How Long Can The Media Cover For Joe Biden’s Racial Gaffes?; Biden Launches New Ad Aimed at Black Americans

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By The Federalist. Joe Biden has stepped on another racial landmine. As the country is torn apart by ethnic strife, the former Vice President continues to frustrate his campaign and his loyal supporters in the corporate media by saying goofy things about black people that at least border on abject racism. . .

Put once again in the unenviable position of having to defend the Democratic nominee, CNN and MSNBC chose for the most part to ignore the troubling remarks. Others like the New York Times’ Jonathan Martin took a different approach, sidestepping the actual remarks to make a broader point about Biden’s propensity to gaffes.

You really have to hand it to Washington Post “Fact Checker” Glenn Kessler who just pretended that Biden didn’t say what Biden literally said. In a just world, Kessler would give himself four Pinocchios for this obvious gaslighting, but don’t hold your breath. . .

The best Biden’s handlers can do in this situation is try to keep Old Joe in the basement with as few chances to foul up as possible. But with several of the latest polls showing a sharply tightening race, that may not be sustainable in the long run. Meanwhile the best the media can do is try to ignore the gaffes. But here they also have a problem, namely those notable exceptions. (Read more from “How Long Can the Media Cover for Biden’s Racial Gaffes?” HERE)

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Joe Biden Launches New National Ad Aimed at Black Americans

By Associated Press. Joe Biden’s Democratic presidential campaign has launched a new national ad focused on Black Americans, urging them to stand up to President Donald Trump the way their ancestors stood up to “violent racists of a generation ago.”

The one-minute ad, which was shared exclusively with The Associated Press before its digital and television release on Thursday, is meant to drum up support among Black Americans, a key constituency for Biden, ahead of November’s general election. The ad, titled “Better America,” also takes a direct swipe at Trump, without mentioning the Republican president by name.

“We must choose to fight for that better America,” the narrator states. “And just like our ancestors who stood up to the violent racists of a generation ago, we will stand up to this president and say, ‘No more,’ because America is better than him. So we choose to be bigger. We choose to be bolder. We choose to bring back justice, respect and dignity to this country. We choose Joe Biden to lead us all towards that American promise together.” (Read more from “Joe Biden Launches New National Ad Aimed at Black Americans” HERE)

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Experts Say COVID-19 Cases Are Surging, but How Reliable Is the Testing Data?; New Military Coronavirus Cases Show Lowest Increase in Months

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By The Federalist. As Americans entered summer with a glimmer of hope that COVID-19 might recede, those hopes were quickly dashed after a rapid resurgence of the virus in Sun Belt states. Now approaching midsummer, the numbers continue to surge across the South and Western regions of the United States. . .

The limited data presented amid a surge in positive cases raises questions about the credibility of the figures. The absence of these details from some data sources hinders the ability of officials and average citizens to make informed decisions for collective safety and well-being. . .

Since the emergence of COVID-19 in the United States in late winter, government and medical officials have provided a series of inconsistent and disparate messages on the dangers of coronavirus, its transmissibility, and the efficacy of masks. These inconsistencies persist in the scramble to quell the spike in positive cases. . .

Widespread inconsistencies and convolution among data and laboratory tracking appears to be significantly contributing to possible misinformation provided to the public. From nearly the outset of the virus, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists gave massive latitude to public health officials in the criteria for identifying COVID-19 cases.

The guidelines gave extensive license in qualifying people as “probable” positive for SARS-CoV-2, without them being required to undergo laboratory testing for the virus. Patients could meet COVID-19 criteria by displaying several symptoms such as “headache” or “sore throat,” having suspected or known exposure to someone with the virus, or belonging to a “risk cohort.” (Read more from “Experts Say COVID-19 Cases Are Surging, but How Reliable Is the Testing Data?” HERE)

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New Military Coronavirus Cases Show Lowest Increase in Months

By Military Times. While the services’ count of COVID-19 diagnoses crossed 30,000 this week, the number of new cases showed a drop in the virus’s rate of spread, one of the lowest since before states and cities began rolling out re-opening plans at the end of May.

With 2,856 new positives this week, a 10-percent bump, the military showed a continued downward trend in the number of new cases, after spikes in June and July that saw more than 4,000 new cases weekly at one point.

To date, 30,392 troops have tested positive for COVID-19, through a mix of symptomatic diagnostics and mandatory testing for traveling overseas or certain counter-terror or nuclear-deterrence jobs.

Of those, 510 have been hospitalized and four have died, while 15,896 recoveries means roughly half of those cases are still active. (Read more from “New Military Coronavirus Cases Show Lowest Increase in Months” HERE)

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“Make Billionaires Pay Act”: Bernie Proposes One-Time Tax That Would Cost Bezos $42.8 Billion, Musk $27.5 Billion

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Top tech leaders and other billionaires would be forced to hand over billions of dollars in wealth they’ve gained during the coronavirus pandemic under a new bill introduced by Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.

The “Make Billionaires Pay Act” would impose a one-time 60% tax on wealth gains made by billionaires between March 18, 2020, and Jan. 1, 2021. The funds would be used to pay for out-of-pocket health-care expenses for all Americans for a year. As of Aug. 5, the bill would tax $731 billion in wealth accumulated by 467 billionaires since March 18, according to a press release. If passed, the bill would tax billionaires on wealth accumulated through the end of the year, however.

Under the bill, tech and other business titans who have seen their wealth shoot up during the pandemic would take huge charges. Amazon and Walmart, for example, have both seen their stocks grow as Americans increasingly relied on their services during stay-at-home orders during the pandemic. (Read more from “Make Billionaires Pay Act”: Bernie Proposes One-Time Tax That Would Cost Bezos $42.8 Billion, Musk $27.5 Billion” HERE)

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President Trump Says Executive Order Necessary ‘If Democrats Continue to Hold Relief Hostage’

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By Fox News. President Trump threatened to take coronavirus relief into his own hands “if Democrats continue to hold relief hostage.”

Trump said if coronavirus negotiations continued to stall, he would sign an executive order deferring the payroll tax until the end of the year, starting July 1 retroactively, and extend enhanced unemployment benefits.

He did not state how much those benefits would be — $600 per week was given in additional federal benefits under the last relief bill but Republicans have proposed cutting that to $200 per week.

The president also said his executive order would defer student loan payments and forgive interest “until further notice.”

Trump said lawyers were drawing up the executive order currently and “it could be by the end of the week” that he signs it. He said, “probably we get sued” but he isn’t worried about the legality because “everything gets sued.” (Read more from “President Trump Says Executive Order Necessary ‘If Democrats Continue to Hold Relief Hostage'” HERE)

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House Democrats Slam Trump Coronavirus Response as ‘Wrong’ and ‘Dangerous’

By CNBC. House Democrats slammed the administration’s response to the pandemic Thursday, saying in a new report that President Donald Trump “intentionally misled the American public on every aspect of the pandemic” and it’s led to needless deaths and job losses.

Led by Rep. James Clyburn, chairman of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, House Democrats released a scathing report titled “A Failure to Lead: The Trump administration’s Disastrous Response to the Coronaviurs Pandemic.” . . .

White House spokeswoman Sarah Matthews said the U.S. leads the world in testing with more than 64 million tests. “Our national testing strategy has ensured that states were adequately supplied and that our most vulnerable received needed testing,” she said in an emailed statement. (Read more from “House Democrats Slam Trump Coronavirus Response as ‘Wrong’ and ‘Dangerous’” HERE)

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Trump Will Require Insurance Companies to Cover Preexisting Conditions

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President Trump will require insurance companies to cover all patients with preexisting conditions, he said during a press briefing on Friday.

“We will be pursuing a major executive order requiring health insurance companies to cover all preexisting conditions for all of its customers,” Trump said. “This has never been done before but it’s time the people of our country are properly represented and properly taken care of.”

The Affordable Care Act, which the administration has taken steps to undo, provides coverage for preexisting conditions, which means an insurance company cannot refuse to cover an individual based on health problems.

Last month, the president also announced a series of actions aimed at lowering the cost of prescription drug prices. Among them were allowing the importation of prescription drugs from Canada and other countries and cutting out the “middlemen” to deliver discounts directly to consumers. (Read more from “Trump Will Require Insurance Companies to Cover Preexisting Conditions” HERE)

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The State of New York Sues to Dissolve the NRA

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By Daily Mail. The NRA is counter-suing the New York Attorney General, claiming her bombshell lawsuit on Thursday that seeks to dismantle the gun organization is a ‘premeditated’ political attack that has been deliberately timed to thwart Trump’s reelection chances.

New York AG Letitia James filed her lawsuit on Thursday. She claims that Executive Vice-President Wayne LaPierre, former Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Wilson ‘Woody’ Phillips, former Chief of Staff and the Executive Director of General Operations Joshua Powell, and Corporate Secretary and General Counsel John Frazer used the NRA as a ‘personal piggy bank’ for years. . .

The NRA responded angrily.

‘This was a baseless, premeditated attack on our organization and the Second Amendment freedoms it fights to defend.

‘You could have set your watch by it: the investigation was going to reach its crescendo as we move into the 2020 election cycle. It’s a transparent attempt to score political points and attack the leading voice in opposition to the leftist agenda. (Read more from “The State of New York Sues to Dissolve the NRA” HERE)

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Who are the allegedly corrupt leaders of the NRA?

By Joanna Walters. The NRA executive vice-president and chief executive [Wayne LaPierre] has led the group for 39 years. . . Thursday’s lawsuit alleges he “has exploited the organization for his financial benefit … [and] to continue, by use of a secret ‘poison pill contract’, his employment even after removal and ensuring NRA income for life; and to intimidate, punish, and expel anyone at a senior level who raised concerns about his conduct. The effect has been to divert millions of dollars away from the charitable mission.”

He is accused of diverting NRA funds for “trips to the Bahamas to vacation on a yacht owned by the principal of numerous NRA vendors … costly black car services, gifts for favored friends”. . .

[Wilson] Phillips is accused of facilitating millions of dollars in entertainment and travel expenses incurred by NRA executives and being improperly billed to the group and evading IRS requirements.

A report in the New Yorker last year alleged that before working for the NRA, in the early 90s, Phillips was quietly fired by a consultancy firm in Washington DC after a $1m embezzlement. . .

Millions of dollars of NRA funds were misappropriated with [Joshua] Powell’s assistance, the lawsuit says, and he secured contracts that secretly benefited family members. (Read more from the story “New York Sues the NRA” HERE)
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Opinion: The NRA’s Leadership is Probably Guilty of Corruption, But the Organization Shouldn’t be Disbanded

By Matt Ford. [New York Attorney General’s] move ignites an existential legal battle for the ailing gun-rights organization that will likely take years to resolve. James’s lawsuit arrives after many years of sustained internal strife within the NRA’s ranks, which pitted LaPierre and his allies against whistleblowers and dissident members who raised concerns about patterns of improper spending. The scandal has sapped the organization’s once-vaunted political strength and drained its coffers; LaPierre reportedly claimed in January that the NRA’s legal struggles had, by that time, cost the organization at least $100 million.

. . . [T]he NRA’s leadership has destabilized the organization more effectively than any state official ever could. In the complaint, which draws heavily from her office’s investigation and from efforts by journalists, James describes a constant stream of unjustified cash and perks that flowed from the NRA’s coffers into the hands of favored members of its upper ranks. LaPierre, who has served as the taciturn and incendiary face of the organization for more than a decade, was the recipient, and often the arbiter, of this largesse. . .

But I can’t bring myself to embrace the notion that a state attorney general—any state attorney general—should be able to disband one of the nation’s most popular political organizations because its leaders misused its members’ donations. If this is the opening bid in an eventual settlement that purges the NRA’s corrupt upper ranks and leaves its ultimate fate to others, however, I would welcome it. (Read more about “New York Sues the NRA” HERE)

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Accuser: Prince Andrew Groped Epstein Victims With Puppet; Ghislaine Maxwell’s Haunting 40th Birthday Present to Jeffrey Epstein

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By NY Daily News. Prince Andrew used a puppet of himself, given to him by Jeffrey Epstein, as a pretext to grope two young women, reported the Mirror.

Writer Virginia Giuffre and Johanna Sjoberg, a former personal assistant for the British royal, said they were both previously fondled by the 60-year-old Duke of York in 2001 as socialite Ghislane Maxwell allegedly looked on and, in one case, snapped a photo of Sjoberg with Andrew.

“I sat on Andrew’s lap,” testified Sjoberg in a 2016 deposition, according to the Mirror. “They took the puppet’s hands and put it on Virginia’s breast, and so Andrew put his on mine.”

The puppet, which was made for the U.K. program “Spitting Image,” was also allegedly a prop in the sexual touching of Giuffre. (Read more from “Accuser: Prince Andrew Groped Epstein Victims With Puppet” HERE)

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Ghislaine Maxwell’s Haunting 40th Birthday Present to Jeffrey Epstein

By Vanity Fair. Jeffrey Epstein’s 40th birthday party was not what Christopher Mason expected.

The British journalist arrived at Epstein’s townhouse that evening, in what would have been January 1993, not as a guest, but as a sort of paid entertainment. As a hobby, Mason wrote and performed satirical songs—musical roasts that he custom-created for his subjects. Maxwell, who seemed to be dating Epstein at the time, had commissioned the Cambridge-educated writer to craft this kind of personalized musical toast for Epstein.

“Ghislaine was pretty specific and controlling,” Mason told Vanity Fair this week. “When I do those songs—and I still occasionally do them—my preferred way of doing it is to speak with as many people as I can so I can get a real idea of the person and as much comic information as possible. But Ghislaine was very clear that I wasn’t to speak to anyone else, that all the information was to come from Ghislaine.” . . .

Maxwell had only been publicly linked to Epstein for months at the time of his 40th birthday in 1993. But judging by the details Mason said Maxwell fed him about Epstein, it sounds as though the socialite already had a vivid sense of Epstein’s interest in young women and insatiable sexual appetite. Nearly 30 years later—as the socialite sits in a detention center having pleaded not guilty to six federal crimes, including enticement of minors and sex trafficking—the alleged lyrics are eery in their perverse prescience.

Recalled Mason, “She wanted me to mention that when Epstein was teaching at the Dalton School, he was the subject of many schoolgirl crushes.” At the time Mason thought it was “kind of an odd thing to want in a song about a man who appears to be your boyfriend. But she clearly thought that that was something that was going to amuse him. Another odd thing that she wanted me to say was that he had 24-hour erections.” (Read more from “Ghislaine Maxwell’s Haunting 40th Birthday Present to Jeffrey Epstein” HERE)

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Project Veritas Founder Sues FBI, Claims Agency Illegally Prevented Him From Purchasing Guns

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Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe filed a lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Thursday, claiming the agency illegally placed his name on a federal watch list that precluded him from being able to purchase a firearm.

According to the complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, O’Keefe alleges that the FBI falsely claimed that he’d been convicted of a felony and “has subsequently repeatedly, wrongfully, and without justification denied Mr. O’Keefe the ability to purchase a firearm.” The right-wing activist is asking the court to order the bureau to remove his name from the list.

O’Keefe said he attempted to purchase a firearm in New York last month but was rejected after his name appeared on the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). When O’Keefe asked the FBI why his name appeared on the list, he was told that he was identified as a convicted felon and therefore could not purchase a gun under 18 U.S.C. 922(g).

“This is patently false,” his attorney Jered Ede wrote. “Mr. O’Keefe has never been convicted by any court anywhere of any crime punishable by more than a year of imprisonment.”

“Simply put, the FBI’s placement of Mr. O’Keefe on the NICS deny list for felons is wholly and unequivocally improper and based on demonstrably false information. Notably, the FBI has not disclosed to Mr. O’Keefe what information it is relying on to place Mr. O’Keefe on its watchlist.” (Read more from “Project Veritas Founder Sues FBI, Claims Agency Illegally Prevented Him From Purchasing Guns” HERE)

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Facebook Levels 90-Day Ad Ban on Pro-Trump Super Pac

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By Washington Examiner. Facebook announced a ban on digital advertisements from the pro-Trump political action committee The Committee to Defend the President for sharing alleged misinformation repeatedly, which is expected to continue past Election Day.

The move comes one day after the social media giant deleted a video the president shared where he claimed children were “almost immune” to the coronavirus, which the company said violated its coronavirus “misinformation” policy.

Fox Business reported that Facebook’s ban on the committee’s ads would last 90 days.

“As a result of the Committee to Defend the President’s repeated sharing of content determined by third-party fact-checkers to be false, they will not be permitted to advertise for a period of time on our platform,” said Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone.

A rebuke by the group claims Facebook’s “Trump-hating” fact-checkers “restrict free speech” by failing to assess their claims accurately. (Read more from “Facebook Levels 90-Day Ad Ban on Pro-Trump Super Pac” HERE)

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Reelection Reboot for Donald Trump in Two New Ads

By Florida Politics. U.S. President Donald Trump is attempting a narrative recalibration as August begins, with two new ads in early voting states, including Florida.

The campaign went dark last week, in a belief that strategy needed to be “smarter and more strategic.” The latest spots, in addition to airing in the Sunshine State, will also be seen in North Carolina, Arizona and Georgia. . .

According to the campaign, the goal is to inform voters that presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden is an “empty vessel, a tool being used by the radical left to advance their extreme agenda.”

The first spot, Takeover, “exposes Biden as a tool of the radical left,” focusing on tax hike proposals, amnesty for undocumented immigrants, and cuts in police funding. . .

The second spot, meanwhile, hits familiar themes of the “Joe Biden is weak” variety, but departs from the usual bombast-and-bluster approach, with no voiceover at all.

(Read more from “Reelection Reboot for Donald Trump in Two New Ads” HERE)

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Trump Campaign Sues Nevada Over Mail-In Voting

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By NBC News. President Trump’s reelection campaign is suing Nevada over a newly passed bill that expands mail-in voting for the November general election[.] . . .

The lawsuit filed by the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee and the Nevada Republican Party against Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, a Republican, on Tuesday takes aim at Assembly Bill 4, under which all active registered voters in Nevada will be sent mail ballots for the November 3 election. The Trump campaign claims the measure “makes voter fraud and other ineligible voting inevitable.”

“Many of AB4’s provisions are head-scratching — particularly given the stark irregularities in Nevada’s June 2020 primary election, and because AB4 changes so many election laws so close to the 2020 general election,” the Republicans said in their lawsuit.

The legal challenge from the Trump campaign and the GOP claims several of the bill’s provisions are unconstitutional, including one that requires election officials to count ballots received up to three days after Election Day even if the date it was postmarked is unclear. They are also targeting two sections of the bill that dictate the number of in-person polling places for early voting and day-of voting, claiming the provisions will lead to more polling places for voters in urban counties than rural counties. (Read more from “Trump Campaign Sues Nevada Over Mail-In Voting” HERE)

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Wealthy Donors Pour Millions Into Fight Over Mail-In Voting

By AP News. Deep-pocketed and often anonymous donors are pouring over $100 million into an intensifying dispute about whether it should be easier to vote by mail, a fight that could determine President Donald Trump’s fate in the November election.

In the battleground of Wisconsin, cash-strapped cities have received $6.3 million from an organization with ties to left-wing philanthropy to help expand vote by mail. Meanwhile, a well-funded conservative group best known for its focus on judicial appointments is spending heavily to fight cases related to mail-in balloting procedures in court. . .

The massive effort by political parties, super PACs and other organizations to fight over whether Americans can vote by mail is remarkable considering the practice has long been noncontroversial. But the coronavirus is forcing changes to the way states conduct elections and prompting activists across the political spectrum to seek an advantage, recognizing the contest between Trump and Democrat Joe Biden could hinge on whether voters have an alternative to standing in lines at polling places during a public health crisis. (Read more from “Wealthy Donors Pour Millions Into Fight Over Mail-In Voting” HERE)

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