motherjones--2020-04-29--Pro-Trump Student Group Funded by Billionaires Heroically Turns Down Bailout Money

Since 2012 , student group Turning Point USA has made a name for itself for campus protest spectacles , harassing liberal groups , outing progressive professors and churning out endless memes about how “ Big government sucks.
” Now , in its pro-Trump incarnation and in keeping with its anti-government philosophy , the group has magnanimously decided to forgo the $ 1.2 million it says it ’ s eligible to receive through the federal Paycheck Protection Program , which provides forgivable loans to small businesses that keep employees on the payroll .
“ Today we are announcing we are rejecting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ completely independent .
To accept this money would be to contradict every core belief we have at Turning Point USA , ” founder Charlie Kirk said in a press release .
“ Big government still sucks.
” Of course , it ’ s easy to pass up government aid when your $ 10 million budget comes mostly from conservative billionaires and the oil and gas industry .
Those donations fund the group ’ s network of campus activists and student training events , which have included leadership conferences at the White House , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the money comes from very rich conservative donors , people such as GOP megadonor Foster Freiss who put up the initial seed money for the group during the Obama administration ; the foundation of Home Depot owner Bernard Marcus , and the in-laws of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos .
The billionaire class tends to be recession-proof , even during a pandemic .
Kirk opposes most of the federal spending packages passed by Congress because he thinks they ’ re wasteful , they raise the deficit , and worst of all , they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fact , afford to pay for Medicare for All .
The best stimulus for middle-American small business , he explained recently on a “ Quarantined Chat ” with the Daily Wire ’ s Michael Knowles , “ is the green light to go back to work.
” Kirk has been urging young Trump supporters to foment “ peaceful rebellion against governors ” of states like Wisconsin and Michigan to oppose stay-at-home orders and perceived government efforts to encroach on their rights .
Such protests are likely to keep the conservative donations rolling in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economy tanks .
Nonetheless , Kirk made sure to frame his decision to forgo federal assistance as a kind of patriotic sacrifice that will have the added benefit of helping the group better own the libs down the road .
“ We want to ensure other patriotic small businesses continue to have access to the funds .
In the weeks and months to come , if we see great American businesses shutter while left-wing activist organizations get funded , this decision will allow us to be a voice that can hold them accountable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will just have to work twice as hard to make up any shortfalls we might experience , but we are proud to be privately and independently funded , and we will remain that way in perpetuity .
”

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Since 2012, student group Turning Point USA has made a name for itself for campus protest spectacles, harassing liberal groups, outing progressive professors and churning out endless memes about how “Big government sucks.” Now, in its pro-Trump incarnation and in keeping with its anti-government philosophy, the group has magnanimously decided to forgo the $1.2 million it says it’s eligible to receive through the federal Paycheck Protection Program, which provides forgivable loans to small businesses that keep employees on the payroll. “Today we are announcing we are rejecting any and all taxpayer aid and staying completely independent. To accept this money would be to contradict every core belief we have at Turning Point USA,” founder Charlie Kirk said in a press release. “Big government still sucks.”
At @TPUSA we are announcing today we are rejecting a potential $1.2M in forgivable loans from the US taxpayer Accepting any form of government assistance would be in violation of our beliefs at Turning Point USA We proudly remain independent & stronger than ever Big Gov Sucks! — Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) April 29, 2020
Of course, it’s easy to pass up government aid when your $10 million budget comes mostly from conservative billionaires and the oil and gas industry. Those donations fund the group’s network of campus activists and student training events, which have included leadership conferences at the White House, attended by President Trump himself. Most of the money comes from very rich conservative donors, people such as GOP megadonor Foster Freiss who put up the initial seed money for the group during the Obama administration; the foundation of Home Depot owner Bernard Marcus, and the in-laws of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. The billionaire class tends to be recession-proof, even during a pandemic.
Kirk opposes most of the federal spending packages passed by Congress because he thinks they’re wasteful, they raise the deficit, and worst of all, they show that the country could, in fact, afford to pay for Medicare for All. The best stimulus for middle-American small business, he explained recently on a “Quarantined Chat” with the Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles, “is the green light to go back to work.” Kirk has been urging young Trump supporters to foment “peaceful rebellion against governors” of states like Wisconsin and Michigan to oppose stay-at-home orders and perceived government efforts to encroach on their rights. Such protests are likely to keep the conservative donations rolling in, even as the rest of the economy tanks. Nonetheless, Kirk made sure to frame his decision to forgo federal assistance as a kind of patriotic sacrifice that will have the added benefit of helping the group better own the libs down the road.
“We want to ensure other patriotic small businesses continue to have access to the funds. In the weeks and months to come, if we see great American businesses shutter while left-wing activist organizations get funded, this decision will allow us to be a voice that can hold them accountable,” he said. “We will just have to work twice as hard to make up any shortfalls we might experience, but we are proud to be privately and independently funded, and we will remain that way in perpetuity.”


motherjones--2020-04-29--Trump’s 100 Days of Deadly Coronavirus Denial

On January 22 , two days after the first case of COVID-19 in the United States was confirmed , President Donald Trump was asked if his administration was worried about an impending pandemic .
“ No , we ’ re not at all , ” he replied .
“ And we have it totally under control .
It ’ s one person coming in from China.
” The dismissiveness and overconfidence of his answer would set the tone for his administration ’ s response in the coming weeks , as the coronavirus metastasized into a public health emergency and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the weeks since , more than 1 million Americans have fallen ill and more than 57,000 have died .
More than 26 million people have lost their jobs and Congress has approved $ 2.7 trillion in relief aid .
Some states are preparing to reopen their economies , even as front-line workers still lack protective equipment and testing is nowhere near the levels experts say it should be .
The severity of the moment has often escaped the president , who seems intent on solving the crisis with spin and bluster—along with a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
What the next few months will bring is unclear , but a look back at the first 100 days of America ’ s coronavirus crisis clearly shows the consequences of the president ’ s lack of preparation , seriousness , and empathy .

The coronavirus is a rapidly developing news story, so some of the content in this article might be out of date. Check out our most recent coverage of the coronavirus crisis , and subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter.
On January 22, two days after the first case of COVID-19 in the United States was confirmed, President Donald Trump was asked if his administration was worried about an impending pandemic. “No, we’re not at all,” he replied. “And we have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China.” The dismissiveness and overconfidence of his answer would set the tone for his administration’s response in the coming weeks, as the coronavirus metastasized into a public health emergency and the greatest crisis of his presidency.
In the weeks since, more than 1 million Americans have fallen ill and more than 57,000 have died. More than 26 million people have lost their jobs and Congress has approved $2.7 trillion in relief aid. Some states are preparing to reopen their economies, even as front-line workers still lack protective equipment and testing is nowhere near the levels experts say it should be. The severity of the moment has often escaped the president, who seems intent on solving the crisis with spin and bluster—along with a healthy dose of magical thinking and buck-passing.
What the next few months will bring is unclear, but a look back at the first 100 days of America’s coronavirus crisis clearly shows the consequences of the president’s lack of preparation, seriousness, and empathy.


motherjones--2020-04-29--Two Guards at an ICE Detention Center With a Major Coronavirus Outbreak Have Died

Two guards at Louisiana ’ s Richwood Correctional Center , where at least 45 people in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody have tested positive for COVID-19 , have died in recent days , according to the local coroner ’ s office and colleagues ’ posts on Facebook .
The Ouachita Parish coroner ’ s office confirmed both deaths and said that COVID-19 test results are pending .
Mother Jones is withholding the men ’ s names to protect their family ’ s privacy .
On Facebook , colleagues mourning the deaths pointed to complications from COVID-19 as the cause of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it at Richwood Correctional , ” one woman wrote .
“ 2 of my coworkers has passed due to COVID-19 and plenty are infected y ’ all keep us in your prayers.
” “ Prayers for my richwood family need as much as they can get right now !
!
!
!
” a second person posted .
In response to a comment asking what happened , he wrote , “ corona.
” LaSalle Corrections , the private prison company that runs Richwood , has not responded to multiple requests for comment .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ LaSalle Corrections , confirming that the two men are not ICE employees .
Richwood has more confirmed COVID-19 cases among people in detention than all but two of ICE ’ s detention facilities .
Across the country , 425 of the 705 people in detention ICE tested had COVID-19 , the agency revealed Tuesday .
ICE ’ s 60 percent positive test rate is more than three times higher than the national average , further evidence that ICE is not testing many people who are infected .
Public health experts have been warning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in immigration detention centers were inevitable if ICE refused to use its power to release large numbers of people .
ICE largely ignored those recommendations .

Two guards at Louisiana’s Richwood Correctional Center, where at least 45 people in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody have tested positive for COVID-19, have died in recent days, according to the local coroner’s office and colleagues’ posts on Facebook.
The Ouachita Parish coroner’s office confirmed both deaths and said that COVID-19 test results are pending. Mother Jones is withholding the men’s names to protect their family’s privacy.
On Facebook, colleagues mourning the deaths pointed to complications from COVID-19 as the cause of death. “We are going through it at Richwood Correctional,” one woman wrote. “2 of my coworkers has passed due to COVID-19 and plenty are infected y’all keep us in your prayers.”
“Prayers for my richwood family need as much as they can get right now!!!!” a second person posted. In response to a comment asking what happened, he wrote, “corona.”
LaSalle Corrections, the private prison company that runs Richwood, has not responded to multiple requests for comment. ICE spokesperson Bryan Cox referred inquiries to LaSalle Corrections, confirming that the two men are not ICE employees.
Richwood has more confirmed COVID-19 cases among people in detention than all but two of ICE’s detention facilities. Across the country, 425 of the 705 people in detention ICE tested had COVID-19, the agency revealed Tuesday. ICE’s 60 percent positive test rate is more than three times higher than the national average, further evidence that ICE is not testing many people who are infected.
Public health experts have been warning for more than a month that outbreaks in immigration detention centers were inevitable if ICE refused to use its power to release large numbers of people. ICE largely ignored those recommendations.


motherjones--2020-04-29--How One Ex-Googler Managed to Buy Millions of PPE From China for US Hospitals

A few weeks ago , freelance photographer Ning Mosberger-Tang was running her foundation in Boulder , Colorado , which funds environmental issues .
Now she has become a reluctant expert on the importing of personal protective equipment from China .
Her experience illustrates the challenges that states and hospitals have faced in obtaining PPE—masks , gowns , and the rest—but also demonstrates that this is not an impossible task and that the Trump administration has failed miserably in this mission .
As the coronavirus pandemic intensified in March and a severe nationwide PPE shortage was exposed , Mosberger-Tang , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ workers dealing with the crisis , held a small fundraiser and pulled in enough money to buy a few thousand face masks to donate locally .
“ I could see that was not enough , ” she recalls .
“ We needed to scale up and had to go to China to get PPE at wholesale and then donate or sell it at cost.
” But she had no previous experience in procuring medical equipment from abroad .
She had grown up in China and attended graduate school at the University of Arizona @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2001 .
She left the tech firm five years later and began working with her Innovo Foundation , which annually hands out several hundred thousand dollars in grants .
But Mosberger-Tang , 48 , remained plugged into the Google network , and in early April she was able to raise $ 1.6 million , mostly from other Google veterans , for an effort to purchase PPE in China , which is where most of these products are manufactured .
Then she had to figure out how to do this .
The rush @ @ @ @ @ @ @ States have been competing with other states to locate and buy the stuff .
Hospital systems have been scrambling on their own .
Profiteers and scammers have been exploiting the high demand .
In one instance , an Illinois state official handed off a $ 3.5 million check in a McDonald ’ s parking lot as part of a deal to procure a PPE shipment .
And the federal government has been intercepting PPE shipments heading toward states and hospitals , claiming them for the national stockpile .
As Mosberger-Tang started to make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , she found herself in a wild and woolly world .
One Chinese source said he could supply her 1,000 ventilators .
But she didn ’ t trust him .
Other sources were charging two to three times the already inflated going rates for PPE .
But she had an advantage : a family friend who was a businessman living in Zhejiang province in southeastern China .
She trusted him completely .
Her friend worked in the hotel business and was involved in other enterprises , but he quickly cultivated contacts with manufacturers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that had long track records but had not yet done much exporting to the United States .
He was able to visit factories and check on the products .
“ He has had to move very fast to get deals done , ” she says .
Even so , this was not an easy job for him .
“ The Chinese government is not eager to get supplies to the United States , ” Mosberger-Tang says .
“ They are more friendly to Western Europe , and they have been pairing manufacturing in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Representing an American buyer was a disadvantage .
In one instance , she notes , the nonprofit she formed for this project—dubbed Step Up in Crisis—had ordered 2 million surgical masks from a plant in Jilin province in northern China .
Then she heard that the masks were being impounded by a local provincial official to be sent to Europe .
Her friend immediately flew to Jilin and managed to keep control of the shipment .
There are other barriers for Americans seeking PPE in China .
“ The Chinese government is making @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Importers in the United States have to sign a number of contracts to get supplies through customs .
And Chinese manufacturers are afraid they will be sued by Trump [ if anything goes wrong with the use of their products ] .
They ask US importers to sign liability waivers , and the Chinese regulations on this keep changing .
Under a new regulation issued last weekend , the importer and the exporter must sign a joint declaration that some of these goods are for non-medical use only .
So the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s released to a non-profit , the non-profit will have to sign a waiver .
There ’ s a whole chain reaction.
” With the $ 1.6 million , Step Up in Crisis , according to Mosberger-Tang , was able to purchase from different Chinese factories the 2 million surgical masks , 20,000 protective suits , 20,000 surgical suits , 8,000 shoe covers , and 200,000 KN95 masks .
( These masks are similar to N95 masks routinely used in hospitals , and the Food and Drug Administration now allows KN95 masks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) The prices were good : $ 1.20 for each KN95 mask , 35 cents for each surgical mask , $ 5.40 for a surgical gown .
Flexport.org , a shipping outfit that works with humanitarian and nonprofit groups , raised funds to cover shipping costs .
Assist International , a global humanitarian organization founded in 1990 , has provided Mosberger-Tang crucial organizing help .
In late April , the first shipment of PPE obtained by Step Up in Crisis—50,000 of the surgical masks and the shoe covers—reached a warehouse in Los Angeles @ @ @ @ @ @ @ scheduled to arrive in different shipments through the first three weeks of May .
The group has a team of Google volunteers who have been scouring a list of 3,000 hospitals and health care facilities to prioritize which institutions should receive this equipment .
Step Up in Crisis is looking to sell the PPE at its cost to hospitals that can afford to buy the supplies , but it also intends to donate some equipment to facilities that are financially strapped .
“ I have never done anything like this before , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ doing this before .
But the federal government is not doing what it is supposed to be doing .
It should be coordinating procurement and distribution .
It should be negotiating with China and bringing the PPE over .
I have spoken to dozens of local organizations trying to do what we ’ re doing.
” Mosberger-Tang ’ s effort shows that desperately needed PPE can be quickly secured from Chinese manufacturers .
But one part of the process makes it tougher for government officials and hospitals to pull off these deals : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ upfront .
That entails risks that many state governments and health care companies are not able to—or permitted to—absorb .
In the deals her group has struck , it has had to pay 30 percent of the total price to reserve the manufacturing time needed to produce the goods .
Then the rest of the money has to be sent to the Chinese firm before the PPE is shipped .
( The products are inspected either in person or by video before this final payment is made . )
“ We take the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We do the risk mitigation .
This is not the normal procedure for hospitals and state governments .
And it ’ s a fair bit of risk.
” She hopes to raise more money and use the revenues from the first disbursements to finance additional purchases .
Mosberger-Tang , an American citizen , points out that the current anti-China talk from Donald Trump and his political allies does not help on this front : “ I wish the US government could be smarter in dealing with China .
They know this manufacturing is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to calling this the ‘ Chinese virus ’ and irritate the Chinese government and end up not getting the equipment you need.
” Moreover , she says , this reliance on Chinese manufacturing must change : “ We have to start manufacturing more of this PPE here in the United States .
We can not rely on a foreign county .
This will happen again .
Manufacturing N95 masks is not rocket science .
We have to prepare for the next crisis .
We can not be dependent on a foreign government with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ don ’ t want to be doing this , ” she adds .
“ I can ’ t sleep .
I have to be working between midnight and 3 a.m .
But there ’ s no choice .
We need a federal response .
The US government has much more negotiating power than we do .
It ’ s crazy we have to do this .
”

A few weeks ago, freelance photographer Ning Mosberger-Tang was running her foundation in Boulder, Colorado, which funds environmental issues. Now she has become a reluctant expert on the importing of personal protective equipment from China. Her experience illustrates the challenges that states and hospitals have faced in obtaining PPE—masks, gowns, and the rest—but also demonstrates that this is not an impossible task and that the Trump administration has failed miserably in this mission.
As the coronavirus pandemic intensified in March and a severe nationwide PPE shortage was exposed, Mosberger-Tang, who had several friends who were health care workers dealing with the crisis, held a small fundraiser and pulled in enough money to buy a few thousand face masks to donate locally. “I could see that was not enough,” she recalls. “We needed to scale up and had to go to China to get PPE at wholesale and then donate or sell it at cost.”
But she had no previous experience in procuring medical equipment from abroad. She had grown up in China and attended graduate school at the University of Arizona before joining Google as a software developer in 2001. She left the tech firm five years later and began working with her Innovo Foundation, which annually hands out several hundred thousand dollars in grants. But Mosberger-Tang, 48, remained plugged into the Google network, and in early April she was able to raise $1.6 million, mostly from other Google veterans, for an effort to purchase PPE in China, which is where most of these products are manufactured. Then she had to figure out how to do this.
“I never imagined doing this before. But the federal government is not doing what it is supposed to be doing. It should be coordinating procurement and distribution. It should be negotiating with China and bringing the PPE over.”
The rush to find PPE has been chaotic. States have been competing with other states to locate and buy the stuff. Hospital systems have been scrambling on their own. Profiteers and scammers have been exploiting the high demand. In one instance, an Illinois state official handed off a $3.5 million check in a McDonald’s parking lot as part of a deal to procure a PPE shipment. And the federal government has been intercepting PPE shipments heading toward states and hospitals, claiming them for the national stockpile.
As Mosberger-Tang started to make contacts and reach out to potential suppliers, she found herself in a wild and woolly world. One Chinese source said he could supply her 1,000 ventilators. But she didn’t trust him. Other sources were charging two to three times the already inflated going rates for PPE. But she had an advantage: a family friend who was a businessman living in Zhejiang province in southeastern China. She trusted him completely. Her friend worked in the hotel business and was involved in other enterprises, but he quickly cultivated contacts with manufacturers in different Chinese provinces, targeting firms that had long track records but had not yet done much exporting to the United States. He was able to visit factories and check on the products. “He has had to move very fast to get deals done,” she says.
Even so, this was not an easy job for him. “The Chinese government is not eager to get supplies to the United States,” Mosberger-Tang says. “They are more friendly to Western Europe, and they have been pairing manufacturing in particular provinces with Western European countries.” Representing an American buyer was a disadvantage.
In one instance, she notes, the nonprofit she formed for this project—dubbed Step Up in Crisis—had ordered 2 million surgical masks from a plant in Jilin province in northern China. Then she heard that the masks were being impounded by a local provincial official to be sent to Europe. Her friend immediately flew to Jilin and managed to keep control of the shipment.
There are other barriers for Americans seeking PPE in China. “The Chinese government is making it more difficult,” Mosberger-Tang says. “Importers in the United States have to sign a number of contracts to get supplies through customs. And Chinese manufacturers are afraid they will be sued by Trump [if anything goes wrong with the use of their products]. They ask US importers to sign liability waivers, and the Chinese regulations on this keep changing. Under a new regulation issued last weekend, the importer and the exporter must sign a joint declaration that some of these goods are for non-medical use only. So the importer will sign. Then if it’s released to a non-profit, the non-profit will have to sign a waiver. There’s a whole chain reaction.”
With the $1.6 million, Step Up in Crisis, according to Mosberger-Tang, was able to purchase from different Chinese factories the 2 million surgical masks, 20,000 protective suits, 20,000 surgical suits, 8,000 shoe covers, and 200,000 KN95 masks. (These masks are similar to N95 masks routinely used in hospitals, and the Food and Drug Administration now allows KN95 masks to be used in medical situations.) The prices were good: $1.20 for each KN95 mask, 35 cents for each surgical mask, $5.40 for a surgical gown. Flexport.org, a shipping outfit that works with humanitarian and nonprofit groups, raised funds to cover shipping costs. Assist International, a global humanitarian organization founded in 1990, has provided Mosberger-Tang crucial organizing help.
“I can’t sleep. I have to be working between midnight and three a.m. But there’s no choice. We need a federal response.”
In late April, the first shipment of PPE obtained by Step Up in Crisis—50,000 of the surgical masks and the shoe covers—reached a warehouse in Los Angeles. The rest of the supplies are scheduled to arrive in different shipments through the first three weeks of May. The group has a team of Google volunteers who have been scouring a list of 3,000 hospitals and health care facilities to prioritize which institutions should receive this equipment. Step Up in Crisis is looking to sell the PPE at its cost to hospitals that can afford to buy the supplies, but it also intends to donate some equipment to facilities that are financially strapped.
“I have never done anything like this before,” Mosberger-Tang says. “I never imagined doing this before. But the federal government is not doing what it is supposed to be doing. It should be coordinating procurement and distribution. It should be negotiating with China and bringing the PPE over. I have spoken to dozens of local organizations trying to do what we’re doing.”
Mosberger-Tang’s effort shows that desperately needed PPE can be quickly secured from Chinese manufacturers. But one part of the process makes it tougher for government officials and hospitals to pull off these deals: Chinese manufacturers are demanding to be paid upfront. That entails risks that many state governments and health care companies are not able to—or permitted to—absorb. In the deals her group has struck, it has had to pay 30 percent of the total price to reserve the manufacturing time needed to produce the goods. Then the rest of the money has to be sent to the Chinese firm before the PPE is shipped. (The products are inspected either in person or by video before this final payment is made.)
“We take the risk,” Mosberger-Tang says. “We do the risk mitigation. This is not the normal procedure for hospitals and state governments. And it’s a fair bit of risk.”
She hopes to raise more money and use the revenues from the first disbursements to finance additional purchases.
Mosberger-Tang, an American citizen, points out that the current anti-China talk from Donald Trump and his political allies does not help on this front: “I wish the US government could be smarter in dealing with China. They know this manufacturing is in China. There is no point to calling this the ‘Chinese virus’ and irritate the Chinese government and end up not getting the equipment you need.” Moreover, she says, this reliance on Chinese manufacturing must change: “We have to start manufacturing more of this PPE here in the United States. We cannot rely on a foreign county. This will happen again. Manufacturing N95 masks is not rocket science. We have to prepare for the next crisis. We cannot be dependent on a foreign government with all this geopolitical tension.”
“I don’t want to be doing this,” she adds. “I can’t sleep. I have to be working between midnight and 3 a.m. But there’s no choice. We need a federal response. The US government has much more negotiating power than we do. It’s crazy we have to do this.”


motherjones--2020-04-30--“You Can’t Bullshit a Virus.” What Trump Doesn’t Get About His 2020 Election Strategy

Yesterday , Mother Jones published a timeline tracking 100 days since officials confirmed the first case of the coronavirus in the United States .
In the weeks since , more than 1 million Americans have fallen ill and more than 57,000 have died .
President Donald Trump ’ s record of failure , self-congratulation , and deflection snaps into focus the moment you start scrolling .
Over at the Mother Jones Podcast , we took the opportunity to examine what bearing these first 100 days could have for Trump ’ s 2020 reelection prospects—and the strategies he ’ s using @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Host Jamilah King asked Mother Jones DC Bureau Chief David Corn to analyze the ways in which Trump has , or hasn ’ t , taken responsibility for the United States ’ pandemic , uncovering an all-too familiar pattern .
“ He is trying to blame foreign power for what it did wrong so that we don ’ t look at what he did wrong , ” Corn says .
Jamilah King also spoke with senior reporter Tim Murphy about his reporting on how candidates are adjusting to long-distance campaigning .
Murphy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of digital-only campaigning , made up of livestreams , podcasts , and social media , that has profoundly affected the campaign of presumptive Democratic presidential candidate , Joe Biden .
“ The campaign shut down just as he was on the cusp of making history , ” Murphy said .
“ You can ’ t do the big wine cave fundraisers anymore.
” Listen to the full story on the podcast : And while you ’ re here , check out our video chronicling Trump ’ s 100 days of denial :

Yesterday, Mother Jones published a timeline tracking 100 days since officials confirmed the first case of the coronavirus in the United States. In the weeks since, more than 1 million Americans have fallen ill and more than 57,000 have died. President Donald Trump’s record of failure, self-congratulation, and deflection snaps into focus the moment you start scrolling.
Over at the Mother Jones Podcast, we took the opportunity to examine what bearing these first 100 days could have for Trump’s 2020 reelection prospects—and the strategies he’s using to misinform and point the finger elsewhere. Host Jamilah King asked Mother Jones DC Bureau Chief David Corn to analyze the ways in which Trump has, or hasn’t, taken responsibility for the United States’ pandemic, uncovering an all-too familiar pattern. “He is trying to blame foreign power for what it did wrong so that we don’t look at what he did wrong,” Corn says.
Jamilah King also spoke with senior reporter Tim Murphy about his reporting on how candidates are adjusting to long-distance campaigning. Murphy paints a picture of a new style of digital-only campaigning, made up of livestreams, podcasts, and social media, that has profoundly affected the campaign of presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden. “The campaign shut down just as he was on the cusp of making history,” Murphy said. “You can’t do the big wine cave fundraisers anymore.”
Listen to the full story on the podcast:
Listen to the latest episode of the Mother Jones Podcast: Subscribe using Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.
And while you’re here, check out our video chronicling Trump’s 100 days of denial:


motherjones--2020-04-30--One Thing the Pandemic Hasn’t Stopped: Aggressive Medical-Debt Collection

This story was published originally by ProPublica , a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power .
Sign up for ProPublica ’ s Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox as soon as they are published .
Darcel Richardson knows she ’ s fortunate in one sense : She still has her job as a vocational counselor in Baltimore .
But despite that , she won ’ t be able to make her rent payment this month because she ’ s not getting her full salary for a while .
More than $ 400 per @ @ @ @ @ @ @ income—has been siphoned off by Johns Hopkins University for unpaid medical bills at one of its hospitals .
Richardson , 60 , got word of the garnishment from her employer just as the coronavirus pandemic was arriving in full force last month .
“ My job was going to take the money out .
They don ’ t want to get in trouble , ” she said .
“ I spoke with our payroll accountant , and the bottom line was , even though the crisis had begun , they still had to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a moment when hospitals nationwide are being heralded for their role at the front lines of fighting the pandemic , some Americans continue to experience a less favorable side of hospital operations : aggressive collection for unpaid medical bills , even at a time when many of the debtors are seeing their income plunge .
Debt collection is occurring on other fronts as well , over unpaid college and bank loans among others , prompting debates over protecting people ’ s economic stimulus checks from collection agencies or suspending garnishments outright .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ treating coronavirus patients brings the health and economic exigencies of the moment into especially stark relief .
In a few cases , hospitals have brought new cases against former patients in recent weeks , such as in Wisconsin , where Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee filed 46 small-claims lawsuits even after the governor declared a state of emergency on March 12 , and other hospital systems in the state filed dozens more , according to a report by Wisconsin Public Radio and Wisconsin Watch .
Steve Schoof , Froedtert ’ s director of external @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the hospital stopped filing small claims suits on March 18 .
“ Moving forward , ” the statement continued , “ Froedtert Health will no longer be filing small claims suits for medical debt collection .
Unfortunately , there was a miscommunication that resulted in small claims filings after March 18 .
We immediately rectified this miscommunication and dismissed these small claims cases that were filed after March 18.
” More often , though , the collection stems from cases filed months before the pandemic arrived , as the legal process grinds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ collection is underway for pre-COVID medical debt , they will continue to do that , ” said Jenifer Bosco , a staff attorney for the National Consumer Law Center .
In Richardson ’ s case , the debt stemmed from a two-day 2018 visit to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in southeast Baltimore , one of a string of medical visits she has had to make over the years to deal with a knee injury from a fall , a hip injury from a car accident , hernia repairs and back trouble .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which at the time was with the state Division of Correction , but it left a balance of almost $ 1,000 for her to pay .
Richardson , who lives by herself in a modest apartment complex just east of the city , started hearing from a collections lawyer for Hopkins last fall and tried to work out a payment schedule with him , but she couldn ’ t make it work .
“ I just didn ’ t have the money , ” she said .
“ I said to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pay an amount monthly , but when it came time , I just didn ’ t have it .
What can you do when you ’ re caught between a rock and a hard place ?
I prioritize .
I ’ m going to try to pay my rent first , pay for gas and electric , cellphone costs .
And I ’ ve got to eat.
” The court judgment was finally entered against Richardson in Baltimore City District Court in January : $ 923.21 , plus $ 34 in court costs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fees .
The notice of wage garnishment went out on March 6—the day after Maryland Gov .
Larry Hogan announced the state ’ s first three coronavirus cases .
The garnishment was confirmed by Richardson ’ s new employer , the nonprofit drug treatment organization Gaudenzia , on March 16 , the day that Hogan decreed the closure of all bars , restaurants , gyms and movie theaters , and three days after Richardson and her colleagues were barred by safety precautions from providing counseling inside prisons .
She now works at a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , where social distancing is easier .
Johns Hopkins , by far the largest private-sector employer in the state and the largest beneficiary of billionaire Michael Bloomberg ’ s charitable giving , has long faced scrutiny for its aggressive collection of medical debt , including from the many low-income Baltimore residents it serves , who in theory should be able to qualify for the hospital ’ s charity care programs .
In 2008 , the Baltimore Sun reported that Hopkins and other Maryland nonprofit hospitals had filed more than 32,000 debt-collection suits over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ least $ 100 million in judgments .
Last May , a coalition that includes the AFL-CIO and National Nurses United , which has been trying to organize Hopkins nurses , released a report finding that Hopkins had launched 2,400 lawsuits in Maryland courts since 2009 against patients with unpaid bills , increasing from 20 in 2009 to a peak of 535 in 2016 .
In response to the 2019 report , Hopkins officials said they offered considerable free and discounted services , and that “ for patients who choose not to pursue those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to pay , we will make every effort to reach out to them and to accommodate their schedule and needs .
In those rare occasions when a patient who has the ability to pay chooses not to , we follow our state required policies to pursue reimbursement from these patients.
” The cases have slowed in pace but not stopped altogether since the report .
Bayview , one of several hospitals under the Hopkins umbrella , has filed about 60 cases over the past year , according to Maryland court records .
Dozens @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , remain open .
Kim Hoppe , vice president for communications for Johns Hopkins Medicine , said in a statement that after looking into the matter , the medical system has become aware of nine garnishments that went into effect in February and March , and that it has now placed a “ hold ” on them .
“ Johns Hopkins remains committed to providing affordable access to all patients in need of our care , regardless of ability to pay , ” Hoppe said .
“ We also make numerous efforts to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Typically , patients receive more than a dozen contacts via mail or phone call along with multiple opportunities to file for medical or financial hardship .
At all points in that process , patients are encouraged to speak with financial counselors ; their bills will be forgiven if they can show financial hardship or inability to pay.
” For Cheri Long , aggressive medical debt collection came with less warning than it did for Richardson .
Long , a nurse at an assisted living center in northern West Virginia , had stopped @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to pick up some groceries for her kids and some requests for residents at the center : prunes , caramel candies and adult diapers .
When she went to pay with her debit card , the machine told her she had insufficient funds .
She checked the account after leaving the store and found there had been a debit for about $ 900 .
She assumed her account had been hacked and the funds would be restored .
In fact , the bank told her , her account had a hold on it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the bank she had not received any notification .
But that night , a card was waiting in her mailbox alerting her that there was a certified letter waiting for her at the post office .
She picked the letter up the next day and rushed to the magistrate court , and she learned that the account had been garnished by West Virginia University Hospitals , the official name for J.W .
Ruby Memorial Hospital , the large nonprofit academic medical center in Morgantown that is the flagship of the WVU Medicine system @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by her husband , Seth—after a motorcycle accident seven years ago and after a visit for alcohol rehab after he had started drinking heavily upon losing his coal mining job three years ago .
He had insurance coverage at the time of both hospital stays , even supplemental motorcycle insurance , but the coverage had left a balance of about $ 3,500 .
Seth had gotten work at another mine but lost it again two years ago , leaving the family relying on Cheri ’ s income , about $ 3,000 per month @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hard , ” she said in an interview .
“ That [ medical bill ] was my last priority .
I didn ’ t think they would do anything over $ 3,500.
” The bank garnishment sent her into a panic .
She was in tears at the courthouse , pleading for someone to help her .
She eventually filed for an “ affidavit for exemption ” through the sheriff , seemingly got the garnishment lifted temporarily and changed her direct deposit to another account to be on the safe side .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ April 3 , her card was declined .
Her account had been zeroed out again despite the exemption , apparently due to a bureaucratic oversight .
She borrowed money for groceries and gas from her co-workers , nursing aides who make minimum wage .
Her father-in-law offered to cover the house payment .
And , on Easter Sunday , she started writing emails—to the governor , to the attorney general .
“ It was a very depressing time , ” she said later .
“ I ’ m out working , busting my @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to take my money.
” At last , she got help .
The National Consumer Law Center put her in touch with a local legal aid lawyer , Jennifer Wagner with Mountain State Justice .
Wagner filed a lawsuit on behalf of Long , arguing that it was unconstitutional to seize her property when the closure of the court system undermined her ability to seek due process .
On April 15 , Preston County Judge Steven L. Shaffer issued an emergency order halting seizure of both Long ’ s bank account and her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ money already taken .
“ Seizure of personal property during the court closure and stay at home order and related state of emergency … violates due process of law , ” he wrote in the order , first reported by the Times West Virginian newspaper .
In a statement , WVU Medicine spokeswoman Angela Knopf said that the system gave guidance to its third-party collection vendors in March to be mindful of the economic impact of the pandemic crisis in seeking repayment , but it did not order them to hold back entirely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ need to balance our need to liquidate patient balances with the needs of our community , especially during times of disruption , ” read the guidance .
“ Collection calls and letters can continue .
However , please take a soft approach to calls and express the compassion that WVU Medicine has for our community during this difficult time .
We do not want to beat our patients up as they are sequestered in their homes , compounding the stress of the current situation .
We want to be a partner in helping @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vendors not to file any new lawsuits for “ at least the next 60 days , ” but it does not explicitly address the garnishing of accounts from cases launched before the crisis .
Wagner , the legal aid lawyer , said she is getting calls from more than a dozen other people in the area facing collection from the hospital and is considering filing a class-action lawsuit over the garnishments .
“ We ’ re contemplating seeking broader relief because of our concerns that they haven ’ t stopped , notwithstanding the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It ’ s actually going to dissuade people from seeking medical care during a time when it ’ s really important to seek medical care , and that is really alarming.
” Governors have issued orders temporarily banning wage and bank garnishments in several states , including in Illinois , Massachusetts and Washington .
The Texas Supreme Court has decreed that any new garnishment orders not be served until after May 7 .
Governors or state attorneys general have taken the more limited step of barring the seizure of stimulus checks during bank @ @ @ @ @ @ @ among them California , New York and Ohio .
But this leaves several dozen states where medical debt collection can still carry forward , with or without the ability to seize stimulus checks in the process .
In recent years , revelations of aggressive medical debt collection have been especially prevalent in states that chose not to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act , which has left hospitals with more unreimbursed care than in states that did expand Medicaid .
Kaiser Health News reported on 36,000 lawsuits filed in recent years by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most predating the state ’ s expansion of Medicaid in 2018 , and ProPublica last year reported on 8,300 lawsuits over five years by Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare in Memphis , where Tennessee lawmakers have refused to expand Medicaid .
That reporting resulted in a pullback by Methodist , which announced that , while not altogether abandoning collection lawsuits , it would expand its financial assistance policy and stop suing its own employees over medical debts .
Meanwhile , though , another Memphis hospital , Baptist Memorial , has kept up aggressive collection @ @ @ @ @ @ @ County court system lists about 20 garnishments for Baptist Memorial debts initiated last month alone , some of them for debts going back more than a decade .
One of the Baptist Memorial targets found out that she was about to have her paycheck garnished for a 13-year-old debt when she received a letter in the mail from a lawyer seeking to represent her in the matter .
“ It ’ s just been very hard , ” said the woman , who asked that her name not be used .
“ I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wouldn ’ t work with me .
They ’ re playing hardball.
” A Baptist Memorial spokeswoman said in a written response , “ These are not new cases ; these judgments were made months ago .
You ’ re looking at renewals that were filed in January—well before the first known COVID case was diagnosed in the U.S .
If any of these people lost their jobs , we would stop trying to collect .
If they have other financial issues , they can contact us and we ’ ll work with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for hundreds of patients since the COVID pandemic began.
” Critics of the hospital debt collection say they are aware that hospitals may be more sympathetic creditors at the current moment , when they are strapped by the demands of treating victims of the pandemic , while losing much of their usual business .
Johns Hopkins , for one , announced this week that it was running a $ 100 million deficit , due largely to a dropoff in the elective medical procedures that provide much of its revenue base .
But the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nationwide are receiving $ 100 billion in the federal relief packages to help recover some of the costs of the crisis .
And Cecilia Behgam , an AFL-CIO researcher who helped produce the 2019 report on Hopkins , notes that collection on unpaid bills makes up just a tiny sliver of hospital revenue—for a giant institution like Hopkins , typically less than one-tenth of a percent .
“ This is not making a significant difference in the budget of these hospitals , ” she said .
Behgam also noted that in cities such @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and garnishments are being brought mostly against exactly the demographic that has been shown to be most vulnerable in the pandemic : lower-income African Americans with underlying health conditions .
“ These are people who are already disproportionately feeling the impact of the epidemic , ” she said .
In Baltimore , Darcel Richardson says she has so far managed to talk the managers of her apartment complex into letting her pay the outstanding balance of her rent once the garnishments stop .
They might even be willing to cancel the usual fees @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ I am a firm believer in trusting God , ” she said .
“ He ’ ll meet my needs .
So far , he ’ s still kept the roof over my head .
”

This story was published originally by ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for ProPublica’s Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox as soon as they are published.
Darcel Richardson knows she’s fortunate in one sense: She still has her job as a vocational counselor in Baltimore. But despite that, she won’t be able to make her rent payment this month because she’s not getting her full salary for a while. More than $400 per biweekly paycheck—about a quarter of her after-tax income—has been siphoned off by Johns Hopkins University for unpaid medical bills at one of its hospitals.
Richardson, 60, got word of the garnishment from her employer just as the coronavirus pandemic was arriving in full force last month. “My job was going to take the money out. They don’t want to get in trouble,” she said. “I spoke with our payroll accountant, and the bottom line was, even though the crisis had begun, they still had to pay my money to them.”
In a moment when hospitals nationwide are being heralded for their role at the front lines of fighting the pandemic, some Americans continue to experience a less favorable side of hospital operations: aggressive collection for unpaid medical bills, even at a time when many of the debtors are seeing their income plunge. Debt collection is occurring on other fronts as well, over unpaid college and bank loans among others, prompting debates over protecting people’s economic stimulus checks from collection agencies or suspending garnishments outright. But collection by the very hospitals that are treating coronavirus patients brings the health and economic exigencies of the moment into especially stark relief.
In a few cases, hospitals have brought new cases against former patients in recent weeks, such as in Wisconsin, where Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee filed 46 small-claims lawsuits even after the governor declared a state of emergency on March 12, and other hospital systems in the state filed dozens more, according to a report by Wisconsin Public Radio and Wisconsin Watch. Steve Schoof, Froedtert’s director of external communications, told ProPublica in a statement that the hospital stopped filing small claims suits on March 18. “Moving forward,” the statement continued, “Froedtert Health will no longer be filing small claims suits for medical debt collection. Unfortunately, there was a miscommunication that resulted in small claims filings after March 18. We immediately rectified this miscommunication and dismissed these small claims cases that were filed after March 18.”
More often, though, the collection stems from cases filed months before the pandemic arrived, as the legal process grinds its way forward. “Where debt collection is underway for pre-COVID medical debt, they will continue to do that,” said Jenifer Bosco, a staff attorney for the National Consumer Law Center.
In Richardson’s case, the debt stemmed from a two-day 2018 visit to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in southeast Baltimore, one of a string of medical visits she has had to make over the years to deal with a knee injury from a fall, a hip injury from a car accident, hernia repairs and back trouble. She had insurance coverage through her job, which at the time was with the state Division of Correction, but it left a balance of almost $1,000 for her to pay. Richardson, who lives by herself in a modest apartment complex just east of the city, started hearing from a collections lawyer for Hopkins last fall and tried to work out a payment schedule with him, but she couldn’t make it work.
“I just didn’t have the money,” she said. “I said to the lawyer, I might be able to pay an amount monthly, but when it came time, I just didn’t have it. What can you do when you’re caught between a rock and a hard place? I prioritize. I’m going to try to pay my rent first, pay for gas and electric, cellphone costs. And I’ve got to eat.”
The court judgment was finally entered against Richardson in Baltimore City District Court in January: $923.21, plus $34 in court costs and $138.49 in attorney’s fees. The notice of wage garnishment went out on March 6—the day after Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced the state’s first three coronavirus cases. The garnishment was confirmed by Richardson’s new employer, the nonprofit drug treatment organization Gaudenzia, on March 16, the day that Hogan decreed the closure of all bars, restaurants, gyms and movie theaters, and three days after Richardson and her colleagues were barred by safety precautions from providing counseling inside prisons. She now works at a small treatment center that houses seven women, where social distancing is easier.
Johns Hopkins, by far the largest private-sector employer in the state and the largest beneficiary of billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s charitable giving, has long faced scrutiny for its aggressive collection of medical debt, including from the many low-income Baltimore residents it serves, who in theory should be able to qualify for the hospital’s charity care programs. In 2008, the Baltimore Sun reported that Hopkins and other Maryland nonprofit hospitals had filed more than 32,000 debt-collection suits over the past five years, winning at least $100 million in judgments. Last May, a coalition that includes the AFL-CIO and National Nurses United, which has been trying to organize Hopkins nurses, released a report finding that Hopkins had launched 2,400 lawsuits in Maryland courts since 2009 against patients with unpaid bills, increasing from 20 in 2009 to a peak of 535 in 2016.
In response to the 2019 report, Hopkins officials said they offered considerable free and discounted services, and that “for patients who choose not to pursue those options or who have a demonstrated ability to pay, we will make every effort to reach out to them and to accommodate their schedule and needs. In those rare occasions when a patient who has the ability to pay chooses not to, we follow our state required policies to pursue reimbursement from these patients.”
The cases have slowed in pace but not stopped altogether since the report. Bayview, one of several hospitals under the Hopkins umbrella, has filed about 60 cases over the past year, according to Maryland court records. Dozens of them, including Richardson’s, remain open.
Kim Hoppe, vice president for communications for Johns Hopkins Medicine, said in a statement that after looking into the matter, the medical system has become aware of nine garnishments that went into effect in February and March, and that it has now placed a “hold” on them. “Johns Hopkins remains committed to providing affordable access to all patients in need of our care, regardless of ability to pay,” Hoppe said. “We also make numerous efforts to communicate with patients who have overdue bills. Typically, patients receive more than a dozen contacts via mail or phone call along with multiple opportunities to file for medical or financial hardship. At all points in that process, patients are encouraged to speak with financial counselors; their bills will be forgiven if they can show financial hardship or inability to pay.”
For Cheri Long, aggressive medical debt collection came with less warning than it did for Richardson. Long, a nurse at an assisted living center in northern West Virginia, had stopped by a Dollar General on March 23 to pick up some groceries for her kids and some requests for residents at the center: prunes, caramel candies and adult diapers. When she went to pay with her debit card, the machine told her she had insufficient funds. She checked the account after leaving the store and found there had been a debit for about $900. She assumed her account had been hacked and the funds would be restored. In fact, the bank told her, her account had a hold on it from the magistrate court.
She told the bank she had not received any notification. But that night, a card was waiting in her mailbox alerting her that there was a certified letter waiting for her at the post office. She picked the letter up the next day and rushed to the magistrate court, and she learned that the account had been garnished by West Virginia University Hospitals, the official name for J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital, the large nonprofit academic medical center in Morgantown that is the flagship of the WVU Medicine system.
The bills were for care received by her husband, Seth—after a motorcycle accident seven years ago and after a visit for alcohol rehab after he had started drinking heavily upon losing his coal mining job three years ago. He had insurance coverage at the time of both hospital stays, even supplemental motorcycle insurance, but the coverage had left a balance of about $3,500. Seth had gotten work at another mine but lost it again two years ago, leaving the family relying on Cheri’s income, about $3,000 per month in take-home pay. “Times are hard,” she said in an interview. “That [medical bill] was my last priority. I didn’t think they would do anything over $3,500.”
The bank garnishment sent her into a panic. She was in tears at the courthouse, pleading for someone to help her. She eventually filed for an “affidavit for exemption” through the sheriff, seemingly got the garnishment lifted temporarily and changed her direct deposit to another account to be on the safe side. But when she went for groceries again on April 3, her card was declined. Her account had been zeroed out again despite the exemption, apparently due to a bureaucratic oversight.
She borrowed money for groceries and gas from her co-workers, nursing aides who make minimum wage. Her father-in-law offered to cover the house payment. And, on Easter Sunday, she started writing emails—to the governor, to the attorney general. “It was a very depressing time,” she said later. “I’m out working, busting my butt, and they’re going to take my money.”
At last, she got help. The National Consumer Law Center put her in touch with a local legal aid lawyer, Jennifer Wagner with Mountain State Justice. Wagner filed a lawsuit on behalf of Long, arguing that it was unconstitutional to seize her property when the closure of the court system undermined her ability to seek due process.
On April 15, Preston County Judge Steven L. Shaffer issued an emergency order halting seizure of both Long’s bank account and her imminent stimulus funds, thereby restoring the money already taken. “Seizure of personal property during the court closure and stay at home order and related state of emergency … violates due process of law,” he wrote in the order, first reported by the Times West Virginian newspaper.
In a statement, WVU Medicine spokeswoman Angela Knopf said that the system gave guidance to its third-party collection vendors in March to be mindful of the economic impact of the pandemic crisis in seeking repayment, but it did not order them to hold back entirely. “At WVU Medicine, we need to balance our need to liquidate patient balances with the needs of our community, especially during times of disruption,” read the guidance. “Collection calls and letters can continue. However, please take a soft approach to calls and express the compassion that WVU Medicine has for our community during this difficult time. We do not want to beat our patients up as they are sequestered in their homes, compounding the stress of the current situation. We want to be a partner in helping them through this.” The guidance instructed vendors not to file any new lawsuits for “at least the next 60 days,” but it does not explicitly address the garnishing of accounts from cases launched before the crisis.
Wagner, the legal aid lawyer, said she is getting calls from more than a dozen other people in the area facing collection from the hospital and is considering filing a class-action lawsuit over the garnishments. “We’re contemplating seeking broader relief because of our concerns that they haven’t stopped, notwithstanding the order,” she said. “It’s actually going to dissuade people from seeking medical care during a time when it’s really important to seek medical care, and that is really alarming.”
Governors have issued orders temporarily banning wage and bank garnishments in several states, including in Illinois, Massachusetts and Washington. The Texas Supreme Court has decreed that any new garnishment orders not be served until after May 7. Governors or state attorneys general have taken the more limited step of barring the seizure of stimulus checks during bank account garnishments in some other states, among them California, New York and Ohio. But this leaves several dozen states where medical debt collection can still carry forward, with or without the ability to seize stimulus checks in the process.
In recent years, revelations of aggressive medical debt collection have been especially prevalent in states that chose not to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, which has left hospitals with more unreimbursed care than in states that did expand Medicaid. Kaiser Health News reported on 36,000 lawsuits filed in recent years by the University of Virginia medical system, most predating the state’s expansion of Medicaid in 2018, and ProPublica last year reported on 8,300 lawsuits over five years by Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare in Memphis, where Tennessee lawmakers have refused to expand Medicaid. That reporting resulted in a pullback by Methodist, which announced that, while not altogether abandoning collection lawsuits, it would expand its financial assistance policy and stop suing its own employees over medical debts.
Meanwhile, though, another Memphis hospital, Baptist Memorial, has kept up aggressive collection during the economic crisis. The Shelby County court system lists about 20 garnishments for Baptist Memorial debts initiated last month alone, some of them for debts going back more than a decade.
One of the Baptist Memorial targets found out that she was about to have her paycheck garnished for a 13-year-old debt when she received a letter in the mail from a lawyer seeking to represent her in the matter. “It’s just been very hard,” said the woman, who asked that her name not be used. “I had offered a settlement, but they wouldn’t work with me. They’re playing hardball.”
A Baptist Memorial spokeswoman said in a written response, “These are not new cases; these judgments were made months ago. You’re looking at renewals that were filed in January—well before the first known COVID case was diagnosed in the U.S. If any of these people lost their jobs, we would stop trying to collect. If they have other financial issues, they can contact us and we’ll work with them. We have modified payment plans for hundreds of patients since the COVID pandemic began.”
Critics of the hospital debt collection say they are aware that hospitals may be more sympathetic creditors at the current moment, when they are strapped by the demands of treating victims of the pandemic, while losing much of their usual business. Johns Hopkins, for one, announced this week that it was running a $100 million deficit, due largely to a dropoff in the elective medical procedures that provide much of its revenue base.
But the National Consumer Law Center notes that hospitals nationwide are receiving $100 billion in the federal relief packages to help recover some of the costs of the crisis. And Cecilia Behgam, an AFL-CIO researcher who helped produce the 2019 report on Hopkins, notes that collection on unpaid bills makes up just a tiny sliver of hospital revenue—for a giant institution like Hopkins, typically less than one-tenth of a percent. “This is not making a significant difference in the budget of these hospitals,” she said.
Behgam also noted that in cities such as Baltimore and Memphis, the lawsuits and garnishments are being brought mostly against exactly the demographic that has been shown to be most vulnerable in the pandemic: lower-income African Americans with underlying health conditions. “These are people who are already disproportionately feeling the impact of the epidemic,” she said.
In Baltimore, Darcel Richardson says she has so far managed to talk the managers of her apartment complex into letting her pay the outstanding balance of her rent once the garnishments stop. They might even be willing to cancel the usual fees for late payment, she said. “I am a firm believer in trusting God,” she said. “He’ll meet my needs. So far, he’s still kept the roof over my head.”
Wendi C. Thomas contributed reporting.


motherjones--2020-05-01--We Need COVID-19 Treatments ASAP—But a Perverse Incentive Could Slow Pharma Breakthroughs

In the flood of bad news about the coronavirus , this week there was a buoy : A major clinical trial showed that an antiviral medication called remdesivir shortened the length of time that patients are sick with COVID-19 , from an average of 15 days down to 11 .
The FDA had already rushed to approve research on the compound—an underperforming Ebola drug—and the agency is expected to authorize it for emergency use within a week .
There are caveats : It ’ s not clear whether the drug reduces a patient ’ s risk of dying from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ showed no benefit .
Still , doctors are hopeful that remdesivir will help reduce strain on hospitals and buy time for researchers to develop other treatments and a vaccine .
In the meantime , remdesivir ’ s manufacturer , the pharmaceutical company Gilead , could save millions of lives and make billions of dollars .
That ’ s how it ’ s supposed to work in the pharma world : Profit spurs innovation .
But it doesn ’ t always happen that way .
In fact , sometimes the opposite is true .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ medical patents , Gilead has made billions of dollars by delaying development of its own HIV medication for the people who need it .
In the late 1990s , Gilead made a breakthrough in HIV treatment when it found that the molecule tenofovir disoproxil fumarate , or TDF , could stop HIV from replicating .
In 2005 , Gilead ’ s TDF-based drug Truvada made $ 570 million in sales , and $ 2.7 billion in 2010 .
TDF ’ s side effects—decreased kidney function and bone mass—were milder than those of rival @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for turning a death sentence into a chronic illness .
But as TDF made Gilead an industry titan , another molecule waited in the wings .
In 2001 , Gilead researchers found that tenofovir alafenamide , or TAF , was 10 times more effective than its cousin TDF , and likely had the same therapeutic effect at smaller , less-toxic doses .
Yet months after submitting Truvada to the FDA , Gilead halted TAF research for six years , according to lawsuits filed by Truvada patients who suffered severe side effects from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gilead launched new treatments that , from 2004 to 2014 , made $ 60 billion in sales .
Why did Gilead sit on the more effective drug ?
In 2018 , one Truvada patient sued Gilead , alleging that the company slow-walked TAF because it didn ’ t want to compete with itself .
Pharmaceutical companies make their money through patents , which allow them to sell new products without competition and charge monopoly prices for a limited time .
As Columbia University health economist Bhaven Sampat put it , “ The goal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the exclusivity term.
” Gilead had no financial reason to develop TAF in the early 2000s .
It wouldn ’ t have increased sales—because TDF and TAF serve the same purpose in HIV cocktail therapies .
They ’ re substitutes , like different gins in a martini .
But it likely would have decreased future profits because Gilead ’ s patents for TDF and TAF would have expired just a couple of years apart .
Instead , Gilead kept selling only its less effective drug until 2016 , a year before the patent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of monopoly profits .
This past year , Gilead made $ 1.3 billion on drugs protected by patents that would have expired had they not waited .
Pharma companies can make billions by playing a waiting game—but that ’ s not the only trick they have .
If a single chemical in a drug is patented , the whole drug has patent protection , so companies change a single chemical in their drugs and file for new patents .
In 2012 , Gilead began selling Truvada , one of its early TDF-based therapies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ PrEP , which , taken daily , prevents HIV transmission .
The drug worked wonders for those who had access to it ; Gilead charges a sticker price of $ 20,000 a year , although many Truvada patients receive free or subsidized prescriptions .
In 2019 , Gilead got approval to sell Descovy , a form of PrEP chemically identical to Truvada except it swaps TDF for TAF .
Though Truvada ’ s patent expires next year , Descovy ’ s patent may not expire until 2025 or later because Gilead has applied @ @ @ @ @ @ @ generic competition , pharmaceutical companies also spend millions of dollars to make sure patients switch to their new , patented drugs .
In the last months of 2019 , Gilead spent tens of millions advertising TAF-based PrEP , and successfully switched nearly nearly 30 percent of all HIV patients from TDF-based PrEP to TAF-based PrEP .
The company has created a prestige brand of drugs that many patients prefer over cheaper , similarly effective drugs .
“ A lot of the young black gay and bisexual men I see want a drug that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ high-risk population , ” said Dr. Latesha Elopre , of the University of Alabama .
Gilead spokesperson Mark Snyder denied allegations that the company deliberately slow-played the rollout of TAF .
“ Gilead ’ s development of TAF-containing medications was prompted by real-world experiences with TDF-containing medications and a greater understanding of its long-term safety profile , ” he wrote in an email .
Yet consumer advocates say Gilead ’ s handling of its HIV drugs fits a pattern of pharma company behavior that they ’ ve fought hard to change .
They @ @ @ @ @ @ @ influence over drug research and patent approval to lower drug prices , but their views are often drowned out by the pharmaceutical industry , which employs twice as many lobbyists as there are members of Congress , and has hundreds of millions of dollars to support academics , patients ’ associations , and primary challengers .
For example , Gilead has insulated itself from criticism for years by sponsoring Pride celebrations and ritzy LGBTQ galas across the country .
Peter Maybarduk , of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen , worries that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic response .
“ Pharma doesn ’ t have an incentive to invest in pandemics , ” Maybarduk said .
“ Research is expensive and they don ’ t know what the next pandemic will be.
” The main reason Gilead seems prepared with remdesivir is because they started developing the drug back during the Ebola crisis .
Pharma companies , often risk averse and reactive , rely on the government to conduct the financially risky basic science research .
If a chemical shows promise , the pharmaceutical company will develop it—often with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ already a need for .
Maybarduk believes the government could use this funding and research as leverage for lower prices and more transparency .
Aggressive negotiation was a pillar of HR3 , the sweeping pharmaceutical reform bill passed by the House in 2019 , but the bill will not receive a vote in the Republican-controlled Senate .
Yet there are ways to drive prices down and spread pharmaceutical research that don ’ t take an act of Congress—just a more aggressive HHS department .
The NIH could make reasonable prices a condition for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be nonexclusive licensing , which would allow other companies to pay royalties and produce patented drug .
That could make it easier to scale up quickly during a pandemic .
Maybarduk thinks the government should also consider buying out privately owned patents .
“ What ’ s the value of curing Hep C ?
Let ’ s pay something fair and produce as much as we need , ” he said .
“ We can treat these illnesses , but to do it we need to confront the monopoly power of the pharmaceutical @ @ @

Amid the flood of bad news about the coronavirus, in April there was a buoy: A major clinical trial showed that an antiviral medication called remdesivir shortened the length of time that patients are sick with COVID-19, from a median of 15 days down to 11. The FDA had already rushed to approve research on the compound—an underperforming Ebola drug—and the agency quickly authorized it for emergency use. There are caveats: It’s not clear whether the drug reduces a patient’s risk of dying from the disease, and a small Chinese study showed no benefit. Still, doctors are hopeful that remdesivir will help reduce strain on hospitals and buy time for researchers to develop other treatments and a vaccine. In the meantime, remdesivir’s manufacturer, the pharmaceutical company Gilead, could help millions of people and make billions of dollars.
That’s how pharma companies say it’s supposed to work: Profit spurs innovation. But it doesn’t always happen that way. Sometimes the opposite is true. Because of the perverse incentive structure of medical patents, Gilead has made enormous sums of money by delaying development of its own HIV medication for the people who need it.
Gilead has insulated itself from criticism for years by sponsoring Pride celebrations and ritzy LGBTQ galas across the country.
In the late 1990s, Gilead made a breakthrough in HIV treatment when it found that the molecule tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, or TDF, could stop HIV from replicating. In 2005, Gilead’s TDF-based drug Truvada made $570 million in sales, and up to $2.7 billion in 2010. TDF’s side effects—decreased kidney function and bone mass—were milder than those of rival drugs, and seemed a small price for turning a death sentence into a chronic illness.
But as TDF made Gilead an industry titan, another molecule waited in the wings. In 2001, Gilead researchers found that tenofovir alafenamide, or TAF, was 10 times more effective than its cousin TDF, and likely had the same therapeutic effect at smaller, less-toxic doses. Yet months after submitting Truvada to the FDA, Gilead halted TAF research for six years, according to lawsuits filed by Truvada patients who suffered severe side effects from the drug. As TAF lay dormant, Gilead launched new treatments based on TDF that, from 2004 to 2014, made over $60 billion in sales.
Why did Gilead sit on the more effective drug? In 2018, several Truvada patients sued Gilead, alleging that the company slow-walked TAF because it didn’t want to compete with itself. Pharmaceutical companies make their money through patents, which allow them to sell new products without competition and charge monopoly prices for a limited time. As Columbia University health economist Bhaven Sampat put it, “The goal is to avoid cannibalizing profits and lengthen the exclusivity term.”
Gilead had no financial reason to develop TAF in the early 2000s. It wouldn’t have increased sales—because TDF and TAF serve the same purpose in HIV cocktail therapies. They’re substitutes, like different gins in a martini. But it likely would have decreased future profits because Gilead’s patents for TDF and TAF would have expired just a couple of years apart. Instead, Gilead kept selling only its less effective drug until 2016, a year before the patent expired, giving them seven more years of monopoly profits. This past year, Gilead made $10 billion on drugs protected by patents that would have expired if it hadn’t delayed development.
Pharma companies can make billions by playing a waiting game—but that’s not the only trick they have. If a single chemical in a drug is patented, the whole drug has patent protection, so companies change a single chemical in their drugs and file for new patents. In 2012, Gilead began selling a different formulation of Truvada as HIV preexposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, which, taken daily, prevents HIV transmission. The drug worked wonders for those who had access to it; Gilead charges a sticker price of $20,000 a year, although most Truvada patients receive free or subsidized prescriptions. In 2019, Gilead got approval to sell Descovy, a form of PrEP chemically identical to Truvada except it swaps TDF for TAF. Though Truvada’s patent expires next year, Descovy’s patent may not expire until 2025 or later because Gilead has applied for extensions.
Before their products face generic competition, pharmaceutical companies also spend millions of dollars to make sure patients switch to their new, patented drugs. In the last months of 2019, Gilead spent tens of millions advertising TAF-based PrEP, and successfully switched nearly nearly 30 percent of all HIV patients from TDF-based PrEP to TAF-based PrEP. The company has developed drugs with brand recognition that will protect its profits as cheaper, generic alternatives arise.
Gilead spokesperson Mark Snyder denied allegations that the company deliberately slowed the rollout of TAF. “Gilead’s development of TAF-containing medications was prompted by real-world experiences with TDF-containing medications and a greater understanding of its long-term safety profile,” he wrote in an email.
“We can treat these illnesses, but to do it we need to confront the monopoly power of the pharmaceutical industry.”
Yet consumer advocates say Gilead’s handling of its HIV drugs fits a pattern of pharma company behavior that they’ve fought hard to change. They argue that the government should use its influence over drug research and patent approval to lower drug prices, but their views are often drowned out by the pharmaceutical industry, which employs twice as many lobbyists as there are members of Congress, and has hundreds of millions of dollars to support academics, patients’ associations, and primary challengers. For example, Gilead has insulated itself from criticism for years by sponsoring Pride celebrations and ritzy LGBTQ galas across the country.
Peter Maybarduk, of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, worries that the warped incentives in pharmaceutical development may hamper pandemic response. “Pharma doesn’t adequately invest in pandemic preparedness,” Maybarduk said. “Research is expensive and they don’t know what the next pandemic will be.” The main reason Gilead seems prepared with remdesivir is because the company started developing the drug back during the Ebola crisis. Pharma companies, often risk averse and reactive, rely on the government to fund costly basic science research. Only when a chemical shows promise will the pharmaceutical company develop it—often with government funding—into a drug there’s already a need for.
Maybarduk believes the government could use this funding and research as leverage for lower prices and more transparency. Aggressive negotiation was a pillar of HR3, the sweeping pharmaceutical reform bill passed by the House in 2019, but it’s one of the many bills that Mitch McConnell refuses to put up for a Senate vote. Yet there are ways to drive prices down and spread pharmaceutical research that don’t take an act of Congress—just a more aggressive department of Health and Human Services. The National Institutes of Health could make reasonable prices a condition for funding private research. Another condition could be nonexclusive licensing, which would allow other companies to pay royalties and produce patented drugs. That could make it easier to scale up quickly during a pandemic. Maybarduk thinks the government should also consider buying out privately owned patents. “What’s the value of curing Hep C? Let’s pay something fair and produce as much as we need,” he said. “We can treat these illnesses, but to do it we need to confront the monopoly power of the pharmaceutical industry.”
This article was featured in Mother Jones’s July/August 2020 print issue, and has been updated to reflect research and editorial changes.


motherjones--2020-05-01--Trump’s Commerce Department Just Hired a Lawyer With Ties to White Nationalists

The Trump administration has just added a lawyer to its staff who has no problem maintaining close ties with racist , far-right extremists .
Within the past week , the Department of Commerce tapped Adam Candeub for an influential role in the National Telecommunications and Information Administration subagency as its deputy assistant secretary , according to an internal email obtained by Mother Jones .
The full email is at the bottom of the page .
Politico ‘ s Cristiano Lima first reported the agency ’ s hiring of Candeub .
While the email touts Candeub ’ s credentials as a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work in the Federal Communications Commission , it leaves off his legal work representing white nationalist Jared Taylor , who founded the New Century Foundation .
The organization “ purports to show the inferiority of blacks to whites , ” according to the Southern Poverty Law Center .
Candeub represented Taylor in his lawsuit against Twitter , which banned him from the site in its 2017 crackdown on white nationalists and hate groups .
A California state appeals ruled in favor of Twitter in August 2018 .
Candeub ’ s work for Taylor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s linked up with white nationalists .
The lawyer has published at least four op-eds—in the Wall Street Journal , Forbes , and US News and World Report—with Marcus Epstein , an antitrust lawyer with a history of working for white nationalists and publishing racist stories on the white nationalist site VDare .
BuzzFeed reporters Ryan Mac and Joe Bernstein found that Epstein ’ s work for VDare includes a story about some comments by Howard Dean entitled “ Dean Is Right – GOP Is ‘ The White Party.
’ So ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ called “ White Refugees And Culture.
” The op-eds co-written by Candeub and Epstein weren ’ t anywhere near as juicy—they were about telecom policy and Twitter ’ s content moderation practices .
Here are some other Epstein white nationalist highlights from the BuzzFeed piece : Epstein , who worked for the conservative commentator Pat Buchanan , was a key figure in nativist and white nationalist political circles from the mid-2000s to the early 2010s .
In 2006 , he founded the now-defunct Robert A. Taft Club alongside [ Richard ] Spencer and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Invited speakers to that club included influential white supremacist Jared Taylor and the journalist John Derbyshire , who would eventually be fired from the National Review in 2012 for a racist column .
Epstein also helped run Youth for Western Civilization , a far-right student group , founded by DeAnna and Taylor , whose members included white separatist and neo-Nazi Matthew Heimbach .
Candeub declined to tell BuzzFeed if he was aware of Epstein ’ s racist past .
Mother Jones reached out to the Department of Commerce and the NTIA for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from either .
Please join me in welcoming two new members of our front office leadership team .
Adam Candeub is taking the post of Deputy Assistant Secretary , and Jim Medica will serve as a Senior Advisor .
Adam comes to NTIA with a strong background in communications law .
Most recently , he ’ s served as a professor of law at Michigan State University College of Law and director of the Intellectual Property , Information , and Communications Law Program .
Previously he worked in the FCC ’ s Media @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an associate at Jones , Day Reavis and Pogue .
See his bio on the NTIA website .
Jim is a globally recognized engineering service provider executive , most recently serving on the Board of Advisors at Sercomm Corporation .
He is the former Group Vice President , Advanced Engineering at Charter Communications ( Spectrum ) and Time Warner .
In addition , Jim has served on advisory boards with Nokia and Cisco Systems and on the board of ATIS ( Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions ) .
We ’ ll be adding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ website later today .
While we can ’ t extend in-person handshakes at this time , we are thrilled to welcome these highly qualified professionals to our NTIA team .
Please be sure to include Adam and Jim in your policy updates , conference calls and other relevant work so we can fully integrate them into our policy work .

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The Trump administration has just added a lawyer to its staff who has no problem maintaining close ties with racist, far-right extremists.
Within the past week, the Department of Commerce tapped Adam Candeub for an influential role in the National Telecommunications and Information Administration subagency as its deputy assistant secretary, according to an internal email obtained by Mother Jones. The full email is at the bottom of the page.
Politico‘s Cristiano Lima first reported the agency’s hiring of Candeub.
While the email touts Candeub’s credentials as a Michigan State University law professor and his work in the Federal Communications Commission, it leaves off his legal work representing white nationalist Jared Taylor, who founded the New Century Foundation. The organization “purports to show the inferiority of blacks to whites,” according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Candeub represented Taylor in his lawsuit against Twitter, which banned him from the site in its 2017 crackdown on white nationalists and hate groups. A California state appeals ruled in favor of Twitter in August 2018.
Candeub’s work for Taylor isn’t the only time he’s linked up with white nationalists. The lawyer has published at least four op-eds—in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and US News and World Report—with Marcus Epstein, an antitrust lawyer with a history of working for white nationalists and publishing racist stories on the white nationalist site VDare. BuzzFeed reporters Ryan Mac and Joe Bernstein found that Epstein’s work for VDare includes a story about some comments by Howard Dean entitled “Dean Is Right – GOP Is ‘The White Party.’ So?” and a short little racist riff called “White Refugees And Culture.” The op-eds co-written by Candeub and Epstein weren’t anywhere near as juicy—they were about telecom policy and Twitter’s content moderation practices.
Here are some other Epstein white nationalist highlights from the BuzzFeed piece:
Epstein, who worked for the conservative commentator Pat Buchanan, was a key figure in nativist and white nationalist political circles from the mid-2000s to the early 2010s. In 2006, he founded the now-defunct Robert A. Taft Club alongside [Richard] Spencer and Kevin DeAnna, another leading white nationalist. Invited speakers to that club included influential white supremacist Jared Taylor and the journalist John Derbyshire, who would eventually be fired from the National Review in 2012 for a racist column. Epstein also helped run Youth for Western Civilization, a far-right student group, founded by DeAnna and Taylor, whose members included white separatist and neo-Nazi Matthew Heimbach.
Candeub declined to tell BuzzFeed if he was aware of Epstein’s racist past.
Mother Jones reached out to the Department of Commerce and the NTIA for comment but has not yet heard back from either.
Here’s the NTIA welcome email:


motherjones--2020-05-01--The Trump Administration Is Now Hiding Information About Taliban Attacks in Afghanistan

The NATO-led military coalition in Afghanistan has stopped releasing details about Taliban attacks against the Afghan government even as the United States prepares to draw down its forces there , the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction revealed in a report Friday morning .
The decision to shield that information was another step back for Pentagon transparency and a troubling sign of turmoil following the signing of a peace agreement between the US government and the Taliban in February .
The deal , which sets a 14-month timeline for a complete withdrawal of US forces , was negotiated without the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a provision requiring the Taliban to begin negotiating with Afghan leaders—a process that barely got off the ground last month and quickly ran into roadblocks .
Special Inspector General John Sopko ’ s quarterly report revealed how far apart the two sides remain .
Immediately after signing the agreement , “ the Taliban increased its attacks on Afghan security forces , ” Sopko wrote .
Instead of revealing how many attacks took place , as it had done previously , the NATO Resolute Support mission withheld data on “ enemy-initiated attacks ” from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ known as SIGAR .
This data , he wrote , “ was one of the last remaining metrics SIGAR was able to use to report publicly on the security situation in Afghanistan.
” The military declined to reveal the information , which is not classified , due to peace negotiations between the United States and the Taliban .
Bill Roggio , senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies , has spent five years cataloguing how much Afghan territory falls under the Taliban ’ s control .
( The US military used @ @ @ @ @ @ @ basis to SIGAR , but stopped in 2018 ) .
He was not shocked by the military ’ s latest step to shield information about the Taliban ’ s brewing conflict with the Afghan government , which makes any US declaration of peace look suspect .
“ The data looks bad so they hide the data , ” he told me .
“ That ’ s what ’ s going on here.
” When asked about Afghanistan on Friday , Pentagon spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman acknowledged an increase in Taliban attacks .
“ We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ violence by the Taliban , ” he told reporters on a morning conference call .
“ The level of attacks is not conducive to a diplomatic solution.
” The Trump administration had spent months pursuing a deal to achieve peace between the Taliban and Afghan government while allowing for a withdrawal of US troops .
President Trump said last year that he was intending to bring down the number of US troops , estimated at around 13,000 currently , to 8,600 troops as part of the peace deal .
The exact number of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s another figure the Pentagon chooses to not disclose .
Hoffman said Friday that the current level is “ somewhere between 8,600 and more than that , ” adding that the Pentagon was comfortable with 8,600 as a baseline level even amid the increased violence from the Taliban .
Transparency has been an ongoing issue for the Pentagon , especially during the Trump administration .
Last year , Trump railed against the disclosures in SIGAR ’ s quarterly reports on waste , fraud , and abuse in Afghanistan and suggested they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cabinet meeting , he told then-acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan , “ The enemy reads those reports ; they study every line of it…I don ’ t want it to happen anymore , Mr. Secretary .
You understand that.
” SIGAR is run independently from the Pentagon and was set up by Congress to be insulated from the department , but military officials can control which information is shared with SIGAR investigators , including the amount of Taliban attacks .
Since Trump took office , the Pentagon has stopped reporting the number of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Syria while substantially curbing its access to the press under James Mattis , Trump ’ s first secretary of defense .
( Mark Esper , Mattis ’ s successor , restored regular briefings , and during the coronavirus crisis the department has held several briefings per week . )
Earlier this month , I reported on the department ’ s request to classify its future defense spending plans , which would eliminate an important resource for reporters and lawmakers to hold the department accountable to its spending projections .
At a time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the rise , these projected figures are especially important .
The department also chose in late March to withhold data on coronavirus infections specific to a military base or installation , which it justified as a precaution needed to stop adversaries from seeing where the military is most vulnerable .
Ten Senate Democrats , in a blistering letter to Esper on Monday , said the decision “ has sowed fear within both military and civilian communities ” by preventing residents near these installations “ to know how widespread the illness may be in @ @ @ @ @

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.
The NATO-led military coalition in Afghanistan has stopped releasing details about Taliban attacks against the Afghan government even as the United States prepares to draw down its forces there, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction revealed in a report Friday morning.
The decision to shield that information was another step back for Pentagon transparency and a troubling sign of turmoil following the signing of a peace agreement between the US government and the Taliban in February. The deal, which sets a 14-month timeline for a complete withdrawal of US forces, was negotiated without the Afghan government’s involvement but includes a provision requiring the Taliban to begin negotiating with Afghan leaders—a process that barely got off the ground last month and quickly ran into roadblocks.
Special Inspector General John Sopko’s quarterly report noted how far apart the two sides remain. Immediately after signing the agreement, “the Taliban increased its attacks on Afghan security forces,” Sopko wrote. Instead of revealing how many attacks took place, as it had done previously, the NATO Resolute Support mission withheld data on “enemy-initiated attacks” from investigators in Sopko’s office, known as SIGAR. This data, he wrote, “was one of the last remaining metrics SIGAR was able to use to report publicly on the security situation in Afghanistan.” The military declined to reveal the information, which is not classified, due to peace negotiations between the United States and the Taliban.
Bill Roggio, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, has spent five years cataloguing how much Afghan territory falls under the Taliban’s control. (The US military used to release this information on a district-by-district basis to SIGAR, but stopped in 2018). He was not shocked by the military’s latest step to shield information about the Taliban’s brewing conflict with the Afghan government, which makes any US declaration of peace look suspect. “The data looks bad so they hide the data,” he told me. “That’s what’s going on here.”
When asked about Afghanistan on Friday, Pentagon spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman acknowledged an increase in Taliban attacks. “We are not pleased by the level of violence by the Taliban,” he told reporters on a morning conference call. “The level of attacks is not conducive to a diplomatic solution.”
The Trump administration had spent months pursuing a deal to achieve peace between the Taliban and Afghan government while allowing for a withdrawal of US troops. President Trump said last year that he was intending to bring down the number of US troops, estimated at around 13,000 currently, to 8,600 troops as part of the peace deal. The exact number of troops stationed there is not known; it’s another figure the Pentagon chooses to not disclose. Hoffman said Friday that the current level is “somewhere between 8,600 and more than that,” adding that the Pentagon was comfortable with 8,600 as a baseline level even amid the increased violence from the Taliban.
Transparency has been an ongoing issue for the Pentagon, especially during the Trump administration. Last year, Trump railed against the disclosures in SIGAR’s quarterly reports on waste, fraud, and abuse in Afghanistan and suggested they be “locked up.” During a Cabinet meeting, he told then-acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, “The enemy reads those reports; they study every line of it…I don’t want it to happen anymore, Mr. Secretary. You understand that.” SIGAR is run independently from the Pentagon and was set up by Congress to be insulated from the department, but military officials can control which information is shared with SIGAR investigators, including the amount of Taliban attacks.
Since Trump took office, the Pentagon has stopped reporting the number of US troops in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria while substantially curbing its access to the press under James Mattis, Trump’s first secretary of defense. (Mark Esper, Mattis’s successor, restored regular briefings, and during the coronavirus crisis the department has held several briefings per week.)
Earlier this month, I reported on the department’s request to classify its future defense spending plans, which would eliminate an important resource for reporters and lawmakers to hold the department accountable to its spending projections. At a time when the defense spending is increasingly on the rise, these projected figures are especially important. The department also chose in late March to withhold data on coronavirus infections specific to a military base or installation, which it justified as a precaution needed to stop adversaries from seeing where the military is most vulnerable. Ten Senate Democrats, in a blistering letter to Esper on Monday, said the decision “has sowed fear within both military and civilian communities” by preventing residents near these installations “to know how widespread the illness may be in their own backyard.”