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Trump Praise of ‘Tormented’ Flynn Raises Pardon Speculation

President Donald Trump voiced strong support Thursday for his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, raising speculation that a pardon may be coming after Flynn’s lawyers disclosed internal FBI documents they claim show the FBI tried to “intentionally frame” him. Trump said he believes Flynn should now be cleared in court, but if that doesn’t happen he as president has “a different type of power.” “It looks to me like Michael Flynn would be exonerated based on everything I see,” Trump said at the White House. “I’m not the judge, but I have a different type of power. But I don’t know that anybody would have to use that power. I think he’s exonerated.” Trump has long said he is considering pardoning Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States. The president spent Wednesday night and Thursday morning retweeting supportive statements and a video Flynn tweeted of an American flag flapping in the wind. “They came at him with 15 buses and he’s standing in the middle of the highway. What they did to this man,” Trump said at an earlier event at the White House, without specifying what he meant. “They tormented him. They destroyed him. But he’s going to come back.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called into Fox News Channel to react to the release of the FBI documents, saying, “if true, it is extremely troubling.” “If all this proves to be true, you will have, certainly, a major, major error on the part of top leadership at the FBI, which could well warrant additional charges against them,” he said. Internal documentsLawyers for Flynn over the last two days released a series of internal correspondence obtained through a Justice Department review of the handling of the case. They contend the documents bolster their allegations that Flynn was set up to lie when he was questioned at the White House three years ago and show that agents were prepared to drop an investigation into him just weeks before they set out to question him. Still, the documents don’t directly address the central allegation in the case — that Flynn lied to the FBI. It’s also unclear how much significance they will carry with the judge, who has already publicly scolded Flynn and rejected many defense allegations of prosecutorial misconduct. The judge, Emmet Sullivan, has not ruled on Flynn’s request to withdraw his guilty plea. Among the documents is a redacted internal memo from Jan. 4, 2017, saying the FBI was closing out its investigation into whether a subject with the code name of Crossfire Razor was an agent of a foreign power or acting under the direction of Russia. The subject is described as a Trump campaign foreign policy adviser who traveled to Russia in 2015.  Flynn’s attorney Sidney Powell confirmed Thursday that Crossfire Razor is Flynn. But about two weeks later, according to the documents, case agent Peter Strzok told a colleague not to close the case and to “pls keep it open for now.” In communication with FBI lawyer Lisa Page, who expressed surprise that the case was still open, Strzok responded, “Yeah, our incompetence actually helps us.” Strzok and Page have attracted Trump’s derision for exchanging derogatory texts about him during the 2016 campaign. Both have since left the FBI. Flynn was interviewed on Jan. 24, 2017, when the FBI says he lied about his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential transition period and whether they discussed the U.S. sanctions against Russia. But Flynn’s attorneys are pointing to the newly disclosed documents to suggest the FBI had no basis to question Flynn and had already been prepared to close an investigation into him. “The revelations of corruption by the FBI to intentionally frame Gen Flynn for crimes the FBI manufactured piles on with each new production of documents,” Powell wrote in a statement. A federal prosecutor from Missouri is reviewing the Justice Department’s handling of the case at the direction of Attorney General William Barr. The department said the notes were provided as part of that review. Prosecutors haven’t responded to the defense team’s disclosures, though they have previously rejected any accusations of misconduct. Sullivan, too, has rejected many of the defense arguments in the past.  Even so, Flynn — who was among the first of the president’s aides charged in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia — has emerged as something of a cause celebre for supporters of the president. They have rallied around the retired Army lieutenant general and seized on the findings of a critical watchdog report on the Russia investigation to try to cast doubt on the entire probe. Trump has not been shy about using his pardon power to help political allies and those he believes have been wronged by an out-of-control justice system. Trump has also expressed a desire to intervene in the case of another ally: longtime political adviser Roger Stone. Other emails, notesOther documents released by Flynn’s lawyers include FBI emails and handwritten notes showing officials grappling with how best to approach Flynn, how much information to provide him during the interview and what to do if he made a false statement. One page of handwritten notes from an FBI official, dated the day of the interview, appears to recap an internal debate about how to proceed. “What’s our goal? Truth/admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?” the notes say. The notes also say, “If we’re seen as playing games, WH will be furious. Protect our institution by not playing games.” Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 and went on to provide such extensive cooperation that prosecutors said he was entitled to probation instead of prison. But his sentencing hearing one year later was abruptly cut short after Flynn, following a stern rebuke from Sullivan that raised the prospect of a prison term, asked to be able to continue cooperating and earn credit toward a more lenient sentence. Since then, Flynn has hired new attorneys, including Powell, a conservative commentator and outspoken critic of Mueller’s investigation, who have taken a more adversarial stance on his behalf. 
 
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3 Top Lawyers Say Trump Name on Stimulus Checks May Be Illegal

Three of the country’s best-known lawyers are asking the U.S. Justice Department to investigate whether President Donald Trump broke the law when the Treasury Department put his name on coronavirus relief checks for Americans.Lawyers Bruce Fein, Louis Fisher and Ralph Nader have sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr. They allege that Trump may be guilty of violating the Hatch Act, which bans government employees and public officials from taking part in partisan political activities while on the job.“President Trump is actively seeking re-election. The signature of President Trump on United States Treasury checks is superfluous to their value, legality or authenticity. The signature serves no official government purpose,” the letter says. “It does serve Mr. Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign by making it appear that he is responsible for a monetary windfall to tens of millions of voters.”The lawyers argue that a special prosecutor should look into the matter, calling it an improper use of government workers and equipment to promote Trump’s reelection.Nader is an iconic voice of liberal and progressive policies. Fisher has worked in the administrations of both parties, and Fein is a longtime Republican.Neither the White House nor Justice Department has responded to the letter.Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says it was his idea to put Trump’s name on the checks.Trump initially denied wanting his signature on them, but apparently did not make a major effort to stop it, saying he didn’t “imagine it’s a big deal.”“I’m sure people will be very happy to get a big, fat, beautiful check and my name is on it,” he said.Some congressional Democrats call the Trump signature a political stunt, while Republicans say they agree with the president in believing it’s no big deal.  
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Trump Tweets Raise Speculation About Potential Flynn Pardon

President Donald Trump on Thursday tweeted his support for his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, raising speculation that a pardon may be coming after Flynn’s lawyers released internal FBI documents they claim show the FBI was trying to entrap him.
Trump has long said he is considering pardoning Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in early 2017 about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States. The president spent Wednesday night and Thursday morning retweeting supportive statements and a video Flynn tweeted of an American flag flapping in the wind.
“What happened to General Michael Flynn, a war hero, should never be allowed to happen to a citizen of the United States again!” Trump wrote Thursday morning as his counselor Kellyanne Conway was on Fox News Channel responding to the case.
Conway said it would be up to Trump to make any announcement, but called Flynn’s treatment a “disgrace.”
Trump “has made very clear that he feels people around him are treated very unfairly, and in this case worse,” she said.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also called into Fox to react to the release of the FBI documents, saying, “if true, it is extremely troubling.”
“If all this proves to be true, you will have, certainly, a major, major error on the part of top leadership at the FBI, which could well warrant additional charges against them,” he said.
Lawyers for Flynn released internal FBI emails and handwritten notes on Wednesday documenting internal correspondence among FBI officials before Flynn’s interview with the bureau. They contend the documents bolster their allegations that Flynn was set up to lie when he was questioned at the White House three years ago. The notes show the officials grappling with how best to approach Flynn, how much information to provide him during an interview and what to do if he made a false statement.
Flynn, who was among the first of the president’s aides charged in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, is now seeking to withdraw his guilty plea and makes broad assertions of law enforcement misconduct. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan has rejected many of the defense arguments but has yet to rule on whether Flynn can take back his guilty plea.
Meanwhile, a federal prosecutor from Missouri is reviewing the Justice Department’s handling of the case at the direction of Attorney General William Barr. The department said the notes were provided to the defense as part of that ongoing review.
It remains unclear what bearing the documents will have on the case or how significant the judge will determine them to be. But Flynn has emerged as something of a cause celebre in recent months for supporters of the president, who have rallied around the retired Army lieutenant general and seized on the findings of a harshly critical watchdog report on the Russia investigation to try to cast doubt on the entire probe.
Prosecutors haven’t filed anything in response to Wednesday’s action by Flynn’s lawyers. But Trump has made clear he is considering a pardon.
In FBI emails dated Jan. 23, 2017, the day before agents interviewed Flynn at the White House, officials pondered at what point in the conversation Flynn should be reminded that it is against the law to lie to the FBI — at the outset of the conversation or after he makes a suspected false statement.
Flynn’s attorneys have said he was never given such a warning.
Also released was a page of handwritten FBI notes, dated the following day, in which an official appears to recap an internal debate inside the bureau about the interview.
“What’s our goal? Truth/admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?” the notes say.
At another point, the notes say, “If we get him to admit to breaking the Logan Act, give facts to DoJ and have them decide.” That is a reference to a centuries-old, esoteric law that makes it a crime for a private citizen to conduct foreign policy with another government.
The notes also say: “If we’re seen as playing games, WH will be furious. Protect our institution by not playing games.”
The handwritten notes bear the initials “EP,” which is likely a reference to E.W. Priestap, the senior FBI official who in the summer of 2016 approved the opening of an investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Flynn acknowledged lying to the FBI about having discussed sanctions against Russia during the presidential transition period with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador at the time. Flynn provided such extensive cooperation that prosecutors said he was entitled to a sentence of probation instead of prison.
But his sentencing hearing was abruptly cut short after Flynn, following a stern rebuke from Sullivan, asked to be able to continue cooperating and earn credit toward a more lenient sentence.
Since then, Flynn has hired new attorneys — including Sidney Powell, a conservative commentator and outspoken critic of Mueller’s investigation — who have taken a more adversarial stance to the government.  
The lawyers have accused prosecutors of withholding documents and evidence they said was favorable to the case and repeatedly noted that one of the two agents who interviewed Flynn was fired from the FBI for having sent derogatory text messages about Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump also tweeted Thursday about his longtime political adviser Roger Stone, who was convicted last year as part of the Russia investigation and is awaiting a date to surrender to federal prison.
“Does anybody really believe that Roger Stone, a man whose house was raided early in the morning by 29 gun toting FBI Agents (with Fake News @CNN closely in toe), was treated fairly,” he asked, adding: “Same scammers as General Flynn!”
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Trump Erupts at Campaign Team as His Poll Numbers Slide 

President Donald Trump erupted at his top political advisers last week when they presented him with worrisome polling data that showed his support eroding in a series of battleground states as his response to the coronavirus comes under criticism.  As the virus takes its deadly toll and much of the nation’s economy remains shuttered, new surveys by the Republican National Committee and Trump’s campaign pointed to a harrowing picture for the president as he faces reelection. FILE – President Donald Trump points to a reporter to ask a question as he speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, in Washington, April 16, 2020.While Trump saw some of the best approval ratings of his presidency during the early weeks of the crisis, aides highlighted the growing political cost of the crisis and the unforced errors by Trump in his freewheeling press briefings.  Trump reacted with defiance, incredulous that he could be losing to someone he viewed as a weak candidate. “I am not f—-ing losing to Joe Biden,” he repeated in a series of heated conference calls with his top campaign officials, according to five people with knowledge of the conversations. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about private discussions.  Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden smiles as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton endorses him for president in a video screengrab made during an online town hall, in Wilmington, Delaware, April 28, 2020. (Biden For President/Handout)The message to the president was sobering: Trump was trailing the former Democratic vice president in many key battleground states, he was told, and would have lost the Electoral College if the election had been held earlier this month. On the line from the White House, Trump snapped at the state of his polling during a series of calls with campaign manager Brad Parscale, who called in from Florida; RNC chair Ronna McDaniel, on the line from her home in Michigan; senior adviser Jared Kushner; and other aides. Echoing a number of White House aides and outside advisers, the political team urged Trump to curtail his daily coronavirus briefings, arguing that the combative sessions were costing him in the polls, particularly among seniors. Trump initially pushed back, pointing to high television ratings. But, at least temporarily, he agreed to scale back the briefings after drawing sharp criticism for raising the idea that Americans might get virus protection by injecting disinfectants. Trump aides encouraged the president to stay out of medical issues and direct his focus toward more familiar and politically important ground: the economy. Even as Trump preaches optimism, the president has expressed frustration and even powerlessness as the dire economic statistics pile up. It’s been a whiplash-inducing moment for the president, who just two months ago planned to run for reelection on the strength of an economy that was experiencing unprecedented employment levels. Now, as the records mount in the opposite direction, Trump is feeling the pressure. “We built the greatest economy in the world,” Trump has said publicly. “I’ll do it a second time.” Trump’s political team warned that the president’s path to reelection depends on how quickly he can bring about a recovery.  “I think you’ll see by June a lot of the country should be back to normal, and the hope is that by July the country’s really rocking again,” Kushner told “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday morning. But other aides, business leaders and economists predict a far longer road toward recovery. Representatives for the RNC and the Trump campaign did not comment on the polling or last week’s phone calls. In a tweet just after midnight Wednesday, Trump denied that he had recently shouted at his campaign manager and said that “he is doing a great job.” According to people familiar with the incident, Trump vented much of his frustration at Parscale, who served as the bearer of bad news. FILE – Brad Parscale, campaign manager to President Donald Trump, speaks to supporters during a panel discussion, Oct. 15, 2019, in San Antonio.Trump has long distrusted negative poll numbers — telling aides for years that his gut was right about the 2016 race, when he insisted that he was ahead in the Midwest and Florida. At the same time, Parscale and other Trump aides are talking up the sophistication of their data and voter outreach capabilities this time. The president and some aides have had simmering frustrations with Parscale for a while, believing the campaign manager — a close Kushner ally — has enriched himself from his association with Trump and sought personal publicity. Trump had previously been angered when Parscale was the subject of magazine profiles. This latest episode flared before the campaign manager was featured in a New York Times Magazine profile this week.  Aides have grown particularly worried about Michigan — which some advisers have all but written off — as well as Florida, Wisconsin and Arizona.  Trump announced Wednesday that he will visit Arizona next week — his first trip outside Washington in a month — as he looks to declare that much of the nation is ready to begin reopening after the virus.  The president has mocked Biden, his presumptive general election rival, for being “stuck in his basement” in his Delaware home during the pandemic. Trump said Wednesday that he hopes to soon visit Ohio, a battleground state that Trump carried handily in 2016 but that aides see as growing slightly competitive in recent weeks. Aides acknowledged that the president’s signature rallies would not be returning anytime soon. Some have privately offered doubts that he would be able to hold any in his familiar format of jam-packed arenas before Election Day, Nov. 3.   
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China ‘Not Interested’ in Meddling in US Election

China said Wednesday it has no desire to meddle in this year’s U.S. presidential election, despite claims to the contrary by President Donald Trump.
 
Trump told Reuters Wednesday that “China will do anything they can do to have me lose this race” in favor of Democratic Party opponent Joe Biden. Trump said China prefers a Biden win, believing he would ease the pressure Trump has put on Beijing through trade tariffs and other means.
 
“We have reiterated many times that the U.S. election is the U.S.’s own internal affair. China is not interested in interfering,” said China Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang. “At the same time, we hope the people of the U.S. will not drag China into its electoral politics.”
 
The Trump administration has blamed China for the coronavirus pandemic, which has thrown the U.S. into a deep recession and infected more than 1 million people in the U.S., more than any other country by far.  
 
Trump said during the interview he was exploring various options to penalize Beijing over the pandemic, despite China’s insistence it effectively addressed the outbreak.
 
“The international community shares a common view on China’s handling of the epidemic and China’s contributions to international cooperation in the fight against the coronavirus,” Shuang said.
 
Relations between the world’s two largest economies were strained before the coronavirus outbreak. Trump began intensifying a trade dispute with Beijing two years ago that deteriorated into retaliatory tariffs and ballooned into a trillion-dollar trade war.
 
The pandemic-triggered U.S. economic slowdown has Trump’s campaign concerned about his reelection chances, given that it planned to make the previously robust economy a key selling point in Trump’s reelection bid.
 
Polls show Biden leading Trump in the race for the White House.  Real Clear Politics’ polling average, which includes data from dozens of pollsters, has Biden leading Trump 48% to 42%.
 
A new Emerson College poll shows Trump’s approval rating for how he has managed the pandemic has dropped 10 points from last month. The results show 39% of the poll’s respondents now approve of his handling of the crisis, a decline from 49% in March. 
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Biden Assault Allegation Prompts GOP Attacks, Dem Worries

A sexual assault allegation is raising Joe Biden’s first big challenge as the Democrats’ presidential nominee, fueling Republican attacks and leaving many in his own party in an uncomfortable bind. Biden’s campaign has denied the allegation from his former Senate staffer Tara Reade, who has said Biden assaulted her in the basement of a Capitol Hill office building in the 1990s. But the story garnered fresh attention this week after two of Reade’s associates said she previously told them about elements of her allegations. Republicans who are worried about President Donald Trump’s increasingly precarious political standing are seizing on the allegation to portray Democrats as hypocrites who only defend women who allege wrongdoing against conservatives. They are digging in despite the fact that it could renew attention on the multiple sexual assault allegations lodged against Trump. Democrats, meanwhile, are in an awkward position of vigorously validating women who come forward with their stories while defending the man who will be their standard-bearer in what many in the party consider the most important election of their lifetimes. The tension is heightened because Biden himself is saying nothing about the allegation. Like many Americans, he has spent the past several weeks at home to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Biden has participated in a handful of local and national interviews, during which he wasn’t asked about the allegation. But he hasn’t held a press briefing for the broader press corps that covers him since April 2, before multiple news organizations reported Reade’s story. The public appearances he has made, such as fundraisers or events alongside prominent Democrats, have been controlled. Some Democrats say that approach isn’t working and are urging a more forceful response.  “The campaign has issued statements, but he hasn’t issued any statements in his own voice,” said former Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Donna Brazile. “It’s not helping, it’s just damaging — not only to the person who has come forward, but it’s also damaging the candidate.” Former Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Donna Brazile.Lis Smith, who worked as a top strategist on Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign, also called on the Biden campaign to speak up. “These accusations have not been found to be credible, so it’s in the Biden campaign’s interest to nip this in the bud directly and do it quickly,” she said. The November contest between Biden and Trump will be the first presidential race of the #MeToo era, which has led numerous women to come forward with allegations of sexual assault. Trump himself has been accused of assault and unwanted touching by numerous women, allegations he denies. He was forced to apologize during the 2016 campaign after he was heard on a recording bragging about using his fame to assault women. Women are a core constituency for Democrats, and Biden has a mixed history. While he wrote the Violence Against Women Act as a senator, he also came under heavy criticism for his handling of Anita Hill’s Senate testimony in the 1990s. Just before he launched his 2020 campaign, several women accused him of unwanted touching, behavior for which he apologized. Biden has pledged to pick a woman as a running mate, and the allegation has left those thought to be in contention in a tough spot.  Stacey Abrams, the former Georgia Democratic governor candidate, said, “Women deserve to be heard, and I believe they need to be listened to, but I also believe that those allegations have to be investigated by credible sources.” “The New York Times did a deep investigation and they found that the accusation was not credible,” she added. “I believe Joe Biden.” That echoed talking points issued by the Biden campaign to surrogates last week that were obtained by The Associated Press. They pointed to investigations by The New York Times, The Washington Post and the AP that found no other allegation of sexual assault and no pattern of sexual misconduct. Some Democratic donors and fundraisers say the issue has not come up in calls with party financiers. Others worry that it could be used against Biden, much as Hillary Clinton’s private email server and the activities of the Clinton Foundation were wielded against her by Trump. Some, most notably women, say they are paying close attention to the allegations, which gave them pause.  Alex Sink, a donor and former Democratic nominee for governor of Florida, said she was “not happy” to read about the allegations against Biden. While she still plans to vote for him, she worried his campaign was too quick to categorically deny Reade’s story.  “They put themselves immediately out on a limb by saying, ‘It didn’t happen, we categorically deny it, it’s not true,'” Sink said. “That’s a dangerous position to be in because they aren’t leaving any room for themselves.” Some female Democratic operatives expressed concerns the allegation is particularly damaging because it’s an indictment of Biden’s central campaign rationale: that he provides a moral counter to Trump and that the election is a “battle for the soul of America.” “I think the stakes could not be higher for defeating Donald Trump — but at the same time, I think we have to apply a consistent standard for how we treat allegations of sexual assault, and also be clear-eyed about how Donald Trump will use these allegations in the general election campaign,” said Claire Sandberg, who worked as Bernie Sanders’ organizing director this cycle. The silence from the Biden campaign has given Republicans an opening on an issue that was, in 2016, far more fraught for the GOP, when Trump was asked to answer for the more than two dozen women who alleged varying levels of sexual assault and harassment from him. The GOP argues Democrats aren’t being consistent, pointing to the aggressive questioning and coverage of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh when he faced an allegation of sexual assault. “The left, and their media allies, has one standard for Republicans and another standard for Democrats like Joe Biden,” said Steve Guest, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee. “The double standard is appalling.”  Trump himself has yet to address the issue, but Donald Trump Jr. has spent weeks highlighting the allegation on Twitter, as has Trump’s campaign manager Brad Parscale. Even some Trump antagonists within the GOP say the opportunity for the president and his allies is obvious. Rick Tyler, a former spokesman for Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and a prominent Trump critic, noted that the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent economic crash have “ruled out any prospect that Republicans could run on great economic times.” “And so what’s left? What’s left is scorched earth, and that means digging up anything they can about Biden,” he said. “They’re trying to make Joe Biden into something that’s worse than Donald Trump.” 
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Kansas Voter ID Law Ruled Unconstitutional

A federal appeals court panel ruled that a Kansas law requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote is unconstitutional and violates the Equal Protection Clause and National Voter Registration Act.The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals panel in Salt Lake City upheld the permanent injunction by U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson banning the statute’s use and enforcement of the requirement. The decision extends beyond Kansas to all six states covered by the 10th Circuit: Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah, and it mandates them to comply.  FILE – Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach speaks at an events center in Lenexa, Kansas, June 8, 2017.The law, pushed by former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, illegally mandated that voters show documentary proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or passport, to register to vote.The lawsuit was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Kansas, and Dechert LLP, on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Kansas and residents of Kansas. In June 2018, a previous federal trial court struck down the law after finding it violated the National Voter Registration Act and the U.S. Constitution and prompted the state’s appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.Other effortsThe legal battle rages beyond Kansas as members of the Republican Party across the country, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, have attempted to implement similar laws, saying their goal is eliminating in-person voter fraud.In January, Republican leaders in the Minnesota Senate were quoted as saying they planned to renew their push for a voter ID law, and in early April, Kentucky’s Republican-dominated legislation chose to require voters to show a government-issued ID.Studies have shown that in-person voter fraud is rare, and critics of voter ID, such as the ACLU, assert that the Republican efforts are an attempt to suppress voter turnout. Kansas caseIn reaching their verdict, the justices of the 10th Circuit found that the 31,089 Kansas voters whose registration applications were canceled or suspended proved that the law met the standards of a significant burden.In court filings, Kansas contested that the law was put forth with the sole interest in preventing voter fraud, arguing the requirement of proof of citizenship upholds the integrity of elections and does not pose a significant hurdle to voters. 
 
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Trump says China Wants Him to Lose Reelection Bid

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he believes China’s handling of the coronavirus is proof that Beijing “will do anything they can” to make him lose his reelection bid in November.In an interview with Reuters in the Oval Office, Trump said he was looking at different options in terms of consequences for China over the virus. “I can do a lot,” he said.Trump has been heaping blame on China for a global pandemic that has killed at least 60,000 people in the United States according to a Reuters tally and thrown the U.S. economy into a deep recession, jeopardizing his hopes for another four-year term.The Republican president, often accused of not acting early enough to prepare the United States for the spread of the virus, said he believed China should have been more active in letting the world know about the coronavirus much sooner.Asked whether he was considering the use of tariffs or even debt write-offs for China, Trump would not offer specifics.”There are many things I can do,” he said. “We’re looking for what happened.””China will do anything they can to have me lose this race,” said Trump. He said he believes Beijing wants his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, to win the race to ease the pressure Trump has placed on China over trade and other issues.Trump went on to say during the interview Wednesday that he does not believe opinion polls that show Biden leading in the 2020 race for the White House.He said he did not expect the election to be a referendum on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and added he was surprised the former vice president was doing well.”I don’t believe the polls,” Trump said. “I believe the people of this country are smart. And I don’t think that they will put a man in who’s incompetent.”Finally, Trump also said South Korea has agreed to pay the United States more money for a defense cooperation agreement but would not be drawn out on how much. 
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Biden Wins Ohio’s Mail-in Primary Delayed by Coronavirus

Joe Biden won Ohio’s presidential primary Tuesday, clinching a contest that was less about the Democratic nomination and more about how states can conduct elections in the era of the coronavirus. The primary was the first major test of statewide elections via mail amid an outbreak. There were reports of confusion but no widespread disruption. It wasn’t like Wisconsin earlier this month, when voters were forced to overlook social distancing guidelines to stand in line wearing masks to cast ballots. “Within the context of the threat of the virus, it’s a decision that we will have made the best of,” Republican Ken Blackwell, a former Ohio elections chief who chairs the bipartisan International Foundation for Electoral Systems, said of mail-in balloting. Overall turnout was surprisingly strong, said Secretary of State Frank LaRose. While his office said about 1.5 million votes had been cast as of midday Saturday, down sharply from the 3.2 million cast in Ohio’s 2016 presidential primary, he said some larger counties received tens of thousands of additional ballots Tuesday. “It was better than OK. It was great,” he said. The primary, originally scheduled for March 17, was delayed just hours before polls were supposed to open. Citing a “health emergency,” Republican Gov. Mike DeWine recommended that in-person balloting not be held until June 2. But amid legal challenges, officials moved balloting to this week while converting to a mail-in process since the state remains under a stay-at-home order. Most Ohioans casting absentee ballots had to run at least three pieces of mail — an application, a blank ballot and a completed one — through the U.S. Postal Service. Only homeless and disabled people were initially encouraged to cast in-person ballots at county election board offices, though anyone not receiving ballots by mail in time to participate could also turn up in person. Lynne Marshall, of Sylvania, opened her mailbox Tuesday and was disappointed to see that her ballot had not arrived. She then agonized over whether to cast a vote in person at the election board and put her health at risk or stay home and skip an election for the first time she can remember. “What should I do?” she asked. “I’m just really disgusted with it all. Of course, I’ll feel guilty if I don’t vote.” LaRose said that after he raised concerns last week, the Postal Service relocated a sorting facility into Ohio, searched meticulously for all in-transit election mail and deployed top-level executives to sites to oversee the effort. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law said it fielded calls and complaints. It called on Ohio to mail ballots directly to eligible voters in the future, as other states do, a proposal so far rejected by the Republican-controlled state Legislature. With his last competitor, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, leaving the race weeks ago, Biden has emerged as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, and the Ohio results were never in doubt. Still, moving to a mail-in primary on the fly was watched around the country as states with upcoming elections grapple with how to fulfill one of the most basic functions of American democracy, voting, while battling the coronavirus’s spread.Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders speaks to the press after loosing much of super Tuesday to former Vice President Joe Biden the previous night, in Burlington, Vermont on March 11, 2020.Some governors have suggested they would consider moving to an all-mail voting system for the November general election, something President Donald Trump has strongly opposed. Polling suggests that Democrats are now more in favor of their states conducting elections exclusively by mail than Republicans are — a partisan divide that has grown amid the coronavirus outbreak and may have been exacerbated by Trump’s opposition. Five states currently conduct all elections entirely by mail: Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Utah, but none had to adopt such practices amid a pandemic. Maryland was also balancing balloting and voter safety on Tuesday for a special election to finish the term of the late Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings. Democrat Kweisi Mfume, a former NAACP leader, defeated Republican Kimberly Klacik, returning to the seat that he held before Cummings. Most of the focus, though, was on Ohio, which also held congressional primaries. It’s traditionally a battleground state that has shifted to more consistently Republican in recent cycles. Trump won it by a surprisingly high 8 percentage points in 2016, after Barack Obama, with Biden as his running mate, carried the state twice. Jen Miller, the head of the League of Women Voters in Ohio, said it will be impossible to know how many people stayed home because they didn’t get a ballot in time. “We’ve had people waiting weeks and weeks,” Miller said. Meanwhile, Ohio’s early voting began Feb. 19, meaning Sanders was in a position to still pick up some of its delegates —though he was held to just a handful in Ohio. The senator has reminded his supporters that his name will be on the ballot in all upcoming races and urged them to vote for him so he can amass delegates and better shape the Democratic Party platform at its national convention in Milwaukee in August. But Sanders has endorsed Biden, and a group of his top advisers announced Tuesday that they were forming an outside political committee to promote the former vice president and progressive values. The efforts at unification of Democratic forces against Trump in November could defuse tensions heading into the party’s convention. Blackwell, the former Ohio election chief, said he didn’t see Tuesday’s results setting a precedent. “My opinion going forward is that no serious thought should be given to converting to mail-in balloting for the November election,” Blackwell said. “You lick an envelope and mail in a ballot, there’s all kinds of evidence that would suggest that there would be ballots lost, and because you’ve taken out the bipartisan oversight at the basic community level, you lose a degree of almost guaranteed legitimacy.” 
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Former Republican Amash Exploring Presidential Run

U.S. Congressman Justin Amash says he is exploring a presidential run as a Libertarian Party candidate. He announced his plans Tuesday, saying the country is ready for a president who brings people together and restores respect for the Constitution. Amash drew attention last July when he left the Republican Party to become an independent, citing a dissatisfaction with the state of partisan politics. He has also been a critic of President Donald Trump and joined Democrats in voting for Trump’s impeachment. The Libertarian Party welcomed Amash’s interest and said it anticipates a “robust debate” among several candidates. 
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COVID Watchdogs Struggle to Get Up and Running

More than a month after Congress approved a historic $2.2 trillion coronavirus recovery package, a patchwork of overlapping oversight bodies created to keep tabs on the funds have yet to get up and running even as hundreds of billions of dollars in emergency funds have been doled out.In response to the coronavirus outbreak, Congress has approved four emergency relief plans, including the gargantuan CARES Act on March 27 and a nearly $500 billion supplementary package approved just last week.The size and complexity of the funding led Congress to establish three oversight entities under the CARES Act: a special inspector general for pandemic recovery, a separate panel of inspectors general and a five-member Congressional Oversight Commission.Four weeks out, none of the oversight entities is fully functional, leaving hundreds of billions of dollars to flow out of government coffers with little oversight.What is more, with members of Congress out of town, the legislative branch has been unable to wield one of its most potent oversight tools: summoning officials to answer questions in open hearings.FILE – U.S. President Donald Trump signs the $2.2 trillion coronavirus aid package bill as he sits at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, March 27, 2020.”We’ve all but missed the opportunity to conduct oversight in real time as money is going out the door,” said Liz Hempowicz, Director of Public Policy at the Project for Government Oversight.Between rebate checks sent to most Americans, expanded unemployment benefits to states and loans to small businesses, at least $1.5 trillion has been spent to date, according to Romina Boccia of the Heritage Foundation in Washington. Overall, Congress has authorized more than $2 trillion of stimulus spending and loans.”What we don’t know is how many of the big business loans have been made and also how much money the Federal Reserve is lending,” Boccia said.Here is a look at the multiple oversight bodies and where they stand.Special COVID Inspector GeneralThe CARES Act stimulus package established a “Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery” to oversee $500 billion allocated for airlines and other large businesses.FILE – U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks in Washington, March 22, 2020.Trump’s nominee for the position, White House lawyer Brian Miller, faces stiff opposition from Democrats who say Miller is too close to the administration to serve as an independent watchdog over how the government spends billions of dollars. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called Miller “the wrong type of person to choose for this position.”It is unclear when the Senate will take up Miller’s nomination. Even before he nominated Miller, Trump, in a signing document, questioned the scope of the inspector general’s mandate, raising concerns about his administration’s willingness to cooperate with his office.Pandemic Recovery Accountability CommitteeThis is a separate panel of 20 inspectors general, tasked with oversight of all coronavirus recovery funds and the government’s response.Its members are drawn from the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), an umbrella organization of 75 federal inspectors general.The committee lacks a chairman since Trump ousted the nominee to head the panel, then-acting Pentagon inspector general Glenn Fine. It is unclear when the position will be filled. But on Monday, the committee announced Robert A. Westbrooks as its executive director to run its day-to-day operations.The committee will, in part, coordinate audits and investigations carried out by various agency watchdogs.Congressional Oversight CommissionLike the special inspector general, this five-member panel, established under the CARES Act, will be charged with keeping tabs on the $500 billion corporate fund controlled by the Treasury Department.In recent weeks, four commission members – two Democrats and two Republicans – have been appointed, yet House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have yet to settle on a candidate to chair the commission.FILE – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, left, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky bump elbows on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 12, 2020.For weeks, Bharat Ramamurti, a former staffer to Democrat Senator and erstwhile presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, served as the commission’s sole member and public face. He was credited with getting the Federal Reserve to make a major transparency commitment: agreeing to disclose monthly the names of loan recipients and their terms.House Select CommitteeSaying an additional lawyer of oversight was needed, House Democrats voted last week to establish a select committee to oversee the government response to the pandemic. With seven Democratic and five Republican members, the committee will have broad authority to investigate the administration’s use of the funds.While Democrats say the panel will serve as an overall watchdog over the recovery funds, administration officials and congressional Republicans have remained opposed, with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy dismissing it as “redundant.”Other oversight activitiesEven as the new oversight bodies struggle to get off the ground, watchdogs at several key federal agencies involved in the pandemic response, including the departments of Defense, Health and Human Services and Justice as well as the Small Business Administration, already have opened COVID-related inquiries.”Our office has been actively preparing for and performing oversight relative to the CARES Act,” said Sheldon Shoemaker, an assistant inspector general for the Small Business Administration.Last week, the SBA inspector general opened separate reviews of two lending programs funded under the CARES Act, Shoemaker said. In addition, the inspector general’s office has been working with federal prosecutors to combat fraud, he said.SBA Inspector General Hannibal “Mike” Ware, who is a member of the pandemic recovery committee, is expected to release his first report in early May.The Government Accountability Office, the non-partisan investigative arm of Congress which received $20 million for COVID-19 oversight, has launched multiple views and audits into a variety of issues, from student loan relief efforts to paycheck protection programs to the use of funds by various agencies.”We hit the ground running as soon as the act was passed,” said Nicole Angela Clowers, the managing director of the health care team at the GAO. 
 
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Virus, Stalled Economy Raise Democratic Hopes to Take US Senate

Steve Bullock was the lame-duck governor of solidly red Montana, fresh off a failed Democratic presidential bid, when he announced he’d challenge Republican Sen. Steve Daines for his seat. Days after declaring his candidacy last month, Montana’s first coronavirus cases appeared. That shifted the spotlight onto Bullock as he leads the state’s pandemic response, leaving Daines in the unusual position of a sitting senator competing for attention. “I look forward to when I can spend more time thinking about the campaign and doing that work,” Bullock said last week. Right now, he said, he’s making sure “lives are being saved.” The coronavirus, the resulting economic shutdown and President Donald Trump’s stumbles addressing the crises have abruptly scrambled this fall’s battle for Senate control. Democrats have rising hopes of gaining the minimum three seats they’ll need to capture a majority, while Republicans who once banked on a robust economy and improving Trump approval ratings are showing signs of nervousness. Old GOP assumptions about the political climate “are totally upside-down,” said GOP pollster Neil Newhouse. “Republicans have to be prepared for an all-out battle, and it’s going to be a challenge.” Reasons for Democratic optimismAlthough much can change by Election Day, favorable signs for Democrats are evident.  Self-described democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., ceded the Democratic presidential nomination to former Vice President Joe Biden, a relief to moderate Democratic candidates everywhere.  Democrats outraised Republicans in nine of 12 higher-profile Senate races in this year’s first quarter. Besides Bullock outperforming Daines, Democratic challengers raised more money than GOP Sens. Martha McSally of Arizona, Cory Gardner of Colorado, Susan Collins of Maine and Thom Tillis of North Carolina.FILE – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, April 21, 2020. McConnell faces fundraising challenges this year.Even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham raised less than long-shot Democratic opponents.  Underscoring the direction the political arrow now points, two major GOP committees reserved $100 million for autumn ads in eight states. The spending by the National Republican Senatorial Committee and Senate Leadership Fund is entirely for defending GOP incumbents except in Michigan, where Democratic Sen. Gary Peters faces well-funded GOP businessman John James.  The Senate Democratic campaign committee went on offense, reserving $31 million for spots challenging GOP incumbents McSally, Daines, Tillis and Iowa’s Joni Ernst. Trump’s ratings fallPolls this month indicate the potential peril for GOP candidates. Fewer than 1 in 4 surveyed said they highly trust Trump’s characterizations of the outbreak, an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey showed. Trump’s favorable rating tumbled to 43% in a mid-April Gallup poll, down from 49% two weeks earlier. A recent Republican National Committee survey of 17 battleground states showed Trump’s support eroding since the virus outbreak, a warning for GOP Senate candidates. The Republican senatorial committee sent candidates a 57-page memo by strategic communications firm O’Donnell & Associates, urging them to blame China for the pandemic and advising, “Don’t defend Trump, other than the China Travel Ban — attack China.” “More and more are signs the voters are looking for change, they’re looking for greater stability,” said J.B. Poersch, who runs the Senate Majority PAC, an outside ally to Democratic leadership. Republicans have more cashHappily for Republicans, their candidates have accumulated more cash than their Democratic challengers in most of the Senate’s closest races. Indications the economy’s revival may drag mean fundraising could be tough all year, helping those already boasting formidable bank accounts.  Both sides’ advisers say stay-at-home orders shackling most Americans’ movements generally disadvantage challengers, ominously for Democrats who must oust more incumbents to prevail.  Indefinitely eliminated are attention-grabbing public events and big-dollar fundraisers, forcing a reliance on virtual town halls and money-raising events. “All you can do is hold a Zoom meeting your supporters show up at and a few bored reporters,” Steven Law, who runs Republicans’ Senate Leadership Fund.  Republicans control the Senate 53-47 but are defending 23 of the 35 contested seats.  Yet all but two GOP-held seats at stake, Colorado and Maine, are from states Trump won in 2016, mostly easily. Even so, Republican seats in Georgia and Kansas are plausible Democratic targets. FILE – Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, September 10, 2019.Sen. Doug Jones of solidly Republican Alabama is the Democrats’ most endangered incumbent yet has banked a formidable $15 million. He narrowly won a 2017 special election against Republican Roy Moore, who faced accusations of sexually harassing teenagers decades ago when he was a prosecutor, which he denied. In Arizona, McSally has blamed China for covering up and not containing the disease. Gun control advocate and former astronaut Mark Kelly, her Democratic challenger, has faulted Republicans for trying to repeal former President Barack Obama’s health care law, arguing the virus makes its protections crucial.  FILE – Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, talks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, January 15, 2020.In Maine, Collins already faced a difficult reelection following her 2018 support for Brett Kavanaugh, Trump’s controversial Supreme Court pick. She’s mixed generally positive ads thanking local employers like L.L. Bean for producing protective masks with occasional slaps at Democratic challenger Sara Gideon, the Maine House speaker.  Daines is reaching Montana voters with telephone town halls and Facebook chats. “I’m focused on ensuring the voice of Montana is heard in federal policy,” he said.  While in the spotlight as governor, Bullock’s been pressured by the Trump administration and Daines to ease his statewide stay-at-home order. Bullock let some curbs lapse this week, citing health care and economic realities, not politics.  
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Ohio’s Mail-in Primary Tests Voting During Virus Outbreak

The first major test of an almost completely vote-by-mail election during a pandemic is unfolding Tuesday in Ohio, offering lessons to other states about how to conduct one of the most basic acts of democracy amid a health crisis.The process hasn’t been smooth as state officials have navigated election laws and the need to protect citizens and poll workers from the coronavirus. Ohio’s in-person primary was delayed just hours before polls were supposed to open last month, prompting legal challenges and confusion.Tuesday’s election replacing it requires voters to run at least three pieces of mail — an application, a blank ballot and a completed one — through the U.S. Postal Service.With Joe Biden emerging as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, there’s little suspense in the results. Ohio’s vote is instead being closely watched as a case study for how to proceed with elections if the pandemic doesn’t ease. States have taken drastically different approaches, with Wisconsin proceeding with in-person voting earlier this month and New York saying Monday it would cancel its presidential primary, which was scheduled for June.Some governors have suggested they would consider moving to an all-mail voting system for the November general election, something President Donald Trump has strongly opposed. The National Conference of State Legislatures says five states currently conduct all elections entirely by mail: Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Utah.As he prepared for the results, Ohio Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose warned the process could be bumpy.”A lot of things will look like election night, but then some things won’t,” LaRose said in an interview last week.There will still be some in-person voting on Tuesday. Ohio law guarantees that any voter who doesn’t receive a ballot they requested by the legal deadline has the right to vote in person, meaning they could appear at county boards if they don’t get one by Tuesday afternoon — or potentially sue.Maryland was also grappling with how to vote safely on Tuesday as polling centers opened to conduct a special election to finish the term of the late Rep. Elijah Cummings.But most of the focus was on Ohio, where the mail-in election is playing out at a time when support for such a process is rising. A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds Democrats are now much more likely than Republicans to support their state conducting elections exclusively by mail, 47% to 29%. In 2018, about half as many Democrats were in favor, and there was little difference in the views of supporters from each party.LaRose and Ohio’s Republican governor, Mike DeWine, have both been longtime supporters of increasing voting-by-mail options, but the political dynamics could change as the coronavirus redraws the political landscape.Trump has lately railed against expanding voting by mail, and many Republicans share his concerns. Roughly two-thirds of Republicans worry that voter fraud would be a major problem with all-mail voting, according to the AP-NORC poll. Two months ago, about as many described voter fraud as a major problem in U.S. elections in general. In fact, voter fraud is rare.Lynne Marshall, of Sylvania, Ohio, opened her mailbox Tuesday and was disappointed to see that her ballot had not arrived after a monthlong wait and countless calls to the state and local election offices.She spent the next minutes agonizing over whether to cast a provisional vote in person at the election board and put her health at risk or stay home and skip voting for the first time that she can remember.”I don’t know what to do,” she said. “What should I do? I’m just really disgusted with it all. Of course, I’ll feel guilty if I don’t vote.”Jen Miller, the head of the League of Women Voters in Ohio said it will be impossible to know how many people stayed home because they didn’t get a ballot in time.”I do suspect a lot of people are waiting to see if their ballot comes in the mail today,” said Miller, the organization’s state director. “We’ve had people waiting weeks and weeks.”One thing that won’t be in doubt Tuesday is the presidential primary results since Biden is the only candidate left in the race. Still, early voting began Feb. 19, so Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders could pick up Ohio delegates, despite suspending his campaign nearly three weeks ago. 
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Hillary Clinton Endorses Joe Biden for President

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday in his bid against President Donald Trump in the November national election.Clinton joined Biden in a videoconference on the coronavirus’s effect on women.“Just think what a difference it would make right now if we had a president who listened to the science,” Clinton said. “So, this is a moment where we need a leader like Joe Biden. Joe Biden has been preparing for this moment his entire life.”Clinton outpolled Trump by nearly 3 million votes in 2016 throughout the U.S., but the U.S. decides its presidential elections in the Electoral College, where the outcome in each of the 50 states is paramount.Clinton narrowly lost the votes in several key states, giving Trump all the electoral votes in those states and the national victory. The former first lady and Democratic Party presidential nominee shied away from wide attacks on Trump in the first two years of his presidency but has often criticized his performance in recent months.She is the latest key Democrat to endorse Biden, following all of Biden’s opponents for the party’s nomination and former President Barack Obama, under whom Biden served as vice president for eight years. 
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Husband of US Senator Describes His Bout with COVID-19

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and her husband, John Bessler, are describing his battle with coronavirus last month and the frustration of having a suffering loved one you cannot visit and comfort.In an interview with a Minneapolis television station Sunday, Bessler and Klobuchar described how the early symptoms — a fever and a shortness of breath, among other symptoms — hit him suddenly. After a week of self-quarantine at home, Bessler said he began coughing up blood. On March 20, he and Klobuchar agreed he should go to the hospital.Klobuchar said it was difficult enough when Bessler was home and she could not be in the same room with him to help. But she said not being able to visit him in the hospital was “against everything you want to believe.”Bessler has recovered. And after testing negative for the disease, he donated his blood plasma, from which doctors are collecting antibodies to treat other coronavirus patients, in hopes it will help them fight off the virus.Klobuchar, a Democrat, is the senior senator from Minnesota and was a candidate for the 2020 presidential nomination until ending her campaign earlier this year. 
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Court Tosses NY Case That Could Have Expanded Gun Rights

The Supreme Court sidestepped a major decision on gun rights Monday in a dispute over New York City’s former ban on transporting guns.The justices threw out a challenge from gun rights groups. It ruled that the city’s move to ease restrictions on taking licensed, locked and unloaded guns outside the city limits, coupled with a change in state law to prevent New York from reviving the ban, left the court with nothing to decide. The Supreme Court asked a lower court to consider whether the city’s new rules still pose problems for gun owners.The anti-climactic end to the Supreme Court case is a disappointment to gun rights advocates and relief to gun control groups who thought a conservative Supreme Court majority fortified by two appointees of President Donald Trump, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, might use the case to expand on landmark decisions from a decade ago that established a right to keep a gun at home for self-defense.But other guns cases remain in the high court’s pipeline and the justices could decide to hear one or more of those next term.
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Pelosi Formally Endorses Joe Biden for President 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has formally endorsed former U.S. vice president Joe Biden for the Democratic party’s presidential nomination. In a pre-recorded video statement released early Monday, she described Biden as “the personification of hope and courage.  She cited his experience helping to pass the Affordable Care Act and implementing the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to argue that he is well positioned to lead the country amid a global pandemic. While her endorsement is not a surprise, Pelosi chose to stay neutral during the Democratic primary process, repeatedly cautioning the party to keep its eye on the ultimate prize of defeating President Donald Trump in November. FILE – Democratic U.S. presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the 11th Democratic candidates debate of the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign, held in CNN’s Washington studios, March 15, 2020.Although Biden remains about 600 pledged delegates short of the 1,991 needed to win the Democratic nomination, all of his rivals in the party have suspended their campaigns or endorsed him, making his coronation this summer a near certainty. In her video statement Monday, she made a plea for party unity, saying “With so much at stake, we need the enthusiasm, invigoration and participation of all Americans — up and down the ballot, and across the country.”      
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AP-NORC Poll: Rising Support for Mail Voting Amid Pandemic

Americans’ support for mail-in voting has jumped amid concerns about the safety of polling places during the coronavirus pandemic, but a wide partisan divide suggests President Donald Trump’s public campaign against vote by mail may be resonating with his Republican backers.A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds Democrats are now much more likely than Republicans to support their state conducting elections exclusively by mail, 47% to 29%.  In 2018, about half as many Democrats were in favor, and there was little difference in the views of Democrats and Republicans on the question.  The survey also found a partisan divide on support for no-excuse absentee voting, the system in place in most states, including almost all the top presidential battlegrounds, even as a majority of Americans say they favor that practice.The increased partisanship in the debate over how America votes comes just as that question has been thrust into the forefront of American politics. As health officials warn about the risk of spreading the coronavirus at polling places, some in the Republican Party have tried to limit the expansion of mail voting, with Trump and others openly fretting that it may enable too many people to cast their ballots for the GOP to win in November.All states conduct elections differently, and only five states automatically mail ballots to every voter. But in response to the virus, some states — including Ohio on Tuesday — have shifted their primaries to virtually all-mail elections.  The Republican National Committee has been fighting some of those moves. Republicans successfully petitioned a New Mexico court to block the state from holding its June primary exclusively by mail, forcing the state to open some polling places and only send applications for absentee ballots to voters.  The Republican Attorney General in Texas argued unsuccessfully in a legal case that the coronavirus should not be an automatically accepted excuse for people seeking absentee ballots in that state.  Most prominently, the Republican-controlled Wisconsin legislature rebuffed a last-minute request to hold that state’s April 7 primary and state court election by mail. Democrats won a contested Supreme Court race, but not before shuttered polling locations left voters in long lines at polling places in Green Bay and Milwaukee, where only five of 183 stations were open.  But the debates over the primaries may only be a preview of the partisan battles ahead if the virus is still forcing stay-at-home orders and social distancing in November.  The poll finds that 39% of Americans favor conducting all-mail elections, up from 19% in 2018. Another 40% are opposed. But even more, 48%, favor a move to voting only by mail if the coronavirus outbreak is ongoing in November.The poll also shows 60% of Americans support allowing people to vote via absentee ballot without requiring them to give a reason if the outbreak is still happening. That includes 73% percent of Democrats and 46% of Republicans. Some 40% of Republicans are opposed.The partisan differences could have a strong impact across the presidential battleground states. Five of the top seven swing states — Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — have divided government, and skirmishes over voting have already broken out in several. In some, there are signs that Democratic areas are moving faster than GOP ones to embrace mail voting.In Wisconsin, Democrats have already started to bolster their mail voting operations for November. Reliably Democratic Milwaukee, the state’s largest city, will send every one of its 300,000 voters a request for an absentee ballot. Republicans, who have resisted a similar step statewide, acknowledge that Milwaukee’s move would put them at a disadvantage. “It makes winning Wisconsin harder,” said Andrew Hitt, chair of the state Republican Party, calling for intervention to “level the playing field.”  In Pennsylvania, Democratically-led areas are eager to expand absentee voting, but Republicans seem less so. The second-most populous county in the state, the Democratic bastion of Allegheny, which includes Pittsburgh, is sending absentee ballot requests to all its voters in its June primary.  The poll found roughly two-thirds of Republicans worried that voter fraud would be a major problem with all-mail voting. Two months ago, about as many described voter fraud as a major problem in U.S. elections in general. Widespread voter fraud in mail-in voting is uncommon.  Brynn Alexander, 36, who just moved with her husband to military housing in Alabama, is one of those who worries about security.  “How do you even identify that the mail got to the right person?” Alexander asked. She added that she favored exceptions for some, like her 70-year-old mother, but preferred votes at the polls.”It’s going to be better to make everybody feel confident with the results,” she said of in-person voting in the presidential election. “You don’t want one party or the other saying the other side cheated.”Meanwhile, only 29% of Democrats were worried about fraud being a major problem in an all-mail election, though another 41% described it as a minor problem. Rick Reinesch, a 59-year-old IT technician in Austin, Texas, said Republicans needlessly pump up worries about voter fraud. “It’s trying to kill a gnat with a sledgehammer,” he said.  Paul Miller, 81, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, is wary of voting by mail. He’s accustomed to going to the polls on Election Day. “I’m just not sold on mail-in voting,” the Republican and retired factory worker said.But Miller may bow to the reality that he shouldn’t be face-to-face with poll workers anytime soon and cast his vote by absentee.”I’m not dead set against mail,” Miller said. “I could be persuaded.” 
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Trump’s Focus on His Base Complicates Path to Reelection

During times of war and strife, national leaders often aim to unite a broken country and, in the process, broaden their appeal beyond their most loyal supporters. Not President Donald Trump.
Confronting a pandemic that has upended his presidency and threatened his reelection prospects, Trump has focused almost exclusively on tending to his base.
While the coronavirus has claimed the lives of more than 54,000 Americans, eliminated more than 20 million jobs and dashed the routines of daily life for nearly everyone, Trump has leveled attacks on Democrats. He’s blamed former President Barack Obama’s team for his own administration’s failures, picked fights with reporters and thrown rhetorical bombs meant to thrill his hardcore supporters.
During a particularly rough stretch last week, Trump pledged to bar foreigners from entering the country. The executive order Trump ultimately signed was less severe than he suggested, but it still gave him a chance to highlight action on an issue that’s central to his political brand.  
Four years after Trump captured the White House by perfectly threading narrow victories in critical battleground states, he is betting that a relentless focus on his base will yield a repeat performance.
It’s a risky strategy because Trump’s standing in some of those states shows signs of weakening. And there’s little evidence to suggest he has significantly broadened his appeal in other places to offset those vulnerabilities.
The pandemic hasn’t changed that.
“It drives me crazy, frankly, because part of being the president is to rise above, to ignore certain things,” said Ari Fleischer, who served as White House press secretary under President George W. Bush, whose lukewarm approval ratings soared after his handling of the Sept. 11 attacks. “And I think at a time like this he should leave a lot of the gauntlets on the ground and rise above. But that’s not him.”
Fleischer said that, while the virus puts limits on the president’s ability to travel and the political environment is far more polarized today than it was in the early 2000s, Trump’s White House could be appealing to the country as a whole with events honoring doctors, nurses and front-line workers that “send helpful, meaningful signals that we are one nation and we can play a meaningful part.”
Other modern presidents have looked to transcend partisan boundaries at a time of crisis or tragedy, including Bill Clinton in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, Ronald Reagan after the Challenger space shuttle explosion and Lyndon Johnson after John F. Kennedy’s assassination.
“I’m surprised the administration isn’t doing this as well,” Fleischer said.
Other Republicans, however, believe Trump is playing it right. Stephen Bannon, the president’s former chief strategist, believes 2020 is a “base election” year and thinks Trump can broaden his support because of a “new nationalism” born in the wake of a pandemic that began in China. He predicted Americans would rally around their president during a period of crisis.
“Trump is a wartime president,” Bannon said.
Trump’s approval rating has remained remarkably steady over the course of his presidency, with about 42% of poll respondents saying they approve of the job he’s doing as president, according to a new The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That’s even as many question the veracity of his statements and believe he is not listening to health experts enough during the crisis.
But the coronavirus has threatened to rewrite the Electoral College map, and Trump’s campaign has become concerned about losing support in several key swing states, particularly Florida and Wisconsin. Some advisers have all but written off Michigan, which Trump captured in 2016 by fewer than 11,000 votes. He is now locked in a feud with the state’s Democratic governor.
In former Vice President Joe Biden, Trump faces a presumptive Democratic nominee whose promises of across-the-aisle outreach and pragmatic, experienced-based management may play well in several battleground states at a time of crisis. That includes Arizona, which has a vast suburban population uneasy with the constant Trump drama, tweets and base plays.
“People are going to look for stability,” said Doug Cole, a veteran Republican operative in Arizona who worked on John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. “Biden can capitalize on that.”
Trump campaign officials who requested anonymity to describe campaign strategy stressed that the election is still six months away, an eternity in politics. They noted polls can be be wrong or change, especially if the pandemic wanes or the economy rebounds. And they said the campaign believes that voters will credit Trump for the strong economy before the pandemic hit, even as they have expressed worry that he could be pushing to open things too quickly and that any resulting deaths will not be forgiven by voters in November.
But there are warning signs. Several Republicans who mimicked Trump’s 2016 strategy by focusing on immigration failed to win congressional or governors’ races.
“Whatever impact it has in boosting turnout among core supporters, it boosts the backlash vote even more,” said Frank Sharry, the executive director of the liberal immigration advocacy group America’s Voice.  
He noted the 2017 Virginia’s governor’s race, in which GOP nominee Ed Gillespie tried to feather candidate Ralph Northam with ads on immigration. The strategy backfired, as it did in many 2018 midterm races.
Jason Miller, who served as communications director for Trump’s 2016 campaign, countered that last week’s immigration executive order may appeal to the base. But he said it was also aimed at helping African Americans, Hispanics, women and immigrants already in the U.S. legally who typically hold lower-wage jobs at a higher percentage than those is what is typically viewed as the president’s base.  
Trump’s campaign has been trying to chip away at Democrats’ advantage with those demographic groups, even as advocates counter that minority immigrants will suffer by being prevented from having their parents and other family members join them in the country.  
Miller also defended the president’s refusal to put petty political riffs aside at a time of national crisis, arguing that some fights are worth picking and that Trump will be judged, not on his daily briefings, but on how the country eventually recovers from the crisis.
“He is bringing the country together with determinative action and results,” he said.
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White House Could Alter Virus Briefings to Limit Trump Role

For the first time, U.S. President Donald Trump cut off his daily coronavirus task force briefing on Friday without taking any questions from reporters. It may not be the last time.There have been discussions within the White House about changing the format of the briefings to curtail the president’s role, according to four White House officials and Republicans close to the White House who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The briefings often stretch well beyond an hour and feature combative exchanges between Trump and reporters.Trump was angry after a day of punishing headlines Friday, largely about his comment at the previous evening’s briefing wondering if it would be helpful to inject disinfectant into people to fight the coronavirus. That idea drew loud warnings from health experts, who said the idea was dangerous, and sharp criticism from Democrats.Trump did answer questions from reporters earlier Friday and claimed that his suggestion about disinfectant had been “sarcastic.” That doesn’t square with a transcript of his remarks.For weeks, advisers have been urging the president to scale back his appearances at the briefings, saying that he should come before the cameras only when there is major news or a positive development to discuss, according to the officials. Otherwise, they suggested, he should leave it to Vice President Mike Pence and health officials to take the lead.Trump has been reluctant to cede the spotlight at the briefings, which are the closest thing he currently has to political rallies. He has talked up their robust television ratings and his ability to dominate the news cycle and drown out his likely general election opponent, Democrat Joe Biden.But advisers have argued that while the briefings may appeal to his most loyal base of supporters, they could be alienating some viewers, including senior citizens worried about their health. Officials at Trump’s reelection campaign have also noted a slip in Trump’s support in some battleground states and have expressed concerns that the briefings, which often contain inaccurate information, may be playing a role.White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the president had taken “countless questions” earlier in the day from reporters in the Oval Office. “The accessibility and transparency of this president is unprecedented,” she said.Trump, who is known for changing his mind, has not committed to any permanent change in the briefing format, the officials said.It was unclear if Trump’s decision not to take questions on Friday was connected to a kerfuffle in the briefing room moments before the task force presentation began. A White House official had asked that two reporters switch seats, which would have sent the CNN correspondent farther back in the room. CNN is a frequent target of Trump’s criticism.The reporters declined to move.  
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As US Coronavirus Deaths Mount, Trump’s Ratings Dip

As the U.S. coronavirus death toll mounts, President Donald Trump’s approval ratings are falling.Toward the end of March, when the death toll was relatively small, Trump’s favorability ratings inched closer to a split, with 50.2% disapproving of his presidency and 46.3% approving, according to a compilation of recent polls by the fivethirtyeight.com website.But since then, the gap in his approval ratings has widened, as news of the pandemic has consumed the country and Trump has held almost daily press conferences about efforts to combat it. The U.S. death toll has now topped 47,000.At the moment, 52.5% disapprove of his presidency and 43.5% approve, according to the fivethirtyeight site.Over the past nine days, a list shows Trump with negative ratings in 24 of 25 polls, with one tied at 50-50 on the approval-disapproval assessment.Another website, realclearpolitics.com, showed better results for Trump than fivethirtyeight, with an average of polls showing a 51.5% disapproval standing compared with 46% approval.Its list of 10 polls this month showed Trump in negative territory in eight of them, with two tied.More specifically, 50.1% of those polled viewed his handling of the coronavirus negatively, with 47.3% approving.Looking to next November’s presidential election, most U.S. polls show Trump trailing former Vice President Joe Biden, who has defeated two dozen other Democratic candidates for the right to face Trump.Biden led Trump nationally by 6 or 7 percentage points in three polls this week. 
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Biden’s Ties to Obama Could Hamper Appeal to Latino Voters

Joe Biden’s tenure as Barack Obama’s vice president is complicating his efforts to deepen ties with Latinos who could be critical to winning the White House.
 
For many Latinos, Biden’s embrace of the Obama years is a frightening reminder of when the former president ejected about 3 million people living in the U.S. illegally, earning him the moniker of “deporter in chief.”
 
That’s one reason Latinos overwhelmingly backed Bernie Sanders during the Democratic primary. But with the Vermont senator out of the race and Biden left as the presumptive Democratic nominee, Latinos face an agonizing choice. They could look past Biden’s resume and vote for him or sit out the election and risk another four years of President Donald Trump, who escalated his hard-line stance this week with an executive order freezing some immigration into the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic.
 
“The ‘Let’s go back to how things were’ for people who feel like they have a boot on their neck, it’s not always that compelling,” said Marisa Franco, director and co-founder of the Latino activist group Mijente, which made its first-ever endorsement when it backed Sanders for president.
 
The record number of deportations under Obama came as his administration sought to show it was serious about enforcement while waiting on Congress to approve an overhaul to the immigration system. But in the process, it deported a large percentage of people without criminal records, even while publicly saying its priority was removing criminals from the country.
 
Obama eventually gave up on Congress and changed tactics, extending temporary legal protections to young immigrants through Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, which is still being challenged in federal court.
 
Biden long defended the administration’s immigration policy, even telling one activist in South Carolina who decried deportations, “You should vote for Trump.” But just before losing the caucuses in heavily Hispanic Nevada in February, Biden conceded, “We took far too long to get it right.”
 
“I think it was a big mistake,” Biden said.
 
Domingo Garcia, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said some “in the more liberal side of the Latino community” view the issue as a “litmus test that’s something they’ve not forgotten.” But he said many activists see it as paling in comparison to Trump’s race baiting.
 
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., a leading progressive voice, has said she’ll vote for Biden in November even as she’s said he needs to pay close attention to Latino issues. Sanders has endorsed Biden and called on his base of loyal supporters to rally around the former vice president to ensure Trump’s defeat.
 
The Republican president isn’t toning down his approach to the issue of immigration, viewing it as a way to motivate his base. Trump’s latest executive order likely guarantees immigration will remain in the spotlight heading into the election.
 
The Trump administration deported about 267,260 people in fiscal year 2019, well below the single-year record of nearly 410,000 the Obama administration set in 2012. But Trump has increased the number of people jailed in the U.S. awaiting immigration court proceedings while sending around 60,000 back to Mexico while they wait for the same.
 
“Our community definitely understands and knows the consequences of having Trump as president,” said Laura Jiménez, the Biden campaign’s Latino engagement director. “This election is about our lives, our safety, our ability to thrive and be in this country and be accepted.”
 
About 32 million Hispanics will be eligible to vote in November, accounting for 13.3% of the electorate, outpacing African Americans to become the largest minority voting bloc for the first time, according to the Pew Research Center.
 
Biden’s campaign has increased the budget for Latino outreach efforts. He has called into Hispanic radio shows and held weekly “Unidos Con Biden,” or “United For Biden,” calls to engage Hispanic supporters. Lately, those have focused on speaking to Hispanic elected officials in states around the country about the fallout from the coronavirus.
 
In recent weeks, the campaign has begun using more nuanced approaches to target Latinos from an array of backgrounds since Cuban Americans have different concerns than those with ancestral roots in places such as Mexico, Puerto Rico or Venezuela.
 
Biden will soon begin vetting potential running mates who will likely include prominent Latinas such as Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada.
 
Still, the former vice president has not backed decriminalizing illegal border crossings, an issue on which he split from rivals including Sanders and former Obama administration housing chief Julián Castro during the primary.
 
Hispanics also represent a high number of uninsured Americans, meaning Sanders’ support for universal health coverage under “Medicare for All” appealed to many — another issue Biden hasn’t embraced. Younger Latinos tend to be major supporters of sweeping initiatives to fight climate change, which Sanders backed and Biden didn’t.
 
Since Sanders exited the race, his chief Hispanic strategist, Chuck Rocha, has launched a political action committee aiming to motivate Latino voters up and down the ballot, especially in battleground states like Pennsylvania. Rocha said that he had not spoken to the Biden campaign about Hispanic outreach but that such initiatives need to be well funded and start now, not mere weeks before the election when they can feel superficial.
 
“You do it with the same percentage of the budget that you spend talking to that white swing voter that voted for Donald Trump,” Rocha said. “Democrats and progressives need to understand that there’s way more untapped potential in engaging a Latino infrequent voter.” 
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US House Panel Delays Proxy Voting, Remote Meetings Proposal

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called off a planned Thursday vote that, if passed, would have allowed the U.S. House of Representatives to vote remotely for the first time in its history.  In a leadership conference call with members Wednesday, Pelosi announced that instead, a bi-partisan group of House lawmakers would review a proposal that would allow lawmakers to designate another member to cast their vote, and to allow committees to meet remotely.  Pelosi has been reluctant to change centuries-old traditions requiring members to vote in person, arguing technology still cannot guarantee airtight security. But the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic have forced a new reconsideration of the rules.  The measure also received opposition from Congressional Republicans, who have increased their calls in recent days to bring the House back into session. The U.S. House has not fully been in session since mid-March.  Rep. Tom Cole, the ranking member on the House Rules Committee, said in a statement Wednesday, “I believe we already have existing tools to continue the people’s work without introducing brand-new, constitutionally untested processes that risk erosion of our normal practice. For even a temporary measure to deal with a crisis today becomes the precedent we follow tomorrow.”FILE – A statue of President George Washington looks over an empty Capitol Rotunda, on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 9, 2020.The proposed measure would give the House more flexibility to conduct business in the case of a pandemic like the coronavirus, which has brought warnings against meeting in large groups.The speaker of the House would first have to declare that a pandemic emergency is in effect, and the authorization would last 60 days.  During that time, a House member may submit a letter specifying another lawmaker who may cast his or her vote after being given exact instructions.    Those designations could be altered or revoked at any time, and a clerk would keep a publicly available list.  For committee meetings, the measure would allow both House members and witnesses to appear remotely, and for lawmakers to cast votes.  House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer backed the proposal in a call with reporters Tuesday, saying that video conferencing technology could help assure the security of remote voting.  “This virus has forced us to do things in different ways and become radically different in many respects, for the safety and security of the health of all of our country. And therefore, we have to look at ways that perhaps we can still accomplish our business but do it in a way that is safe and secure for our members and for the public,” Hoyer said.  
 
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China’s Role in Coronavirus Pandemic Becoming Key US Election Issue

China’s alleged underreporting and misinformation about the coronavirus outbreak that originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan is becoming a heated topic in the U.S. presidential election. VOA’s Brian Padden reports that both President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, have launched dueling campaign ads accusing each other of being soft on China’s handling of the pandemic. 
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US House Panel to Consider Proxy Voting, Remote Meetings

A U.S. House of Representatives committee is meeting Wednesday to discuss a resolution proposing lawmakers be allowed to designate another member to cast their vote, and to allow committees to meet remotely. The proposed measure would allow for more flexibility in conducting House business in the case of a pandemic like the coronavirus outbreak that has brought warnings against meeting in large groups. The speaker of the House would first have to declare that a pandemic emergency is in effect, and the authorization would last 60 days. During that time, a member may submit a letter saying which other lawmaker may cast the vote for that member after being given exact instructions.   Those designations could be altered or revoked at any time, and a clerk would keep a publicly available list. For committee meetings, the resolution would allow both House members and witnesses to appear remotely, and for lawmakers to cast votes. 
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No Hoax: Bipartisan Probe Says US Intelligence Made Right Call on Russian Election Meddling

U.S. intelligence agencies got it right when they concluded Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, ultimately, with the goal of helping then-candidate Donald Trump, according to a just-released report by U.S. lawmakers. The report Tuesday, by the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee, is the fourth volume to be published as a result of the committee’s investigation into Russia and focused on the assessment made by the top U.S. intelligence agencies following the 2016 vote. “The Committee found no reason to dispute the Intelligence Community’s conclusions,” Intelligence Committee Chairman Sen. Richard Burr said in a statement. The report comes at what some current and former U.S. officials see as a critical time for the intelligence community, which has been without a permanent leader since former Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats stepped down last September. And this past February, U.S. President Donald Trump forced out then-Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire, following reports a top aide warned lawmakers during a classified briefing of renewed Russian attempts to meddle in the upcoming presidential election in November. Backing up intel community’s assessment Yet despite the Trump administration’s ongoing distrust of the U.S. intelligence agencies, U.S. lawmakers found no reason to doubt their work on Russian meddling four years ago. “The Committee finds the conclusions of the ICA (Intelligence Community Assessment) are sound and is reassured by the fact that collection and analysis subsequent to the ICA’s publication continue to reinforce its assessments,” the report stated. U.S. lawmakers said they relied on 25 interviews and hearings with more than 40 of the intelligence officers who were involved in crafting the January 2017 ICA on Russian’s interference in the 2016 election, a version of which was released to the public. The January 2017 unclassified assessment by the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the National Security Agency concluded Russia aimed to “undermine public faith in the U.S. democratic process” as part of a plot approved and directed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We further assess Putin and the Russian government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump,” the intelligence agencies wrote at the time, adding, “Putin and the Russian government aspired to help President-elect Trump’s election chances when possible.” Trump’s rejection of Russian meddling Since taking office, President Trump has consistently rejected the conclusions, repeatedly dismissing those and similar allegations that the Kremlin sought to get him elected as a hoax. Some of Trump’s most pointed criticism has been reserved for former top U.S. officials, including fired FBI Director James Comey, former National Intelligence Director James Clapper and former CIA Director John Brennan, whom he described as “political hacks.” On Russia Meddling in US Election, Where Do Trump and US Intel Community Stand?

        The issue of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election followed President Donald Trump on his 12-day trip through five Asian nations.On Saturday, when asked whether it came up during his conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Da Nang, Vietnam, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, “He said he didn’t meddle; he said he didn’t meddle. I asked him again. 

He has also cited Putin’s own denials of the allegations. “He said he didn’t meddle,” Trump told reporters following a conversation with Putin in Vietnam in 2017. “He said he didn’t meddle. I asked him again. You can only ask so many times.” “President Putin says it’s not Russia,” Trump added during a joint news conference during their July 2018 summit in Helsinki. “I don’t see any reason why it would be.” Trump Declines to Back US Intel on Russia Meddling

        Donald Trump, standing alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin, has declared he cannot see any reason to believe Moscow meddled in the election that led to him becoming U.S. president in 2016.Every major U.S. 

Still, the Senate Intelligence Committee analysis found the work done by the U.S. intelligence community on Russian interference was sound. The 2017 intelligence assessment “reflects proper analytic tradecraft despite being tasked and completed within a compressed timeframe,” lawmakers concluded. “Analysts were under no politically motivated pressure to reach specific conclusions.” Steele dossier Committee lawmakers also downplayed concerns about the intelligence community’s use of a controversial dossier often cited by Trump supporters as evidence the FBI unfairly targeted members of his campaign. The dossier, compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele, was paid for by Democratic party members seeking to elect Trump’s 2016 opponent, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Information included in the footnotes of a recently declassified Justice Department report indicate the dossier may have contained Russian disinformation. But the Senate Intelligence report said the dossier, while included in an annex to the 2017 intelligence assessment, was viewed with skepticism. “Information provided by Christopher Steele to the FBI was not used in the body of the ICA or to support any of its analytic judgment,” it said.  “It was unverified information and had not been disseminated as serialized intelligence reporting.” “Even though the [@FBI] Assistant Director suggested that “the FBI didn’t want to stand behind it,” it qualified for this directive” per the Senate report “…the directive from the President to include all the information the IC had on Russian involvement” pic.twitter.com/c5FTOc2r53— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) April 21, 2020 On the Steele dossier, former @FBI Dir James Comey told the Senate Intel Committee he was “agnostic as to whether it was footnoted in the document itself, put as an annex” pic.twitter.com/EddB7zUSzI— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) April 21, 2020The Senate report is not the first to support the intelligence community’s conclusions on Russian interference in the 2016 election. A 2018 report by the same committee found the intelligence work to be “sound.” An investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, which Trump labeled as a “witch hunt,” likewise concluded last April that while there was no evidence to establish any coordination between the Kremlin and members of the Trump campaign, “the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome.” Still, some Trump supporters said Tuesday that the new Senate report continues to overlook concerns about the intelligence community’s process. 1/ This report reads like a whitewash, Ken, that is, what can be read – over half of it is blacked out. These para are very troubling. The IC often writes complex assesssments on short timelimes. Why were the analysts for the ICA limited to 2 dozen from only 3 agencies? pic.twitter.com/eAv5nd0tnX— Fred Fleitz (@FredFleitz) April 21, 2020“This report reads like a whitewash,” Fred Fleitz, a former CIA analyst who now heads the Center for Security Policy, said on Twitter.I’m told there were CIA dissenters who were subjected to political pressure and that a very senior CIA official disavowed this ICA, calling it “an embarrassment.”— Fred Fleitz (@FredFleitz) April 21, 2020“I’m told there were CIA dissenters who were subjected to political pressure,” he added.  
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