talkingpointsmemo--2020-02-28--When the Billionaire Family Behind the Opioid Crisis Needed PR Help, They Turned to Mike Bloomberg

This story first appeared at ProPublica .
ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom .
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Long celebrated as civic-minded philanthropists , the Sacklers were becoming pariahs .
The billionaire family whose company created and pushed the addictive painkiller OxyContin had managed to escape connection with the opioid crisis for years , but now two magazine pieces were portraying them as pain profiteers .
Museums that had sought their donations were being asked about giving the money back .
Mortimer D.A .
Sackler — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Purdue Pharma , and a member of its board — was openly furious .
And so he turned to a person he knew and admired in the media industry .
A person known as a devoted public health crusader , widely recognized for banning smoking in public places and pushing soda taxes around the country : Michael Bloomberg , the billionaire ex-mayor of New York City and founder of Bloomberg L.P. “ I am meeting with Michael Bloomberg tomorrow morning at 10 am to seek his help and guidance on the current @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wrote to Purdue ’ s top executives in December 2017 .
“ I plan to discuss the following with him : 1 .
Current narrative vs the truth .
2 .
What advice does he have on how best to deal with it ?
3 .
Does he have a journalist that he would recommend who could get the FULL story out there ” ?
“ The first thing you should [ do ] is to thank Bloomberg , ” Purdue ’ s head of communications , Josephine Martin , responded .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our side out is through Bloomberg .
We have given them exclusives and they have treated us very well.
” Previously undisclosed emails , including some filed in lawsuits against Purdue and others provided by sources , reveal a little-known relationship , forged in part by mutual philanthropic interests , between the Sacklers and Michael Bloomberg .
They show that when the Sacklers were facing critical media coverage , they looked to Bloomberg and his news and philanthropic organizations for help .
Bloomberg advised Mortimer Sackler on how to handle negative coverage in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a crisis communications specialist who had been his mayoral press secretary .
In 2018 , Bloomberg Philanthropies staff met with Sackler to discuss launching a joint initiative to combat the opioid crisis .
Now that Michael Bloomberg has joined the Democratic presidential campaign , his history in public life , his role as a news executive and his business history are being re-examined .
As his rivals criticize his wealth and accuse him of trying to buy the nomination , his relationship with the Sacklers could prove problematic .
Unlike some other candidates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Bloomberg has not publicly denounced the Sacklers for their role in fostering the opioid epidemic .
While “ it is not Mike ’ s usual practice to call out individual companies or company owners , ” a spokesperson for Bloomberg Philanthropies said , he has “ certainly called out ” opioid manufacturers as a group .
Bloomberg spokesman Kevin Sheekey said the Sacklers tried to use their relationship with Bloomberg for the family ’ s benefit , but were mostly unsuccessful .
Mortimer Sackler “ clearly had an agenda .
Clearly , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Keystone Cop , ” Sheekey said .
“ Their philanthropy was set up because they had an interest in art institutions and putting their names on them .
And they are now trying to leverage that around a business crisis .
What has their leverage bought them other than party invites ?
In relationship to us , we haven ’ t been able to find it.
” A spokesperson for Sackler family members said the family valued Bloomberg ’ s guidance on protecting its public image .
“ Mortimer saw Bloomberg as a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the spokesperson said .
He “ sought his advice on how Purdue should communicate its position with respect to the opioid crisis .
It is therefore disappointing , in the context of current public controversies , to see those who embraced these meetings now attempting to distance themselves from efforts that were undertaken with the best of intentions.
” It ’ s hardly unusual for rich people to become acquainted through charitable causes , or to attempt to exploit those relationships for some other purpose .
The Sacklers relied on philanthropic networking to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Humphreys , a professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine , who has written extensively on the opioid crisis .
“ I ’ m not surprised Bloomberg and the Sacklers would know each other , but it is disappointing , given Bloomberg ’ s huge public health commitments , that he would do this , ” Humphreys said .
Bloomberg and the Sacklers began crossing paths at charity events around New York in the 2000s .
Bloomberg and the Sacklers supported several of the same arts institutions .
Bloomberg and Mortimer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coordinator working for Bloomberg ’ s corporate arm .
Jonathan Sackler , another Purdue board member , donated to some of the same school causes as Bloomberg and attended a charter school fundraiser at Bloomberg ’ s New York home .
The most visible sign of the relationship came in 2013 , when Bloomberg co-hosted a gala at the opening of the Serpentine Sackler Gallery in London .
Mortimer Sackler and other family members attended and were feted as major donors .
Other guests included Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich , royal relative Pippa @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Bloomberg was named the next chair of the Serpentine Galleries — his organization had given about $ 2 million to the new wing — and posed for photos with Theresa Sackler , Mortimer ’ s stepmother and a fellow member of the Purdue board .
“ It was one of those parties where you can see anyone , as long as they ’ re really famous and really rich , ” recalled Vanity Fair London editor Henry Porter .
“ Bloomberg fit in well — he ’ s not the gawky out-of-towner.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the family , Porter said .
Bloomberg News devoted three articles to the new gallery .
Then nearing the end of his third and last term as mayor of New York , Bloomberg was known for a “ health in all policies ” approach .
His philanthropic organization made public health one of its chief priorities and funded anti-obesity and anti-smoking campaigns around the world .
In 2013 , a year when the opioid epidemic killed some 44,000 Americans , he set limits on painkiller prescriptions in public hospital emergency rooms .
One @ @ @ @ @ @ @ potent opioids was Purdue ’ s blockbuster painkiller , OxyContin .
The company had pleaded guilty in 2007 to a federal charge of misbranding for understating how addictive the pills were , and agreed to pay more than $ 600 million in fines and penalties .
( The Sacklers were not charged with any wrongdoing . )
But much of the media coverage of the Sackler family continued to focus on their elegant lifestyle .
Around the same time as the London gala , Mortimer Sackler ’ s wife completed a photo shoot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the down-to-earth aesthetic at their home in the Hamptons .
The story made no mention of the opioid crisis , or the source of the family ’ s wealth .
Within his news organization , Bloomberg was known to dislike what he saw as intrusions into the personal lives of the very rich .
In 2011 , when he was serving as mayor and staying away from day-to-day news coverage , Bloomberg News started a billionaires team , which ranked the fortunes of the wealthy .
When he returned to his company in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bloomberg offices around the world and told staff members he did not see a need for the team .
He said he disliked the way it invaded the privacy of rich people , according to current and former reporters .
Then-Bloomberg Businessweek editor Josh Tyrangiel recalled that Bloomberg would grumble about what he considered harsh coverage of the wealthy .
“ It was a handful of harmless asides .
He might say , ‘ Why is that news ?
Why do we have to probe into that stuff ?
’ ” Tyrangiel said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ close attention to the tone of stories about the rich , said Brad Wieners , then Bloomberg Businessweek ’ s executive editor .
“ We felt like the blow better count .
It would be easy for me to want to be snarky about anybody who had a high net worth .
But I had to counsel myself , we ’ re not just here to make fun of rich people , ” he said .
When it came to coverage of their family and its business , the Sacklers felt comfortable reaching @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sackler called then-Serpentine Galleries director Julia Peyton-Jones to express concern about a forthcoming Bloomberg Businessweek story .
“ Theresa Sackler rang me about a reporter from Bloomberg who is tracking everyone in the Sackler family and is writing what she believes will be an unflattering article referring to Sackler ‘ dirty drug money , ’ ” Peyton-Jones emailed Jemma Read , the London-based head of Bloomberg Corporate Philanthropy .
“ Theresa thinks that MB ’ s name could be mentioned in the article .
She has no wish to interfere editorially in any @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to alert Mike to the situation , and I would be grateful if you could make him aware of it.
” Read then emailed Theresa Sackler , asking for the reporter ’ s name .
Sackler responded by identifying David Armstrong , then a reporter on Bloomberg ’ s investigations team .
“ We REALLY don ’ t want to interfere in any journalist ’ s work , ” she wrote .
“ Just would not wish MB to be embarrassed by his association with the Serpentine Sackler gallery.
” Read followed up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reporter at ProPublica ) , asking when the story was scheduled to appear .
The piece was dropped from the magazine ’ s lineup a day before the issue closed and later ran in a shortened version on Bloomberg ’ s website and terminal .
Editors who worked on the story say that it was handled on its journalistic merits , and that such last-minute changes were common .
“ At no point during my tenure was Bloomberg Businessweek subjected to editorial interference of any kind , from anywhere , including Bloomberg LP @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
Any suggestion otherwise , he said , is “ 100 % false .
I ’ d remember if anyone had tried to interfere with or suppress this story , and I ’ d have enjoyed telling them to fuck off.
” A spokesman for the news organization said that the Sacklers had no influence on the story and that Bloomberg himself was not involved , and was not contacted about it .
Aware that Bloomberg Businessweek was working on the Sackler story , Brendan Coffey , then a member of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ model to evaluate their wealth .
But he realized it wasn ’ t a priority for his editors , and didn ’ t finish the project .
“ After Mike came back , the wind shifted , ” said Coffey , who has since left Bloomberg .
“ It was a culture of not wanting to upset billionaires.
” Bloomberg News senior executive editor Matt Miller said Michael Bloomberg “ never discussed the ranking or our coverage directly with me , and never interfered with our work.
” In 2015 , Forbes listed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ richest families in America , ahead of the Rockefellers , with $ 14 billion in wealth .
But the Sacklers still were not included on the Bloomberg billionaires list .
Two Bloomberg executives said it was difficult to credit the family ’ s widely dispersed wealth to any particular member .
When stories angered Bloomberg ’ s friends , reporters heard about it .
“ People would say , ‘ That ’ s a friend of Mike ’ s , ’ or mostly they ’ d just say ‘ FOM , ’ ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In 2015 , Bloomberg complained at an editors ’ meeting that reporters were going too far in their coverage of the rich .
He cited as an example a recent story about Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein .
Bloomberg told the group of editors that a reference to Blankfein ’ s residences in the New York area was an invasion of privacy .
After this , editors told the billionaires team to go back and erase addresses and pictures of billionaires ’ homes from their biographies on the Bloomberg terminal and website .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ been told to go easy on billionaires or Bloomberg ’ s friends , “ and if you look at our published work , that is completely untrue.
” That same year , Bloomberg threatened to shutter Bloomberg View , part of the news organization ’ s opinion section , after getting a call from a friend , the billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson .
Paulson was upset about a snarky column that suggested his record-breaking donation to Harvard should have gone to “ literally any other charity.
” Bloomberg cooled down over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could stay open , but the columnist was given a talking to , according to people familiar with the incident .
In October 2017 , Esquire and The New Yorker both published stories that detailed how the Sacklers had profited from OxyContin abuse .
Response was immediate and shattering for the family .
Reporters and activists started asking the museums and foundations that had taken Sackler money if they would give it back .
Outraged , Mortimer Sackler arranged to meet with Michael Bloomberg .
In an email , he told Bloomberg he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and philanthropy matters.
” Over the years , Purdue had given Bloomberg News reporters exclusives about the company ’ s fight against a growing number of lawsuits by cities and towns accusing it of understating the risks of OxyContin and spurring the opioid epidemic .
Communications head Josephine Martin now sent around a list of what the drug maker saw as favorable stories , and recommended asking for Bloomberg ’ s help shifting public attention toward the trade in illegal opioids .
“ They were the only outlet we ’ ve gone on-the-record @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , prepping Sackler for the meeting .
“ I do think asking for his insights into the false narrative and our struggle to get a broader story about illegal heroin/fentanyl would be helpful.
” Sackler offered that Bloomberg might be willing to use his connections with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health .
“ Would the Bloomberg School of Public Health/someone senior there be interested in being involved , working on this in some way , maybe as part of an independent advisory Board to the company and Government/country on this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Michael Bloomberg met at the Bloomberg LP offices in New York , joined by Bloomberg Philanthropies CEO Patricia Harris .
A spokesperson for Bloomberg said he took the meeting out of courtesy .
Bloomberg told Sackler that the company should develop a list of 10 talking points , according to people familiar with the conversation .
He also encouraged Sackler to have a conversation with Bloomberg Philanthropies , a spokesperson for Sackler said .
After the meeting , Sackler asked Purdue ’ s communications team to create a list of media messages @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
One former Purdue executive said Sackler continued to repeat Bloomberg ’ s advice on conference calls and at meetings into 2019 .
“ He ’ ll say , ‘ When I met with Mike Bloomberg , he said we need to have messages , so what are they ?
’ ” the executive recalled .
Bloomberg also helped the Sacklers find a crisis communications manager .
He recommended his longtime mayoral spokesman Stu Loeser , who was running a private firm that touted his “ political instincts and deep connections.
” A @ @ @ @ @ @ @ purely professional recommendation .
” If someone were to ask Mike for a recommendation for a doctor , he ’ d send you to his physician , ” the spokesperson said .
Purdue then hired Loeser , who unsuccessfully recommended that Purdue announce a program to combat the opioid epidemic .
“ I went into this thinking this was a family that had such a massive need to change things that they were willing to take on a massive project to help people .
Obviously , that didn ’ t happen , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ family members denied Loeser ’ s account , and said he didn ’ t propose such an initiative while working for the company .
Mortimer Sackler followed up with Harris about speaking with the head of public health initiatives at Bloomberg Philanthropies , Kelly Henning .
Harris responded that Henning was “ very eager to meet.
” In February 2018 , Sackler , Loeser and Purdue CEO Craig Landau discussed the opioid epidemic with Henning at the philanthropies ’ offices .
There are conflicting accounts of the proposals Sackler made at that meeting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two organizations collaborate on a media campaign .
She said he implied that drug abusers were to blame for the opioid crisis .
“ He presented that it ’ s the people ’ s fault , not the industry ’ s fault , ” she said .
A spokesperson for Sackler said that he offered to team up with Bloomberg Philanthropies to help fight the opioid crisis , and that no media campaign was discussed .
“ The sole purpose of the meeting was to find ways to help find solutions to a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spokesperson said , adding that Sackler “ does not now and never did believe or state that people suffering from addiction are to blame for their addiction.
” A Purdue Pharma spokesperson said Landau attended the meeting “ to explore potential partnerships for the purpose of combating the abuse and diversion of prescription opioids.
” It is “ completely false ” to suggest that there was any discussion of blaming the epidemic on drug abusers , the spokesperson said .
As public opinion turned against the family , Mortimer , the last remaining @ @ @ @ @ @ @ down in January 2019 .
Two months later , the billionaires team finally measured the Sacklers ’ wealth .
It found that the family , despite its recent woes , was worth $ 13 billion .
In April , the Serpentine Sackler Gallery said it has “ no future plans to accept funding from the Sacklers.
” Purdue filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September .
Loeser no longer works for the family ; he ’ s back with Bloomberg , serving as a spokesman for his presidential campaign .
To focus on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ temporary leave from chairing the Serpentine and Serpentine Sackler Galleries .
Editors ’ Note : ProPublica senior editor Daniel Golden , who edited this story , previously worked at Bloomberg News .
He was not involved in editing David Armstrong ’ s 2014 article about the Sacklers , but he exchanged emails with Armstrong about the decision to pull it from Bloomberg Businessweek .
After a Bloomberg spokesman expressed concern about Golden ’ s role in this story , ProPublica ’ s editor in chief , Stephen Engelberg , co-edited the final drafts @

This story first appeared at ProPublica.
ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.
Long celebrated as civic-minded philanthropists, the Sacklers were becoming pariahs. The billionaire family whose company created and pushed the addictive painkiller OxyContin had managed to escape connection with the opioid crisis for years, but now two magazine pieces were portraying them as pain profiteers. Museums that had sought their donations were being asked about giving the money back. Mortimer D.A. Sackler — son of a co-founder of the company, Purdue Pharma, and a member of its board — was openly furious.
And so he turned to a person he knew and admired in the media industry. A person known as a devoted public health crusader, widely recognized for banning smoking in public places and pushing soda taxes around the country: Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire ex-mayor of New York City and founder of Bloomberg L.P.
“I am meeting with Michael Bloomberg tomorrow morning at 10 am to seek his help and guidance on the current issues we are facing,” Sackler wrote to Purdue’s top executives in December 2017. “I plan to discuss the following with him: 1. Current narrative vs the truth. 2. What advice does he have on how best to deal with it? 3. Does he have a journalist that he would recommend who could get the FULL story out there”?
“The first thing you should [do] is to thank Bloomberg,” Purdue’s head of communications, Josephine Martin, responded. “Any positive news or ability to get our side out is through Bloomberg. We have given them exclusives and they have treated us very well.”
Previously undisclosed emails, including some filed in lawsuits against Purdue and others provided by sources, reveal a little-known relationship, forged in part by mutual philanthropic interests, between the Sacklers and Michael Bloomberg. They show that when the Sacklers were facing critical media coverage, they looked to Bloomberg and his news and philanthropic organizations for help. Bloomberg advised Mortimer Sackler on how to handle negative coverage in 2017, and steered the family to a crisis communications specialist who had been his mayoral press secretary. In 2018, Bloomberg Philanthropies staff met with Sackler to discuss launching a joint initiative to combat the opioid crisis.
Now that Michael Bloomberg has joined the Democratic presidential campaign, his history in public life, his role as a news executive and his business history are being re-examined. As his rivals criticize his wealth and accuse him of trying to buy the nomination, his relationship with the Sacklers could prove problematic. Unlike some other candidates, including Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, Bloomberg has not publicly denounced the Sacklers for their role in fostering the opioid epidemic. While “it is not Mike’s usual practice to call out individual companies or company owners,” a spokesperson for Bloomberg Philanthropies said, he has “certainly called out” opioid manufacturers as a group.
Bloomberg spokesman Kevin Sheekey said the Sacklers tried to use their relationship with Bloomberg for the family’s benefit, but were mostly unsuccessful. Mortimer Sackler “clearly had an agenda. Clearly, he’s a bit of a Keystone Cop,” Sheekey said. “Their philanthropy was set up because they had an interest in art institutions and putting their names on them. And they are now trying to leverage that around a business crisis. What has their leverage bought them other than party invites? In relationship to us, we haven’t been able to find it.”
A spokesperson for Sackler family members said the family valued Bloomberg’s guidance on protecting its public image. “Mortimer saw Bloomberg as a very smart person in media,” the spokesperson said. He “sought his advice on how Purdue should communicate its position with respect to the opioid crisis. It is therefore disappointing, in the context of current public controversies, to see those who embraced these meetings now attempting to distance themselves from efforts that were undertaken with the best of intentions.”
It’s hardly unusual for rich people to become acquainted through charitable causes, or to attempt to exploit those relationships for some other purpose. The Sacklers relied on philanthropic networking to insulate themselves from scrutiny, said Keith Humphreys, a professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine, who has written extensively on the opioid crisis. “I’m not surprised Bloomberg and the Sacklers would know each other, but it is disappointing, given Bloomberg’s huge public health commitments, that he would do this,” Humphreys said.
Bloomberg and the Sacklers began crossing paths at charity events around New York in the 2000s. Bloomberg and the Sacklers supported several of the same arts institutions. Bloomberg and Mortimer Sackler were formally introduced by an event coordinator working for Bloomberg’s corporate arm. Jonathan Sackler, another Purdue board member, donated to some of the same school causes as Bloomberg and attended a charter school fundraiser at Bloomberg’s New York home.
The most visible sign of the relationship came in 2013, when Bloomberg co-hosted a gala at the opening of the Serpentine Sackler Gallery in London. Mortimer Sackler and other family members attended and were feted as major donors. Other guests included Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, royal relative Pippa Middleton, and then-London Mayor Boris Johnson. Bloomberg was named the next chair of the Serpentine Galleries — his organization had given about $2 million to the new wing — and posed for photos with Theresa Sackler, Mortimer’s stepmother and a fellow member of the Purdue board.
“It was one of those parties where you can see anyone, as long as they’re really famous and really rich,” recalled Vanity Fair London editor Henry Porter. “Bloomberg fit in well — he’s not the gawky out-of-towner.” Bloomberg gave a speech and praised the family, Porter said. Bloomberg News devoted three articles to the new gallery.
Then nearing the end of his third and last term as mayor of New York, Bloomberg was known for a “health in all policies” approach. His philanthropic organization made public health one of its chief priorities and funded anti-obesity and anti-smoking campaigns around the world. In 2013, a year when the opioid epidemic killed some 44,000 Americans, he set limits on painkiller prescriptions in public hospital emergency rooms.
One of the most widely prescribed and most potent opioids was Purdue’s blockbuster painkiller, OxyContin. The company had pleaded guilty in 2007 to a federal charge of misbranding for understating how addictive the pills were, and agreed to pay more than $600 million in fines and penalties. (The Sacklers were not charged with any wrongdoing.) But much of the media coverage of the Sackler family continued to focus on their elegant lifestyle. Around the same time as the London gala, Mortimer Sackler’s wife completed a photo shoot for an eight-page spread in Vogue about the down-to-earth aesthetic at their home in the Hamptons. The story made no mention of the opioid crisis, or the source of the family’s wealth.
Within his news organization, Bloomberg was known to dislike what he saw as intrusions into the personal lives of the very rich. In 2011, when he was serving as mayor and staying away from day-to-day news coverage, Bloomberg News started a billionaires team, which ranked the fortunes of the wealthy. When he returned to his company in 2014, Bloomberg made a tour of Bloomberg offices around the world and told staff members he did not see a need for the team. He said he disliked the way it invaded the privacy of rich people, according to current and former reporters. Then-Bloomberg Businessweek editor Josh Tyrangiel recalled that Bloomberg would grumble about what he considered harsh coverage of the wealthy. “It was a handful of harmless asides. He might say, ‘Why is that news? Why do we have to probe into that stuff?’” Tyrangiel said.
The magazine’s editors paid close attention to the tone of stories about the rich, said Brad Wieners, then Bloomberg Businessweek’s executive editor. “We felt like the blow better count. It would be easy for me to want to be snarky about anybody who had a high net worth. But I had to counsel myself, we’re not just here to make fun of rich people,” he said.
When it came to coverage of their family and its business, the Sacklers felt comfortable reaching out. In fall 2014, Theresa Sackler called then-Serpentine Galleries director Julia Peyton-Jones to express concern about a forthcoming Bloomberg Businessweek story.
“Theresa Sackler rang me about a reporter from Bloomberg who is tracking everyone in the Sackler family and is writing what she believes will be an unflattering article referring to Sackler ‘dirty drug money,’” Peyton-Jones emailed Jemma Read, the London-based head of Bloomberg Corporate Philanthropy. “Theresa thinks that MB’s name could be mentioned in the article. She has no wish to interfere editorially in any way, however, she does want to alert Mike to the situation, and I would be grateful if you could make him aware of it.”
Read then emailed Theresa Sackler, asking for the reporter’s name. Sackler responded by identifying David Armstrong, then a reporter on Bloomberg’s investigations team. “We REALLY don’t want to interfere in any journalist’s work,” she wrote. “Just would not wish MB to be embarrassed by his association with the Serpentine Sackler gallery.” Read followed up by emailing Armstrong (now a senior reporter at ProPublica), asking when the story was scheduled to appear.
The piece was dropped from the magazine’s lineup a day before the issue closed and later ran in a shortened version on Bloomberg’s website and terminal. Editors who worked on the story say that it was handled on its journalistic merits, and that such last-minute changes were common.
“At no point during my tenure was Bloomberg Businessweek subjected to editorial interference of any kind, from anywhere, including Bloomberg LP or its philanthropy arm,” Tyrangiel said. Any suggestion otherwise, he said, is “100% false. I’d remember if anyone had tried to interfere with or suppress this story, and I’d have enjoyed telling them to fuck off.”
A spokesman for the news organization said that the Sacklers had no influence on the story and that Bloomberg himself was not involved, and was not contacted about it.
Aware that Bloomberg Businessweek was working on the Sackler story, Brendan Coffey, then a member of the billionaires team, started to build a model to evaluate their wealth. But he realized it wasn’t a priority for his editors, and didn’t finish the project. “After Mike came back, the wind shifted,” said Coffey, who has since left Bloomberg. “It was a culture of not wanting to upset billionaires.”
Bloomberg News senior executive editor Matt Miller said Michael Bloomberg “never discussed the ranking or our coverage directly with me, and never interfered with our work.” In 2015, Forbes listed the Sacklers as one of the 20 richest families in America, ahead of the Rockefellers, with $14 billion in wealth. But the Sacklers still were not included on the Bloomberg billionaires list. Two Bloomberg executives said it was difficult to credit the family’s widely dispersed wealth to any particular member.
When stories angered Bloomberg’s friends, reporters heard about it. “People would say, ‘That’s a friend of Mike’s,’ or mostly they’d just say ‘FOM,’” former Bloomberg reporter Mary Childs said. In 2015, Bloomberg complained at an editors’ meeting that reporters were going too far in their coverage of the rich. He cited as an example a recent story about Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein. Bloomberg told the group of editors that a reference to Blankfein’s residences in the New York area was an invasion of privacy. After this, editors told the billionaires team to go back and erase addresses and pictures of billionaires’ homes from their biographies on the Bloomberg terminal and website.
A Bloomberg spokesperson said reporters have not been told to go easy on billionaires or Bloomberg’s friends, “and if you look at our published work, that is completely untrue.”
That same year, Bloomberg threatened to shutter Bloomberg View, part of the news organization’s opinion section, after getting a call from a friend, the billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson. Paulson was upset about a snarky column that suggested his record-breaking donation to Harvard should have gone to “literally any other charity.” Bloomberg cooled down over the weekend and decided that Bloomberg View could stay open, but the columnist was given a talking to, according to people familiar with the incident.
In October 2017, Esquire and The New Yorker both published stories that detailed how the Sacklers had profited from OxyContin abuse. Response was immediate and shattering for the family. Reporters and activists started asking the museums and foundations that had taken Sackler money if they would give it back. Outraged, Mortimer Sackler arranged to meet with Michael Bloomberg. In an email, he told Bloomberg he wanted to discuss “very important family and philanthropy matters.”
Over the years, Purdue had given Bloomberg News reporters exclusives about the company’s fight against a growing number of lawsuits by cities and towns accusing it of understating the risks of OxyContin and spurring the opioid epidemic. Communications head Josephine Martin now sent around a list of what the drug maker saw as favorable stories, and recommended asking for Bloomberg’s help shifting public attention toward the trade in illegal opioids. “They were the only outlet we’ve gone on-the-record to discuss litigation,” she wrote, prepping Sackler for the meeting. “I do think asking for his insights into the false narrative and our struggle to get a broader story about illegal heroin/fentanyl would be helpful.”
Sackler offered that Bloomberg might be willing to use his connections with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “Would the Bloomberg School of Public Health/someone senior there be interested in being involved, working on this in some way, maybe as part of an independent advisory Board to the company and Government/country on this?” he wrote.
Mortimer Sackler and Michael Bloomberg met at the Bloomberg LP offices in New York, joined by Bloomberg Philanthropies CEO Patricia Harris. A spokesperson for Bloomberg said he took the meeting out of courtesy. Bloomberg told Sackler that the company should develop a list of 10 talking points, according to people familiar with the conversation. He also encouraged Sackler to have a conversation with Bloomberg Philanthropies, a spokesperson for Sackler said.
After the meeting, Sackler asked Purdue’s communications team to create a list of media messages and send it to him for review. One former Purdue executive said Sackler continued to repeat Bloomberg’s advice on conference calls and at meetings into 2019. “He’ll say, ‘When I met with Mike Bloomberg, he said we need to have messages, so what are they?’” the executive recalled.
Bloomberg also helped the Sacklers find a crisis communications manager. He recommended his longtime mayoral spokesman Stu Loeser, who was running a private firm that touted his “political instincts and deep connections.”
A Bloomberg Philanthropies spokesperson said it was a purely professional recommendation. ”If someone were to ask Mike for a recommendation for a doctor, he’d send you to his physician,” the spokesperson said.
Purdue then hired Loeser, who unsuccessfully recommended that Purdue announce a program to combat the opioid epidemic. “I went into this thinking this was a family that had such a massive need to change things that they were willing to take on a massive project to help people. Obviously, that didn’t happen,” Loeser said. A spokesperson for Sackler family members denied Loeser’s account, and said he didn’t propose such an initiative while working for the company.
Mortimer Sackler followed up with Harris about speaking with the head of public health initiatives at Bloomberg Philanthropies, Kelly Henning. Harris responded that Henning was “very eager to meet.” In February 2018, Sackler, Loeser and Purdue CEO Craig Landau discussed the opioid epidemic with Henning at the philanthropies’ offices.
There are conflicting accounts of the proposals Sackler made at that meeting. Henning said Sackler proposed that the two organizations collaborate on a media campaign. She said he implied that drug abusers were to blame for the opioid crisis. “He presented that it’s the people’s fault, not the industry’s fault,” she said.
A spokesperson for Sackler said that he offered to team up with Bloomberg Philanthropies to help fight the opioid crisis, and that no media campaign was discussed. “The sole purpose of the meeting was to find ways to help find solutions to a serious health care problem,” the spokesperson said, adding that Sackler “does not now and never did believe or state that people suffering from addiction are to blame for their addiction.”
A Purdue Pharma spokesperson said Landau attended the meeting “to explore potential partnerships for the purpose of combating the abuse and diversion of prescription opioids.” It is “completely false” to suggest that there was any discussion of blaming the epidemic on drug abusers, the spokesperson said.
As public opinion turned against the family, Mortimer, the last remaining Sackler on the Purdue board, stepped down in January 2019. Two months later, the billionaires team finally measured the Sacklers’ wealth. It found that the family, despite its recent woes, was worth $13 billion. In April, the Serpentine Sackler Gallery said it has “no future plans to accept funding from the Sacklers.” Purdue filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September.
Loeser no longer works for the family; he’s back with Bloomberg, serving as a spokesman for his presidential campaign. To focus on the campaign, Bloomberg has taken a temporary leave from chairing the Serpentine and Serpentine Sackler Galleries.
Editors’ Note: ProPublica senior editor Daniel Golden, who edited this story, previously worked at Bloomberg News. He was not involved in editing David Armstrong’s 2014 article about the Sacklers, but he exchanged emails with Armstrong about the decision to pull it from Bloomberg Businessweek. After a Bloomberg spokesman expressed concern about Golden’s role in this story, ProPublica’s editor in chief, Stephen Engelberg, co-edited the final drafts.


talkingpointsmemo--2020-02-28--Former Federal Prosecutors Demand DC US Attorney Resist Political Interference

A group of former D.C. federal prosecutors demanded in an open letter that U.S. Attorney for D.C. Timothy Shea state that his office won ’ t be used as a political tool against President Trump ’ s enemies .
The letter , released Thursday , asks Shea to “ resist any and all political interference by either the President or the Attorney General ” and to clarify that his office won ’ t become a “ tool used to favor the politically connected and punish the perceived enemies of the Administration.
” The message , signed by more than 60 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Washington Post , comes in the aftermath of Attorney General Bill Barr ’ s effort to intervene in the prosecution of Trump adviser Roger Stone .
The prosecutors cite “ significant alarm and concern that the Office ’ s independence , devoid of political influence , is in grave and imminent peril.
” “ The intervention by the Attorney General and the President , the withdrawal of good and honorable assistants ( one of whom has resigned altogether from the Office ) have created the perception that political interest has been married @ @ @ @ @ @ @ level , and that the Office no longer is able , nor can it be trusted , to act independently , ” the letter reads .
A DOJ spokeswoman did not immediately return a request for comment from TPM .
President Trump and Barr set off a firestorm over the Justice Department ’ s independence earlier this month as Stone ’ s sentencing plodded along .
Four federal prosecutors on Stone ’ s case resigned after Barr demanded that the government reduce its sentencing recommendation from a range of 7–9 years behind bars @ @ @ @ @ @ @ issuing a second sentencing memorandum that asked for no particular sentence , as well as a wave of criticism that has yet to abate .
The attorney general later attributed the fiasco to a “ miscommunication ” between himself and Shea .
“ It is hard not to conclude that the President and AG Barr are completely disregarding and , indeed undermining , the fine work and efforts of prosecutors in our Office , impugning their integrity , authority and autonomy , ” the letter reads .

A group of former D.C. federal prosecutors demanded in an open letter that U.S. Attorney for D.C. Timothy Shea state that his office won’t be used as a political tool against President Trump’s enemies.
The letter, released Thursday, asks Shea to “resist any and all political interference by either the President or the Attorney General” and to clarify that his office won’t become a “tool used to favor the politically connected and punish the perceived enemies of the Administration.”
The message, signed by more than 60 former federal prosecutors and first reported by the Washington Post, comes in the aftermath of Attorney General Bill Barr’s effort to intervene in the prosecution of Trump adviser Roger Stone.
The prosecutors cite “significant alarm and concern that the Office’s independence, devoid of political influence, is in grave and imminent peril.”
“The intervention by the Attorney General and the President, the withdrawal of good and honorable assistants (one of whom has resigned altogether from the Office) have created the perception that political interest has been married to substantive prosecutorial decisions at the highest level, and that the Office no longer is able, nor can it be trusted, to act independently,” the letter reads.
A DOJ spokeswoman did not immediately return a request for comment from TPM.
President Trump and Barr set off a firestorm over the Justice Department’s independence earlier this month as Stone’s sentencing plodded along. Four federal prosecutors on Stone’s case resigned after Barr demanded that the government reduce its sentencing recommendation from a range of 7–9 years behind bars.
The effort resulted in the government issuing a second sentencing memorandum that asked for no particular sentence, as well as a wave of criticism that has yet to abate.
The attorney general later attributed the fiasco to a “miscommunication” between himself and Shea.
“It is hard not to conclude that the President and AG Barr are completely disregarding and, indeed undermining, the fine work and efforts of prosecutors in our Office, impugning their integrity, authority and autonomy,” the letter reads.
Read the letter here:


talkingpointsmemo--2020-02-28--House Dems Seek Interviews With Prosecutors Key To DOJ Interference Claims

House Democrats are seeking interviews with several Justice Department officials that could speak to improper political interference in the Department , including the handful of prosecutors who quit Roger Stone ’ s case over a sentencing dispute .
The request was made in a letter Friday from House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler to Attorney General Bill Barr .
In addition to the Stone debacle , Nadler highlighted the apparent DOJ intervention in former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn ’ s sentencing recommendation , Barr ’ s appointment of outside prosecutions to review the decisions of career officials in those cases @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the intelligence community whistleblower complaint about President Trump ’ s Ukraine conflict .
Nadler noted that when Congress was conducting oversight of the Clinton email probe and the origins of the Russia investigation , Trump ’ s Justice Department made available for interviews more than a dozen DOJ officials involved in those matters and produced for Congress more than 1 million pages of documents .
Besides the Stone case ’ s trial team , the Judiciary Committee also wants to interview the U.S. attorneys whom Barr has assigned to review the Flynn and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. attorneys of offices that have cases with ties to Trump ; and the U.S. attorney who has been tasked with processing claims from Rudy Giuliani related to Trump ’ s Ukraine smear campaign .
Nadler ’ s letter pointed to Barr ’ s own publicly expressed concerns about Trump ’ s tweets bashing the DOJ ’ s prosecutions .
“ Although you serve at the President ’ s pleasure , you are also charged with the impartial administration of our laws , ” Nadler said .
“ In turn , the House @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to that responsibility .
”

House Democrats are seeking interviews with several Justice Department officials that could speak to improper political interference in the Department, including the handful of prosecutors who quit Roger Stone’s case over a sentencing dispute.
The request was made in a letter Friday from House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler to Attorney General Bill Barr.
In addition to the Stone debacle, Nadler highlighted the apparent DOJ intervention in former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn’s sentencing recommendation, Barr’s appointment of outside prosecutions to review the decisions of career officials in those cases, and the DOJ attempt to stifle the intelligence community whistleblower complaint about President Trump’s Ukraine conflict.
Nadler noted that when Congress was conducting oversight of the Clinton email probe and the origins of the Russia investigation, Trump’s Justice Department made available for interviews more than a dozen DOJ officials involved in those matters and produced for Congress more than 1 million pages of documents.
Besides the Stone case’s trial team, the Judiciary Committee also wants to interview the U.S. attorneys whom Barr has assigned to review the Flynn and Stone cases; the current and former U.S. attorneys of offices that have cases with ties to Trump; and the U.S. attorney who has been tasked with processing claims from Rudy Giuliani related to Trump’s Ukraine smear campaign.
Nadler’s letter pointed to Barr’s own publicly expressed concerns about Trump’s tweets bashing the DOJ’s prosecutions.
“Although you serve at the President’s pleasure, you are also charged with the impartial administration of our laws,” Nadler said. “In turn, the House Judiciary Committee is charged with holding you to that responsibility.”
Read the letter below:


talkingpointsmemo--2020-03-01--Pence Says Claim That Dems Are Politicizing Coronavirus Is ‘Justified’

Vice President Mike Pence re-upped the notion shared by both the Trump administration and its allies that Democrats are weaponizing coronavirus fears to make the President look bad during Sunday morning TV news appearances .
On CNN Sunday morning , Pence defended Donald Trump Jr. ’ s remark that Democrats want Americans to die from coronavirus in an effort to slam the President .
“ But responding to the kind of things that have been hurled is understandable , ” Pence said .
“ But what the President ’ s charged us to do — in my conversation with Speaker @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conversations with Republican and Democratic governors — is to set the politics aside on this and to work the problem.
” When pressed by MSNBC ’ s Chuck Todd Sunday morning about how he ’ s gone out of his way to keep coronavirus from getting politicized , Pence was asked about what facts there are supporting the right-wing notion that Democrats are trying to bring down Trump with fears surrounding the outbreak .
“ Well , I will tell you , there ’ s been a lot of irresponsible rhetoric among Democrats @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pence said .
When asked to name some names , Pence mentioned a New York Times column by a “ prominent liberal journalist ” before Todd pushed back and said “ this doesn ’ t help.
” “ This is decisive action to protect the American people , ” Pence said .
“ And when you see voices on our side pushing back on outrageous and irresponsible rhetoric on the other side , I think that ’ s important … I never begrudge people responding to unwarranted and unjustified attacks.
” Todd then @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on his side such as when Rush Limbaugh said that the coronavirus wasn ’ t anything to worry about , prompting Pence to reply that “ viewers know the kind of rhetoric that has emerged quickly.
” “ Washington D.C. has just become reflexively critical of this president at every turn , and we saw some of that early , ” Pence said .
Asked if attacking Democrats is the way to make it clear that “ we ’ re all in this together ” like the President supposedly told him to do @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s coronavirus task force , Pence replied that he reached out to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ( D-CA ) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer ( D-NY ) before arguing that “ if this was almost any other issue other than the health and wellbeing of the American people , I think our nation would be more patient for it.
” Asked by Fox News ’ Maria Bartiromo about Trump ’ s critics who have “ revved up the politics once again ” on coronavirus , citing Sen. Bernie Sanders ( I-VT ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Pence touted how he ’ s in charge of the administration ’ s coronavirus task force .
“ I will tell you , the job the President has given me to bring this team together , to drive forward to his objective to bring a whole of government response , the full resources of the federal government to bear on the coronavirus in this country is going to be my singular focus , ” Pence said .

Vice President Mike Pence re-upped the notion shared by both the Trump administration and its allies that Democrats are weaponizing coronavirus fears to make the President look bad during Sunday morning TV news appearances.
On CNN Sunday morning, Pence defended Donald Trump Jr.’s remark that Democrats want Americans to die from coronavirus in an effort to slam the President.
“But responding to the kind of things that have been hurled is understandable,” Pence said. “But what the President’s charged us to do — in my conversation with Speaker Pelosi, with Senator Schumer, my conversations with Republican and Democratic governors — is to set the politics aside on this and to work the problem.”
Watch Pence’s remarks on CNN below:
Pence on Trump Jr. saying that Democrats want Americans to die from coronavirus: "Responding to the kind of things that have been hurled is understandable." pic.twitter.com/oAz1mDqKlY — TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) March 1, 2020
When pressed by MSNBC’s Chuck Todd Sunday morning about how he’s gone out of his way to keep coronavirus from getting politicized, Pence was asked about what facts there are supporting the right-wing notion that Democrats are trying to bring down Trump with fears surrounding the outbreak.
“Well, I will tell you, there’s been a lot of irresponsible rhetoric among Democrats and commentators on the left,” Pence said.
When asked to name some names, Pence mentioned a New York Times column by a “prominent liberal journalist” before Todd pushed back and said “this doesn’t help.”
“This is decisive action to protect the American people,” Pence said. “And when you see voices on our side pushing back on outrageous and irresponsible rhetoric on the other side, I think that’s important … I never begrudge people responding to unwarranted and unjustified attacks.”
Todd then asked if there has been irresponsible voices on his side such as when Rush Limbaugh said that the coronavirus wasn’t anything to worry about, prompting Pence to reply that “viewers know the kind of rhetoric that has emerged quickly.”
“Washington D.C. has just become reflexively critical of this president at every turn, and we saw some of that early,” Pence said.
Asked if attacking Democrats is the way to make it clear that “we’re all in this together” like the President supposedly told him to do as the leader of the administration’s coronavirus task force, Pence replied that he reached out to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) before arguing that “if this was almost any other issue other than the health and wellbeing of the American people, I think our nation would be more patient for it.”
Watch Pence’s remarks on MSNBC below:
Pence slams Democrats for "outrageous and irresponsible" rhetoric pic.twitter.com/5zJgqQZSsO — TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) March 1, 2020
Asked by Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo about Trump’s critics who have “revved up the politics once again” on coronavirus, citing Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Pence touted how he’s in charge of the administration’s coronavirus task force.
“I will tell you, the job the President has given me to bring this team together, to drive forward to his objective to bring a whole of government response, the full resources of the federal government to bear on the coronavirus in this country is going to be my singular focus,” Pence said.
Watch Pence’s remarks on Fox News below:


talkingpointsmemo--2020-03-01--Sanders Crosses Finish Line Far Behind Biden In South Carolina

Sen. Bernie Sanders ( I-VT ) came in distant second to Joe Biden ’ s in Saturday ’ s South @ @ @ @ @ time of writing , the Associated Press reported that Sanders won 19.33 percent of the @ @ @ @ @ precincts reporting .
Biden had 49.65 percent .
Going into South Carolina , Sanders was @ @ @ @ @ New Hampshire and Nevada decisively and virtually tying with Pete Buttigieg in Iowa .
But @ @ @ @ @ Biden , who was buoyed by considerable support from black voters .
Speaking at a @ @ @ @ @ , Virginia , Sanders congratulated Biden and shrugged at his second-place finish , saying “ @ @ @ @ @ em all.
” “ And now we enter Super Tuesday in Virginia , ” he @ @

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) came in distant second to Joe Biden’s in Saturday’s South Carolina primary.
At the time of writing, the Associated Press reported that Sanders won 19.33 percent of the vote with 56 percent of precincts reporting. Biden had 49.65 percent.
Going into South Carolina, Sanders was showing strength, having won New Hampshire and Nevada decisively and virtually tying with Pete Buttigieg in Iowa. But he was defeated handily by Biden, who was buoyed by considerable support from black voters.
Speaking at a campaign rally in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Sanders congratulated Biden and shrugged at his second-place finish, saying “you cannot win ’em all.”
“And now we enter Super Tuesday in Virginia,” he added.


talkingpointsmemo--2020-03-01--Tom Steyer Drops Out Of Democratic Primary Race

Presidential candidate and billionaire Tom Steyer has ended his 2020 campaign after a third-place finish in South Carolina ’ s primary on Saturday night .
“ I think we got one or two delegates from congressional districts , which I thank South Carolina for and the people , ” Steyer said during his concession speech in Columbia , South Carolina .
“ But I said if I didn ’ t see a path to winning , that I ’ d suspend my campaign .
And honestly , I can ’ t see a path where I can win the presidency.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ into this race and start talking about things to try and get votes , ” he also told his supporters .
“ I was in this race to talk about things that I cared the most about and that I continue to care the most about.
” At the time of writing , Steyer reached 11.49 percent of the vote with 74 percent of precincts reporting , according to the Associated Press .
He came in third after Sen. Bernie Sanders ( I-VT ) and primary winner Joe Biden , who trounced both @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 15 percent threshold , Steyer failed to win any statewide delegates .
However , he may have crossed the 15 percent threshold in a few congressional districts , hence his comment about picking up “ one or two delegates.
” Despite pouring millions into targeted ad campaigns , Steyer captured little ground in the race .
His poll numbers stayed consistently below ten percent , with the one exception being South Carolina .
Prior to joining the race , Steyer had been a major donor to the Democratic Party .
In fact , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a TV ad blitz calling for President Donald Trump ’ s impeachment long before Democratic leadership supported impeachment proceedings .

Presidential candidate and billionaire Tom Steyer has ended his 2020 campaign after a third-place finish in South Carolina’s primary on Saturday night.
“I think we got one or two delegates from congressional districts, which I thank South Carolina for and the people,” Steyer said during his concession speech in Columbia, South Carolina. “But I said if I didn’t see a path to winning, that I’d suspend my campaign. And honestly, I can’t see a path where I can win the presidency.”
“I didn’t get into this race and start talking about things to try and get votes,” he also told his supporters. “I was in this race to talk about things that I cared the most about and that I continue to care the most about.”
At the time of writing, Steyer reached 11.49 percent of the vote with 74 percent of precincts reporting, according to the Associated Press. He came in third after Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and primary winner Joe Biden, who trounced both Steyer and Sanders.
Having missed the 15 percent threshold, Steyer failed to win any statewide delegates. However, he may have crossed the 15 percent threshold in a few congressional districts, hence his comment about picking up “one or two delegates.”
Despite pouring millions into targeted ad campaigns, Steyer captured little ground in the race. His poll numbers stayed consistently below ten percent, with the one exception being South Carolina.
Prior to joining the race, Steyer had been a major donor to the Democratic Party. In fact, he used his considerable means to launch a TV ad blitz calling for President Donald Trump’s impeachment long before Democratic leadership supported impeachment proceedings.


talkingpointsmemo--2020-03-01--Biden Winner Of South Carolina Presidential Primary

Almost immediately after polls closed in South Carolina ’ s fourth-in-the-nation Democratic presidential contest Saturday , exit polling had indicated the winner : Former Vice President Joe Biden .
Biden — according to exit polls analyzed by the Associated Press and several other news outlets — won the Palmetto State , his first ever victory in three attempts to win the Democratic presidential nomination .
“ For all of those of you who ’ ve been knocked down , counted out , left behind , this is your campaign !
” Biden exclaimed in his victory speech Saturday night .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the pundits declared this candidacy dead .
Now , thanks to all of you , the heart of the Democratic Party , we ’ ve just won and we won big because of you !
” The former vice president invested heavily in the state , and especially in reaching out to the state ’ s African American voters , who make up roughly 60 % of the Democratic electorate .
“ This is a huge victory in terms of a firewall , it ’ s a very good showing for his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a professor of political science at Clemson , told TPM .
“ South Carolina came through.
” An endorsement Wednesday from House Majority Whip James Clyburn ( D-SC ) appeared to play a large role in Biden ’ s sizable victory in the state — according to CBS News ’ exit polling , nearly half of voters said the endorsement was an important factor in their choice .
“ My buddy Jim Clyburn , you brought me back !
” Biden told Clyburn on stage Saturday night .
Roughly an hour and a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Biden , the Associated Press and other outlets showed Sen. Bernie Sanders ( I-VT ) placing a distant second .
At the start of the Democratic primary contest — before any states had voted — he began pitching himself as the senior statesman , an “ electable ” candidate to turn back the clock to before President Donald Trump took power .
Biden often sells his perspective first term as the continuation of Barack Obama ’ s two-term presidency .
And then the voting started .
Biden , who had never won a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ president , did not win any of the first three in this cycle ’ s contest .
In Iowa , he finished fourth behind former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg , Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren ( D-MA ) .
In New Hampshire , things got worse , with Sen. Amy Klobuchar ( D-MN ) leapfrogging Biden and Warren and leaving the former vice president in fifth place , with just more than 8 % of the popular vote .
In Nevada , which voted in caucuses , Biden achieved his best-ever finish @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But even that had a caveat — Sanders crushed his runner-up , earning more than double Biden ’ s votes .
All the while , in South Carolina , Biden ’ s once-mammoth polling lead shrank as Sanders gained steam .
So the win was critical — the former vice president ’ s last chance to prove his campaign ’ s viability before 14 states decide in three days , and an opportunity to carry some momentum into “ Super Tuesday.
” “ This gives him the launching pad , he has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
“ He needs to saturate the airwaves ” and “ be on the ground , personally ” in as many states as he can .
“ Folks , as we celebrate tonight here in Columbia , let me talk directly to Democrats across America , especially those who will be voting on super Tuesday , ” he said .
“ This is the moment to choose the path forward for our party .
This is the moment , and it ’ s arrived .
”

Almost immediately after polls closed in South Carolina’s fourth-in-the-nation Democratic presidential contest Saturday, exit polling had indicated the winner: Former Vice President Joe Biden.
Biden — according to exit polls analyzed by the Associated Press and several other news outlets — won the Palmetto State, his first ever victory in three attempts to win the Democratic presidential nomination.
“For all of those of you who’ve been knocked down, counted out, left behind, this is your campaign!” Biden exclaimed in his victory speech Saturday night. “Just days ago, the press and the pundits declared this candidacy dead. Now, thanks to all of you, the heart of the Democratic Party, we’ve just won and we won big because of you!”
The former vice president invested heavily in the state, and especially in reaching out to the state’s African American voters, who make up roughly 60% of the Democratic electorate.
“This is a huge victory in terms of a firewall, it’s a very good showing for his candidacy,” Dr. Bruce Ransom, a professor of political science at Clemson, told TPM. “South Carolina came through.”
An endorsement Wednesday from House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) appeared to play a large role in Biden’s sizable victory in the state — according to CBS News’ exit polling, nearly half of voters said the endorsement was an important factor in their choice.
“My buddy Jim Clyburn, you brought me back!” Biden told Clyburn on stage Saturday night.
Roughly an hour and a half after the race was called for Biden, the Associated Press and other outlets showed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) placing a distant second.
Biden desperately needed a boost in South Carolina.
At the start of the Democratic primary contest — before any states had voted — he began pitching himself as the senior statesman, an “electable” candidate to turn back the clock to before President Donald Trump took power. Biden often sells his perspective first term as the continuation of Barack Obama’s two-term presidency.
And then the voting started.
Biden, who had never won a state in his previous two campaigns for president, did not win any of the first three in this cycle’s contest. In Iowa, he finished fourth behind former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
In New Hampshire, things got worse, with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) leapfrogging Biden and Warren and leaving the former vice president in fifth place, with just more than 8% of the popular vote.
In Nevada, which voted in caucuses, Biden achieved his best-ever finish in a presidential primary contest: Second. But even that had a caveat — Sanders crushed his runner-up, earning more than double Biden’s votes.
All the while, in South Carolina, Biden’s once-mammoth polling lead shrank as Sanders gained steam.
So the win was critical — the former vice president’s last chance to prove his campaign’s viability before 14 states decide in three days, and an opportunity to carry some momentum into “Super Tuesday.”
“This gives him the launching pad, he has to take advantage it,” Ransom said. “He needs to saturate the airwaves” and “be on the ground, personally” in as many states as he can.
Biden emphasized Tuesday’s voting himself on stage Saturday.
“Folks, as we celebrate tonight here in Columbia, let me talk directly to Democrats across America, especially those who will be voting on super Tuesday,” he said. “This is the moment to choose the path forward for our party. This is the moment, and it’s arrived.”


talkingpointsmemo--2020-02-29--First Death From Coronavirus In US Confirmed By Washington Health Department

One person who was infected with COVID-19 , aka the coronavirus , in Washington state ’ s King County has died , the Washington Department of Health and President Donald Trump reported on Saturday .
Trump announced the development in a press conference with Vice President Mike Pence , whom Trump appointed to lead the administration ’ s response to the disease , Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar , Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Robert Redfield , and director of National Institutes of Allergies and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci .
Trump described the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ patient in her late 50s , ” had passed away overnight , and that four other patients were “ very ill. ” Part of the administration ’ s response to the virus involves containment by further extending travel bans or issuing travel advisories with regards to Iran , Italy , and South Korea , which have the highest number of cases outside of China , where the disease originated .
Pence announced that the administration would extend its Iran travel ban to include “ any foreign national who has visited Iran within the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also increase the travel advisory on “ specific regions ” in Italy and South Korea to level four , which is the highest level advisory , according to Pence .
The threat of the coronavirus “ remains low , ” the vice president said , and Redfield added that the American public “ needs to go on with their normal lives.
” Trump told reporters that more cases of the virus in the U.S. are “ likely , ” but that “ healthy individuals should be able to fully recover.
” The President @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world ” at the White House to discuss a vaccine on Monday .
“ And they ’ ve already started working on it , developing very rapidly a vaccine for the virus , to combat the virus , ” he said .
Though Trump referred to the patient as female , it is unclear what the person ’ s gender was due to Washington Gov .
Jay Inslee ’ s ( D ) original statement that used a male pronoun for the patient .
“ It is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we learn that a Washingtonian has died from COVID-19 , ” Inslee said .
“ Our hearts go out to his family and friends.
” The statement was later amended to “ their family and friends.
” Jay Nixon , the public information officer at the Washington Department of Health , told TPM he was unable to give further details about the patient before his department ’ s press conference at 4 PM EST .
This story has been updated .

One person who was infected with COVID-19, aka the coronavirus, in Washington state’s King County has died, the Washington Department of Health and President Donald Trump reported on Saturday.
Trump announced the development in a press conference with Vice President Mike Pence, whom Trump appointed to lead the administration’s response to the disease, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Robert Redfield, and director of National Institutes of Allergies and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Trump described the deceased patient as a “medically high-risk patient in her late 50s,” had passed away overnight, and that four other patients were “very ill.”
Part of the administration’s response to the virus involves containment by further extending travel bans or issuing travel advisories with regards to Iran, Italy, and South Korea, which have the highest number of cases outside of China, where the disease originated.
Pence announced that the administration would extend its Iran travel ban to include “any foreign national who has visited Iran within the last 14 days.”
The administration will also increase the travel advisory on “specific regions” in Italy and South Korea to level four, which is the highest level advisory, according to Pence.
The threat of the coronavirus “remains low,” the vice president said, and Redfield added that the American public “needs to go on with their normal lives.”
Trump told reporters that more cases of the virus in the U.S. are “likely,” but that “healthy individuals should be able to fully recover.”
The President also said he will meet with “the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world” at the White House to discuss a vaccine on Monday.
“And they’ve already started working on it, developing very rapidly a vaccine for the virus, to combat the virus,” he said.
Though Trump referred to the patient as female, it is unclear what the person’s gender was due to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s (D) original statement that used a male pronoun for the patient.
“It is a sad day in our state as we learn that a Washingtonian has died from COVID-19,” Inslee said. “Our hearts go out to his family and friends.”
The statement was later amended to “their family and friends.”
Jay Nixon, the public information officer at the Washington Department of Health, told TPM he was unable to give further details about the patient before his department’s press conference at 4 PM EST.
This story has been updated.


talkingpointsmemo--2020-02-29--MSNBC’s Chris Matthews Mistakes Tim Scott For Graham’s Black Challenger

MSNBC host Chris Matthews has really been on a roll lately .
As he was interviewing Jaime Harrison , a Democratic candidate who seeks to unseat Sen. Lindsey Graham ( R-SC ) , on Friday night , Matthews saw live footage of Sen. Tim Scott ( R-SC ) with Graham at President Donald Trump ’ s campaign rally in South Carolina and somehow believed the man he was talking to in real time was the same person he was seeing at that rally .
“ Jaime , I see you next to the guy you ’ re going to beat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ maybe , Lindsey Graham , ” Matthews said to Harrison , who was being interviewed remotely .
“ Jaime ?
” Matthews asked confusedly , prompting MSNBC contributor Adrienne Elrod to correct him again .
“ Who ’ s that ?
” Matthews inquired before finally catching on when he was told for the third time that the man he was seeing was Scott .
“ Oh , it ’ s the other senator , Tim Scott , ” the host said .
“ What am I saying ?
Big mistake.
” He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mistaken identity , sir , sorry.
” Matthews ’ questionable behavior has been on full display in recent days ; On Tuesday , he interrogated 2020 candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren ( D-MA ) for believing the woman who accused 2020 rival Michael Bloomberg of telling her to get an abortion when she was his employee .
“ I just want to make sure you ’ re clear about this : You ’ re confident of your accusation ?
” Matthews asked Warren for the fifth time , apparently siding with Bloomberg , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ days after the interview with Warren , GQ Magazine writer Laura Bassett revealed that Chris Matthews was the unnamed “ famous broadcast journalist ” at the center of her 2017 HuffPost column on how said journalist had sexually harassed her right before he was about to interview her on air .
In her latest column , Bassett cited Matthews ’ skeptical attitude toward the female employee ’ s allegation as the reason for exposing him as her harasser .
“ There was no reason for him to harp on its veracity , except @ @ @ @ @ @ @ made so many sexist comments over the years that he has a vested interest in Bloomberg being let off the hook , ” Bassett wrote .
And last week , Matthews compared Sen. Bernie Sanders ’ ( I-VT ) big win in the Nevada caucus to the Nazis ’ takeover of France during World War II , for which the host apologized on Monday .

MSNBC host Chris Matthews has really been on a roll lately.
As he was interviewing Jaime Harrison, a Democratic candidate who seeks to unseat Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), on Friday night, Matthews saw live footage of Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) with Graham at President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in South Carolina and somehow believed the man he was talking to in real time was the same person he was seeing at that rally.
“Jaime, I see you next to the guy you’re going to beat right there, maybe, maybe, maybe, Lindsey Graham,” Matthews said to Harrison, who was being interviewed remotely.
“That’s Tim Scott,” Trymaine Lee, an MSNBC reporter, told the host.
“Jaime?” Matthews asked confusedly, prompting MSNBC contributor Adrienne Elrod to correct him again.
“Who’s that?” Matthews inquired before finally catching on when he was told for the third time that the man he was seeing was Scott.
“Oh, it’s the other senator, Tim Scott,” the host said. “What am I saying? Big mistake.”
He then apologized to Harrison, saying “Mistaken identity, sir, sorry.”
Matthews’ questionable behavior has been on full display in recent days; On Tuesday, he interrogated 2020 candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) for believing the woman who accused 2020 rival Michael Bloomberg of telling her to get an abortion when she was his employee.
“I just want to make sure you’re clear about this: You’re confident of your accusation?” Matthews asked Warren for the fifth time, apparently siding with Bloomberg, who has denied making the remark.
Several days after the interview with Warren, GQ Magazine writer Laura Bassett revealed that Chris Matthews was the unnamed “famous broadcast journalist” at the center of her 2017 HuffPost column on how said journalist had sexually harassed her right before he was about to interview her on air.
In her latest column, Bassett cited Matthews’ skeptical attitude toward the female employee’s allegation as the reason for exposing him as her harasser.
“There was no reason for him to harp on its veracity, except, perhaps, that he himself has made so many sexist comments over the years that he has a vested interest in Bloomberg being let off the hook,” Bassett wrote.
And last week, Matthews compared Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) big win in the Nevada caucus to the Nazis’ takeover of France during World War II, for which the host apologized on Monday.
Watch Matthews’ interview with Harrison below:


talkingpointsmemo--2020-02-29--Trump Claims Dems Are Creating A ‘New Hoax’ With Coronavirus

President Donald Trump went full conspiracy theory about Democrats ’ alarm over COVID-19 , aka the deadly coronavirus , on Friday night .
During a campaign rally in North Charleston , South Carolina , Trump accused Democrats of “ politicizing ” the disease by criticizing his shoddy handling of the outbreak .
“ One of my people came up to me and said , ‘ Mr .
President , they tried to beat you on Russia , Russia , Russia .
That didn ’ t work out too well .
They couldn ’ t do it .
They tried the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the crowd , saying that “ it ’ s all turning.
” Then Trump declared : “ And this is their new hoax.
” He added that he and his administration “ did something that ’ s been pretty amazing ” in response to the 15 cases of the virus in the U.S. “ We have 15 people in this massive country , and because of the fact that we went early , we went early , we could ’ ve had a lot more than that , ” he said .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ word “ hoax ” was bandied about in Trumpland with regards to the coronavirus ; White House Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney had complained earlier on Friday that the media was trying to tear down Trump with its coverage of the disease because the impeachment “ hoax ” had failed to do so .
However , Mulvaney did not directly call the coronavirus itself a hoax .
Several hours later , Secretary of State Mike Pompeo refused to answer Rep. Ted Lieu ’ s ( D-CA ) query whether he believed the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ day.
” “ The State Department is doing everything it can to protect American citizens around the world , ” Pompeo told Lieu .

President Donald Trump went full conspiracy theory about Democrats’ alarm over COVID-19, aka the deadly coronavirus, on Friday night.
During a campaign rally in North Charleston, South Carolina, Trump accused Democrats of “politicizing” the disease by criticizing his shoddy handling of the outbreak.
“One of my people came up to me and said, ‘Mr. President, they tried to beat you on Russia, Russia, Russia. That didn’t work out too well. They couldn’t do it. They tried the impeachment hoax,'” he told the crowd, saying that “it’s all turning.”
Then Trump declared: “And this is their new hoax.”
He added that he and his administration “did something that’s been pretty amazing” in response to the 15 cases of the virus in the U.S.
“We have 15 people in this massive country, and because of the fact that we went early, we went early, we could’ve had a lot more than that,” he said.
It wasn’t the first time the word “hoax” was bandied about in Trumpland with regards to the coronavirus; White House Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney had complained earlier on Friday that the media was trying to tear down Trump with its coverage of the disease because the impeachment “hoax” had failed to do so. However, Mulvaney did not directly call the coronavirus itself a hoax.
Several hours later, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo refused to answer Rep. Ted Lieu’s (D-CA) query whether he believed the coronavirus was “the hoax of the day.”
“The State Department is doing everything it can to protect American citizens around the world,” Pompeo told Lieu.
Watch Trump below:


talkingpointsmemo--2020-03-01--After Losing Steam From Iowa, Buttigieg Bows Out Of The 2020 Race

Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg will cancel a Dallas campaign stop Sunday to announce the suspension of his campaign back in his home city , according to multiple reports .
The first openly gay presidential candidate built a grassroots movement powerful enough to propel him to a razor-thin victory in the Iowa caucus and close second in the New Hampshire primary , but failed to build a coalition broad enough to keep him competitive in the more-diverse states .
He dropped to third in the Nevada caucus , and slipped further in South Carolina , falling behind even billionaire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Saturday , to place fourth .
Buttigieg spent almost all of his resources in the first two states , and faced little support beyond those almost all-white electorates .
Still , Buttigieg amassed enough money and polls to qualify for all of the debates , while more experienced politicians — Sens .
Kamala Harris ( D-CA ) and Cory Booker ( D-NJ ) , among others — fell amid such a crowded field .
His inexperience became a point of attack for many of his fellow candidates .
Sen. Amy Klobuchar ( D-MN @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would be for a female politician of Buttigieg ’ s youth and inexperience to get so far in a presidential contest .

Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg will cancel a Dallas campaign stop Sunday to announce the suspension of his campaign back in his home city, according to multiple reports.
The first openly gay presidential candidate built a grassroots movement powerful enough to propel him to a razor-thin victory in the Iowa caucus and close second in the New Hampshire primary, but failed to build a coalition broad enough to keep him competitive in the more-diverse states.
He dropped to third in the Nevada caucus, and slipped further in South Carolina, falling behind even billionaire Tom Steyer, who dropped out on Saturday, to place fourth.
Buttigieg spent almost all of his resources in the first two states, and faced little support beyond those almost all-white electorates.
Still, Buttigieg amassed enough money and polls to qualify for all of the debates, while more experienced politicians — Sens. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Cory Booker (D-NJ), among others — fell amid such a crowded field.
His inexperience became a point of attack for many of his fellow candidates. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) specifically pointed out how difficult it would be for a female politician of Buttigieg’s youth and inexperience to get so far in a presidential contest.


talkingpointsmemo--2020-03-01--Biden Goes After Sanders During His Sunday Morning South Carolina Victory Lap

Former Vice President Joe Biden appeared rejuvenated and ready for Super Tuesday the day after his major win in the South Carolina primary Saturday evening .
Throughout his appearances on Sunday morning TV shows , Biden made it clear that his focus is to revive his campaign in the midst of Sen. Bernie Sanders ’ ( I-VT ) frontrunner status in the Democratic presidential primary thus far .
Unlike Biden , Sanders hesitated to say that he ’ s in a “ two-man race ” with the former VP during a Sunday morning interview on CBS ’ “ Face the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spent his Sunday morning taking aim at Sanders : Biden says Sanders ’ “ controversial ” positions would lead to a big loss for Democrats After telling MSNBC ’ s Chuck Todd that Sanders ’ win would lead the Democratic party to a big loss , Biden argued that the Vermont senator ’ s positions are “ very controversial.
” “ So there ’ s a lot of talk , ” Biden said .
“ We ’ re getting down now , everybody ’ s going to look at Bernie ’ s record @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at mine over the last five months , and I think they ’ re going to see some stark differences in where we stand.
” After reiterating that Democrats will lose big in November if Sanders is the nominee and that there ’ s “ a stark choice , ” Biden hit Sanders for outspending him after the Vermont senator raised $ 46.5 million last month during an interview on ABC News .
Biden pointed out that Sanders “ outspent me 10-1 or beyond that ” before saying that the Democratic frontrunner will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ added that he has to win in North Carolina , Georgia , Texas and Florida and that he thinks he will “ do very well in those states ” despite being unable to “ spend the kind of money [ Sanders ] has or put together.
” Biden claims Sanders can ’ t run as a Democratic socialist and expect to win Although he told Fox News ’ Chris Wallace that he would support Sanders if he ’ s the nominee , Biden argued that a Sanders nomination would “ make it very @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no secret to anybody , you can ’ t run as an independent socialist , now a Democratic socialist , and expect to do well in states we have to win like North Carolina , like Georgia , like Florida , like Texas , like Pennsylvania , et cetera , ” Biden said .
“ Look , I believe that if I ’ m on the top of the ticket , we ’ ll win back the Senate and will keep the House.
” Biden added that doesn ’ t know if Sanders @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2018 midterm elections “ not because he ’ s a bad guy , but he comes from a different perspective.
” “ Look , the people aren ’ t looking for revolution , they ’ re looking for results , ” Biden said .
Biden argues that “ enthusiasm ” among younger and minority voters for Sanders doesn ’ t translate to a win When asked by CNN ’ s Jake Tapper why he believes he can beat Sanders , who holds “ enthusiasm ” among young people and minority groups nationally , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the South Carolina primary .
“ I think that enthusiasm does not necessarily translate into votes , ” Biden said .
“ You saw more people voted yesterday in South Carolina , I ’ m told , than I think in the primary — than any other time , the largest turnout .
And I won every single solitary county , every single solitary county.
” Biden said that his win in South Carolina “ doesn ’ t mean that holds for every state ” before repeating his line that “ people aren @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ they ’ re looking for results .
”

Former Vice President Joe Biden appeared rejuvenated and ready for Super Tuesday the day after his major win in the South Carolina primary Saturday evening.
Throughout his appearances on Sunday morning TV shows, Biden made it clear that his focus is to revive his campaign in the midst of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) frontrunner status in the Democratic presidential primary thus far.
Unlike Biden, Sanders hesitated to say that he’s in a “two-man race” with the former VP during a Sunday morning interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
Here’s how Biden spent his Sunday morning taking aim at Sanders:
Biden says Sanders’ “controversial” positions would lead to a big loss for Democrats
After telling MSNBC’s Chuck Todd that Sanders’ win would lead the Democratic party to a big loss, Biden argued that the Vermont senator’s positions are “very controversial.”
“So there’s a lot of talk,” Biden said. “We’re getting down now, everybody’s going to look at Bernie’s record as closely as they’ve looked at mine over the last five months, and I think they’re going to see some stark differences in where we stand.”
Watch Biden’s remarks on MSNBC below:
Biden: "I think Bernie Sanders' position on a number of the issues, even in the Democratic party are going to be — are very controversial." pic.twitter.com/kuJMlaMKuI — TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) March 1, 2020
Biden slams Sanders for outspending him
After reiterating that Democrats will lose big in November if Sanders is the nominee and that there’s “a stark choice,” Biden hit Sanders for outspending him after the Vermont senator raised $46.5 million last month during an interview on ABC News.
Biden pointed out that Sanders “outspent me 10-1 or beyond that” before saying that the Democratic frontrunner will win California on Super Tuesday.
Biden added that he has to win in North Carolina, Georgia, Texas and Florida and that he thinks he will “do very well in those states” despite being unable to “spend the kind of money [Sanders] has or put together.”
Watch Biden’s remarks on ABC News below:
NEW: @GStephanopoulos: “You’re convinced that the Democrats will lose big in November if Bernie Sanders is the nominee? Joe Biden: “He’ll have great trouble bringing along other senators, keeping the House of Representatives, winning back the Senate…” https://t.co/23kgGkwFyy pic.twitter.com/RPkrKTi4xD — This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 1, 2020
Biden claims Sanders can’t run as a Democratic socialist and expect to win
Although he told Fox News’ Chris Wallace that he would support Sanders if he’s the nominee, Biden argued that a Sanders nomination would “make it very difficult down ballot.”
“This is no secret to anybody, you can’t run as an independent socialist, now a Democratic socialist, and expect to do well in states we have to win like North Carolina, like Georgia, like Florida, like Texas, like Pennsylvania, et cetera,” Biden said. “Look, I believe that if I’m on the top of the ticket, we’ll win back the Senate and will keep the House.”
Biden added that doesn’t know if Sanders was “invited in” during the 2018 midterm elections “not because he’s a bad guy, but he comes from a different perspective.”
“Look, the people aren’t looking for revolution, they’re looking for results,” Biden said.
Watch Biden’s remarks on Fox News below:
Biden: Sanders can't run as a Democratic socialist and "expect to do well in states we have to win." pic.twitter.com/ecyknVGDxW — TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) March 1, 2020
Biden argues that “enthusiasm” among younger and minority voters for Sanders doesn’t translate to a win
When asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper why he believes he can beat Sanders, who holds “enthusiasm” among young people and minority groups nationally, Biden laughed and touted his win in the South Carolina primary.
“I think that enthusiasm does not necessarily translate into votes,” Biden said. “You saw more people voted yesterday in South Carolina, I’m told, than I think in the primary — than any other time, the largest turnout. And I won every single solitary county, every single solitary county.”
Biden said that his win in South Carolina “doesn’t mean that holds for every state” before repeating his line that “people aren’t looking for revolution” because “they’re looking for results.”
Watch Biden’s remarks on CNN below:


talkingpointsmemo--2020-03-01--Judge Rules Cuccinelli Was Unlawfully Appointed To Run Immigration Agency

A federal judge in Washington D.C. ruled Sunday that acting director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Ken Cuccinelli was unlawfully appointed to his position .
The ruling added that a policy directive under his tenure that gives asylum seekers less time to consult with legal counsel prior to their “ credible fear ” interview with a USCIS officer is now void .
Judge Randolph Moss wrote in the ruling that the Federal Vacancies Reform Act — which gives the President to authority to choose certain senior officials to fill Cabinet and agency positions — factored into his decision @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Homeland Secretary Kevin McAleenan last June to lead USCIS after deputy director Mark Koumans automatically became the acting director under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act —initially served as “ principal deputy director ” of USCIS , a title that was previously non-existent .
Later that day , McAleenan designated Cuccinelli ’ s new position as “ first assistant , ” which gave Cuccinelli permission to overtake Koumans to become acting director .
Moss wrote in the ruling Sunday that Cuccinelli ’ s newly created title did not satisfy the necessary legal standard and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the merits , the Court concludes that Cuccinelli was not lawfully appointed to serve as acting Director and that , as a result , he lacked authority to issue the reduced-time-to-consult and prohibition-on-extensions directives , ” Moss wrote .
“ Cuccinelli may have the title of Principal Deputy Director , and the Department of Homeland Security ’ s order of succession may designate the office of the Principal Deputy Director as the ‘ first assistant ’ to the Director .
But labels — without any substance — can not satisfy the FVRA ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the statute .
”

A federal judge in Washington D.C. ruled Sunday that acting director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Ken Cuccinelli was unlawfully appointed to his position.
The ruling added that a policy directive under his tenure that gives asylum seekers less time to consult with legal counsel prior to their “credible fear” interview with a USCIS officer is now void.
Judge Randolph Moss wrote in the ruling that the Federal Vacancies Reform Act — which gives the President authority to choose certain senior officials to fill Cabinet and agency positions — factored into his decision.
Cuccinelli — who was appointed by Homeland Secretary Kevin McAleenan last June to lead USCIS after deputy director Mark Koumans automatically became the acting director under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act —initially served as “principal deputy director” of USCIS, a title that was previously non-existent. Later that day, McAleenan designated Cuccinelli’s new position as “first assistant,” which gave Cuccinelli permission to overtake Koumans to become acting director.
Moss wrote in the ruling Sunday that Cuccinelli’s newly created title did not satisfy the necessary legal standard and lacked “any substance.”
“On the merits, the Court concludes that Cuccinelli was not lawfully appointed to serve as acting Director and that, as a result, he lacked authority to issue the reduced-time-to-consult and prohibition-on-extensions directives,” Moss wrote.
“Cuccinelli may have the title of Principal Deputy Director, and the Department of Homeland Security’s order of succession may designate the office of the Principal Deputy Director as the ‘first assistant’ to the Director. But labels — without any substance — cannot satisfy the FVRA’s default rule under any plausible reading of the statute.”
Read the full order below:


talkingpointsmemo--2020-03-01--Sanders Won’t Say He’s In A Two-Man Race Against Biden After Ex-VP’s SC Win

Sen. Bernie Sanders ( I-VT ) isn ’ t quick to say whether he ’ s solely focusing on defeating former Vice President Joe Biden in the Democratic presidential primary just two days before Super Tuesday .
Asked by CBS ’ Margaret Brennan if he ’ s now in a “ two-man race ” with Biden following the former VP ’ s win in the South Carolina primary , Sanders pointed out how he won the popular vote in the Iowa caucuses , the New Hampshire primary and the Nevada caucus .
“ I think we ’ ve got a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Texas , in Massachusetts and a number of states around the country , ” Sanders said .
Brennan then pointed out that South Carolina is the first southern state in the Democratic primary , before asking if his loss in the state ’ s primary indicates anything about his prospects in places like Virginia and North Carolina and whether Biden will pose a challenge .
“ Well , we ’ re going to see , ” Sanders said .
“ I mean , I think based on the polling , we ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I think we ’ ve got a shot in North Carolina.
” Citing how Sanders ’ campaign raised $ 46 million last month , Brennan asked what edge that gives him heading into Super Tuesday .
Sanders replied that “ it is not only the amount of money that we raised , ” but “ it ’ s how we raised it ” before proceeding to slam Biden .
“ We don ’ t have a super PAC like Joe Biden .
I don ’ t go to rich people ’ s homes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has contributions for more than $ 40 billionaires , ” Sanders said .
“ What we have done is received more campaign contributions from more Americans than any candidate in the history of the United States , averaging 18 dollars and 50 cents .
This is a campaign of working people and by working people.
” Sanders added that he ’ s “ extraordinarily proud of that ” and that his campaign has “ enough money now ” for Super Tuesday and the rest of the Democratic primary .
Sanders also confirmed on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ referring to Biden when criticizing “ old-fashioned politics , ” telling George Stephanopolous : “ I could be .
Yes , I am.
” When asked about why he ’ s having trouble with African-American voters following his loss in the South Carolina primary , Sanders pushed back by insisting that he won the young African-American vote and he is winning in terms of polling .
“ We ’ re actually ahead of Biden in terms of the African-American vote , ” Sanders said , prompting Stephanopolous to point out that Biden got @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vote in the South Carolina primary .
Sanders then said that although Biden did “ very well last night , ” he doubled down on how he won among younger African-American voters .

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) isn’t quick to say whether he’s solely focusing on defeating former Vice President Joe Biden in the Democratic presidential primary just two days before Super Tuesday.
Asked by CBS’ Margaret Brennan if he’s now in a “two-man race” with Biden following the former VP’s win in the South Carolina primary, Sanders pointed out how he won the popular vote in the Iowa caucuses, the New Hampshire primary and the Nevada caucus.
Sanders added that he’s “looking forward to Super Tuesday.”
“I think we’ve got a great chance to win in California, in Texas, in Massachusetts and a number of states around the country,” Sanders said.
Brennan then pointed out that South Carolina is the first southern state in the Democratic primary, before asking if his loss in the state’s primary indicates anything about his prospects in places like Virginia and North Carolina and whether Biden will pose a challenge.
“Well, we’re going to see,” Sanders said. “I mean, I think based on the polling, we’re doing pretty well in Virginia. I think we’ve got a shot in North Carolina.”
Citing how Sanders’ campaign raised $46 million last month, Brennan asked what edge that gives him heading into Super Tuesday. Sanders replied that “it is not only the amount of money that we raised,” but “it’s how we raised it” before proceeding to slam Biden.
“We don’t have a super PAC like Joe Biden. I don’t go to rich people’s homes like Joe Biden. I think Joe has contributions for more than $40 billionaires,” Sanders said. “What we have done is received more campaign contributions from more Americans than any candidate in the history of the United States, averaging 18 dollars and 50 cents. This is a campaign of working people and by working people.”
Sanders added that he’s “extraordinarily proud of that” and that his campaign has “enough money now” for Super Tuesday and the rest of the Democratic primary.
Watch Sanders’ remarks on CBS News below:
Sanders is asked whether he's in a "two-man race" with Biden pic.twitter.com/Qk45xbQp9T — TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) March 1, 2020
Sanders also confirmed on ABC News Sunday morning that he was referring to Biden when criticizing “old-fashioned politics,” telling George Stephanopolous: “I could be. Yes, I am.”
When asked about why he’s having trouble with African-American voters following his loss in the South Carolina primary, Sanders pushed back by insisting that he won the young African-American vote and he is winning in terms of polling.
“We’re actually ahead of Biden in terms of the African-American vote,” Sanders said, prompting Stephanopolous to point out that Biden got more than 60 percent of the African-American vote in the South Carolina primary.
Sanders then said that although Biden did “very well last night,” he doubled down on how he won among younger African-American voters.
Watch Sanders’ remarks on ABC News below: