastermind and a tough, wily deal-maker.
Endangered Republicans to McConnell: Don’t leave town
Marianne Levine et al., Politico
Vulnerable Republicans have a clear message for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: no deal, no recess. With talks between the White House and Democratic leadership at an impasse, Senate Republicans up in November are pressing for the chamber to stay in session until some agreement is reached.
Sally Yates, DoJ Boss At Close Of Obama Era, Due In Senate Hearing Wednesday
Philip Ewing, NPR News
President Trump’s allies in the Senate are set to resume a public investigation on Wednesday that aims to tie former Vice President Joe Biden with what Republicans call abuses of power. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., wants to question former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates about her actions and those of the Justice Department and FBI as President Barack Obama’s era closed and Trump’s began.
W.N.B.A. Players Escalate Protest of Anti-B.L.M. Team Owner
Sopan Deb, The New York Times
Players for the Atlanta Dream and other teams across the W.N.B.A. have begun a public show of defiance by wearing T-shirts endorsing the Democratic opponent of the Dream’s co-owner Senator Kelly Loeffler, Republican of Georgia, who is in a tightly contested race for her seat and has spoken disparagingly of the Black Lives Matter movement. Images of players, including the nine-time All-Star Diana Taurasi, wearing the shirts endorsing Dr. Raphael G. Warnock flooded social media on Tuesday ahead of a nationally televised matchup between Atlanta and the Phoenix Mercury.
Elizabeth Warren Wants To Know Why This Company Was Spying On BLM Protesters
Caroline Haskins, BuzzFeed News
Four lawmakers, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, said Tuesday that they have “serious concerns” about data-mining company Mobilewalla following a BuzzFeed News story in June that showed the company had used cellphone location data to predict the race, age, gender, and home location of more than 17,000 Black Lives Matter protesters. In a letter sent Tuesday to Mobilewalla CEO Anindya Datta, Warren, Sen. Ron Wyden, Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, and House Committee on Oversight and Reform Chair Carolyn Maloney demanded more information about the data that the company collects and how it’s used.
Senate votes to confirm Energy’s No. 2 official
Rachel Frazin, The Hill
The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Mark Menezes for the No. 2 spot at the Energy Department in a 79-16 vote. President Trump nominated Menezes to be the department’s deputy secretary in March.
House
Inside McCarthy’s new GOP messaging platform
Alayna Treene, Axios
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has given his GOP colleagues new marching orders for stump speeches between now and November, as incumbents worry about how President Trump’s own challenges may strain their re-election bids.
2020
Republicans consider South Lawn of the White House for Donald Trump’s convention speech
Michael Scherer and Josh Dawsey, The Washington Post
Republican National Convention planners are considering the White House South Lawn as the site of President Trump’s nationally televised nomination acceptance speech later this month, according to a Republican familiar with the discussions. The decision to stage the most high-profile political event of Trump’s reelection campaign at the national seat of presidential power would be just the latest break by Trump in presidential norms, which have historically drawn clear lines between official business of the president and campaign events.
Trump campaign sues to try to stop Nevadans from voting by mail
Dennis Romero, NPR News
The re-election campaign of President Donald Trump on Tuesday night followed through on his threats to sue Nevada over its plan to conduct the November election almost entirely by mail-in ballot. The suit, which claims such statewide voting by mail is unconstitutional, comes one day after Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak signed a bill that would facilitate mail-in voting for most of the state, with a limited number of in-person polls.
Biden campaign to hammer Trump over pandemic response with $280 million in ads across 15 states
Eric Bradner, CNN
Joe Biden’s campaign says it has reserved $280 million in television and digital advertising that it plans to use largely to hammer President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The presumptive Democratic nominee’s ads will often run 60 seconds rather than the more typical 30-second commercials, and will frequently feature Biden speaking directly into a camera, campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a memo Wednesday.
Trump Says You Can Vote by Mail in Florida After Insisting You Shouldn’t Do That in Any State Ever
Asawin Suebsaeng and Hunter Woodall, The Daily Beast
Donald Trump has relished making mail-in voting a boogeyman during the coronavirus pandemic, denouncing the method routinely as part of his longstanding and evidence-free crusade over alleged voter fraud. But that was before he realized how much Republican voters had started to listen to him. Now, with his re-election chances on line, the president is embracing the practice in the crucial swing state of Florida.
Republicans Aid Kanye West’s Bid to Get on the 2020 Ballot
Danny Hakim and Maggie Haberman, The New York Times
At least three people who have been active in Republican politics are linked to Kanye West’s attempt to get on the presidential ballot this year. The connection raises questions about the aims of the entertainer’s effort and whether it is regarded within the G.O.P. as a spoiler campaign that could aid President Trump, even as those close to Mr. West have expressed concerns about his mental health as he enters the political arena.
Trump campaign mum after aide confirms he’ll debate Biden 3 times
Christopher Cadelago, Politico
A Donald Trump campaign spokeswoman said Tuesday that the president has agreed to participate in three scheduled debates against Joe Biden organized by an independent commission. Trump spokeswoman Erin Perrine appeared on Fox News and said the campaign has come to an agreement with the commission.
House Dems test tactics to mobilize mail-in voters
Sarah Ferris and Ally Mutnick, Politico
House Democrats’ campaign chief had a clear message on a caucuswide call Tuesday: Have a vote-by-mail game plan for November. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Cheri Bustos also briefed Democrats on specific types of outreach that could help increase turnout in November, based on voter-engagement tests conducted during a California special election in May.
Tennessee Republicans, Once Moderate and Genteel, Turn Toxic in the Trump Era
Elaina Plott, The New York Times
On July 25, Republicans in Grundy County, Tenn., gathered to hear the candidates in the state’s Senate Republican primary hold forth ahead of Thursday’s election. Most of them kept their comments polite and predictable — and then came Bill Hagerty. Though there are 15 names on the ballot, Mr. Hagerty, the race’s Trump-endorsed front-runner, singled out his main opponent, Manny Sethi, with an attack-filled tirade, claiming the Mr. Sethi, an orthopedic surgeon, had an “abysmal” record of supporting the Trump agenda and a soft spot for “socialized medicine.”
States
After ‘Severe’ Delays, 6 States Band Together To Buy Coronavirus Tests
Sarah McCammon, NPR News
Six states led by a bipartisan group of governors are joining together in an effort to speed up coronavirus testing. As the nation’s death count continues to rise above 150,000, the states said they will jointly purchase 3 million rapid antigen tests that can quickly detect the virus.
Governors find their moment — and peril
Anna Gronewold and Shia Kapos, Politico
It is sometimes called the best job in American politics. The nation’s governors have a degree of prestige, autonomy and agenda-setting power in their states that far surpasses anything enjoyed by the typical politician.
Mississippi coronavirus: Gov. Tate Reeves orders statewide mask mandate
Giacomo Bologna, Mississippi Clarion Ledger
Gov. Tate Reeves announced a new executive order Tuesday that requires every Mississippian to wear a mask at public gatherings and when shopping for the next two weeks. The announcement comes as coronavirus cases and deaths continue to surge and more than 1 in 5 COVID-19 tests in Mississippi are coming back positive, a staggering rate that indicates rampant infection.
Iowa governor says students won’t receive credit if school districts defy 50% mandate on in-person classes
Charles Flesher and Ian Richardson, Des Moines Register
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said Tuesday that students in school districts that hold classes exclusively online without receiving state approval will not receive credit. The announcement comes one day after two Iowa school districts said they plan to defy the governor’s mandate that at least 50% of classes be held in person this fall.
California’s coronavirus test result data may be flawed, top health official says
Colleen Shalby, Los Angeles Times
A steep decline in California’s coronavirus infection rate announced this week by Gov. Gavin Newson may not be accurate, according to the state’s top public health official who said Tuesday that the state’s data system used to process COVID-19 test results is marred with technical issues. The problems have caused delays in analyzing test results and cast doubt on Newsom’s announcement Monday of a 21.2% decline in the seven-day average rate for positive infections compared with the average from the week before.
Advocacy
Kodak Spent Big Money Lobbying Trump Before Scoring $765 Million COVID Deal
Lachlan Markay, The Daily Beast
In the months before it secured a federal financing deal worth $765 million to help produce COVID-19 drugs, camera giant-turned-pharmaceutical company Eastman Kodak jump-started its dormant lobbying operation, spending unprecedented sums to influence D.C. policymakers. Kodak’s in-house lobbying team had officially dissolved in early 2019, according to disclosure filings submitted to federal regulators.
What Happened When a Public Institute Became a De Facto Lobbying Arm of the Timber Industry
Rob Davis and Tony Schick, The Oregonian and OPB
As Oregon Gov. Kate Brown crafted a bill in 2018 to enact sweeping limits on greenhouse gas emissions, leaders at an obscure state agency worked behind the scenes to discredit research they feared would persuade her to target one of the state’s most powerful industries. The research, published that March, calculated for the first time how much carbon was lost to the atmosphere as a result of cutting trees in Oregon.
Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
He Predicted Trump’s Win in 2016. Now He’s Ready to Call 2020.
Nayeema Raza and Kristopher Knight, The New York Times
Right now, polls say Joe Biden has a healthy lead over President Trump. But we’ve been here before (cue 2016), and the polls were, frankly, wrong.
The fight for the Senate is not over yet
Stuart Rothenberg, Roll Call
There are good reasons for Democrats to be upbeat about their chances of netting at least three Senate seats in the fall, which, combined with a Joe Biden presidential victory, would flip the chamber. But while Democrats are on the offense in more states than a year ago, they haven’t quite locked down the four overall takeovers they need.
How QAnon Creates a Dangerous Alternate Reality
Charlie Warzel, The New York Times
In 2019, the F.B.I. cited QAnon as one of the dangerous conspiracy theories posing domestic terrorist threats to the United States and cited past incitements of violence from its adherents. Despite its fringe origins, the conspiracy movement continues to grow in troubling ways.
Contingency Planning for Presidential Interference with the Election
Robert S. Taylor, Lawfare
One of the great strengths of the U.S. military is its planning, encompassing contingencies big and small. With sadness, I urge my former colleagues in the military services and at the Department of Defense level to plan now for the possibility of actions by the president to disrupt the forthcoming election or even to vitiate the election results.
Research Reports and Polling
The Supreme Court Is Becoming More Important for Democratic Voters
Cameron Easley, Morning Consult
The Supreme Court’s potency as a voting issue for the left has increased after a number of headline-making rulings this term and the news that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was undergoing chemotherapy following a recurrence of cancer earlier in the year, new polling shows. Fifty-seven percent of Democratic voters in the latest Morning Consult/Politico survey, conducted July 31-Aug. 2, said the Supreme Court was “very important” in deciding whom to vote for in the 2020 presidential election.
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