Top Stories

  • A whistleblower complaint from Brian Murphy, the former head of the Department of Homeland Security’s intelligence division, accused top DHS officials of directing analysts to downplay threats from Russia and violent white supremacists, shaping the agency’s views around President Donald Trump’s political interests. The complaint, revealed by the House Intelligence Committee, said acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf ordered Murphy to focus on influence on the 2020 election from Iran and China instead of Russia, and that Ken Cuccinelli, the agency’s second-most senior official, directed him to make the threat of white supremacy “appear less severe.” (The New York Times)
  • Trump acknowledged that he downplayed the threat of COVID-19 in February to avoid a public “frenzy” after excerpts of a forthcoming book and tapes recorded by journalist Bob Woodward revealed that he understood the coronavirus was a far greater threat to the country than he was letting on publicly at the time. Democrats, including presidential nominee Joe Biden, have latched on to the tapes, accusing Trump of playing down the deadly coronavirus threat for political purposes. (The Washington Post)
  • Senate Democrats are set to block a Republican-backed, $500 billion coronavirus relief measure in a procedural vote today, even as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he was optimistic about strong Republican support for the legislation. If the measure fails, it appears unlikely that Congress will enact relief legislation before the November elections, with lawmakers instead planning only to send Trump legislation to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the month. (The Associated Press)
  • The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee raised a combined $210 million in August, $154 million short of the haul from the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee. Trump’s campaign, which briefly suspended television advertising as Biden’s has covered the airwaves, did not say how much money it had in the bank, less than eight weeks from Election Day. (CNN)

Chart Review

Events Calendar (All Times Local)

09/10/2020
Senate session 10:00 am
U.S. Ambassador to NATO participates in Washington Post online event 10:00 am
Speaker Pelosi holds press conference 10:45 am
House Oversight and Reform Committee holds hearing on the 2020 Census 11:00 am
House Financial Services Committee holds hearing on COVID-19 state assistance 12:00 pm
FDA Commissioner participates in The Economic Club of Washington, DC’s online event 12:00 pm
Sabato’s Crystal Ball hosts online event on the 2020 elections 2:00 pm
The Wall Street Journal hosts online event on the future of social media 8:00 pm
09/11/2020
Axios hosts online event on U.S. foreign policy 12:30 pm
09/14/2020
Brookings Institution hosts online event on technology in schools 9:00 am
09/15/2020
Delaware holds primary elections
Sen. Rubio participates in Washington Post online event 8:15 am
AEI hosts online event on the 2020 election 9:00 am
Senate HELP Committee holds hearing on paying college athletes 10:00 am
Secretary of State Pompeo participates in Atlantic Council online event 10:00 am
The Washington Post hosts online event on food insecurity 12:45 pm
Senate Judiciary subcommittee holds antitrust hearing on Google 2:30 pm
View full calendar

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2020

Russian state hackers suspected in targeting Biden campaign firm – sources
Joel Schectman et al., Reuters

Microsoft Corp recently alerted one of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s main election campaign advisory firms that it had been targeted by suspected Russian state-backed hackers, according to three people briefed on the matter. The hacking attempts targeted staff at Washington-based SKDKnickerbocker, a campaign strategy and communications firm working with Biden and other prominent Democrats, over the past two months, the sources said.

Pro-Trump super PAC America First Action kicks off $22 million ad blitz in swing states
Brian Schwartz, CNBC

A super PAC backing President Donald Trump is unleashing a wave of new ads against Democratic nominee Joe Biden as the commander in chief struggles in nationwide polls and the campaign appears to be in need of air cover. The PAC, America First Action, is announcing a $22 million spending spree on digital and TV ads that will target the key battleground states of Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Ohio.

AP Exclusive: Pence to attend event hosted by QAnon backers
Brian Slodysko and Michael Kunzelman, The Associated Press

Vice President Mike Pence and top officials from President Donald Trump’s campaign are slated to attend a Montana fundraiser next week hosted by a couple who have expressed support for the QAnon conspiracy theory, according to an event invitation obtained by The Associated Press and a review of social media postings. The hosts of the fundraiser, Caryn and Michael Borland, have shared QAnon memes and retweeted posts from QAnon accounts, their social media activity shows.

Trump weekend rallies in Nevada canceled
Steve Sebelius, Las Vegas Review-Journal

President Donald Trump’s two Nevada rallies planned for this weekend have been canceled because of limitations on public gatherings imposed in the spring by Gov. Steve Sisolak to curb the spread of the coronavirus, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed. Events slated for Saturday at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport and Sunday at McCarran International Airport were canceled, the source said.

Senate GOP spending on unexpected shot to unseat Michigan Democrat Gary Peters
David M. Drucker, The Washington Examiner

The National Republican Senatorial Committee is investing new money in the Michigan Senate race, encouraged by a raft of polling that shows GOP challenger John James narrowly trailing incumbent Democratic Sen. Gary Peters. NRSC officials told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday that the committee planned to spend $1.5 million to air a television advertisement across Michigan in coordination with the James campaign.

White House & Administration

White House looks at more executive actions as coronavirus-relief talks appear finished
Erica Werner and Jeff Stein, The Washington Post

With the Senate poised to vote Thursday on a slender GOP coronavirus relief bill that’s certain to fail, chances for a bipartisan deal on new economic stimulus look more remote than ever. This impasse has prompted top White House officials to consider a new round of executive actions that they hope could direct funding to certain groups amid fears that the nascent economic recovery could fail to gain momentum.

Emails show HHS official trying to muzzle Fauci
Sarah Owermohle, Politico

A Trump administration appointee at the Department of Health and Human Services is trying to prevent Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, from speaking about the risks that coronavirus poses to children. Emails obtained by POLITICO show Paul Alexander — a senior adviser to Michael Caputo, HHS’s assistant secretary for public affairs — instructing press officers and others at the National Institutes of Health about what Fauci should say during media interviews.

Health Official Tries to Reassure Public That Science Will Set Vaccine Approval
Sheryl Gay Stolberg, The New York Times

Dr. Francis S. Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, took issue on Wednesday with President Trump’s suggestion that a coronavirus vaccine would be available by Election Day, as he sought to reassure senators and the public that a vaccine would not be made available unless it was safe and effective. “Certainly, to try to predict whether it happens on a particular week before or after a particular date in early November is well beyond anything that any scientist right now could tell you and be confident they know what they are saying,” Dr. Collins told a Senate panel at a hearing on the effort to find a vaccine.

White House Asked Justice Dept. to Take Over Defamation Suit Against Trump, Barr Says
Katie Benner and Charlie Savage, The New York Times

The White House asked the Justice Department to replace President Trump’s private lawyers to defend against a woman’s accusations that he defamed her last year in denying her claim that he sexually assaulted her a quarter-century ago, Attorney General William P. Barr said on Wednesday. The Justice Department’s intervention in the lawsuit means that taxpayer money will be used to defend the president, and it threatens the continued viability of the case of the plaintiff, the author E. Jean Carroll.

White House orders end to COVID-19 airport screenings for international travelers
Jana Winter, Yahoo News

The U.S. government on Monday will stop conducting enhanced screening of passengers on inbound international flights for COVID-19, Yahoo News has learned. The screening operations have been held at select airports since January, when the first cases of the disease began to emerge from Wuhan, China.

Trump adds Tom Cotton and Ted Cruz to list of potential Supreme Court justices
Alayna Treene, Axios

President Trump unveiled Wednesday his revamped list of potential Supreme Court justices that includes 20 new names, including Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Top aides and advisers to the president urged him months ago to put together a new list of justices ahead of Election Day to pump up his base and remind them why a Republican needs to remain in the White House.

Trump Attacked Generals as Weak and Too Focused on Allies, Woodward’s Book Says
Maggie Haberman, The New York Times

President Trump denigrated senior American military officials when he told his trade adviser, Peter Navarro, during a meeting in 2017 that his top generals were weak and overly concerned with their relationships with allies, according to a new book by the journalist Bob Woodward. And in a discussion with Mr. Woodward, Mr. Trump called the United States military “suckers” for paying extensive costs to protect South Korea.

$2,933 for ‘Girl’s Night’: Medicaid chief’s consulting expenses revealed
Dan Diamond and Adam Cancryn, Politico

When Seema Verma, the Trump administration’s top Medicaid official, went to a reporter’s home in November 2018 for a “Girl’s Night” thrown in her honor, taxpayers footed the bill to organize the event: $2,933. When Verma wrote an op-ed on Fox News’ website that fall, touting President Donald Trump’s changes to Obamacare, taxpayers got charged for one consultant’s price to place it: $977.

In crackdown on race-related content, Education Department targets internal book clubs, meetings
Michael Stratford, Politico

The Education Department plans to scrutinize a wide range of employee activities — including internal book clubs — in search of “Anti-American propaganda” and discussions about “white privilege” as it carries out the White House’s demand that federal agencies halt certain types of race-related training. In an internal email this week obtained by POLITICO, the department ordered a review of agency contracts for diversity training and “internal employee activities” to root out topics such as “critical race theory” or materials that suggest that the U.S. is an inherently racist country.

Lawsuit against Trump inaugural committee can continue, judge rules
Anna Schecter, NBC News

A judge denied a bid Wednesday to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee and the Trump Organization misused nonprofit funds to enrich the president’s family business. The suit, brought by Washington, D.C., Attorney General Karl Racine in January, alleges that the president’s inaugural committee was aware that it was being overcharged for services at Trump’s Washington hotel in 2017 and still spent over $1 million at the hotel, including money for a private party for Trump’s three older children.

Congress

How McConnell is maneuvering to keep the Senate in GOP hands — and navigating Trump
Manu Raju, CNN

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was on a mission. It was late February, and two vulnerable Republican senators facing voters this fall were pushing a bill that had generated opposition from conservatives but was important to their states — and their own reelections. So on the morning of February 27, as Washington was coming to grips with the coronavirus, McConnell took Sens. Cory Gardner of Colorado and Steve Daines of Montana to the White House where they made the case to Trump to get behind a public lands bill.

Former DNI Daniel Coats criticizes suspension of in-person briefings to Congress on election security
Ellen Nakashima, The Washington Post

Daniel Coats, a former head of the intelligence community, warned Wednesday that the Trump administration’s move to roll back in-person briefings to Congress on foreign threats to the 2020 election undermines the agencies’ mission and efforts to safeguard the vote. “It’s imperative that the intelligence community keep Congress fully informed about the threats to our elections and share as much information as possible while protecting sources and methods,” the former director of national intelligence said in an interview.

Patients may have seen ‘significant’ delays in medicine deliveries by USPS, Senate report finds
Tony Romm, The Washington Post

Patients who rely on the U.S. Postal Service for their prescription drugs may have experienced “significant” delays in their deliveries, according to a Senate report released Wednesday, which accused Postmaster General Louis DeJoy of jeopardizing the “health of millions of Americans.” Several major U.S. pharmacies told the two Democratic senators leading the investigation — Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Robert P. Casey Jr. (Pa.) — that average delivery times have ticked up since the spring, leading to a flood of angry calls from customers and costly requests to resend their medications.

Races heat up for House leadership posts
Scott Wong, The Hill

The Big Three in the House Democratic Caucus — Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (Md.) and Majority Whip James Clyburn (S.C.) — are expected to cruise to reelection in the caucus, keeping the top leadership team intact for another two years. But with less than eight weeks until the Nov. 3 elections, ambitious Democrats have started making calls and jockeying for the other leadership slots seen as stepping stones to more high-profile jobs.

Family business in decline? Fewer get to Congress through heredity
Paul V. Fontelo, Roll Call

When Congress is in session, Andy Levin can’t stop talking about his dad. “From Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer down to people who are not that much more senior than me, I get to go to work and talk about my dad almost every day, and I just can’t get enough of it really,” the freshman House member said.

General

Covid-19 Cases, Death Rates Are Declining Six Months Into Pandemic
Jon Kamp and Sarah Krouse, The Wall Street Journal

The U.S. is catching its breath after a punishing six months of the coronavirus pandemic, with the daily death toll from Covid-19 declining in the wake of summertime outbreaks in Sunbelt states like Florida and Texas. Still, public health authorities and researchers are warning Americans not to let their guard down.

USPS removed 711 sorting machines this year, new court documents show
Kristen Holmes and Paul P. Murphy, CNN

The United States Postal Service removed 711 mail-sorting machines from postal facilities — the highest level in at least four years — according to new court testimony from top-ranking agency officials. In written testimony and documents submitted Wednesday to a federal court in New York, the postal service’s director of processing operation disclosed the high number of removals, which is the most that occurred in one year of President Donald Trump’s tenure and roughly double the machines USPS typically removes in a given year.

Postal Service governors back Louis DeJoy, say they are ‘thrilled’ with his performance
Jacob Bogage and Lisa Rein, The Washington Post

The U.S. Postal Service’s Board of Governors signaled strong support for Louis DeJoy on Wednesday after convening a closed-door meeting with the embattled postal chief to discuss congressional investigations tied to the agency’s delivery problems and allegations of political fundraising improprieties. Congressional Democrats called for DeJoy’s ouster after he pushed through aggressive cost-cutting policies that nonpartisan experts and rank-and-file postal workers say caused multiday mail backlogs in communities across the country.

China Denounces U.S. Student Visa Cuts as Racial Discrimination
Bloomberg 

The U.S. has revoked the visas of more than 1,000 Chinese students and researchers for national security reasons, drawing protests and a threat of possible retaliation from Beijing. The visas were revoked under a measure intended to keep Chinese graduate students and researchers from stealing “technologies, intellectual property and information to develop advanced military capabilities,” a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy said Thursday in a statement.

TikTok, U.S. Discuss Ways to Avoid Sale
Miriam Gottfried et al., The Wall Street Journal

TikTok’s Chinese parent, ByteDance Ltd., is discussing with the U.S. government possible arrangements that would allow the popular video-sharing app to avoid a full sale of its U.S. operations, according to people familiar with the matter. Discussions around such an option have risen in prominence since the Chinese government took steps that make a sale to a U.S. technology giant like Microsoft Corp. more difficult, the people said.

Startups Pitch Themselves as 2020 Election Alternatives to Pollsters
Emily Glazer, The Wall Street Journal

Four years after President Trump surprised many Americans by outperforming polls in battleground states, a cottage industry of political tech startups has sprung up to predict voter preferences ahead of the 2020 election. Companies offering online polling, social-media content analysis and surveys of mobile application users are pitching themselves as cheaper, faster and more detailed alternatives to telephone polls and focus groups.

How James and Kathryn Murdoch became a political power couple in the Trump era
Brian Schwartz, CNBC

The powerful Murdoch family is often linked to conservative politics, particularly through its control of Fox News. Yet James Murdoch, one of billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s sons, and spouse Kathryn Murdoch are working to create their own legacy by supporting causes across the political spectrum.

States

Judge blocks Tennessee law that limits new voter mail voting
Jonathan Mattise, The Associated Press

A federal judge on Wednesday blocked a Tennessee law for the November election that bars first-time voters from casting ballots by mail unless they show identification at an election office beforehand. U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson in Nashville ordered the preliminary injunction in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, assuring that he did so without concern “about how his decisions could aid one side or the other on the political front.”

Advocacy

Postal Service to Tap Republican Lobbyist to Quell Mounting Scrutiny
Kenneth P. Vogel et al., The New York Times

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, moving to defend himself and top postal officials against suggestions that they are trying to help President Trump win re-election by sabotaging mail-in voting, told colleagues on Wednesday that he planned to hire a veteran Republican lobbyist to work with Congress. Facing calls for his ouster by Democrats and a flurry of investigations on Capitol Hill, Mr. DeJoy informed postal officials that he had selected Peter Pastre, a former Republican congressional aide and insurance lobbyist, to act as a liaison for the agency with Congress and state and local governments, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Rick Perry’s Ukrainian Dream
Simon Shuster and Ilya Marritz, TIME and WNYC

Rick Perry came to Washington looking for a deal, and less than two months into his tenure as energy secretary, he found a hot prospect. It was April 19, 2017, and Perry, the former Texas governor, failed presidential candidate and contestant on “Dancing With the Stars,” was sitting in his office on Independence Avenue with two influential Ukrainians.

Planned Parenthood leader at center of crucial battles on abortion, race
Jessie Hellmann, The Hill

Alexis McGill Johnson, the new president of Planned Parenthood, grew up thinking about race — not so much about reproductive rights. Her parents were heavily involved in the civil rights and Black Power movements, so she grew up in a “very race conscious household,” aware as a child of the inequalities that Black people faced in the 1970s and the centuries before.

Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives

Should Bob Woodward have reported Trump’s virus revelations sooner? Here’s how he defends his decision.
Margaret Sullivan, The Washington Post

Two waves of outrage greeted the news on Wednesday of Bob Woodward’s latest White House chronicle, a book titled “Rage.” The first was Trump’s disclosure to Woodward that he knew as early as February — even as he was dismissing the novel coronavirus publicly — that the looming pandemic was far deadlier than the flu.

Research Reports and Polling

The Post-Labor Day Sprint, Part Two: The Electoral College
Larry J. Sabato et al., Sabato’s Crystal Ball

Joe Biden is better positioned to win the presidency than Donald Trump, but it would be foolish to rule out another Trump upset.  Trump’s potential winning map would look a lot like 2016, with perhaps a few changes; Biden’s potential winning map might feature Democratic advances in the Sun Belt and retreats in the Midwest compared to past winning Democratic maps.

Morning Consult