truthout--2020-10-05--Trump’s Hospitalization Hasn’t Diminished the Threat of Election Theft

As Donald Trump ’ s COVID bout proceeds , so does his cultish march toward a stolen election .
Trump and his backers have made clear their intent to denigrate and then defy the popular will in the November 3 vote count .
Because the election will be run at the state and county levels , the threats are innumerable and complex .
Let ’ s investigate 12 of the most dangerous : 1 .
Millions of People Have Been Stripped From the Voter Registration Rolls The federal Election Assistance Commission , established in 2002 to help state and local @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has estimated that up to 16 million citizens were stripped from voter rolls around the U.S. between 2014 and 2016 alone , and the problem continues .
Many would-be voters are likely unaware that they ’ ve been disenfranchised and could show up to vote on November 3 or earlier , after waiting in long lines , only to be denied a ballot .
A voter ’ s registration status can be often be checked online at state-run websites .
But according to a Pew Foundation Study , more than 30 million Americans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ organizations such as People Demanding Action and the Lawyers ’ Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law are among the many groups focused ( among other things ) on preserving the voting rights of citizens who have been stripped from the voter rolls .
The Constitution may give state legislatures the right to override a popular choice for president and award its Electoral College delegation to whomever it wants .
But the law is unclear , and thus far , no state has done that .
Because of gerrymandering , 29 states with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ states like Wisconsin , Michigan , Ohio , Pennsylvania , North Carolina and Florida ) have extreme right-wing legislatures .
Over an angry Democratic outcry , Pennsylvania ’ s GOP majority is now establishing a partisan commission to investigate “ election fraud , ” by which it means any outcome that might not favor Donald Trump .
Given Trump ’ s very loud assertions that any vote count he loses must by definition be fraudulent , there is widespread fear that this commission could declare this key swing state ’ s tally invalid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump .
Given Pennsylvania ’ s critical spot in the Electoral College , and the possibility that other right-wing swing state legislatures could follow suit , this move alone threatens the integrity of the entire election .
On the other hand , Pennsylvania has a Democratic governor , as do Wisconsin , Michigan , North Carolina , Kansas , Montana and Kentucky .
Their legal ability to block a legislative nullification of the popular vote count in choosing an Electoral College delegation is untested .
Such a case would clearly go the Supreme @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a decision that has no precedent ( thus the paramount importance of the battle over the Supreme Court ’ s ninth and potentially deciding seat ) .
All election boards have a spot in their process where an election official ( probably not a volunteer or temporarily hired poll worker ) inspects mailed-in ballots and decides whether to invalidate them .
In many states , this can be done based on mismatched signatures , though Pennsylvania and North Carolina have now reacted to popular outcry by downgrading or eliminating this hard-to-meet criterion .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ initial or address number , a missed box , a missing “ privacy ” envelope or a misstated birth date could still result in an invalidated ballot .
This screening process is generally done by election board staff .
But state laws generally allow “ observers ” to sit next to the screeners .
Rightist Republicans have infamously lobbied hard to get as many suspected Democrat ballots pitched as possible .
If Democrats this year hope to have a chance to counteract their influence , they had best plan to have balancing observers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Reports from North Carolina and elsewhere indicate far more ballots from Black Americans have been invalidated as opposed to those from white voters .
Key swing states Wisconsin and North Carolina require a witness to sign mailing envelopes or a statement to accompany a mailed-in ballot .
The requirement is a deliberate impediment .
Sen. Tammy Baldwin ( D-Wisconsin ) , who lives alone , says she had to go out into the street to recruit a stranger for a signature .
The added hurdle provides hostile screeners within an election board with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ For election protectionists , a hand-marked paper ballot is the universal gold standard .
Vote-by-mail has thus been widely embraced because ( among other things ) it marks a transition from easily hacked touchscreens to tangible , retainable paper .
Despite these concerns , hundreds of state and county election board chiefs have opted to spend millions of taxpayer dollars on digital “ ballot-marking devices.
” These complex , easily hackable machines can be ( as opposed to pens or pencils ) confusing to use , grossly expensive and subject to frequent breakdowns @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that they can address challenges for people with disabilities , and the need for multilingual voting in places like Los Angeles , where 14 or more languages might be in play .
But the solution they provide to those issues comes with a host of other concerns , along with allegations that profiteering and hackability are in part driving their popularization .
The roughly 30,000 digital ballot-marking devices that broke down and devastated Georgia ’ s 2018 election cost taxpayers $ 107 million in a contract awarded to a close adviser to state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Stacy Abrams for governor .
6 .
Republican Leaders Are Denying Drop Boxes for Paper Ballots in Urban Counties It has long been accepted practice for election boards to distribute safe street corner depositories for voters to drop in their paper ballots .
This year , however , Republican officials are engaged in a denial of deployed drop boxes , in an attack that is particular sinister in conjunction with Trump ’ s endless attacks on the U.S .
Postal Service , which are widely seen as a thinly disguised assault on mail-in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ possible for voters to receive and return their ballots .
Key swing states Ohio and Texas have now pointedly refused to place drop boxes in neighborhoods where they might be useful .
Ohio ’ s Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose has wobbled on the issue .
He has publicly supported widespread distribution of the boxes , but questioned the expense of monitoring them with security cameras .
When a local judge and ordered them deployed , LaRose then reversed his advocacy and has gone to court to limit their distribution to one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gov .
Greg Abbott is doing the same thing , meaning big urban counties like Ohio ’ s Franklin ( Columbus ) and Texas ’ s Harris ( Houston ) will have just one drop box for 1.3 and 4.7 million people respectively .
A grassroots campaign in Michigan to get more boxes has been somewhat successful .
7 .
There May Be a Shortage of Early Voting Poll Workers Because of doubts about postal ballot deliveries , Democrats and election protectionists are now advocating early voting .
This shifted emphasis has raised @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the polling centers .
Traditionally , retired citizens have kept the election centers going .
This year , due to COVID , many are not showing up .
But a recent surge of interest among millennials may fill the gap .
In fact , the days are long , but the pay can range up to $ 20/hour .
Overall , this could mark a historic shift in the demographics of who will toil to keep our elections viable .
8 .
Unworkable Vote-Counting Timetables and Rejection of Dropped-Off Ballots Threaten to Disenfranchise @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , voters may personally deliver to voting centers the ballots they received in the mail .
Many , however , will not accept them on November 3 , claiming they will not be postmarked and therefore can not be confirmed as to their arrival date .
Numerous court cases on acceptable deadlines have proliferated through the court system , with Republicans always demanding that ballots received after November 3 ( even those postmarked on or before ) must be rejected .
A bill proposed by Sen. Rick Scott ( R-Florida ) would impose @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and ending vote counts , clearly designed to debilitate large urban precincts from getting a full accounting of absentee/vote-by-mail ballots .
Scott got his own Senate seat in 2018 after GOP-controlled courts ended the ballot count in heavily Democratic south Florida counties , replaying the 2000 presidential election when the Supreme Court ’ s Bush v. Gore ended the vote count before it could be completed ( Supreme Court seats have since gone to John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh , both of whom played key roles in fighting against completion of that vote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Coney Barrett ) .
As there has been no definitive national ruling on when counting early and vote-by-mail ballots can begin , and when it must end , actual practice will vary this year from election board to election board .
9 .
Some Election Supervisors Are Trashing Digital Images of Ballots Most ballots this year will be counted on digital imaging machines , which can be fast to tabulate and highly reliable .
A paper ballot scanned into such machines can yield an easily stored digital image that can be quickly counted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a bin on the other side .
The machines can not run without producing a digital image , which are easily read , tabulated and stored .
In Florida and elsewhere , election supervisors are claiming they don ’ t have the capacity to retain the digital images , and are quickly discarding them .
Lawsuits by election protectionists John Brakey , Susan Pynchon , Ray Lutz and others are demanding the images be preserved .
But so far results have been mixed .
For all their simplicity , the digital scanners @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be tabulated can be hacked .
There are four principal producers with multiple models .
Many can be fitted with modems linking them to the internet , though there is no reason to do so other than for purposes of hacking .
Election officials have resisted transparency on the coding of these machines .
Retained paper ballots provide a reliable means of checking the reported outcome by recount .
But an immediate election night outcome could be pre-hacked , with obvious implications .
For many months , Trump Republicans have been promising to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ intimidation force of 50,000 “ poll monitors , ” generally expected to come heavily armed .
The first of these showed up in a strongly Democratic precinct in Alexandria , Virginia , as early voting began on September 18 .
An unruly , unmasked , aggressively pro-Trump strike force blocked sidewalks and shouted slogans while weaponizing the virus .
We can expect similar instances to occur in the weeks ahead .
12 .
Majority-Black Cities and Neighborhoods May Continue to Face Longer Wait Times As early voting becomes more common , breakdowns in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In Ohio during the 2004 election , white voters were able to cast their ballots in roughly 18 minutes .
For Black Americans , the average wait was 52 minutes , with many waiting even longer .
Students at the liberal Kenyon College waited 10 hours .
Since then the pattern has held , especially in places like Detroit and Flint in 2016 .
In Milwaukee and Madison in April 2020 , people who spent hours in line waiting to vote may have been afflicted with the coronavirus .
As in 2000 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , irregular , obsolete and vulnerable system may give the GOP ample opportunity to again win the White House with a minority of U.S. voters .
Fortunately , a grassroots election protection movement has risen up to stop them .
With a tsunami of local , state and national organizations scrutinizing and fighting through every corner of this bizarre anti-democratic hodgepodge , the public may stand a chance .
The details listed above represent just the tip of an incredibly challenging local , state and national iceberg that must be melted before the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Note : Bob Fitrakis , Joel Segal and Harvey Wasserman co-convene the Grassroots Emergency Election Protection Coalition ( www.grassrootsep.org ) , which stages 90-minute Monday Zoom meetings on voting integrity .
Bob and Harvey have co-written The Strip & Flip Disaster of America ’ s Stolen Elections , which resides at www.freepress.org , along with Bob ’ s Fitrakis Files .

Trump and his backers have made clear their intent to denigrate and then defy the popular will.
Part of the Series Voting Wrongs
As Donald Trump’s COVID bout proceeds, so does his cultish march toward a stolen election.
Trump and his backers have made clear their intent to denigrate and then defy the popular will in the November 3 vote count. Because the election will be run at the state and county levels, the threats are innumerable and complex. Let’s investigate 12 of the most dangerous:
1. Millions of People Have Been Stripped From the Voter Registration Rolls
The federal Election Assistance Commission, established in 2002 to help state and local election officials with various voting issues, has estimated that up to 16 million citizens were stripped from voter rolls around the U.S. between 2014 and 2016 alone, and the problem continues.
Many would-be voters are likely unaware that they’ve been disenfranchised and could show up to vote on November 3 or earlier, after waiting in long lines, only to be denied a ballot. A voter’s registration status can be often be checked online at state-run websites. But according to a Pew Foundation Study, more than 30 million Americans do not have internet access. Activist organizations such as People Demanding Action and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law are among the many groups focused (among other things) on preserving the voting rights of citizens who have been stripped from the voter rolls.
2. A Legislative Coup Could Occur in Pennsylvania
The Constitution may give state legislatures the right to override a popular choice for president and award its Electoral College delegation to whomever it wants. But the law is unclear, and thus far, no state has done that.
Because of gerrymandering, 29 states with 300 Electoral College votes (including swing states like Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Florida) have extreme right-wing legislatures. Over an angry Democratic outcry, Pennsylvania’s GOP majority is now establishing a partisan commission to investigate “election fraud,” by which it means any outcome that might not favor Donald Trump.
Given Trump’s very loud assertions that any vote count he loses must by definition be fraudulent, there is widespread fear that this commission could declare this key swing state’s tally invalid and order its electors to vote for Trump.
Given Pennsylvania’s critical spot in the Electoral College, and the possibility that other right-wing swing state legislatures could follow suit, this move alone threatens the integrity of the entire election.
On the other hand, Pennsylvania has a Democratic governor, as do Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Kansas, Montana and Kentucky. Their legal ability to block a legislative nullification of the popular vote count in choosing an Electoral College delegation is untested.
Such a case would clearly go the Supreme Court, which would have to render a decision that has no precedent (thus the paramount importance of the battle over the Supreme Court’s ninth and potentially deciding seat).
3. Right-Wing Election Officials May Attempt to Trash Mailed-In Ballots
All election boards have a spot in their process where an election official (probably not a volunteer or temporarily hired poll worker) inspects mailed-in ballots and decides whether to invalidate them. In many states, this can be done based on mismatched signatures, though Pennsylvania and North Carolina have now reacted to popular outcry by downgrading or eliminating this hard-to-meet criterion. Other trivialities such as an omitted middle initial or address number, a missed box, a missing “privacy” envelope or a misstated birth date could still result in an invalidated ballot.
This screening process is generally done by election board staff. But state laws generally allow “observers” to sit next to the screeners. Rightist Republicans have infamously lobbied hard to get as many suspected Democrat ballots pitched as possible. If Democrats this year hope to have a chance to counteract their influence, they had best plan to have balancing observers of their own in those slots.
Reports from North Carolina and elsewhere indicate far more ballots from Black Americans have been invalidated as opposed to those from white voters.
4. Ballot Witness Signing Agreements Make Mail-In Voting Harder
Key swing states Wisconsin and North Carolina require a witness to sign mailing envelopes or a statement to accompany a mailed-in ballot.
The requirement is a deliberate impediment. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin), who lives alone, says she had to go out into the street to recruit a stranger for a signature. The added hurdle provides hostile screeners within an election board with an additional excuse to pitch ballots.
5. Digital Ballot-Marking Devices Are Vulnerable to Hacking
For election protectionists, a hand-marked paper ballot is the universal gold standard. Vote-by-mail has thus been widely embraced because (among other things) it marks a transition from easily hacked touchscreens to tangible, retainable paper.
Despite these concerns, hundreds of state and county election board chiefs have opted to spend millions of taxpayer dollars on digital “ballot-marking devices.” These complex, easily hackable machines can be (as opposed to pens or pencils) confusing to use, grossly expensive and subject to frequent breakdowns.
Defenders of ballot-marking devices point out that they can address challenges for people with disabilities, and the need for multilingual voting in places like Los Angeles, where 14 or more languages might be in play. But the solution they provide to those issues comes with a host of other concerns, along with allegations that profiteering and hackability are in part driving their popularization.
The roughly 30,000 digital ballot-marking devices that broke down and devastated Georgia’s 2018 election cost taxpayers $107 million in a contract awarded to a close adviser to state officials who infamously “defeated” Democratic Stacy Abrams for governor.
6. Republican Leaders Are Denying Drop Boxes for Paper Ballots in Urban Counties
It has long been accepted practice for election boards to distribute safe street corner depositories for voters to drop in their paper ballots.
This year, however, Republican officials are engaged in a denial of deployed drop boxes, in an attack that is particular sinister in conjunction with Trump’s endless attacks on the U.S. Postal Service, which are widely seen as a thinly disguised assault on mail-in voting, making it as difficult as possible for voters to receive and return their ballots.
Key swing states Ohio and Texas have now pointedly refused to place drop boxes in neighborhoods where they might be useful. Ohio’s Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose has wobbled on the issue. He has publicly supported widespread distribution of the boxes, but questioned the expense of monitoring them with security cameras. When a local judge and ordered them deployed, LaRose then reversed his advocacy and has gone to court to limit their distribution to one per county.
Texas’s Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is doing the same thing, meaning big urban counties like Ohio’s Franklin (Columbus) and Texas’s Harris (Houston) will have just one drop box for 1.3 and 4.7 million people respectively. A grassroots campaign in Michigan to get more boxes has been somewhat successful.
7. There May Be a Shortage of Early Voting Poll Workers
Because of doubts about postal ballot deliveries, Democrats and election protectionists are now advocating early voting.
This shifted emphasis has raised questions about gathering sufficient workers to staff the polling centers. Traditionally, retired citizens have kept the election centers going. This year, due to COVID, many are not showing up.
But a recent surge of interest among millennials may fill the gap. In fact, the days are long, but the pay can range up to $20/hour. Overall, this could mark a historic shift in the demographics of who will toil to keep our elections viable.
8. Unworkable Vote-Counting Timetables and Rejection of Dropped-Off Ballots Threaten to Disenfranchise Voters in Some States
In many states, voters may personally deliver to voting centers the ballots they received in the mail. Many, however, will not accept them on November 3, claiming they will not be postmarked and therefore cannot be confirmed as to their arrival date. Numerous court cases on acceptable deadlines have proliferated through the court system, with Republicans always demanding that ballots received after November 3 (even those postmarked on or before) must be rejected.
A bill proposed by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida) would impose a deliberately unworkable timetable for both beginning and ending vote counts, clearly designed to debilitate large urban precincts from getting a full accounting of absentee/vote-by-mail ballots.
Scott got his own Senate seat in 2018 after GOP-controlled courts ended the ballot count in heavily Democratic south Florida counties, replaying the 2000 presidential election when the Supreme Court’s Bush v. Gore ended the vote count before it could be completed (Supreme Court seats have since gone to John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh, both of whom played key roles in fighting against completion of that vote count, as did new nominee Amy Coney Barrett).
As there has been no definitive national ruling on when counting early and vote-by-mail ballots can begin, and when it must end, actual practice will vary this year from election board to election board.
9. Some Election Supervisors Are Trashing Digital Images of Ballots
Most ballots this year will be counted on digital imaging machines, which can be fast to tabulate and highly reliable. A paper ballot scanned into such machines can yield an easily stored digital image that can be quickly counted, with the paper ballot itself preserved in a bin on the other side. The machines cannot run without producing a digital image, which are easily read, tabulated and stored. In Florida and elsewhere, election supervisors are claiming they don’t have the capacity to retain the digital images, and are quickly discarding them. Lawsuits by election protectionists John Brakey, Susan Pynchon, Ray Lutz and others are demanding the images be preserved. But so far results have been mixed.
10. Digital Scanners Are Vulnerable to Hacking
For all their simplicity, the digital scanners on which most of the election will be tabulated can be hacked. There are four principal producers with multiple models. Many can be fitted with modems linking them to the internet, though there is no reason to do so other than for purposes of hacking. Election officials have resisted transparency on the coding of these machines. Retained paper ballots provide a reliable means of checking the reported outcome by recount. But an immediate election night outcome could be pre-hacked, with obvious implications.
11. Pro-Trump “Poll Monitors” Are Engaging in Voter Intimidation
For many months, Trump Republicans have been promising to budget $20 million to mobilize an intimidation force of 50,000 “poll monitors,” generally expected to come heavily armed. The first of these showed up in a strongly Democratic precinct in Alexandria, Virginia, as early voting began on September 18. An unruly, unmasked, aggressively pro-Trump strike force blocked sidewalks and shouted slogans while weaponizing the virus. We can expect similar instances to occur in the weeks ahead.
12. Majority-Black Cities and Neighborhoods May Continue to Face Longer Wait Times
As early voting becomes more common, breakdowns in large urban election centers will escalate. In Ohio during the 2004 election, white voters were able to cast their ballots in roughly 18 minutes. For Black Americans, the average wait was 52 minutes, with many waiting even longer. Students at the liberal Kenyon College waited 10 hours.
Since then the pattern has held, especially in places like Detroit and Flint in 2016. In Milwaukee and Madison in April 2020, people who spent hours in line waiting to vote may have been afflicted with the coronavirus.
As in 2000, 2004 and 2016, an absurdly complex, irregular, obsolete and vulnerable system may give the GOP ample opportunity to again win the White House with a minority of U.S. voters.
Fortunately, a grassroots election protection movement has risen up to stop them. With a tsunami of local, state and national organizations scrutinizing and fighting through every corner of this bizarre anti-democratic hodgepodge, the public may stand a chance. The details listed above represent just the tip of an incredibly challenging local, state and national iceberg that must be melted before the U.S. can envision a truly democratic future.
Note: Bob Fitrakis, Joel Segal and Harvey Wasserman co-convene the Grassroots Emergency Election Protection Coalition (www.grassrootsep.org), which stages 90-minute Monday Zoom meetings on voting integrity. Bob and Harvey have co-written The Strip & Flip Disaster of America’s Stolen Elections, which resides at www.freepress.org, along with Bob’s Fitrakis Files.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-10-05--Debt Collectors Are Thriving This Year — and Now They’re Filing Even More Suits

Earlier this year , the pandemic swept across the country , killing 100,000 Americans by the spring , shuttering businesses and schools , and forcing people into their homes .
It was a great time to be a debt collector .
In August , Encore Capital , the largest debt buyer in the country , announced that it had doubled its previous record for earnings in a quarter .
It primarily had the CARES Act to thank : The bill delivered hundreds of billions of dollars worth of stimulus checks and bulked-up unemployment benefits to Americans , while easing pressures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and student loan payments .
There was no ban on collections of old credit card bills , Encore ’ s specialty .
At the same time , the pandemic compelled households to cut spending .
Finding themselves with enough money to settle old debts , people responded to collectors ’ calls and letters .
Debt-buying executives couldn ’ t help marveling at their good fortune .
All this created “ a perfect storm from a cash perspective , ” the CEO of Portfolio Recovery Associates , Encore ’ s main competitor , told @ @ @ @ @ @ @ second quarter , analysts expect Encore to blow past $ 200 million in profit this year and reward stockholders with 40 % earnings growth compared with last year .
Portfolio Recovery is set for similar growth .
The share prices of both have soared off their early April lows .
Investors didn ’ t even show much concern when , in early September , the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued Encore , saying that it had broken the terms of a consent agreement struck in 2015 .
The agency had previously charged the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ statements and churning out lawsuits using robo-signed court documents , ” as it said at the time .
( In a statement , Encore said the CFPB ’ s recent suit was unnecessary because it had fixed the alleged problems “ years ago.
” ) In recent months , the only real bad news for debt buyers was that local courts across the country temporarily shut down .
Debt collection lawsuits provide a key source of revenue for the companies , a way to extract payment from consumers , typically low-income , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ But now even that hiccup is over .
After a bit of a lull in the spring , Encore and other debt buyers are back at it , filing suits by the thousands every week , according to ProPublica ’ s analysis of state court filings .
In August alone , Encore filed about 1,000 suits in Indiana and over 2,000 suits in the metro Atlanta area .
Other debt buyers jumped back in as well .
In Chicago , Portfolio Recovery filed over 3,000 suits in July , while LVNV , a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Financial Group , filed over 2,700 suits in Maryland in August .
For all these companies , ProPublica found , the volume was well above the number they ’ d filed before the coronavirus arrived , in January or February of this year .
No national numbers on suits exist .
In statements , the companies said they have been actively working with consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic and only sue as a last resort on a small portion of accounts .
Elizabeth A. Kersey , a spokesperson for Portfolio Recovery , said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ allows for the suspension of collection efforts for ninety ( 90 ) days upon notification of a hardship event.
” The company is currently not seeking new orders to seize debtors ’ wages or bank account funds , she said .
Ryan Bell , an Encore executive , said , “ We have consistently and proactively communicated to consumers the various relief options we ’ ve put in place in response to COVID-19 , including temporarily stopping collections.
” The company said it had stopped seeking orders to garnish bank accounts .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sherman Financial did not respond to requests for comment .
If Congress is unable to pass any further stimulus , unemployment is likely to remain high .
In that scenario , debt buying companies and the banks that sell defaulted accounts to them expect more Americans to fall behind on their credit card bills over the coming months .
Even that scenario turns out to be rosy for the debt buyers .
While good times can mean that Encore collects on more debt than it expected , bad times typically bring a glut @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not repay .
The result is that Encore can scoop up the raw materials for its profit machine — defaulted accounts — more cheaply .
Or as Encore CEO Ashish Masih put it to Wall Street : The company is “ particularly excited about the prospects for increased supply in the future.
” “ The same giant debt buyers known for fighting consumer protection laws at every turn have been raking in cash during this pandemic , ” Sen. Elizabeth Warren , D-Mass , told ProPublica .
“ They are now licking their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ off families who have their hours further cut or can ’ t find a job , and can ’ t keep up with their bills or their mortgage .
This is disgraceful and reinforces the need for Congress to protect consumers and small businesses from this predatory behavior.
” In recent years , Encore has bought around 2 million to 3 million U.S. accounts per year , according to public filings .
Last year , on average , the company paid 8.6 cents on the dollar for each account .
For a typical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 271 .
To earn a profit on that investment , Encore and other debt buyers pursue debtors in near perpetuity .
Encore is still collecting tens of millions of dollars each year from debts it bought in 2009 or earlier .
The key to that persistence is the courts .
Since the early 2000s , debt buyers have flooded local courts nationwide with suits .
The companies regularly account for more than a quarter of all debt collection cases in a given jurisdiction , according to ProPublica ’ s review of collection @ @ @ @ @ @ @ presence has been particularly apparent in recent months , as the banks themselves have mostly opted to suspend filing new suits .
In normal times , Capital One files far more lawsuits than other banks , in numbers similar to those filed by Encore and Portfolio Recovery .
But since March , although Capital One continued to seize pay via garnishments secured before COVID-19 struck , it has largely stopped filing new suits .
ProPublica did find one exception among the major banks that commonly file a significant number of suits : Citigroup @ @ @ @ @ @ @ normal levels in July .
The bank , for instance , filed over 200 suits in Oklahoma in August , more than it had filed there in January and February combined .
In a statement , Citi spokesperson Jennifer Bombardier said the bank has a special assistance program for customers impacted by COVID-19 and that it is not seeking to garnish the bank accounts of customers it has sued .
The bank also did not sell charged-off accounts to debt buyers “ for up to 120 days ” in the states “ most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Encore sued Nicole Campbell of Brooklyn , New York , in July .
Her first task was to figure out what to do .
The suit was over $ 3,023.76 in debt she incurred years ago with CareCredit , a card offered by Synchrony Bank to people who need to cover medical costs , such as dentistry and eyecare .
She knew she should answer the complaint by going to the courthouse , but she was wary of going there during the pandemic and wasn ’ t even sure whether it was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their way .
“ Courts have been returning to full operation , but there ’ s so much confusion as to what ’ s happening , ” said Susan Shin , legal director of the New Economy Project in New York City .
“ It ’ s hard to know what to advise people on what to do with their case.
” With help from an attorney with the New Economy Project , Campbell responded to the suit by mail .
She ’ s not sure what to expect next but said she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worry about it .
She cares for three boys , 5 , 11 and 14 , on her own and has to figure out how to get them to school on the city ’ s part-time schedule while helping them with online lessons when they ’ re home .
She juggles this with her own job as a customer service rep : That also has a rotating , part-time schedule in order to minimize the number of people in the office .
“ It ’ s crazy to me they ’ re filing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s so much going on , ” she said .
Such collection suits are most common among workers with income under $ 40,000 per year and particularly common in mostly Black neighborhoods .
The suits routinely result in judgments , which in turn usually result in attempts at garnishment , according to a ProPublica analysis of Missouri court filings .
Past studies have put the number of workers who have their wages garnished each year at around 4 million .
In most states , plaintiffs can seize up to a quarter of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clean out their bank account .
In recent years , when state legislatures have moved to protect more funds from garnishment , Encore has been there to oppose the measures .
In 2018 , a Connecticut bill proposed to automatically protect up to $ 1,000 in a bank account .
An Encore executive , Sonia Gibson , argued against it , writing in a letter , “ Since the average amount we collect through bank garnishments is typically around $ 700 , an automatic exemption of $ 1,000 would leave us unable to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Last year in California , Encore joined with other debt buyers to combat a similar bill that aimed to protect around $ 1,700 .
“ It was a really huge fight , ” said Ted Mermin , head of the California Low-Income Consumer Coalition and a professor at the University of California , Berkeley , School of Law .
“ And you ’ ve got to think , ‘ Why ?
’ Who on earth thinks it ’ s a good idea to take someone ’ s last dollar ?
The only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ collectors who have no ongoing relationship with someone.
” The bill narrowly passed and became law .
In Washington state , lawmakers last year sought to protect more workers from wage garnishment .
Under federal law , earnings above $ 217.50 in a week are eligible to be seized , a level that has remained the same since 2009 because it ’ s tied to the $ 7.25 federal minimum wage .
The Washington bill , which ultimately passed , aimed to tie the exemption to the state ’ s much higher minimum @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 13.50 an hour .
In 2020 , about $ 472.50 in weekly take-home pay would be protected .
That was much too high for Encore .
Gibson argued in a letter that people earning that much shouldn ’ t be “ completely exempt from garnishment.
” As an alternative to automatic protections , Encore generally argues that consumers should have to file exemptions in court to demonstrate they really can ’ t afford to have their money taken .
Consumer advocates say that such exemptions , which often exist in state laws , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ either don ’ t know about them or don ’ t understand the process .
On paper , Randall Ward would seem to be well-insulated from garnishment .
He lives in the small town of Marianna , Florida , and state law protects the wages of anyone deemed the “ head of household , ” which is defined as someone who earns more than half the household ’ s income and has dependents .
Since Ward helps care for his 20-year-old son with Down syndrome and a granddaughter , his pay from his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ House is eligible for protection .
But when Encore , after having won a judgment against Ward the previous year , sought to garnish his wages this past February , Ward didn ’ t understand that he qualified for the “ head of household ” exemption .
So , starting in March , Encore began taking a quarter of Ward ’ s take-home pay .
The size of the debt , a Citibank card that had ballooned to $ 5,220 with interest and court costs , meant that Ward , even with what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ good job , ” was in for many lean months .
The only way to make ends meet , he said , was to cancel health insurance for himself , his son and his wife , “ because I could not pay the bills if I didn ’ t do it.
” Then the virus forced his restaurant to close for several weeks and his pay stopped altogether .
The family was without income as he waited for his unemployment claim to go through .
When , finally , he could go @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Encore has said in public statements that it looks to work with consumers , especially those who ’ ve been impacted by COVID-19 .
Ward said that was not his experience .
“ They ’ re just ruthless about it , ” he said .
“ I would hate to see that happen to anybody.
” Collection suits can have a lasting negative effect on consumers .
A recent study by economists from Dartmouth ’ s Tuck School of Business and the University of California , San Diego , focused on debtors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to pay in order to avoid garnishment .
The settlements left consumers worse off : They were more likely to fall behind on other debts or end up in foreclosure or bankruptcy , the study found .
The main reason was that paying up on one debt had drained those consumers ’ cash buffer and that left them vulnerable to falling behind on others .
Even in good economic times , low-income consumers live on the edge , so the CARES Act aid was particularly helpful to them .
According to a Federal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ boost to weekly unemployment insurance benefits actually resulted in higher pay for about 40 % of those who received them .
On top of that came the $ 1,200 stimulus checks ( $ 2,400 for married couples ) with an additional $ 500 for each child .
In July , the Fed found households with income under $ 40,000 a year had significantly more savings than normal : Whereas last year just 39 % said they would have covered an unexpected $ 400 expense with cash , this summer , 48 % said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clear beneficiary of those extra funds .
According to a survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics , while most people used the stimulus payments to buy food and other essentials , about 25 % used at least some of the money to pay down debts .
But Felipe Severino , a Tuck School of Business professor and one of the authors of the paper on debt collection settlements , said there may be negative long-term consequences for households who used the extra money to settle older debts .
The companies say they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , charged-off debts they collect so the debts are not growing .
“ I would argue it ’ s not a very good use of their money , ” he said .
With less of a safety net , those households are more likely to find themselves behind on their bills again .
Furthermore , he said , stimulative government aid like the CARES Act is meant to be “ spent and magnify across the economy ” in the near term by , for instance , leading to increased purchases at local businesses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the money goes to debt collectors .
The flood of government aid , along with the sudden contraction in spending due to COVID-19 , has led to an unpredictable economy , one where unemployment has shot up without the usual tide of delinquencies , bankruptcies and foreclosures .
But now , banks are predicting that tide to finally arrive in the coming months .
In July , Capital One reported a loss for the quarter despite delinquencies actually going down .
The reason was the bank set aside $ 2.9 billion as a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kind of safety net for the future .
Encore did not appear to need such precautions .
“ Our liquidity puts us in a strong position to capture the substantial purchasing opportunity , which we believe is sure to follow , ” Masih , the CEO , told analysts .

After a pause for the pandemic, debt buyers are back in the courts, suing debtors by the thousands.
Earlier this year, the pandemic swept across the country, killing 100,000 Americans by the spring, shuttering businesses and schools, and forcing people into their homes. It was a great time to be a debt collector.
In August, Encore Capital, the largest debt buyer in the country, announced that it had doubled its previous record for earnings in a quarter. It primarily had the CARES Act to thank: The bill delivered hundreds of billions of dollars worth of stimulus checks and bulked-up unemployment benefits to Americans, while easing pressures on them by halting foreclosures, evictions and student loan payments. There was no ban on collections of old credit card bills, Encore’s specialty.
At the same time, the pandemic compelled households to cut spending. Finding themselves with enough money to settle old debts, people responded to collectors’ calls and letters. Debt-buying executives couldn’t help marveling at their good fortune. All this created “a perfect storm from a cash perspective,” the CEO of Portfolio Recovery Associates, Encore’s main competitor, told Wall Street analysts.
After its record second quarter, analysts expect Encore to blow past $200 million in profit this year and reward stockholders with 40% earnings growth compared with last year. Portfolio Recovery is set for similar growth. The share prices of both have soared off their early April lows.
Investors didn’t even show much concern when, in early September, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued Encore, saying that it had broken the terms of a consent agreement struck in 2015. The agency had previously charged the company with “pressuring consumers with false statements and churning out lawsuits using robo-signed court documents,” as it said at the time. (In a statement, Encore said the CFPB’s recent suit was unnecessary because it had fixed the alleged problems “years ago.”)
In recent months, the only real bad news for debt buyers was that local courts across the country temporarily shut down. Debt collection lawsuits provide a key source of revenue for the companies, a way to extract payment from consumers, typically low-income, who don’t offer it up.
But now even that hiccup is over. After a bit of a lull in the spring, Encore and other debt buyers are back at it, filing suits by the thousands every week, according to ProPublica’s analysis of state court filings.
In August alone, Encore filed about 1,000 suits in Indiana and over 2,000 suits in the metro Atlanta area. Other debt buyers jumped back in as well. In Chicago, Portfolio Recovery filed over 3,000 suits in July, while LVNV, a major debt buyer privately owned by Sherman Financial Group, filed over 2,700 suits in Maryland in August. For all these companies, ProPublica found, the volume was well above the number they’d filed before the coronavirus arrived, in January or February of this year. No national numbers on suits exist.
In statements, the companies said they have been actively working with consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic and only sue as a last resort on a small portion of accounts.
Elizabeth A. Kersey, a spokesperson for Portfolio Recovery, said the company’s hardship program “allows for the suspension of collection efforts for ninety (90) days upon notification of a hardship event.” The company is currently not seeking new orders to seize debtors’ wages or bank account funds, she said.
Ryan Bell, an Encore executive, said, “We have consistently and proactively communicated to consumers the various relief options we’ve put in place in response to COVID-19, including temporarily stopping collections.” The company said it had stopped seeking orders to garnish bank accounts. It is, however, seizing wages.
Sherman Financial did not respond to requests for comment.
If Congress is unable to pass any further stimulus , unemployment is likely to remain high. In that scenario, debt buying companies and the banks that sell defaulted accounts to them expect more Americans to fall behind on their credit card bills over the coming months.
Even that scenario turns out to be rosy for the debt buyers. While good times can mean that Encore collects on more debt than it expected, bad times typically bring a glut of people suffering under loans they cannot repay. The result is that Encore can scoop up the raw materials for its profit machine — defaulted accounts — more cheaply. Or as Encore CEO Ashish Masih put it to Wall Street: The company is “particularly excited about the prospects for increased supply in the future.”
“The same giant debt buyers known for fighting consumer protection laws at every turn have been raking in cash during this pandemic,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, told ProPublica. “They are now licking their chops in anticipation of profiting even more off families who have their hours further cut or can’t find a job, and can’t keep up with their bills or their mortgage. This is disgraceful and reinforces the need for Congress to protect consumers and small businesses from this predatory behavior.”
In recent years, Encore has bought around 2 million to 3 million U.S. accounts per year, according to public filings. Last year, on average, the company paid 8.6 cents on the dollar for each account. For a typical debt of $3,142, Encore paid $271.
To earn a profit on that investment, Encore and other debt buyers pursue debtors in near perpetuity. Encore is still collecting tens of millions of dollars each year from debts it bought in 2009 or earlier. The key to that persistence is the courts.
Since the early 2000s, debt buyers have flooded local courts nationwide with suits. The companies regularly account for more than a quarter of all debt collection cases in a given jurisdiction, according to ProPublica’s review of collection filings over several states.
That disproportionate presence has been particularly apparent in recent months, as the banks themselves have mostly opted to suspend filing new suits. In normal times, Capital One files far more lawsuits than other banks, in numbers similar to those filed by Encore and Portfolio Recovery. But since March, although Capital One continued to seize pay via garnishments secured before COVID-19 struck, it has largely stopped filing new suits.
ProPublica did find one exception among the major banks that commonly file a significant number of suits: Citigroup, which resumed filing suits at its normal levels in July. The bank, for instance, filed over 200 suits in Oklahoma in August, more than it had filed there in January and February combined.
In a statement, Citi spokesperson Jennifer Bombardier said the bank has a special assistance program for customers impacted by COVID-19 and that it is not seeking to garnish the bank accounts of customers it has sued. The bank also did not sell charged-off accounts to debt buyers “for up to 120 days” in the states “most impacted by COVID-19,” she said.
Encore sued Nicole Campbell of Brooklyn, New York, in July. Her first task was to figure out what to do. The suit was over $3,023.76 in debt she incurred years ago with CareCredit, a card offered by Synchrony Bank to people who need to cover medical costs, such as dentistry and eyecare. She knew she should answer the complaint by going to the courthouse, but she was wary of going there during the pandemic and wasn’t even sure whether it was open.
Even attorneys have difficulty finding their way. “Courts have been returning to full operation, but there’s so much confusion as to what’s happening,” said Susan Shin, legal director of the New Economy Project in New York City. “It’s hard to know what to advise people on what to do with their case.”
With help from an attorney with the New Economy Project, Campbell responded to the suit by mail. She’s not sure what to expect next but said she doesn’t have much time to worry about it. She cares for three boys, 5, 11 and 14, on her own and has to figure out how to get them to school on the city’s part-time schedule while helping them with online lessons when they’re home. She juggles this with her own job as a customer service rep: That also has a rotating, part-time schedule in order to minimize the number of people in the office.
“It’s crazy to me they’re filing all this during this time when there’s so much going on,” she said.
Such collection suits are most common among workers with income under $40,000 per year and particularly common in mostly Black neighborhoods. The suits routinely result in judgments, which in turn usually result in attempts at garnishment, according to a ProPublica analysis of Missouri court filings. Past studies have put the number of workers who have their wages garnished each year at around 4 million. In most states, plaintiffs can seize up to a quarter of a worker’s take-home pay or clean out their bank account.
In recent years, when state legislatures have moved to protect more funds from garnishment, Encore has been there to oppose the measures. In 2018, a Connecticut bill proposed to automatically protect up to $1,000 in a bank account. An Encore executive, Sonia Gibson, argued against it, writing in a letter, “Since the average amount we collect through bank garnishments is typically around $700, an automatic exemption of $1,000 would leave us unable to use bank garnishments.” The bill died.
Last year in California, Encore joined with other debt buyers to combat a similar bill that aimed to protect around $1,700.
“It was a really huge fight,” said Ted Mermin, head of the California Low-Income Consumer Coalition and a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. “And you’ve got to think, ‘Why?’ Who on earth thinks it’s a good idea to take someone’s last dollar? The only people who would do this are debt collectors who have no ongoing relationship with someone.” The bill narrowly passed and became law.
In Washington state, lawmakers last year sought to protect more workers from wage garnishment. Under federal law, earnings above $217.50 in a week are eligible to be seized, a level that has remained the same since 2009 because it’s tied to the $7.25 federal minimum wage. The Washington bill, which ultimately passed, aimed to tie the exemption to the state’s much higher minimum wage, which this year is $13.50 an hour. In 2020, about $472.50 in weekly take-home pay would be protected. That was much too high for Encore. Gibson argued in a letter that people earning that much shouldn’t be “completely exempt from garnishment.”
As an alternative to automatic protections, Encore generally argues that consumers should have to file exemptions in court to demonstrate they really can’t afford to have their money taken. Consumer advocates say that such exemptions, which often exist in state laws, are rarely invoked by debtors because they either don’t know about them or don’t understand the process.
On paper, Randall Ward would seem to be well-insulated from garnishment. He lives in the small town of Marianna, Florida, and state law protects the wages of anyone deemed the “head of household,” which is defined as someone who earns more than half the household’s income and has dependents. Since Ward helps care for his 20-year-old son with Down syndrome and a granddaughter, his pay from his job as a manager at a Waffle House is eligible for protection.
But when Encore, after having won a judgment against Ward the previous year, sought to garnish his wages this past February, Ward didn’t understand that he qualified for the “head of household” exemption. So, starting in March, Encore began taking a quarter of Ward’s take-home pay. The size of the debt, a Citibank card that had ballooned to $5,220 with interest and court costs, meant that Ward, even with what he’s proud to call a “good job,” was in for many lean months.
The only way to make ends meet, he said, was to cancel health insurance for himself, his son and his wife, “because I could not pay the bills if I didn’t do it.”
Then the virus forced his restaurant to close for several weeks and his pay stopped altogether. The family was without income as he waited for his unemployment claim to go through. When, finally, he could go back to work, the garnishments returned. Encore has said in public statements that it looks to work with consumers, especially those who’ve been impacted by COVID-19. Ward said that was not his experience.
“They’re just ruthless about it,” he said. “I would hate to see that happen to anybody.”
Encore declined to comment on individual accounts.
Collection suits can have a lasting negative effect on consumers. A recent study by economists from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business and the University of California, San Diego, focused on debtors who, after being sued, agreed to pay in order to avoid garnishment. The settlements left consumers worse off: They were more likely to fall behind on other debts or end up in foreclosure or bankruptcy, the study found. The main reason was that paying up on one debt had drained those consumers’ cash buffer and that left them vulnerable to falling behind on others.
Even in good economic times, low-income consumers live on the edge, so the CARES Act aid was particularly helpful to them. According to a Federal Reserve survey, the temporary $600 boost to weekly unemployment insurance benefits actually resulted in higher pay for about 40% of those who received them. On top of that came the $1,200 stimulus checks ($2,400 for married couples) with an additional $500 for each child.
In July, the Fed found households with income under $40,000 a year had significantly more savings than normal: Whereas last year just 39% said they would have covered an unexpected $400 expense with cash, this summer, 48% said they would.
Debt collectors were a clear beneficiary of those extra funds. According to a survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, while most people used the stimulus payments to buy food and other essentials, about 25% used at least some of the money to pay down debts.
But Felipe Severino, a Tuck School of Business professor and one of the authors of the paper on debt collection settlements, said there may be negative long-term consequences for households who used the extra money to settle older debts. The companies say they do not charge interest on the old, charged-off debts they collect so the debts are not growing.
“I would argue it’s not a very good use of their money,” he said. With less of a safety net, those households are more likely to find themselves behind on their bills again.
Furthermore, he said, stimulative government aid like the CARES Act is meant to be “spent and magnify across the economy” in the near term by, for instance, leading to increased purchases at local businesses. That doesn’t happen when the money goes to debt collectors.
The flood of government aid, along with the sudden contraction in spending due to COVID-19, has led to an unpredictable economy, one where unemployment has shot up without the usual tide of delinquencies, bankruptcies and foreclosures. But now, banks are predicting that tide to finally arrive in the coming months.
In July, Capital One reported a loss for the quarter despite delinquencies actually going down. The reason was the bank set aside $2.9 billion as a provision for future credit losses, a kind of safety net for the future.
Encore did not appear to need such precautions. “Our liquidity puts us in a strong position to capture the substantial purchasing opportunity, which we believe is sure to follow,” Masih, the CEO, told analysts.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.


truthout--2020-10-05--Trump Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany Tests Positive for COVID

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany announced in a tweet on Monday that she has become the latest member of the Trump administration to have tested positive for coronavirus .
“ After testing negative consistently , including every day since Thursday , I tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday morning while experiencing no symptoms , ” McEnany wrote in a statement .
“ No reporters , producers , or members of the press are listed as close contacts by the White House Medical Unit.
” McEnany said she would continue to serve as press secretary remotely .
Several individuals close @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 within just a few days of each other , including President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump .
White House aide Hope Hicks , Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and Trump ’ s presidential campaign manager Bill Stepien have also tested positive for the virus .
In total , at least 18 individuals connected to Trump ’ s reelection campaign or who had attended the White House event announcing Amy Coney Barrett ’ s nomination to the Supreme Court have tested positive for coronavirus .
Some have criticized McEnany for meeting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Corps after Thursday when she had come into direct contact with Hicks , who was known to be positive for COVID-19 at the time of their interaction .
On Friday , McEnany had appeared on Fox News and also met with reporters without wearing a mask in the White House driveway .
She also spoke with reporters on Sunday evening during a press gaggle , removing her mask before speaking .
White House communications adviser Ben Williamson claimed McEnany was “ socially distanced ” from reporters in the area during that interaction , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seconds .
He further argued her actions were compliant with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) regarding limiting “ sustained contact ” with others .
However , the CDC also recommends that individuals who come into contact with others who have contracted coronavirus should themselves quarantine for 14 days after their last known exposure .
Those recommendations are not overridden by a negative test result .
In a statement regarding McEnany ’ s diagnosis , the White House Correspondents ’ Association said they were “ not aware @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , though we know some are awaiting test results.
” “ We strongly encourage our members to continue following CDC guidance on mask-wearing and distancing — especially when at the White House — and urge journalists to seek testing if they were potentially exposed , ” the organization added .
In spite of precautions being taken by McEnany and other White House staffers , it still doesn ’ t appear that the administration is yet taking the pandemic seriously .
Even after Trump received his diagnosis , his preferred adviser on coronavirus Scott @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unproven views about the disease , was seen without a mask on the White House grounds on Friday .
Trump ’ s chief of staff , Mark Meadows , similarly wasn ’ t wearing a mask on that day .

McEnany was in defiance of CDC guidelines urging quarantine for individuals exposed to others who have the disease.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany announced in a tweet on Monday that she has become the latest member of the Trump administration to have tested positive for coronavirus.
“After testing negative consistently, including every day since Thursday, I tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday morning while experiencing no symptoms,” McEnany wrote in a statement. “No reporters, producers, or members of the press are listed as close contacts by the White House Medical Unit.”
McEnany said she would continue to serve as press secretary remotely.
Several individuals close to the president have tested positive for COVID-19 within just a few days of each other, including President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump. White House aide Hope Hicks, Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and Trump’s presidential campaign manager Bill Stepien have also tested positive for the virus.
In total, at least 18 individuals connected to Trump’s reelection campaign or who had attended the White House event announcing Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court have tested positive for coronavirus.
Some have criticized McEnany for meeting with members of the White House Press Corps after Thursday when she had come into direct contact with Hicks, who was known to be positive for COVID-19 at the time of their interaction.
On Friday, McEnany had appeared on Fox News and also met with reporters without wearing a mask in the White House driveway. She also spoke with reporters on Sunday evening during a press gaggle, removing her mask before speaking.
White House communications adviser Ben Williamson claimed McEnany was “socially distanced” from reporters in the area during that interaction, and only spoke with them for 58 seconds. He further argued her actions were compliant with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding limiting “sustained contact” with others.
However, the CDC also recommends that individuals who come into contact with others who have contracted coronavirus should themselves quarantine for 14 days after their last known exposure. Those recommendations are not overridden by a negative test result.
In a statement regarding McEnany’s diagnosis, the White House Correspondents’ Association said they were “not aware of additional cases among White House journalists, though we know some are awaiting test results.”
“We strongly encourage our members to continue following CDC guidance on mask-wearing and distancing — especially when at the White House — and urge journalists to seek testing if they were potentially exposed,” the organization added.
In spite of precautions being taken by McEnany and other White House staffers, it still doesn’t appear that the administration is yet taking the pandemic seriously. Even after Trump received his diagnosis, his preferred adviser on coronavirus Scott Atlas, who has pushed controversial and unproven views about the disease, was seen without a mask on the White House grounds on Friday. Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, similarly wasn’t wearing a mask on that day.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-10-05--Breonna Taylor’s Family Demands a Special Prosecutor to Reopen Case

Breonna Taylor ’ s family is calling on Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear to appoint a new special prosecutor to reopen the case after they say newly released grand jury tapes confirm the state Attorney General Daniel Cameron “ did not serve as an unbiased prosecutor in this case and intentionally did not present charges to the grand jury that would have pursued justice for Ms. Taylor.
” Cameron complied with a judicial order to release 15 hours of audiotapes just before the judge ’ s noon deadline on Friday .
“ The recordings that were released were just as we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ presenting evidence on behalf of Breonna Taylor , ” says Ben Crump , a civil rights attorney representing Taylor ’ s family .
We also speak with Democratic Kentucky Representative Attica Scott , who was arrested last month during a protest in Louisville calling for justice in the case and faces charges of first-degree rioting , failure to disperse and unlawful assembly , even as police officers were directly charged in Taylor ’ s killing .
This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Quarantine Report .
I ’ m Amy Goodman .
Kentucky ’ s attorney general has been forced to comply with a judge ’ s order to release 15 hours of audiotapes from the disputed grand jury proceedings into the police killing of Breonna Taylor , the 26-year-old African American Louisville resident who was shot to death last March inside her own home by white police officers executing a no-knock warrant .
The tapes were filed Friday just before the judge ’ s noon deadline .
They confirm Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron did @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the white police officers who fired 32 times into Taylor ’ s apartment , striking her with six bullets .
Cameron has claimed a witness heard officers announce themselves before breaking down Breonna Taylor ’ s front door .
That witness now says he only heard the police identify themselves quietly and in passing .
Meanwhile , lawyers for Taylor ’ s family say a dozen other witnesses did not hear police announce themselves .
Taylor ’ s boyfriend , Kenneth Walker , testified he rushed out of bed , grabbed his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ raid , fearing a home invasion after he heard loud and repeated banging on Taylor ’ s front door .
Listen closely to these recordings in the grand jury .
The audio is hard to understand .
AMY GOODMAN : That ’ s Breonna Taylor ’ s boyfriend , Kenneth Walker , testifying to the grand jury in her case .
He said , “ I was scared to death .
So , she says there ’ s another knock at the door .
She ’ s yelling at the top of her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , at this point , ‘ Who is it ?
’ No answer , no response , no anything .
So , we ’ re like , ‘ What the heck ?
’ ” Walker said .
This comes as a second anonymous member of the grand jury has now asked a judge to allow them to speak publicly about the case .
Legal analysts have raised concerns the instructions from prosecutors were not included in the grand jury audio recordings that were just released .
Kentucky Attorney General Cameron ’ s office @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Juror deliberations and prosecutor recommendations and statements were not recorded , as they are not evidence.
” Now Breonna Taylor ’ s family is calling on Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear to appoint a new special prosecutor to reopen the case , saying in a statement , quote , “ Cameron did not serve as an unbiased prosecutor in this case and intentionally did not present charges to the grand jury that would have pursued justice for Ms. Taylor.
” For more , we go to Tallahassee , Florida , to speak with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the family of Breonna Taylor .
Ben Crump , welcome back to Democracy Now !
The significance of the recordings that were released and were not released , and what your demand is , the demand of the family of Breonna Taylor ?
BENJAMIN CRUMP : Yes , ma ’ am .
It ’ s so good to be with you , Amy .
And thank you for covering these important matters , because Breonna Taylor ’ s life matters , Black women ’ s lives matter in America , and we have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The grand jury recordings that were released were just as we assumed they were , that nobody was presenting evidence on behalf of Breonna Taylor in that grand jury proceeding .
In fact , there is one exchange where you hear the prosecutors — after they ’ ve offered just a snippet of a bodycam video , a grand juror who sounds like a Black woman says , “ Well , do we get to see the rest of the bodycam video ?
” And the prosecutor says that , “ Well @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 15 hours of bodycam video , and that would take too much time , ” of which , Amy , she retorts back , “ We have the time.
” And so , you know , when you listen to the recordings , it ’ s as if the prosecutors are trying to justify the unjustifiable killing of Breonna Taylor , this Black woman , in the sanctity of her own apartment , after they illegally , based on a lie , busted open her front door , executing this no-knock warrant .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ who seem to be advocating for evidence for Breonna Taylor far more than the prosecutors are doing .
So , the family of Breonna Taylor is demanding that a new grand jury be convened and you have an unbiased prosecutor present the evidence to the grand jury , so that Breonna may have her due process , that her family can have their day in court , and that she could have a chance at achieving justice for this unjustifiable , unnecessary and senseless killing of this Black woman .
AMY GOODMAN : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ white police officers being charged with Breonna Taylor ’ s death ?
Again , the only one charged , Brett Hankison , who was indicted on three counts of wanton endangerment , ultimately was charged only with shooting into a neighbor ’ s apartment .
And if , Ben , you can also talk about the fact that Hankison and the others , again , were not charged in this case ?
BENJAMIN CRUMP : Certainly , Amy .
It ’ s a slap in the face to Breonna ’ s mother and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recommendations — Daniel Cameron , the Kentucky Attorney General ’ s Office , made recommendations , and the grand jury does what the prosecutors ask .
You know , 99.9 % of the time , whatever the DA wants the grand jury to do , they do .
You can get an indictment on a ham sandwich , it ’ s often been said , if the prosecutor wants it .
So , when he said that we want wanton endangerment charges for the bullets that went into the walls of Breonna ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wanton endangerment for the bullets that went in Breonna ’ s Black neighbors who lived above her , or not even the bullets that went into Breonna ’ s apartment for wanton endangerment , and , worst of all , Amy , not even wanton murder or homicide or manslaughter or anything for the bullets that mutilated Breonna Taylor ’ s body while she was in her underwear .
And so — AMY GOODMAN : Ben Crump , you seemed to have an inkling of this when it was announced , the $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you saying , “ Remember , even second-degree manslaughter.
” BENJAMIN CRUMP : Yeah , because it was — Amy , it was clearly reckless , and blindly , how these police officers were shooting in this apartment , I mean , executing this no-knock warrant .
We have to remember , Amy , he never presented evidence about the lie that was in the probable cause affidavit which helped form the basis of why the judge signed the no-knock warrant in the first place , which was they said that Breonna Taylor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ apartment per the United States postal inspector .
Well , the postal inspector then came out and said he never made such a statement , and that wasn ’ t true .
Well , Daniel Cameron and his office never presented that to the grand jury .
So , it begged the question , for me : What did they present to the grand jury ?
Now we know with these recordings .
And we know , Amy , they did not put forth second-degree manslaughter charges or homicide charges as the law @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reasoned to do so .
AMY GOODMAN : Before we go , what does it mean to be calling on the governor , Beshear , to reopen this and appoint a second second prosecutor ?
How does that happen ?
BENJAMIN CRUMP : Well , to be exact , we now know the governor does not have that authority .
It ’ s the attorney general .
And a governor can only try to use his bully pulpit .
And I think he has been doing that to try to say it wasn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Breonna Taylor .
The power lies within Daniel Cameron , the Kentucky attorney general , so we want to make sure that ’ s clear .
We want to put the ire of our frustration exactly where it needs to be : his office and the county attorney , who is [ Tom ] Wine .
Those are the two men who can give Breonna justice .
And apparently , with the exception of the Department of Justice , they are the only two individuals that will determine whether this Black woman even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have her day in court .
So we want to make sure everybody continues to say her name and tell Daniel Cameron and County Attorney Wine we need to reconvene a new grand jury and have an independent prosecutor , who is not trying to advocate for the police but is presenting the evidence in an unbiased manner , because Breonna Taylor ’ s life matters .
AMY GOODMAN : Ben Crump , we want to thank you so much for being with us , civil rights attorney .
We ’ re going @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and we ’ re going to speak with the first African American state legislator in Kentucky .
Stay with us .
AMY GOODMAN : “ Matter ” by Brittany Campbell .
This is Democracy Now !
I ’ m Amy Goodman .
For more on the Breonna Taylor case and more , we go to Louisville , Kentucky , to speak with Democratic state Representative Attica Scott .
In 2016 , she became the first African American woman to serve in Kentucky ’ s state Legislature in 20 years .
Representative Scott , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protested in downtown Louisville , you were live-streaming when police surrounded your group .
You , your daughter and 22 others now face charges of first-degree rioting , failure to disperse and unlawful assembly , this coming as no officers were directly charged in Breonna Taylor ’ s killing .
Can you talk about this , the significance of you being charged with a felony ?
REP. ATTICA SCOTT : Yes .
And thank you so much , Amy , for having me on this morning .
Yes , we were fighting for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have done for more than 130 days here in Louisville , Kentucky .
And on that Thursday , September 24th , night , we were trying to get to sanctuary before the 9:00 curfew , and we were stopped by police .
In fact , they told us to turn around .
As we turned around , they yelled , “ Circle them !
Circle them !
” And I asked , “ What do you want us to do ?
” And it was 8:58 , two minutes before curfew .
We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Church in District 41 , the district that I serve .
And they told us to get on the ground , and they started arresting us .
And they refused to tell us why they were arresting us .
And when we found out that we were being accused of trying to burn down the library that I represent in my district , I was in shock .
Couldn ’ t believe it .
AMY GOODMAN : And the significance of why you were protesting , the case of Breonna Taylor , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what you ’ re demanding ?
REP. ATTICA SCOTT : Yes .
So , we were — at the time we were protesting , it was before the grand juror was able to get the tapes released .
It was actually the week of Daniel Cameron ’ s press conference where he told us that he was going to do no justice for Breonna Taylor , there would be no justice for Breonna Taylor .
That ’ s basically what he told us .
And so we continued our protest .
And on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his announcement , 127 people were arrested .
The Thursday night that we were out , we had 24 people arrested .
And then , the next day , Friday , we had more than a hundred people arrested .
We are determined to get justice for Breonna Taylor .
No law enforcement body is going to stop us from exercising our First Amendment rights and from stopping us from having civil disobedience in this city that refuses to have justice for Breonna Taylor , her family or her community .
AMY GOODMAN @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as we wrap up ?
And then we ’ re going to do Part 2 to talk about what you ’ re going to be doing in the state Legislature around the killing of Breonna Taylor .
REP. ATTICA SCOTT : Yes , and thank you for that question .
As we face court tomorrow afternoon , Tuesday afternoon , we are clear that we will continue to demand justice for Breonna Taylor .
What that looks like right now is exactly what attorney Crump said .
We need a new special prosecutor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not politically motivated , who is not directly tied to Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump .
We need an independent investigator who will listen to the witnesses who lived where Breonna Taylor lived , in her apartment complex .
There are many witnesses who need to be heard , because Breonna Taylor has not received justice .
AMY GOODMAN : Attica Scott , I want to thank you for being with us .
We ’ ll do Part 2 and post it online at democracynow.org , Democratic state representative in Kentucky .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I ’ m Amy Goodman .
Stay safe .
Wear a mask .
Save lives .
Happy Birthday to Becca Staley !

Breonna Taylor’s family is calling on Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear to appoint a new special prosecutor to reopen the case after they say newly released grand jury tapes confirm the state Attorney General Daniel Cameron “did not serve as an unbiased prosecutor in this case and intentionally did not present charges to the grand jury that would have pursued justice for Ms. Taylor.” Cameron complied with a judicial order to release 15 hours of audiotapes just before the judge’s noon deadline on Friday. “The recordings that were released were just as we assumed they were, that nobody was presenting evidence on behalf of Breonna Taylor,” says Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney representing Taylor’s family. We also speak with Democratic Kentucky Representative Attica Scott, who was arrested last month during a protest in Louisville calling for justice in the case and faces charges of first-degree rioting, failure to disperse and unlawful assembly, even as police officers were directly charged in Taylor’s killing.
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! The Quarantine Report. I’m Amy Goodman.
Kentucky’s attorney general has been forced to comply with a judge’s order to release 15 hours of audiotapes from the disputed grand jury proceedings into the police killing of Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old African American Louisville resident who was shot to death last March inside her own home by white police officers executing a no-knock warrant. The tapes were filed Friday just before the judge’s noon deadline. They confirm Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron did not ask jurors to consider homicide charges for the white police officers who fired 32 times into Taylor’s apartment, striking her with six bullets.
Cameron has claimed a witness heard officers announce themselves before breaking down Breonna Taylor’s front door. That witness now says he only heard the police identify themselves quietly and in passing. Meanwhile, lawyers for Taylor’s family say a dozen other witnesses did not hear police announce themselves. Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, testified he rushed out of bed, grabbed his handgun on the night of the fatal raid, fearing a home invasion after he heard loud and repeated banging on Taylor’s front door.
Listen closely to these recordings in the grand jury. The audio is hard to understand.
KENNETH WALKER: I was scared to death. So, she says that there’s another knock at the door. She’s yelling at the top of her lungs, and I am, too, at this point, “Who is it?” No answer, no response, no anything. So, we’re like, “What the heck?”
AMY GOODMAN: That’s Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, testifying to the grand jury in her case. He said, “I was scared to death. So, she says there’s another knock at the door. She’s yelling at the top of her lungs, and I am, too, at this point, ‘Who is it?’ No answer, no response, no anything. So, we’re like, ‘What the heck?’” Walker said.
This comes as a second anonymous member of the grand jury has now asked a judge to allow them to speak publicly about the case. Legal analysts have raised concerns the instructions from prosecutors were not included in the grand jury audio recordings that were just released. Kentucky Attorney General Cameron’s office said in a statement, quote, “Juror deliberations and prosecutor recommendations and statements were not recorded, as they are not evidence.”
Now Breonna Taylor’s family is calling on Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear to appoint a new special prosecutor to reopen the case, saying in a statement, quote, “Cameron did not serve as an unbiased prosecutor in this case and intentionally did not present charges to the grand jury that would have pursued justice for Ms. Taylor.”
For more, we go to Tallahassee, Florida, to speak with civil rights attorney Ben Crump, representing the family of Breonna Taylor.
Ben Crump, welcome back to Democracy Now! The significance of the recordings that were released and were not released, and what your demand is, the demand of the family of Breonna Taylor?
BENJAMIN CRUMP: Yes, ma’am. It’s so good to be with you, Amy. And thank you for covering these important matters, because Breonna Taylor’s life matters, Black women’s lives matter in America, and we have to continue to remind America of that.
The grand jury recordings that were released were just as we assumed they were, that nobody was presenting evidence on behalf of Breonna Taylor in that grand jury proceeding. In fact, there is one exchange where you hear the prosecutors — after they’ve offered just a snippet of a bodycam video, a grand juror who sounds like a Black woman says, “Well, do we get to see the rest of the bodycam video?” And the prosecutor says that, “Well, ma’am, we have 15 hours of bodycam video, and that would take too much time,” of which, Amy, she retorts back, “We have the time.”
And so, you know, when you listen to the recordings, it’s as if the prosecutors are trying to justify the unjustifiable killing of Breonna Taylor, this Black woman, in the sanctity of her own apartment, after they illegally, based on a lie, busted open her front door, executing this no-knock warrant. And then you have the jurors, who seem to be advocating for evidence for Breonna Taylor far more than the prosecutors are doing.
So, the family of Breonna Taylor is demanding that a new grand jury be convened and you have an unbiased prosecutor present the evidence to the grand jury, so that Breonna may have her due process, that her family can have their day in court, and that she could have a chance at achieving justice for this unjustifiable, unnecessary and senseless killing of this Black woman.
AMY GOODMAN: The significance of none of these three white police officers being charged with Breonna Taylor’s death? Again, the only one charged, Brett Hankison, who was indicted on three counts of wanton endangerment, ultimately was charged only with shooting into a neighbor’s apartment. And if, Ben, you can also talk about the fact that Hankison and the others, again, were not charged in this case?
BENJAMIN CRUMP: Certainly, Amy. It’s a slap in the face to Breonna’s mother and her family. When you actually make recommendations — Daniel Cameron, the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office, made recommendations, and the grand jury does what the prosecutors ask. You know, 99.9% of the time, whatever the DA wants the grand jury to do, they do. You can get an indictment on a ham sandwich, it’s often been said, if the prosecutor wants it.
So, when he said that we want wanton endangerment charges for the bullets that went into the walls of Breonna’s white neighbors, but not any wanton endangerment for the bullets that went in Breonna’s Black neighbors who lived above her, or not even the bullets that went into Breonna’s apartment for wanton endangerment, and, worst of all, Amy, not even wanton murder or homicide or manslaughter or anything for the bullets that mutilated Breonna Taylor’s body while she was in her underwear. And so —
AMY GOODMAN: Ben Crump, you seemed to have an inkling of this when it was announced, the $12 million settlement, because I remember you saying, “Remember, even second-degree manslaughter.”
BENJAMIN CRUMP: Yeah, because it was — Amy, it was clearly reckless, and blindly, how these police officers were shooting in this apartment, I mean, executing this no-knock warrant. We have to remember, Amy, he never presented evidence about the lie that was in the probable cause affidavit which helped form the basis of why the judge signed the no-knock warrant in the first place, which was they said that Breonna Taylor had suspicious packages being delivered to her apartment per the United States postal inspector. Well, the postal inspector then came out and said he never made such a statement, and that wasn’t true. Well, Daniel Cameron and his office never presented that to the grand jury.
So, it begged the question, for me: What did they present to the grand jury? Now we know with these recordings. And we know, Amy, they did not put forth second-degree manslaughter charges or homicide charges as the law clearly suggests they would have been well reasoned to do so.
AMY GOODMAN: Before we go, what does it mean to be calling on the governor, Beshear, to reopen this and appoint a second second prosecutor? How does that happen?
BENJAMIN CRUMP: Well, to be exact, we now know the governor does not have that authority. It’s the attorney general. And a governor can only try to use his bully pulpit. And I think he has been doing that to try to say it wasn’t right, what happened to Breonna Taylor.
The power lies within Daniel Cameron, the Kentucky attorney general, so we want to make sure that’s clear. We want to put the ire of our frustration exactly where it needs to be: his office and the county attorney, who is [Tom] Wine. Those are the two men who can give Breonna justice. And apparently, with the exception of the Department of Justice, they are the only two individuals that will determine whether this Black woman even has due process of the law to have her day in court.
So we want to make sure everybody continues to say her name and tell Daniel Cameron and County Attorney Wine we need to reconvene a new grand jury and have an independent prosecutor, who is not trying to advocate for the police but is presenting the evidence in an unbiased manner, because Breonna Taylor’s life matters.
AMY GOODMAN: Ben Crump, we want to thank you so much for being with us, civil rights attorney. We’re going to continue with this after break, and we’re going to speak with the first African American state legislator in Kentucky. Stay with us.
[break]
AMY GOODMAN: “Matter” by Brittany Campbell. This is Democracy Now! I’m Amy Goodman. For more on the Breonna Taylor case and more, we go to Louisville, Kentucky, to speak with Democratic state Representative Attica Scott. In 2016, she became the first African American woman to serve in Kentucky’s state Legislature in 20 years.
Representative Scott, last month, as you and hundreds protested in downtown Louisville, you were live-streaming when police surrounded your group. You, your daughter and 22 others now face charges of first-degree rioting, failure to disperse and unlawful assembly, this coming as no officers were directly charged in Breonna Taylor’s killing. Can you talk about this, the significance of you being charged with a felony?
REP. ATTICA SCOTT: Yes. And thank you so much, Amy, for having me on this morning.
Yes, we were fighting for justice for Breonna Taylor, as we have done for more than 130 days here in Louisville, Kentucky. And on that Thursday, September 24th, night, we were trying to get to sanctuary before the 9:00 curfew, and we were stopped by police. In fact, they told us to turn around. As we turned around, they yelled, “Circle them! Circle them!” And I asked, “What do you want us to do?” And it was 8:58, two minutes before curfew. We were literally 100 feet from First Unitarian Church in District 41, the district that I serve.
And they told us to get on the ground, and they started arresting us. And they refused to tell us why they were arresting us. And when we found out that we were being accused of trying to burn down the library that I represent in my district, I was in shock. Couldn’t believe it.
AMY GOODMAN: And the significance of why you were protesting, the case of Breonna Taylor, and the release of these audiotapes now and what you’re demanding?
REP. ATTICA SCOTT: Yes. So, we were — at the time we were protesting, it was before the grand juror was able to get the tapes released. It was actually the week of Daniel Cameron’s press conference where he told us that he was going to do no justice for Breonna Taylor, there would be no justice for Breonna Taylor. That’s basically what he told us. And so we continued our protest.
And on that Wednesday night, the night of his announcement, 127 people were arrested. The Thursday night that we were out, we had 24 people arrested. And then, the next day, Friday, we had more than a hundred people arrested.
We are determined to get justice for Breonna Taylor. No law enforcement body is going to stop us from exercising our First Amendment rights and from stopping us from having civil disobedience in this city that refuses to have justice for Breonna Taylor, her family or her community.
AMY GOODMAN: What are you demanding now, as we wrap up? And then we’re going to do Part 2 to talk about what you’re going to be doing in the state Legislature around the killing of Breonna Taylor.
REP. ATTICA SCOTT: Yes, and thank you for that question. As we face court tomorrow afternoon, Tuesday afternoon, we are clear that we will continue to demand justice for Breonna Taylor. What that looks like right now is exactly what attorney Crump said. We need a new special prosecutor, who is independent, who is not politically motivated, who is not directly tied to Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump. We need an independent investigator who will listen to the witnesses who lived where Breonna Taylor lived, in her apartment complex. There are many witnesses who need to be heard, because Breonna Taylor has not received justice.
AMY GOODMAN: Attica Scott, I want to thank you for being with us. We’ll do Part 2 and post it online at democracynow.org, Democratic state representative in Kentucky.
And that does it for our broadcast. I’m Amy Goodman. Stay safe. Wear a mask. Save lives. Happy Birthday to Becca Staley!