alternet--2020-10-10--Bill Barr battles the rule of law: In this war, there are no bystanders

`` With your law degrees , you will have immense power to do great harm , '' Harvard Law Professor Duncan Kennedy admonished our one-L torts class in 1976 .
A few months later , former President Richard M. Nixon ( JD , Duke , '37 ) — who thought Watergate had been a political `` witch hunt '' — uttered his infamous line , `` Well , when the president does it , that means it is not illegal . ''
And his former attorney general , John N. Mitchell ( JD , Fordham , '38 ) , was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years after that class , United States Attorney General William P. Barr ( JD , George Washington , '77 ) has driven home the gravity of Prof. Kennedy 's admonition .
When the story of the Trump era is written , history will pose a single defining question to every American lawyer : In the fight to preserve the rule of law , which side were you on ?
America has seen which side William Barr is on .
As the nation 's top law enforcement officer , the attorney general represents the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' Early in his tenure , Barr jettisoned that role .
Operating as Trump 's personal advocate , Barr has abused the power of his office to undermine the Trump-Russia investigation .
Although troublesome , Barr 's actions are best viewed as a case study in his modus operandi .
What Barr has done to that investigation and its key players , he can do to anything and anyone .
That makes Barr 's methods ominous for the rule of law itself .
Hiring Barr was no accident .
Early in 2017 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Trump feared that he was losing control of the Trump-Russia investigation .
He was furious at then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions ' ( JD , Alabama , 73 ) for recusing himself from the ongoing probe .
Referring to his former personal attorney , notorious fixer , and top aide to Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy ( R-WI ) during the investigations of communist activity in the 1950s , Trump lamented , `` Where 's my Roy Cohn ? ''
A year later , he got his answer .
Barr sent Deputy Attorney General @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '89 ) an unsolicited 19-page memo challenging the premise of Mueller 's obstruction of justice investigation and urging that the special counsel should not even be permitted to question Trump .
In William Barr , Trump had finally found his Roy Cohn .
First came the lies and deceptions .
According to The Washington Post , as of July 9 , 2020 , Trump had made more than 20,000 `` false or misleading claims '' since assuming office .
Like Trump , Barr understands the rhetorical and psychological concepts of primacy and repetition @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on an important topic has the upper hand in controlling the resulting narrative , regardless of its veracity .
From his first days in office , Barr has reinforced Trump 's false assertions that the Trump-Russia investigation never should have happened .
In the maelstrom that followed , truth became a casualty .
So it 's important to start with a brief reprise of the Mueller report 's key conclusions : '' [ T ] he Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ 5 ) The Trump campaign `` expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts . ''
( Vol .
I , p. 5 ) Trump tried repeatedly to obstruct the investigation into his campaign ties to Russia .
And Mueller concluded , `` [ I ] f we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice , we would so state .
Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards , however , we are unable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime , it also does not exonerate him . ''
( Vol .
II , p. 2 ) Barr 's dissembling prevented the truth from gaining traction .
Two days after Mueller gave Barr his final report confidentially — including summaries suitable for public dissemination — Barr sent a letter to Congress with his own misleading `` summary '' of Mueller 's findings .
It was so deceptive that Mueller himself complained to Barr immediately , saying that Barr 's letter `` did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and substance of this Office 's work and conclusions . ''
The result , Mueller wrote , `` is public confusion about critical aspects of the results of our investigation .
`` But public confusion was the objective because it led to public indifference .
For another three weeks , Barr did not release even a redacted version of Mueller 's report , and Mueller 's dissenting letter to Barr did not surface until two weeks after that .
During the intervening month-and-a-half , Barr 's mischaracterizations became the only story of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Primacy gave Barr the edge and repetition then took over .
Immediately , Trump used Barr 's spin to reinforce his big lie .
`` No collusion , No obstruction , Complete and Total EXONERATION , '' Trump tweeted — three lies in a single post .
Then Barr made things worse — or from Trump 's perspective , better .
Two hours before releasing a redacted version of Mueller 's report , Barr held a press conference to spin its conclusions again .
He repeated Trump 's false `` no collusion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Barr also made this disingenuous claim : `` The White House fully cooperated with the special counsel 's investigation , providing unfettered access to campaign and White House documents , directing senior aides to testify freely , and asserting no privilege claims .
And at the same time , the president took no act that in fact deprived the special counsel of the documents and witnesses necessary to complete his investigation . ''
From its inception , Trump attacked Mueller 's investigation and repeatedly pressured then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions and White House @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , '94 ) to curtail or terminate it .
( Vol .
II , pp .
77-120 ) Mueller said Trump 's written answers to his questions were `` inadequate . ''
( Vol .
II , C-2 ) Trump dangled pardons aimed at influencing key witnesses , including his former national security adviser Mike Flynn , former campaign chairman Paul Manafort ( JD , Georgetown , '74 ) , and a person whose name was initially redacted from Mueller 's report but who we now know is Trump 's longtime confidant , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ influence and intimidate his former personal attorney , Michael Cohen ( JD , Thomas M. Cooley , '91 ) .
( Vol .
II , pp .
120-156 ) In 1789 , Thomas Jefferson wrote that a well-informed electorate is a prerequisite to democracy .
Barr kneecapped the truth .
When the redacted version of Mueller 's report finally appeared , The Washington Post awarded him `` Three Pinocchios '' for his `` incomplete or misleading '' descriptions of Mueller 's investigation and conclusions .
But Barr had withheld even a redacted version @ @ @ @ @ @ @ irrevocably infected the body politic .
Fortunately , the rule of law has courageous defenders who honor the oath that every attorney takes to uphold the rule of law .
In an opinion on a Freedom of Information Act request for an unredacted copy of Mueller 's report , U.S. District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton blasted Barr 's pre-release `` distortions '' and `` lack of candor . ''
In a remarkable ruling , the respected federal judge wrote that he could not trust the attorney general of the United States : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Barr released to the public the summary of Special Counsel Mueller 's principal conclusions , coupled with the fact that Attorney General Barr failed to provide a thorough representation of the findings in the Mueller Report , causes the Court to question whether Attorney General Barr 's intent was to create a one-sided narrative about the Mueller Report — a narrative that is clearly in some respects substantively at odds with the redacted version of the Mueller Report . ''
( Elec .
Privacy Info .
Ctr .
v. US Dept .
of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
p. 17-18 ( D.D.C .
Mar 5 , 2020 ) Judge Walton could not reconcile `` certain public representations made by Attorney General Barr with the findings in the Mueller Report . ''
The inconsistencies caused him `` to seriously question whether Attorney General Barr made a calculated attempt to influence public discourse about the Mueller Report in favor of President Trump despite certain findings in the redacted version of the Mueller Report to the contrary . ''
( Op .
p. 19 ) The court 's Mar .
5 , 2020 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ As Jonathan Swift wrote more than two centuries ago , `` Falsehood flies , and truth comes limping after it . ''
With Barr 's help , Trump created a narrative that was at odds with the evidence set forth in Mueller 's report .
Barr had fired his first bullet at the rule of law and it was a bulls-eye .
But lies and false spin were just Barr 's opening gambit .
Trump wanted the entire investigation discredited — destroyed root and branch .
Barr quickly weaponized the Justice Department .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ vehicle to pursue Trump 's attacks on those responsible for launching the investigation in the first place .
In a revealing exchange on May 1 , 2019 , Sen. Kamala Harris ( D-CA , California-Hasting , '89 ) asked Barr if `` the president or anyone at the White House ever asked or suggested that you open an investigation of anyone . ''
Barr stuttered , stammered , and asked her to repeat the question .
`` It seems you 'd remember something like that and be able to tell us , '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to grapple with the word 'suggest , ' '' Barr said .
`` I mean there have been discussions of , of matters out there , that , uh , they 've not asked me to open an investigation . ''
`` You do n't know , '' Harris said .
Sen. Harris might have sensed where Trump and Barr were heading .
Unable to erase the proof that Mueller had found , they focused on undermining the investigation itself as illegitimate and attacking the investigators as `` corrupt . ''
Immediately after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ May 2017 , acting Director Andrew McCabe ( JD , Washington Univ .
– St. Louis , '93 ) authorized the Trump-Russia counterintelligence probe .
Two years later , McCabe became a poster child for Trump and Barr 's abuse of power .
Even prior to Barr 's appointment , a team of prosecutors had investigated whether McCabe had lied to investigators about improper media leaks concerning an FBI investigation into the Clinton Foundation .
Those prosecutors concluded that they could not win a conviction , so Trump 's chosen US attorney for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( JD , Yale , '98 ) , brought in another team to go after McCabe.For months , Liu 's office asked the judge handling the matter — U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton once again — for more time .
By then , Barr was the attorney general .
In a closed-door session on Sept. 30 , 2019 , Walton warned prosecutors to stop stringing McCabe along : '' I do n't think people like the fact that you got somebody at the top basically trying to dictate whether somebody should be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a banana republic when we go down that road… '' Judge Walton added , `` I just think the integrity of the process is being unduly undermined by inappropriate comments and actions by people at the top of our government .
I think it 's very unfortunate .
And I think as a government and as a society we 're going to pay a price at some point for this . ''
( 9/30/2019 Tr.
, p. 5 ) Eventually , the case against McCabe fell apart again and a grand jury refused @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Barr left McCabe twisting in the wind of legal uncertainty .
Once again , defenders of the rule of law rose to the challenge .
The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington ( CREW ) won a court order requiring the release of the devastating Sept. 30 transcript of Judge Walton 's earlier comments .
On Feb. 14 , 2020 — the day that transcript became public — the Justice Department finally informed McCabe that he would not face charges .
As Barr 's efforts to investigate the investigators failed to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ assigned new teams to keep trying .
For example , Mueller had concluded that the FBI had opened its Trump-Russia investigation appropriately in late July 2016 .
( Mueller Rep. , Vol .
I , pp .
88-89 , fn .
465 ) Despite knowing Mueller and claiming to respect him as a friend and colleague for years , Barr appointed U.S. Attorney John Durham ( JD , Connecticut , '75 ) to second-guess that finding .
Barr also asked foreign leaders in the United Kingdom and Italy for help in gathering information @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work .
Trump personally made such a request of the Australian prime minister .
Likewise , in December 2019 , the Justice Department 's inspector general , Michael Horowitz ( JD , Harvard , '87 ) , completed an 18-month investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation .
Although his 400-page report found that the FBI had adequate reasons for opening the probe , Barr nevertheless asserted that the FBI 's reasons were insufficient and publicly attacked Horowitz 's conclusion .
Finally , beyond using the power of his office to pursue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deployed the Justice Department to help Trump 's convicted friends .
It was the final step in wiping the Russia investigation from the history books altogether .
But Barr 's manipulations also have profound implications for the rule of law .
When Mueller closed up shop in 2019 , then-U.S. Attorney Liu ( whose office supervised the McCabe investigation ) assumed control of several special counsel prosecutions and earlier referrals , including cases against Roger Stone and Mike Flynn .
But after Liu failed to get McCabe indicted , Barr replaced her with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Shea ( JD , Georgetown '91 ) — just as the Justice Department was finalizing its sentencing recommendation in Stone 's case .
In 2017 , Stone had lied to the House Intelligence Committee about his role concerning Trump campaign contacts with Russia .
Then he threatened a witness who was going to expose him .
A jury deliberated for about seven hours before convicting Stone on all seven counts of lying to Congress and witness tampering .
As Shea replaced Liu in the District of Columbia U.S. attorney 's office , career @ @ @ @ @ @ @ brief that followed federal sentencing guidelines recommending seven to nine years in prison .
Immediately , Trump tweeted that Stone 's plight was `` horrible , '' `` unfair , '' and a `` miscarriage of justice . ''
Hours later , an official at Justice Department headquarters said that the DC office 's recommendation was `` extreme '' and `` excessive '' and that a new memorandum would outline the government 's revised position .
Defending the rule of law , four of the federal prosecutors who signed the sentencing memorandum resigned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( Yale , JD , '04 ) — one of Stone 's prosecutors at trial — resigned from the Justice Department altogether .
That left Shea and his assistant who was newly assigned to the Stone case to file a revised memorandum asserting that the government 's previously recommended sentence `` could be considered excessive and unwarranted . ''
The following day , Trump congratulated Barr for `` taking charge '' of the Stone case , `` which perhaps should not even been brought . ''
Defenders of the rule of law fought @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the former chief of the criminal fraud section of the Justice Department , Andrew Weissmann ( JD , Columbia , '84 ) — an appointee of President George H. W. Bush — said he could think of no instance where he had even heard of the attorney general reaching into a single criminal case to weigh in on a sentencing submission .
Former Attorney General Eric Holder ( JD , Columbia , '76 ) called Barr 's direct intervention `` unprecedented , wrong , and ultimately dangerous . ''
`` Public confusion was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public indifference '' The most damning criticism came from Donald Ayer ( JD , Harvard , '75 ) , who had served as President George H. W. Bush 's deputy attorney general and Barr 's boss at one point .
On Feb. 17 , 2020 , Ayer wrote in The Atlantic : '' All of this conduct — including Barr 's personal interventions to influence or negate independent investigations or the pursuit of criminal cases , and his use of the department 's resources to frustrate the checks and balances provided by other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of law as we know it… '' Ayer concluded : `` Bill Barr 's America is not a place that anyone , including Trump voters , should want to go .
It is a banana republic where all are subject to the whims of a dictatorial president and his henchmen .
To prevent that , we need a public uprising demanding that Bill Barr resign immediately , or failing that , be impeached . ''
Trump and Barr were undeterred .
Trump attacked Stone 's judge , Amy Berman Jackson ( JD , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her `` the Judge that put Paul Manafort in SOLITARY CONFINEMENT , something that not even mobster Al Capone had to endure . ''
That was another Trump lie .
Prison officials had made the decision about Manafort 's federal housing .
But Barr did not defend Jackson against Trump 's attack , and the Judicial Code of Conduct prevented her from defending herself .
Instead , Barr gave an interview during which he sent Trump a message — the tweets were making it `` impossible '' for him to do his job @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of his job has become even clearer : obliterate all trace of the Russia investigation .
Mike Flynn became a stunning example of Barr 's methods .
On Dec. 1 , 2017 , Flynn pled guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors .
On Dec. 18 , 2018 , he again acknowledged his crimes in open court .
Judge Emmett G. Sullivan ( JD , Howard Univ.
, '71 ) did not hide his disgust .
`` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ FBI about three different topics , and you made those false statements while you were serving as the national security advisor , the President of the United States ' most senior national security aid .
I ca n't minimize that , '' the judge said .
`` Two months later you again made false statements in multiple documents filed pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act .
So , all along you were an unregistered agent of a foreign country , while serving as the national security advisor to the President of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , that undermines everything this flag over here stands for .
Arguably , you sold your country out . ''
But after Barr became attorney general two months later , he appointed the U.S. attorney in St. Louis , Jeff Jensen ( JD , St. Louis Univ.
, '98 ) , to review Flynn 's case .
In June 2019 , Flynn retained new a lawyer — Sidney Powell ( JD , North Carolina , '78 ) , a far-right conspiracy theorist .
Powell wrote directly to Barr , urging him to conduct @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's conviction .
A week later , Trump congratulated Flynn for retaining Powell , tweeting that she was a `` GREAT LAWYER . ''
Shortly before the July 2019 trial at which Flynn was supposed to be a cooperating witness against his former business associate , he suddenly became uncooperative and prosecutors did not call him to testify .
Powell then asked Judge Sullivan to nullify Flynn 's conviction on the grounds that prosecutors had engaged in misconduct — claims that the judge rejected .
As Flynn 's sentencing approached in early January @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of probation and urged Flynn 's incarceration for as long as six months .
As with Roger Stone , things then changed abruptly and mysteriously in Flynn 's favor .
And as with Stone , Barr and his confidant , interim US Attorney for the District of Columbia Timothy Shea , made it happen .
On May 7 , Shea 's office took the unprecedented step of moving to drop all charges against Flynn .
Shea alone signed the motion with no line prosecutors joining .
It included no affidavits or declarations supporting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ motion to vacate the government 's prior , contrary filings and representations accompanied the filing .
The defenders of the rule of law stepped forward again .
One of Flynn 's prosecutors withdrew from the case and Judge Sullivan invited amicus briefs on the unusual motion .
Then he assigned a former federal judge to oppose the Justice Department 's move and to determine whether Flynn should be found in criminal contempt for lying to the court when he had pled guilty — twice .
Flynn 's attorney sought a writ of mandamus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of appeals .
That , in turn , forced Judge Sullivan to hire an attorney , Beth Wilkinson ( JD , Virginia , '87 ) , to answer the mandamus petition .
The circle was complete : A judge defending the rule of law now needed his own lawyer to defend himself .
In her brief on Judge Sullivan 's behalf , Wilkinson wrote , `` It is unprecedented for an Acting U.S. Attorney to contradict the solemn representations that career prosecutors made time and again , and undermine the district court 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on his own to dismiss the charge years after two different federal judges accepted the defendant 's plea . ''
What began in March 2019 with Barr 's false spin and outright lies to assuage a president 's obsession with the Russia investigation had exploded into a multidimensional assault on the rule of law itself .
No limiting principle has guided Barr 's abuses , but he has encountered resistance .
Individually and together , attorneys — especially litigators — have stepped forward : More than 1,000 former federal prosecutors from Republican and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that , but for the fact that Trump was a sitting president , Mueller 's proof would have led to Trump 's indictment for obstruction of justice .
In connection with Roger Stone 's sentencing , more than 2,600 former prosecutors and other DOJ attorneys from Republican and Democratic administrations signed an open letter condemning Barr for `` interference in the fair administration of justice , '' `` openly and repeatedly flouting '' the fundamental principle of `` equal justice under law , '' and calling on Barr to resign .
They wrote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ power of law enforcement to punish their enemies and reward their allies are not constitutional republics ; they are autocracies . ''
The president of the New York State Bar Ass ' n issued a statement saying , `` The intervention by senior Department of Justice officials in the sentencing of Roger Stone is an assault on a bedrock principle of the rule of law — the apolitical administration of justice .
Our nation was founded on the principle that everyone must be treated equally in the eyes of the law… '' More @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Republican and Democratic administrations signed an open letter stating that Barr had `` once again assaulted the rule of law '' in seeking the dismissal of Flynn 's case .
`` Attorney General Barr 's repeated actions to use the Department as a tool to further President Trump 's personal and political interests have undermined any claim to the deference that courts usually apply to the Department 's decisions about whether or not to prosecute a case , '' they wrote .
Judge Sullivan and the appeals court received numerous amicus briefs supporting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when deciding whether to accept the government 's motion to dismiss the federal criminal charges against Flynn .
Filings in support of the judge came from former federal judges , former Watergate prosecutors , legal scholars , and the New York City Bar Ass ' n .
ABA President Judy Perry Martinez issued a statement declaring , `` Public officials who personally attack judges or prosecutors can create a perception that the system is serving a political or other purpose rather than the fair administration of justice .
It is incumbent upon public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , whose sworn duty it is to uphold the law , to do everything in their power to preserve the integrity of the justice system . ''
What 's next ?
Federal judges enjoy lifetime tenure that prevents Trump from purging the bench of his perceived judicial enemies .
But Trump and his key Senate enabler with a law degree , Sen. Mitch McConnell ( JD , Kentucky , '67 ) , have boasted about filling federal judgeships at a brisk pace .
Those judges must demonstrate their independence .
With their actions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reaffirm that `` equal justice under law '' and `` no one is above the law '' are not empty platitudes , but guiding principles of our democracy .
Pundits often understate Barr 's conduct as violating `` norms . ''
It is more accurate to say that he and Trump are at war with the rule of law .
Federal judges and litigators throughout the country have become first-responders in the fight .
The front lines have formed in courtrooms throughout the country , but lawyers away from the immediate field of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ So which side are you on ?
In this war , there are no bystanders .
This article appears in the Fall 2020 issue of Litigation – The Journal of the Section of Litigation of the American Bar Association .

"With your law degrees, you will have immense power to do great harm," Harvard Law Professor Duncan Kennedy admonished our one-L torts class in 1976.
A few months later, former President Richard M. Nixon (JD, Duke, '37) — who thought Watergate had been a political "witch hunt" — uttered his infamous line, "Well, when the president does it, that means it is not illegal." And his former attorney general, John N. Mitchell (JD, Fordham, '38), was headed to prison.
More than 40 years after that class, United States Attorney General William P. Barr (JD, George Washington, '77) has driven home the gravity of Prof. Kennedy's admonition. When the story of the Trump era is written, history will pose a single defining question to every American lawyer: In the fight to preserve the rule of law, which side were you on?America has seen which side William Barr is on. As the nation's top law enforcement officer, the attorney general represents the "People of the United States." Early in his tenure, Barr jettisoned that role.
Operating as Trump's personal advocate, Barr has abused the power of his office to undermine the Trump-Russia investigation. Although troublesome, Barr's actions are best viewed as a case study in his modus operandi. What Barr has done to that investigation and its key players, he can do to anything and anyone. That makes Barr's methods ominous for the rule of law itself.
Hiring Barr was no accident. Early in 2017, before special counsel Robert Mueller's appointment, Trump feared that he was losing control of the Trump-Russia investigation. He was furious at then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions' (JD, Alabama, 73) for recusing himself from the ongoing probe. Referring to his former personal attorney, notorious fixer, and top aide to Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy (R-WI) during the investigations of communist activity in the 1950s, Trump lamented, "Where's my Roy Cohn?"
A year later, he got his answer. Barr sent Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein (JD, Harvard, '89) an unsolicited 19-page memo challenging the premise of Mueller's obstruction of justice investigation and urging that the special counsel should not even be permitted to question Trump. In William Barr, Trump had finally found his Roy Cohn.
First came the lies and deceptions. According to The Washington Post, as of July 9, 2020, Trump had made more than 20,000 "false or misleading claims" since assuming office. Like Trump, Barr understands the rhetorical and psychological concepts of primacy and repetition. Whoever speaks first and most frequently on an important topic has the upper hand in controlling the resulting narrative, regardless of its veracity.
From his first days in office, Barr has reinforced Trump's false assertions that the Trump-Russia investigation never should have happened. In the maelstrom that followed, truth became a casualty. So it's important to start with a brief reprise of the Mueller report's key conclusions:"[T]he Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome." (Vol. I, p. 5)
The Trump campaign "expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts." (Vol. I, p. 5)
Trump tried repeatedly to obstruct the investigation into his campaign ties to Russia.
And Mueller concluded, "[I]f we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state. Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, however, we are unable to reach that judgment… Accordingly, while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him." (Vol. II, p. 2)
Barr's dissembling prevented the truth from gaining traction. Two days after Mueller gave Barr his final report confidentially — including summaries suitable for public dissemination — Barr sent a letter to Congress with his own misleading "summary" of Mueller's findings. It was so deceptive that Mueller himself complained to Barr immediately, saying that Barr's letter "did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance of this Office's work and conclusions." The result, Mueller wrote, "is public confusion about critical aspects of the results of our investigation."But public confusion was the objective because it led to public indifference. For another three weeks, Barr did not release even a redacted version of Mueller's report, and Mueller's dissenting letter to Barr did not surface until two weeks after that. During the intervening month-and-a-half, Barr's mischaracterizations became the only story of Mueller's findings, and they stuck. Primacy gave Barr the edge and repetition then took over.
Immediately, Trump used Barr's spin to reinforce his big lie. "No collusion, No obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION," Trump tweeted — three lies in a single post.
Then Barr made things worse — or from Trump's perspective, better. Two hours before releasing a redacted version of Mueller's report, Barr held a press conference to spin its conclusions again. He repeated Trump's false "no collusion" meme four times.
On obstruction, Barr also made this disingenuous claim: "The White House fully cooperated with the special counsel's investigation, providing unfettered access to campaign and White House documents, directing senior aides to testify freely, and asserting no privilege claims. And at the same time, the president took no act that in fact deprived the special counsel of the documents and witnesses necessary to complete his investigation."
Here's the truth:
From its inception, Trump attacked Mueller's investigation and repeatedly pressured then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions and White House counsel Don McGahn (JD, Widener, '94) to curtail or terminate it. (Vol. II, pp. 77-120)
Trump refused Mueller's requests for an interview. (Vol. II, pp. C-1-2)
Mueller said Trump's written answers to his questions were "inadequate." (Vol. II, C-2)
Trump dangled pardons aimed at influencing key witnesses, including his former national security adviser Mike Flynn, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort (JD, Georgetown, '74), and a person whose name was initially redacted from Mueller's report but who we now know is Trump's longtime confidant, Roger Stone. Trump also tried to influence and intimidate his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen (JD, Thomas M. Cooley, '91). (Vol. II, pp. 120-156)
The Rule of Law
In 1789, Thomas Jefferson wrote that a well-informed electorate is a prerequisite to democracy. Barr kneecapped the truth. When the redacted version of Mueller's report finally appeared, The Washington Post awarded him "Three Pinocchios" for his "incomplete or misleading" descriptions of Mueller's investigation and conclusions. But Barr had withheld even a redacted version so long that his false spin had irrevocably infected the body politic.
Fortunately, the rule of law has courageous defenders who honor the oath that every attorney takes to uphold the rule of law. In an opinion on a Freedom of Information Act request for an unredacted copy of Mueller's report, U.S. District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton blasted Barr's pre-release "distortions" and "lack of candor." In a remarkable ruling, the respected federal judge wrote that he could not trust the attorney general of the United States:
"The speed by which Attorney General Barr released to the public the summary of Special Counsel Mueller's principal conclusions, coupled with the fact that Attorney General Barr failed to provide a thorough representation of the findings in the Mueller Report, causes the Court to question whether Attorney General Barr's intent was to create a one-sided narrative about the Mueller Report — a narrative that is clearly in some respects substantively at odds with the redacted version of the Mueller Report." (Elec. Privacy Info. Ctr. v. US Dept. of Justice, No-19-810 RBW, slip op. p. 17-18 (D.D.C. Mar 5, 2020)
Judge Walton could not reconcile "certain public representations made by Attorney General Barr with the findings in the Mueller Report." The inconsistencies caused him "to seriously question whether Attorney General Barr made a calculated attempt to influence public discourse about the Mueller Report in favor of President Trump despite certain findings in the redacted version of the Mueller Report to the contrary." (Op. p. 19)
The court's Mar. 5, 2020 rebuke came a year too late. As Jonathan Swift wrote more than two centuries ago, "Falsehood flies, and truth comes limping after it." With Barr's help, Trump created a narrative that was at odds with the evidence set forth in Mueller's report. Barr had fired his first bullet at the rule of law and it was a bulls-eye.
But lies and false spin were just Barr's opening gambit. Trump wanted the entire investigation discredited — destroyed root and branch. Barr quickly weaponized the Justice Department. He used his prosecutorial powers as a vehicle to pursue Trump's attacks on those responsible for launching the investigation in the first place.
In a revealing exchange on May 1, 2019, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA, California-Hasting, '89) asked Barr if "the president or anyone at the White House ever asked or suggested that you open an investigation of anyone."
Barr stuttered, stammered, and asked her to repeat the question.
"It seems you'd remember something like that and be able to tell us," she pressed.
"I'm trying to grapple with the word 'suggest,'" Barr said. "I mean there have been discussions of, of matters out there, that, uh, they've not asked me to open an investigation."
"Perhaps they suggested?" Harris offered.
"I don't know. I wouldn't say 'suggest'," Barr hesitated.
"Hinted?" she continued.
"I don't know," he replied.
"Inferred?"
Barr didn't answer.
"You don't know," Harris said.
"No," Barr mumbled.
Delegitimizing the Investigators
Sen. Harris might have sensed where Trump and Barr were heading. Unable to erase the proof that Mueller had found, they focused on undermining the investigation itself as illegitimate and attacking the investigators as "corrupt."
Immediately after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey in May 2017, acting Director Andrew McCabe (JD, Washington Univ. – St. Louis, '93) authorized the Trump-Russia counterintelligence probe. Two years later, McCabe became a poster child for Trump and Barr's abuse of power. Even prior to Barr's appointment, a team of prosecutors had investigated whether McCabe had lied to investigators about improper media leaks concerning an FBI investigation into the Clinton Foundation. Those prosecutors concluded that they could not win a conviction, so Trump's chosen US attorney for the District of Columbia, Jessie Liu (JD, Yale, '98), brought in another team to go after McCabe.For months, Liu's office asked the judge handling the matter — U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton once again — for more time. By then, Barr was the attorney general. In a closed-door session on Sept. 30, 2019, Walton warned prosecutors to stop stringing McCabe along:
"I don't think people like the fact that you got somebody at the top basically trying to dictate whether somebody should be prosecuted. I just think it's a banana republic when we go down that road…"
Judge Walton added, "I just think the integrity of the process is being unduly undermined by inappropriate comments and actions by people at the top of our government. I think it's very unfortunate. And I think as a government and as a society we're going to pay a price at some point for this." (9/30/2019 Tr., p. 5)
Eventually, the case against McCabe fell apart again and a grand jury refused to indict him. But for months, Barr left McCabe twisting in the wind of legal uncertainty. Once again, defenders of the rule of law rose to the challenge. The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) won a court order requiring the release of the devastating Sept. 30 transcript of Judge Walton's earlier comments. On Feb. 14, 2020 — the day that transcript became public — the Justice Department finally informed McCabe that he would not face charges.
As Barr's efforts to investigate the investigators failed to produce Trump's desired outcome, he assigned new teams to keep trying. For example, Mueller had concluded that the FBI had opened its Trump-Russia investigation appropriately in late July 2016. (Mueller Rep., Vol. I, pp. 88-89, fn. 465) Despite knowing Mueller and claiming to respect him as a friend and colleague for years, Barr appointed U.S. Attorney John Durham (JD, Connecticut, '75) to second-guess that finding. Barr also asked foreign leaders in the United Kingdom and Italy for help in gathering information that Trump hoped would discredit Mueller's work. Trump personally made such a request of the Australian prime minister.
Likewise, in December 2019, the Justice Department's inspector general, Michael Horowitz (JD, Harvard, '87), completed an 18-month investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation. Although his 400-page report found that the FBI had adequate reasons for opening the probe, Barr nevertheless asserted that the FBI's reasons were insufficient and publicly attacked Horowitz's conclusion.
Undermining the Convictions
Finally, beyond using the power of his office to pursue Trump's perceived enemies, Barr has deployed the Justice Department to help Trump's convicted friends. It was the final step in wiping the Russia investigation from the history books altogether. But Barr's manipulations also have profound implications for the rule of law.
When Mueller closed up shop in 2019, then-U.S. Attorney Liu (whose office supervised the McCabe investigation) assumed control of several special counsel prosecutions and earlier referrals, including cases against Roger Stone and Mike Flynn. But after Liu failed to get McCabe indicted, Barr replaced her with his old friend and confidant, Timothy Shea (JD, Georgetown '91) — just as the Justice Department was finalizing its sentencing recommendation in Stone's case.
In 2017, Stone had lied to the House Intelligence Committee about his role concerning Trump campaign contacts with Russia. Then he threatened a witness who was going to expose him. A jury deliberated for about seven hours before convicting Stone on all seven counts of lying to Congress and witness tampering.
As Shea replaced Liu in the District of Columbia U.S. attorney's office, career prosecutors handling Stone's case filed a brief that followed federal sentencing guidelines recommending seven to nine years in prison. Immediately, Trump tweeted that Stone's plight was "horrible," "unfair," and a "miscarriage of justice." Hours later, an official at Justice Department headquarters said that the DC office's recommendation was "extreme" and "excessive" and that a new memorandum would outline the government's revised position.
Defending the rule of law, four of the federal prosecutors who signed the sentencing memorandum resigned immediately from the case. Jonathan Kravis (Yale, JD, '04) — one of Stone's prosecutors at trial — resigned from the Justice Department altogether. That left Shea and his assistant who was newly assigned to the Stone case to file a revised memorandum asserting that the government's previously recommended sentence "could be considered excessive and unwarranted."
The following day, Trump congratulated Barr for "taking charge" of the Stone case, "which perhaps should not even been brought."
Defenders of the rule of law fought back. Appearing on national television, the former chief of the criminal fraud section of the Justice Department, Andrew Weissmann (JD, Columbia, '84) — an appointee of President George H. W. Bush — said he could think of no instance where he had even heard of the attorney general reaching into a single criminal case to weigh in on a sentencing submission. Former Attorney General Eric Holder (JD, Columbia, '76) called Barr's direct intervention "unprecedented, wrong, and ultimately dangerous."
"Public confusion was the objective, because it led to public indifference"
The most damning criticism came from Donald Ayer (JD, Harvard, '75), who had served as President George H. W. Bush's deputy attorney general and Barr's boss at one point. On Feb. 17, 2020, Ayer wrote in The Atlantic:
"All of this conduct — including Barr's personal interventions to influence or negate independent investigations or the pursuit of criminal cases, and his use of the department's resources to frustrate the checks and balances provided by other branches — is incompatible with the rule of law as we know it…"
Ayer concluded: "Bill Barr's America is not a place that anyone, including Trump voters, should want to go. It is a banana republic where all are subject to the whims of a dictatorial president and his henchmen. To prevent that, we need a public uprising demanding that Bill Barr resign immediately, or failing that, be impeached."
Trump and Barr were undeterred. Trump attacked Stone's judge, Amy Berman Jackson (JD, Harvard, JD '79), calling her "the Judge that put Paul Manafort in SOLITARY CONFINEMENT, something that not even mobster Al Capone had to endure." That was another Trump lie. Prison officials had made the decision about Manafort's federal housing. But Barr did not defend Jackson against Trump's attack, and the Judicial Code of Conduct prevented her from defending herself.
Instead, Barr gave an interview during which he sent Trump a message — the tweets were making it "impossible" for him to do his job. Since then, Barr's view of his job has become even clearer: obliterate all trace of the Russia investigation. Mike Flynn became a stunning example of Barr's methods.
Moving to Drop Charges After a Guilty Plea
On Dec. 1, 2017, Flynn pled guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. On Dec. 18, 2018, he again acknowledged his crimes in open court. Judge Emmett G. Sullivan (JD, Howard Univ., '71) did not hide his disgust.
"[Y]ou lied to the FBI about three different topics, and you made those false statements while you were serving as the national security advisor, the President of the United States' most senior national security aid. I can't minimize that," the judge said. "Two months later you again made false statements in multiple documents filed pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act. So, all along you were an unregistered agent of a foreign country, while serving as the national security advisor to the President of the United States. I mean, arguably, that undermines everything this flag over here stands for. Arguably, you sold your country out."
But after Barr became attorney general two months later, he appointed the U.S. attorney in St. Louis, Jeff Jensen (JD, St. Louis Univ., '98), to review Flynn's case. In June 2019, Flynn retained new a lawyer — Sidney Powell (JD, North Carolina, '78), a far-right conspiracy theorist. Powell wrote directly to Barr, urging him to conduct an internal review and throw out Flynn's conviction. A week later, Trump congratulated Flynn for retaining Powell, tweeting that she was a "GREAT LAWYER."
Shortly before the July 2019 trial at which Flynn was supposed to be a cooperating witness against his former business associate, he suddenly became uncooperative and prosecutors did not call him to testify. Powell then asked Judge Sullivan to nullify Flynn's conviction on the grounds that prosecutors had engaged in misconduct — claims that the judge rejected. As Flynn's sentencing approached in early January 2020, prosecutors withdrew their earlier recommendation of probation and urged Flynn's incarceration for as long as six months.
As with Roger Stone, things then changed abruptly and mysteriously in Flynn's favor. And as with Stone, Barr and his confidant, interim US Attorney for the District of Columbia Timothy Shea, made it happen. On May 7, Shea's office took the unprecedented step of moving to drop all charges against Flynn. Shea alone signed the motion with no line prosecutors joining. It included no affidavits or declarations supporting its many new factual allegations. No motion to vacate the government's prior, contrary filings and representations accompanied the filing.
The defenders of the rule of law stepped forward again. One of Flynn's prosecutors withdrew from the case and Judge Sullivan invited amicus briefs on the unusual motion. Then he assigned a former federal judge to oppose the Justice Department's move and to determine whether Flynn should be found in criminal contempt for lying to the court when he had pled guilty — twice.
Flynn's attorney sought a writ of mandamus in the District of Columbia circuit court of appeals. That, in turn, forced Judge Sullivan to hire an attorney, Beth Wilkinson (JD, Virginia, '87), to answer the mandamus petition. The circle was complete: A judge defending the rule of law now needed his own lawyer to defend himself.
In her brief on Judge Sullivan's behalf, Wilkinson wrote, "It is unprecedented for an Acting U.S. Attorney to contradict the solemn representations that career prosecutors made time and again, and undermine the district court's legal and factual findings, in moving on his own to dismiss the charge years after two different federal judges accepted the defendant's plea."
What began in March 2019 with Barr's false spin and outright lies to assuage a president's obsession with the Russia investigation had exploded into a multidimensional assault on the rule of law itself. No limiting principle has guided Barr's abuses, but he has encountered resistance. Individually and together, attorneys — especially litigators — have stepped forward:
More than 1,000 former federal prosecutors from Republican and Democratic administrations signed an open letter stating that, but for the fact that Trump was a sitting president, Mueller's proof would have led to Trump's indictment for obstruction of justice.
In connection with Roger Stone's sentencing, more than 2,600 former prosecutors and other DOJ attorneys from Republican and Democratic administrations signed an open letter condemning Barr for "interference in the fair administration of justice," "openly and repeatedly flouting" the fundamental principle of "equal justice under law," and calling on Barr to resign. They wrote, "Governments that use the enormous power of law enforcement to punish their enemies and reward their allies are not constitutional republics; they are autocracies."
The president of the New York State Bar Ass'n issued a statement saying, "The intervention by senior Department of Justice officials in the sentencing of Roger Stone is an assault on a bedrock principle of the rule of law — the apolitical administration of justice. Our nation was founded on the principle that everyone must be treated equally in the eyes of the law…"
More than 2,000 former Justice Department officials from Republican and Democratic administrations signed an open letter stating that Barr had "once again assaulted the rule of law" in seeking the dismissal of Flynn's case. "Attorney General Barr's repeated actions to use the Department as a tool to further President Trump's personal and political interests have undermined any claim to the deference that courts usually apply to the Department's decisions about whether or not to prosecute a case," they wrote.
Judge Sullivan and the appeals court received numerous amicus briefs supporting the district court's exercise of judgment when deciding whether to accept the government's motion to dismiss the federal criminal charges against Flynn. Filings in support of the judge came from former federal judges, former Watergate prosecutors, legal scholars, and the New York City Bar Ass'n.
ABA President Judy Perry Martinez issued a statement declaring, "Public officials who personally attack judges or prosecutors can create a perception that the system is serving a political or other purpose rather than the fair administration of justice. It is incumbent upon public officials and members of the legal profession, whose sworn duty it is to uphold the law, to do everything in their power to preserve the integrity of the justice system."
What's next? Federal judges enjoy lifetime tenure that prevents Trump from purging the bench of his perceived judicial enemies. But Trump and his key Senate enabler with a law degree, Sen. Mitch McConnell (JD, Kentucky, '67), have boasted about filling federal judgeships at a brisk pace. Those judges must demonstrate their independence. With their actions, they have a unique opportunity to reaffirm that "equal justice under law" and "no one is above the law" are not empty platitudes, but guiding principles of our democracy.
Pundits often understate Barr's conduct as violating "norms." It is more accurate to say that he and Trump are at war with the rule of law. Federal judges and litigators throughout the country have become first-responders in the fight. The front lines have formed in courtrooms throughout the country, but lawyers away from the immediate field of battle are also making a difference.
So which side are you on?
In this war, there are no bystanders.
This article appears in the Fall 2020 issue of Litigation – The Journal of the Section of Litigation of the American Bar Association.


alternet--2020-10-10--Trump dodges tough questions on his health during rambling Tucker Carlson interview

Donald Trump 's appearance on Tucker Carlson 's Fox News show , less than a week since the president returned from being hospitalized for COVID-19 , revealed very little about Trump 's health or infectiousness .
Yet unintentionally , the president seems to have dropped some clues about the seriousness of his condition during the rambling , tangent-ridden interview .
The interview on `` Tucker Carlson Tonight '' was conducted by Dr. Marc Siegel , a Fox News contributor who has defended Trump 's poor handling of the American coronavirus outbreak , compared the pandemic to the flu and in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton despite never having examined her in person .
Carlson set a hagiographic tone for the segment at the beginning , describing Trump 's supposed `` remarkable turnaround '' before allowing Siegel to conduct the interview .
The two were not in the same room : Siegel was in a studio and Trump was in the White House , being filmed separately .
Trump and Siegel 's conversation wandered , from Trump blaming China for the virus and repeatedly mentioning Regeneron ( a company that gave him an experimental @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ties ) to describing himself as `` very strong , '' offering to donate his plasma and claiming that he has improved faster and better than others who have had COVID-19 .
Despite these attempts to project that he was `` virile , '' Trump admitted that the disease had made him feel `` tired , '' adding that `` my life is based a little bit on energy and I did n't have it . ''
While downplaying his symptoms , however , Trump promised to freely give away the drugs that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cure '' for him .
( Curiously , Trump has been consistently opposed to universal healthcare policies that might make such drugs free and accessible , though he was treated by the military healthcare system that has been likened to an exclusive form of universal healthcare ) .
Trump also stated that was `` medication-free . ''
`` I 'm not taking any medications as of eight hours ago , '' he claimed .
Trump also claimed that his Secret Service agents did not mind his Walter Reed hospital drive-by , which involved @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Some current and former Secret Service agents interviewed by CNN were `` frustrated '' by Trump 's publicity stunt .
`` We 're not disposable , '' one said .
Trump declined to say if he had received a test for the virus today that might definitively say if he had cleared the virus from his system .
`` I have been retested and I have n't even found out numbers or anything yet ... .
I 'm at either the bottom of the scale or free , '' the president said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the CDC recommends that those who have had COVID-19 refrain from being around others until at least 10 days since their first symptoms appeared and 24 hours since their fever waned without the use of `` fever-reducing medications . ''
Trump also denied experiencing any of the psychological symptoms that frequently accompany dexamethasone , the steroid that he is using to stop his immune system from destroying his infected lungs .
`` The interview yielded little useful clinical information , '' Dr. Georges Benjamin , executive director of the American Public Health Association @ @ @ @ @ @ @ health in Maryland , wrote to Salon about the Siegel-Trump exchange .
`` The physician interviewer asked questions that were superficial and President Trump gave no specific answers .
He did admit to getting a CAT scan but we are not sure of what body part .
He also said he got a lung test but no specific insight into what test .
I suspect it was a breathing test since he said they told him he could keep his jacket on .
He did not seem out of breath but he did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Basically no new information . ''
One expert who spoke to Salon said that , based on Trump 's self-described symptoms , there is reason for concern about whether he could infect other people .
`` Based on the limited public data available , and the President 's own description of imaging results and tests tonight , we must assume that he presented to Walter Reed Hospital with a severe case of COVID-19 as defined by the Center for Disease Control , '' Dr. Russell Medford , Chairman of the Center for Global @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Center , told Salon by email .
`` The CDC 's own guidelines advise that patients with severe disease may be infectious for up to 20 days after symptom onset . ''
He added , `` To release the President earlier should require the President 's physician to provide the necessary assurances that the President is no longer infectious and to consider releasing the key medical information that supports those assurances . ''
The Commission on Presidential Debates cancelled the second scheduled event between Trump and Biden earlier on Friday , after Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would prevent Trump from spreading the virus .
While Biden had been willing to debate Trump virtually , the president insisted that the two men had to meet in person .
Because both Biden and Trump are men in their 70s , they are at a higher risk of dying from COVID-19 .

Donald Trump's appearance on Tucker Carlson's Fox News show, less than a week since the president returned from being hospitalized for COVID-19, revealed very little about Trump's health or infectiousness. Yet unintentionally, the president seems to have dropped some clues about the seriousness of his condition during the rambling, tangent-ridden interview.
The interview on "Tucker Carlson Tonight" was conducted byDr. Marc Siegel, a Fox News contributor who has defended Trump's poor handling of the American coronavirus outbreak, compared the pandemic to the flu and in 2016 raised concerns about the neurological health of then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton despite never having examined her in person.
Carlson set a hagiographic tone for the segment at the beginning, describing Trump's supposed "remarkable turnaround" before allowing Siegel to conduct the interview. The two were not in the same room: Siegel was in a studio and Trump was in the White House, being filmed separately. Trump and Siegel's conversation wandered, from Trump blaming China for the virus and repeatedly mentioning Regeneron (a company that gave him an experimental drug and with which he has personal ties) to describing himself as "very strong," offering to donate his plasma and claiming that he has improved faster and better than others who have had COVID-19.
Despite these attempts to project that he was "virile," Trump admitted that the disease had made him feel "tired," adding that "my life is based a little bit on energy and I didn't have it." While downplaying his symptoms, however, Trump promised to freely give away the drugs that he has previously claimed constituted a "cure" for him. (Curiously, Trump has been consistently opposed to universal healthcare policies that might make such drugs free and accessible, though he was treated by the military healthcare system that has been likened to an exclusive form of universal healthcare).
Trump also stated that was "medication-free." "I'm not taking any medications as of eight hours ago," he claimed.
Trump also claimed that his Secret Service agents did not mind his Walter Reed hospital drive-by, which involved close physical contact with the security detail. Some current and former Secret Service agents interviewed by CNN were "frustrated" by Trump's publicity stunt. "We're not disposable," one said.
Trump declined to say if he had received a test for the virus today that might definitively say if he had cleared the virus from his system. "I have been retested and I haven't even found out numbers or anything yet .... I'm at either the bottom of the scale or free," the president said. Based on reports of infections, the CDC recommends that those who have had COVID-19 refrain from being around others until at least 10 days since their first symptoms appeared and 24 hours since their fever waned without the use of "fever-reducing medications."
Trump also denied experiencing any of the psychological symptoms that frequently accompany dexamethasone, the steroid that he is using to stop his immune system from destroying his infected lungs.
"The interview yielded little useful clinical information," Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association (APHA) and former secretary of health in Maryland, wrote to Salon about the Siegel-Trump exchange. "The physician interviewer asked questions that were superficial and President Trump gave no specific answers. He did admit to getting a CAT scan but we are not sure of what body part. He also said he got a lung test but no specific insight into what test. I suspect it was a breathing test since he said they told him he could keep his jacket on. He did not seem out of breath but he did not exert himself during the interview. Basically no new information."
One expert who spoke to Salon said that, based on Trump's self-described symptoms, there is reason for concern about whether he could infect other people.
"Based on the limited public data available, and the President's own description of imaging results and tests tonight, we must assume that he presented to Walter Reed Hospital with a severe case of COVID-19 as defined by the Center for Disease Control," Dr. Russell Medford, Chairman of the Center for Global Health Innovation and Global Health Crisis Coordination Center, told Salon by email. "The CDC's own guidelines advise that patients with severe disease may be infectious for up to 20 days after symptom onset."
He added, "To release the President earlier should require the President's physician to provide the necessary assurances that the President is no longer infectious and to consider releasing the key medical information that supports those assurances."
The Commission on Presidential Debates cancelled the second scheduled event between Trump and Biden earlier on Friday, after Trump refused to do a virtual debate that would prevent Trump from spreading the virus. While Biden had been willing to debate Trump virtually, the president insisted that the two men had to meet in person. Because both Biden and Trump are men in their 70s, they are at a higher risk of dying from COVID-19.


alternet--2020-10-10--Rambling Trump flops hard after Limbaugh asks how he will protect people with pre-existing condition

Rambling Trump flops hard after Limbaugh asks how he will protect people with pre-existing conditions

President Donald Trump rambled off-topic after Rush Limbaugh asked him about health care protections for those with pre-existing conditions .
The president and his Republican allies are keen to undo the Affordable Care Act , which could place health care out of reach for Americans with pre-existing conditions , and the conservative Limbaugh asked Trump to explain his plan .
`` This is [ from ] a woman in Massachusetts named Kathy , '' Limbaugh said , reading the listener 's question .
`` ' I 'm glad that you and the lady are recovering from COVID , so happy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all you do to defend us .
Questions about health care and pre-existing conditions are very important to me and a lot of Americans .
I believe you said pre-existing conditions will be covered in your health care plan , but please could you explain this a little more because there are a lot of people saying you 're not going to cover pre-existing conditions and I wish you need to get your message out since this that the Democrats are trying to malign you on this . ''
The president did n't @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pre-existing conditions .
`` The Democrats are vicious and they lie , and what they do , as an example health care and other things , '' Trump said , `` they have me standing at the grave of beautiful soldier at an old cemetery , magnificent cemetery , and nobody respects soldiers more than I do , especially whether you 're talking about live soldiers or soldiers that gave their lives , and they have a source say these are suckers and losers .
This was for a magazine that 's third-rate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and it 's a quote , they took that quote from one source I have 25 people that verbally , that , you know , on the record , said that was never said .
Who would ever say that ?
Only an animal would say that . ''
Trump continued complaining about that Atlantic report , which was corroborated by other news organizations , before addressing Kathy 's question .
`` They do the same thing with health care , '' Trump said .
`` They 'll make a statement that 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I 'm totally for , but I 'm against Obamacare because Obamacare is too expensive .
I already got rid of the individual mandate , which is the worst part of Obamacare , that we had to pay a fortune for the privilege of not paying for bad health insurance .
You understand that .
So I got rid of it , that was I got rid of it through the law .
I got rid of it under our tax decrease , the the biggest tax decrease in the history of our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ able to build up the economy if we did n't get that , but one of the things I got in , I got rid of the individual mandate and what I want to do is , and we 're fighting to terminate , I sort of have terminated Obamacare , because once you get rid of the individual mandate it 's no longer Obamacare , but I had a choice to make .
Rush , it was a big choice .
Do I maintain Obamacare , the remnants of Obamacare , after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mandate .
Do I maintain it well or do I run it badly ?
I could have done it either way . ''
The president insisted his Department of Health and Human Services was running the health care exchange well , and better than the Obama administration had , but claimed the coverage was still bad .
`` Remember they spent $ 50 million , $ 5 billion dollars on the server , if you remember , '' Trump said .
`` They could n't get the server right . ''
Limbaugh tried @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and the president briefly obliged .
`` What they do is they love to say that I 'm going to get rid of pre-existing conditions , '' Trump said .
`` No .
I want to terminate Obamacare and then come up with a great , and we have come up with a great health care plan that 's much less expensive and does include people with pre-existing conditions .
That 's what I want to do . ''

President Donald Trump rambled off-topic after Rush Limbaugh asked him about health care protections for those with pre-existing conditions.
The president and his Republican allies are keen to undo the Affordable Care Act, which could place health care out of reach for Americans with pre-existing conditions, and the conservative Limbaugh asked Trump to explain his plan.
"This is [from] a woman in Massachusetts named Kathy," Limbaugh said, reading the listener's question. "'I'm glad that you and the lady are recovering from COVID, so happy you're our president thank you for all you do to defend us. Questions about health care and pre-existing conditions are very important to me and a lot of Americans. I believe you said pre-existing conditions will be covered in your health care plan, but please could you explain this a little more because there are a lot of people saying you're not going to cover pre-existing conditions and I wish you need to get your message out since this that the Democrats are trying to malign you on this."
The president didn't spend much time addressing health care or pre-existing conditions.
"The Democrats are vicious and they lie, and what they do, as an example health care and other things," Trump said, "they have me standing at the grave of beautiful soldier at an old cemetery, magnificent cemetery, and nobody respects soldiers more than I do, especially whether you're talking about live soldiers or soldiers that gave their lives, and they have a source say these are suckers and losers. This was for a magazine that's third-rate, you know super-liberal Obama magazine, and it's a quote, they took that quote from one source I have 25 people that verbally, that, you know, on the record, said that was never said. Who would ever say that? Only an animal would say that."
Trump continued complaining about that Atlantic report, which was corroborated by other news organizations, before addressing Kathy's question.
"They do the same thing with health care," Trump said. "They'll make a statement that's so bad. Now pre-existing conditions, I'm totally for, but I'm against Obamacare because Obamacare is too expensive. I already got rid of the individual mandate, which is the worst part of Obamacare, that we had to pay a fortune for the privilege of not paying for bad health insurance. You understand that. So I got rid of it, that was I got rid of it through the law. I got rid of it under our tax decrease, the the biggest tax decrease in the history of our country. We would have never been able to build up the economy if we didn't get that, but one of the things I got in, I got rid of the individual mandate and what I want to do is, and we're fighting to terminate, I sort of have terminated Obamacare, because once you get rid of the individual mandate it's no longer Obamacare, but I had a choice to make. Rush, it was a big choice. Do I maintain Obamacare, the remnants of Obamacare, after that the, you know, the mandate. Do I maintain it well or do I run it badly? I could have done it either way."
The president insisted his Department of Health and Human Services was running the health care exchange well, and better than the Obama administration had, but claimed the coverage was still bad.
"Remember they spent $50 million, $5 billion dollars on the server, if you remember," Trump said. "They couldn't get the server right."
Limbaugh tried to steer the president back on topic, and the president briefly obliged.
"What they do is they love to say that I'm going to get rid of pre-existing conditions," Trump said. "No. I want to terminate Obamacare and then come up with a great, and we have come up with a great health care plan that's much less expensive and does include people with pre-existing conditions. That's what I want to do."


alternet--2020-10-10--Four types of scandals utility companies get into with money from your electric bills

Across the country , electric utilities have worked the levers of power to win favorable treatment from state policymakers .
This week , a Richmond Times-Dispatch and ProPublica investigation found that Dominion Energy , Virginia 's largest public utility , successfully lobbied to reshape a major climate bill to cover its massive offshore wind project .
The move shifted risk from the company 's shareholders to its ratepayers .
As a result of the legislation , a typical residential customer 's bill is projected to increase by nearly $ 30 per month over the next decade .
Dominion says its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state 's new renewable energy goals .
The utility 's lobbying success underscores its ability to work through the legislative process in Richmond , where special interests have taken on outsized roles in policymaking .
Elsewhere , utilities have gone much further , crossing the line into potentially criminal behavior .
In Illinois , the largest electric utility acknowledged in July it gave jobs and money to associates of the state House speaker in return for favorable legislation , according to a deferred prosecution agreement with the company in federal court .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 60 million into a slush fund for a legislative leader in exchange for his backing of a bailout of two nuclear plants .
The utility has not been charged , but the elected official now faces a racketeering charge in what prosecutors said was “ likely the largest bribery , money laundering scheme ever perpetrated '' in the state .
“ The temptation for a utility to take its customers ' money and spend it on influencing politics and essentially buying off politicians in ways to help them make even more money @ @ @ @ @ @ @ proven to be pretty irresistible for many utilities , '' said David Pomerantz , executive director of the Energy and Policy Institute , a utility watchdog group that advocates renewable energy .
Below are four ways electric utilities have tried to influence decision-making within state and local governments .
FirstEnergy is one of the nation 's largest electric companies and owns three regulated utilities in Ohio , where the FBI and federal prosecutors are seeking to unravel bribery allegations .
Authorities allege that FirstEnergy contributed $ 60 million to a group overseen by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for his help passing legislation that provided a billion-dollar bailout of two failing nuclear energy plants .
That bill also reduced standards for renewable energy and the energy efficiency programs that save customers money .
Prosecutors have charged Householder with racketeering .
He has pleaded not guilty in federal court , and his attorney did not return a request for comment .
FirstEnergy has not been charged .
A corporate spokeswoman said the company is cooperating fully with the investigation , and its CEO said in a recent earnings call that he firmly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the criminal complaint against Householder , the company helped the politician win the speaker 's office and put the payments into a nonprofit organization called Generation Now , which was supposed to be a social welfare organization .
Householder , a Republican , and his allies are accused of instead using the payments from FirstEnergy to expand the speaker 's political power and enrich themselves .
Three lobbyists — including the former state GOP chairman — and a longtime aide to Householder also were charged .
All parties have denied the allegations .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ speakership , but he remains in office .
Ohio 's attorney general in September filed a lawsuit against FirstEnergy , Householder , Generation Now and others , seeking to block payment of the nuclear bailout .
FirstEnergy said the lawsuit was without merit .
“ The Attorney General 's lawsuit unjustly targets the company for lawfully engaging in the political process and supporting policy initiatives that matter to our customers , employees , communities and shareholders , '' spokeswoman Jennifer Young said in an email .
In Arizona , the FBI and U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ political spending by the state 's largest utility , Arizona Public Service .
The companygave millions to “ dark money '' organizations — political nonprofits that spend money from undisclosed donors — in 2014 to help elect two state regulators .
The money flowed to groups with names like Save Our Future Now .
The candidates won and in 2017 voted for a utility-backed rate increase .
One of the candidates who received “ dark money '' funding denied knowledge of the utility 's involvement and the second said the idea they could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ radio station KJZZ reported .
Arizona Public Service refused for years to admit it was the source of the contributions , but it did so in 2019 at the request of state regulators , according to The Arizona Republic .
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney 's Office in Phoenix declined to comment on the federal probe .
Pinnacle West , the parent company of Arizona Public Service , said in a February filing that the company “ understands the matter is closed . ''
Arizona Public Service 's CEO said in January @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , directly or indirectly , on elections for the state regulators who oversee utilities .
Company spokeswoman Jenna Rowell said that since 2016 the company has voluntarily published an annual list of its political donations , which are paid by shareholders .
The largest electric utility in Illinois agreed in July to pay a $ 200 million fine to resolve a federal investigation into bribery .
Commonwealth Edison admitted it arranged jobs , subcontracts and payments for associates of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan , a Democrat , as a reward for legislative @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to a deferred prosecution agreement with the company in federal court .
Indirect payments through third parties and a consulting company to associates of the speaker from 2011 to 2019 totaled more than $ 1.3 million .
The recipients “ performed little or no work for ComEd , '' according to the documents .
During that time , the utility sought Madigan 's support for legislation that kept favorable utility rates for the company .
It became law , and the estimated benefit to Commonwealth Edison was more than $ 150 million .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ wrongdoing .
If Commonwealth Edison or its parent company “ even harbored the thought that they could bribe or influence me , they would have failed miserably , '' Madigan wrote in a letter last month to a state legislative committee .
A former Commonwealth Edison executive was charged with bribery conspiracy in September and pleaded guilty on Sept. 29 in what was the first conviction in the investigation .
In the wake of the scandal , the company has “ taken robust action to aggressively identify and address deficiencies , including enhancing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to prevent this type of misconduct from ever happening again , '' spokesman Paul Elsberg said .
“ We apologize for the past conduct that did n't live up to our own values and are committed to earning back the trust of our communities and partners . ''
Entergy , a utility regulated by the New Orleans City Council , wanted to build a natural gas plant .
Critics and community advocates argued that the plant was unnecessary and posed an environmental threat to the area .
To create the appearance of support @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2017 paid people to appear and speak at a City Council meeting posing as citizens favoring the plant , an independent investigation concluded .
The council approved the gas plant but later fined Entergy $ 5 million after the investigation , done by a law firm hired by the council , found the company knew or should have known its subcontractors paid actors .
Entergy denied knowledge of the paid actors but said in 2018 , “ We should have been more diligent and 'we should have known . '
'' It paid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ council allowed the plant to go forward .
It began operating in May , a company spokesman said .
Mississippi Power , a unit of Atlanta-based Southern Company , announced plans for a “ clean coal '' plant in 2006 .
But the so-called Kemper project shot up in cost from $ 2.9 billion to $ 7.5 billion amid missed deadlines and allegations of mismanagement .
The facility ended up using only natural gas to generate electricity .
A 2016 investigation by The New York Times found that plant owners understated costs and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In response , Southern Company issued a statement saying its project had “ garnered enormous support from energy leaders across the U.S. and around the world '' and saying the concerns of a former employee were “ unsubstantiated . ''
After media reports about the plant 's problems , the company 's stock dropped , and shareholders in January 2017 filed a class-action lawsuit alleging Southern Company made false statements and did n't disclose adverse information about the plant 's progress .
While denying wrongdoing , Southern Company agreed to an $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their part , Mississippi regulators required shareholders to cover $ 6.4 billion of the plant 's cost under terms of a 2018 regulatory settlement .
Customers were on the hook for hundreds of millions , though .
“ We 've endeavored from the very beginning to find a way to take failures at the company and problems that they did n't see coming down the line to make sure we find a way to protect ratepayers , '' the chairman of the state 's public utility commission said at the time .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ utility executive with fraud over a failed nuclear proposal .
Construction flaws plus cheap natural gas prices and lower-than-expected electricity demand threatened the project — and its ability to receive a federal tax credit .
So , prosecutors alleged , the executive misled the public and state regulators about the delays , allowing SCANA Corp. to obtain rate increases .
The executive pleaded guilty in federal court in July to defrauding customers and making false statements to regulators and the public .
He agreed to cooperate in the ongoing investigation .
The plant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ customers have paid $ 2 billion for the failed proposal , the newspaper The Post and Courier reported .
SCANA Corp. was later purchased by Dominion Energy .
The deal turned SCANA into Dominion Energy South Carolina and cut rates , but customers still owe $ 2.3 billion more for the project in the next two decades , The Post and Courier reported .

Across the country, electric utilities have worked the levers of power to win favorable treatment from state policymakers.
This week, a Richmond Times-Dispatch and ProPublica investigation found that Dominion Energy, Virginia's largest public utility, successfully lobbied to reshape a major climate bill to cover its massive offshore wind project. The move shifted risk from the company's shareholders to its ratepayers. As a result of the legislation, a typical residential customer's bill is projected to increase by nearly $30 per month over the next decade.
Dominion says its wind project is necessary to meet the state's new renewable energy goals. The utility's lobbying success underscores its ability to work through the legislative process in Richmond, where special interests have taken on outsized roles in policymaking.
Elsewhere, utilities have gone much further, crossing the line into potentially criminal behavior.
In Illinois, the largest electric utility acknowledged in July it gave jobs and money to associates of the state House speaker in return for favorable legislation, according to a deferred prosecution agreement with the company in federal court.
In Ohio, a power company allegedly funneled $60 million into a slush fund for a legislative leader in exchange for his backing of a bailout of two nuclear plants. The utility has not been charged, but the elected official now faces a racketeering charge in what prosecutors said was “likely the largest bribery, money laundering scheme ever perpetrated" in the state.
“The temptation for a utility to take its customers' money and spend it on influencing politics and essentially buying off politicians in ways to help them make even more money — it's a temptation that has proven to be pretty irresistible for many utilities," said David Pomerantz, executive director of the Energy and Policy Institute, a utility watchdog group that advocates renewable energy.
Below are four ways electric utilities have tried to influence decision-making within state and local governments.
Secret Political Spending
FirstEnergy is one of the nation's largest electric companies and owns three regulated utilities in Ohio, where the FBI and federal prosecutors are seeking to unravel bribery allegations.
Authorities allege that FirstEnergy contributed $60 million to a group overseen by Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder in exchange for his help passing legislation that provided a billion-dollar bailout of two failing nuclear energy plants. That bill also reduced standards for renewable energy and the energy efficiency programs that save customers money.
Prosecutors have charged Householder with racketeering. He has pleaded not guilty in federal court, and his attorney did not return a request for comment. FirstEnergy has not been charged. A corporate spokeswoman said the company is cooperating fully with the investigation, and its CEO said in a recent earnings call that he firmly believes FirstEnergy acted properly.
According to the criminal complaint against Householder, the company helped the politician win the speaker's office and put the payments into a nonprofit organization called Generation Now, which was supposed to be a social welfare organization. Householder, a Republican, and his allies are accused of instead using the payments from FirstEnergy to expand the speaker's political power and enrich themselves. Three lobbyists — including the former state GOP chairman — and a longtime aide to Householder also were charged. All parties have denied the allegations. The state House stripped Householder of the speakership, but he remains in office.
Ohio's attorney general in September filed a lawsuit against FirstEnergy, Householder, Generation Now and others, seeking to block payment of the nuclear bailout. FirstEnergy said the lawsuit was without merit. “The Attorney General's lawsuit unjustly targets the company for lawfully engaging in the political process and supporting policy initiatives that matter to our customers, employees, communities and shareholders," spokeswoman Jennifer Young said in an email.
In Arizona, the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office opened an investigation into political spending by the state's largest utility, Arizona Public Service. The companygave millions to “dark money" organizations — political nonprofits that spend money from undisclosed donors — in 2014 to help elect two state regulators. The money flowed to groups with names like Save Our Future Now. The candidates won and in 2017 voted for a utility-backed rate increase.
One of the candidates who received “dark money" funding denied knowledge of the utility's involvement and the second said the idea they could be bought was insulting, the public radio station KJZZ reported.
Arizona Public Service refused for years to admit it was the source of the contributions, but it did so in 2019 at the request of state regulators, according to The Arizona Republic.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Phoenix declined to comment on the federal probe. Pinnacle West, the parent company of Arizona Public Service, said in a February filing that the company “understands the matter is closed." Arizona Public Service's CEO said in January that the company would no longer spend, directly or indirectly, on elections for the state regulators who oversee utilities. Company spokeswoman Jenna Rowell said that since 2016 the company has voluntarily published an annual list of its political donations, which are paid by shareholders.
Offering Jobs to Allies
The largest electric utility in Illinois agreed in July to pay a $200 million fine to resolve a federal investigation into bribery.
Commonwealth Edison admitted it arranged jobs, subcontracts and payments for associates of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, a Democrat, as a reward for legislative efforts to help the utility, according to a deferred prosecution agreement with the company in federal court.
Indirect payments through third parties and a consulting company to associates of the speaker from 2011 to 2019 totaled more than $1.3 million. The recipients “performed little or no work for ComEd," according to the documents.
During that time, the utility sought Madigan's support for legislation that kept favorable utility rates for the company. It became law, and the estimated benefit to Commonwealth Edison was more than $150 million.
Madigan has not been charged and denies wrongdoing. If Commonwealth Edison or its parent company “even harbored the thought that they could bribe or influence me, they would have failed miserably," Madigan wrote in a letter last month to a state legislative committee.
A former Commonwealth Edison executive was charged with bribery conspiracy in September and pleaded guilty on Sept. 29 in what was the first conviction in the investigation.
In the wake of the scandal, the company has “taken robust action to aggressively identify and address deficiencies, including enhancing our compliance governance and our lobbying policies to prevent this type of misconduct from ever happening again," spokesman Paul Elsberg said. “We apologize for the past conduct that didn't live up to our own values and are committed to earning back the trust of our communities and partners."
Creating the Appearance of Public Support
Entergy, a utility regulated by the New Orleans City Council, wanted to build a natural gas plant. Critics and community advocates argued that the plant was unnecessary and posed an environmental threat to the area.
To create the appearance of support, a subcontractor for the utility in 2017 paid people to appear and speak at a City Council meeting posing as citizens favoring the plant, an independent investigation concluded. The council approved the gas plant but later fined Entergy $5 million after the investigation, done by a law firm hired by the council, found the company knew or should have known its subcontractors paid actors.
Entergy denied knowledge of the paid actors but said in 2018, “We should have been more diligent and 'we should have known.'" It paid the $5 million fine.
The council allowed the plant to go forward. It began operating in May, a company spokesman said.
Undertaking Mega Projects That Don't Pan Out
Mississippi Power, a unit of Atlanta-based Southern Company, announced plans for a “clean coal" plant in 2006. But the so-called Kemper project shot up in cost from $2.9 billion to $7.5 billion amid missed deadlines and allegations of mismanagement. The facility ended up using only natural gas to generate electricity.
A 2016 investigation by The New York Times found that plant owners understated costs and tried to conceal problems from state regulators.
In response, Southern Company issued a statement saying its project had “garnered enormous support from energy leaders across the U.S. and around the world" and saying the concerns of a former employee were “unsubstantiated."
After media reports about the plant's problems, the company's stock dropped, and shareholders in January 2017 filed a class-action lawsuit alleging Southern Company made false statements and didn't disclose adverse information about the plant's progress. While denying wrongdoing, Southern Company agreed to an $87.5 million settlement last month.
For their part, Mississippi regulators required shareholders to cover $6.4 billion of the plant's cost under terms of a 2018 regulatory settlement. Customers were on the hook for hundreds of millions, though.
“We've endeavored from the very beginning to find a way to take failures at the company and problems that they didn't see coming down the line to make sure we find a way to protect ratepayers," the chairman of the state's public utility commission said at the time.
In South Carolina, federal authorities charged a utility executive with fraud over a failed nuclear proposal. Construction flaws plus cheap natural gas prices and lower-than-expected electricity demand threatened the project — and its ability to receive a federal tax credit. So, prosecutors alleged, the executive misled the public and state regulators about the delays, allowing SCANA Corp. to obtain rate increases.
The executive pleaded guilty in federal court in July to defrauding customers and making false statements to regulators and the public. He agreed to cooperate in the ongoing investigation.
The plant was canceled in 2017, but electricity customers have paid $2 billion for the failed proposal, the newspaper The Post and Courier reported.
SCANA Corp. was later purchased by Dominion Energy.
The deal turned SCANA into Dominion Energy South Carolina and cut rates, but customers still owe $2.3 billion more for the project in the next two decades, The Post and Courier reported.


alternet--2020-10-10--'The entire map has moved': Trump's faltering campaign has handed Biden 'multiple pathways' to victo

'The entire map has moved': Trump's faltering campaign has handed Biden 'multiple pathways' to victory

According to a report from CNN , Donald Trump 's chances of being re-elected are diminishing daily which is handing his Democratic opponent , former Vice President Joe Biden , multiple pathways to the presidency .
Noting the president is falling behind in both polling and fundraising , CNN 's Eric Bradner writes the president , since he was released from Walter Reed Medical Center , has done nothing but waste his time airing his personal grievances which has done nothing to bring any new voters into the fold .
That , in turn , is letting the Biden campaign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the president is showing surprising weakness .
`` With 24 days until the election and millions of votes already being cast , Biden 's aides and Democratic allies say Trump 's missteps and the former vice president 's message have given him a broad map with numerous paths to 270 electoral votes .
Time is running out for Trump to change the race 's trajectory -- and he is failing to capitalize on the opportunities that do exist , '' Bradner wrote , before adding , `` Trump 's actions over the week @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and left him without what could have been a valuable opportunity to improve on his first showing against Biden in a debate next week . ''
Lending credence to Biden 's increasing chances of unseating Trump , Guy Cecil of the Priorities USA PAC claimed Trump `` is struggling to bring new voters into the fold . ''
Pointing to battleground states Michigan , Wisconsin and now Georgia , Cecil added , `` The entire map has moved .
Some states might move by a little more than others , but we have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . ''
According to the report , Trump is now in danger of losing both Ohio and Iowa , which would doom any chance he has of remaining in office .
Should that happen , Bradner claims Trump would be looking at a `` blowout . ''
`` As Trump pulls back , Biden -- fueled by what sources familiar with the matter said will be a record-breaking fundraising month in September , topping August 's $ 365 million -- is seeking to expand the competitive map , with ads in Texas and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ohio this week , '' the report continues .
`` Biden to date has outspent Trump in all six of those core battleground states , making them his campaign 's central focus even as it eyes a broader playing field that includes Ohio , Iowa and potentially Texas and Georgia . ''
`` Trump 's campaign has been aimed squarely at his base of White men without college degrees , and the President insisted on Limbaugh 's program Friday that they will turn out in vast numbers on Election Day . ''
Bradner @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , there were signs across the map that Republicans are in peril .
Campaign finance reports show that Democratic Senate candidates swamped their GOP rivals in fundraising in the third quarter , giving the party a hefty advertising advantage in the race 's final days . ''
You can read more here .

According to a report from CNN, Donald Trump's chances of being re-elected are diminishing daily which is handing his Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, multiple pathways to the presidency.
Noting the president is falling behind in both polling and fundraising, CNN's Eric Bradner writes the president, since he was released from Walter Reed Medical Center, has done nothing but waste his time airing his personal grievances which has done nothing to bring any new voters into the fold. That, in turn, is letting the Biden campaign go on the attack in states where the president is showing surprising weakness.
"With 24 days until the election and millions of votes already being cast, Biden's aides and Democratic allies say Trump's missteps and the former vice president's message have given him a broad map with numerous paths to 270 electoral votes. Time is running out for Trump to change the race's trajectory -- and he is failing to capitalize on the opportunities that do exist," Bradner wrote, before adding, "Trump's actions over the week provoked a round of politically damaging headlines and left him without what could have been a valuable opportunity to improve on his first showing against Biden in a debate next week."
Lending credence to Biden's increasing chances of unseating Trump, Guy Cecil of the Priorities USA PAC claimed Trump "is struggling to bring new voters into the fold."
Pointing to battleground states Michigan, Wisconsin and now Georgia, Cecil added, "The entire map has moved. Some states might move by a little more than others, but we have seen the entire map move towards Biden."
According to the report, Trump is now in danger of losing both Ohio and Iowa, which would doom any chance he has of remaining in office. Should that happen, Bradner claims Trump would be looking at a "blowout."
"As Trump pulls back, Biden -- fueled by what sources familiar with the matter said will be a record-breaking fundraising month in September, topping August's $365 million -- is seeking to expand the competitive map, with ads in Texas and Iowa and a major statewide buy in Ohio this week," the report continues. "Biden to date has outspent Trump in all six of those core battleground states, making them his campaign's central focus even as it eyes a broader playing field that includes Ohio, Iowa and potentially Texas and Georgia."
"Trump's campaign has been aimed squarely at his base of White men without college degrees, and the President insisted on Limbaugh's program Friday that they will turn out in vast numbers on Election Day." Bradner wrote before adding, "But down-ballot, there were signs across the map that Republicans are in peril. Campaign finance reports show that Democratic Senate candidates swamped their GOP rivals in fundraising in the third quarter, giving the party a hefty advertising advantage in the race's final days."
You can read more here.