Category: Media

President Trump Calls For Lawyers To Strip Reporters Of Their Pulitzer Prizes

donald_trump_president-elect_portrait_croppedPresident Donald Trump turned to Twitter this weekend in a rage against a less than flattering Times story  about his work habits and schedule.  The Twitter tirade turned into a demand that New York Times reporters give back the “Nobles” for their coverage of the Russian investigation. That will be difficult for a number of reasons, including the fact that they never received Nobel prizes but Pulitzer Prize.  More importantly, the courts have no role in such awards and the suggestion of litigation to force their return is completely meritless and frankly bizarre.  Update: President Trump is now claiming that, like the disinfectant remarks, he was just being sacrastic.

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MSNBC Commentator Calls For Trump’s Removal Under The 25th Amendment Over The Disinfectant Controversy

MSNBC commentator Mike Barnicle this week called for the removal of President Donald Trump under the 25th Amendment for his bizarre suggestion that disinfectants might be injected into patients to clean their blood in minutes.  Many of us criticized the President for the comments and found his later claim to have been speaking “sarcastically” to a reporter as clearly untrue. Trump later suspended further briefings, which have served as a critical avenue for information from task force members like Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx. Yet, despite my respect for Barnicle, it is important to be clear about what is a constitutional versus a political matter.  As I have previously written (here and here) and publicly discussed, the 25th Amendment was not designed and will not address this type of controversy.

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Citing Privacy Concerns, Israel Ends Cellphone Location Tracking For Enforcement of Quarantine

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

The government of Israel suspended a program enacted last month at the behest of the prime minister’s government granting the police the authority to track roaming and location data of those under quarantine order. A parliamentary oversight committee held that the loss of privacy was a greater cost to society than the proffered benefit of tracking those suspected of carrying or transmitting the COVID-19 virus.

The underlying technology used to track civilian COVID patients stems from that developed for Shin Bet (The Israeli General Security Service) for counter-terrorist tracking of cell phones carried by security risks to the state.  In this case the technology was co-opted for use against medical patients health officials suspected might violate quarantine orders.

While the reversal of policy is welcomed, it does provide a proof that any technology or power crafted under the promise of addressing a great and manifest danger to the people or the state usually finds a way to be used against ordinary citizens when politicians or government become tempted to broaden its application under “emergency” conditions.

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No, President Trump Is Not Criminally Liable For His Response To The Pandemic


Below is my column  in The Hill on the growing calls for criminal charges against President Donald Trump. This follows an all-too-familiar pattern in the use of the criminal code as an extension of politics.

Here is the column:

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Schiff and Democratic Leaders Push For IG Investigation Of Bill Barr Over Comments

440px-William_BarrThere  is an interesting fight brewing on the Hill after House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler called for the Justice Department inspector general to investigate Attorney General Bill Barr over his comments on the firing of the intelligence community watchdog, Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson.  What is curious is that Barr justified the firing on the very basis that I previously raised in a blog column, While I was highly critical of the move, I noted that termination would have been justified if Atkinson continued to assert that he would not follow Justice Department interpretations of federal law.  However, President Donald Trump made clear that he fired Atkinson for the worst possible reason: the merits of the Ukrainian allegations reported to Congress.  So Schiff and Nadler are calling for an investigation into Barr over his arguing what would be legitimate grounds for a termination? It is not clear to me what the IG is supposed to do with such a request.  Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., have also requested a review of Barr’s comments. (For full disclosure, I testified in favor of Barr’s confirmation before the Senate Judiciary Committee).

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China Revises Figures On Coronavirus Cases and Deaths

1193px-SARS-CoV-2_without_backgroundFor weeks, experts around the world have expressed open skepticism, if not mockery, over the claims of the death count in China.  While not as absurd as North Korea claiming no cases, China has been reporting a ridiculously low number.  News stories of crematoriums working around the clock and thousands of urns delivered just to Wuhan have added to the criticism.  Now China has increased its count by roughly fifty percent in Wuhan but it is still far below what experts believe is the true story.  China is widely believed to be covering up information on the origins and early outbreak of the virus.

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Sen. Murphy: The Crisis Is Due To Trump and Not China

798px-Chris_Murphy,_official_portrait,_113th_CongressYesterday, we discussed how the media has long mocked the theory that the coronavirus originated at a lab in Wuhan that was researching not just coronaviruses but specifically naturally occurring bat-based viruses.  Some have been discussing the obvious possibility that the lab, not the nearby market, was the source.  Recently, it was disclosed that embassy officials in January 2018 alerted U.S. officials of serious problems in the lab which was conducting risky research on bats, the very source of COVID-19. China is known to have concealed the outbreak and arrested doctors trying to alert the world.  Now key players in the diplomatic and intelligence community believe that indeed the Wuhan lab was the original source.  There is however one member who continues to maintain that this crisis is due not to China but President Donald Trump: Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn).

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Red Flags: Chinese Laboratory in Wuhan Cited Two Years Ago For Dangerous Research On Bats and Coronavirus

1600px-Coronaviruses_004_loresWhen the coronavirus first appeared in Wuhan, China, many people immediately raised the concern that it might have been the result of a lab release from a controversial Chinese Lab: the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The lab was working on coronavirus and had raised concerns over its containment protocols.  Then there was the fact that China hid the outbreak, arrested top doctors, and buried research on its origins.  However, a narrative quickly emerged in countering President Donald Trump’s references to the “China virus.”  People, including members of Congress, who referred to the lab were ridiculed on CNN and other outlets as conspiracy theorists.  For some of us, the overwhelming media narrative seemed odd and artificial. It would seem obvious that a lab working on viruses in this area would be an obvious possible source.  Now, after weeks of chastising those who mentioned the lab theory, another cache of documents and information shows that there are ample reasons to be suspicious and that concerns were raised two years ago within the State Department.

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Chris Cuomo Goes Full Howard Beale: “I Don’t Think [Anchoring Is] Worth My Time”

Chris_Cuomo_at_2016_Democratic_National_ConventionIn the movie “Network,” character Howard Beale famously declared on national television that “I am mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore.” CNN Anchor Chris Cuomo, 49, reportedly went full Howard Beale on Monday on his SiriusXM show in denouncing his work at CNN, denouncing both Democrats and Republicans, and declaring that President Donald Trump is “full of sh*t.”  The CNN host is recovering from COVID-19 and appears to have emerged with something of an epiphany.  There was a refreshing, if brutal, honesty to Cuomo’s revealing remarks.

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The Adams Controversy Highlights The Growing Trivialization Of Racism Charges

         Many viewers were surprised last week when, in the middle of a pandemic briefing, PBS reporter correspondent Yamiche Alcindor asked Jerome Adams to respond to claims that he recently made racist comments.  Rep. Maxine Waters declared “Donald Trump has found a new vessel by which to spew his racist dog whistles.” For those of us in academia, it was neither a surprising nor unique moment.  On campuses across the country, it is now routine for statements found objectionable to be labeled as racist or part of the ambiguous category of “microaggressions.”  Indeed, labeling people racists is now a common form of political criticism. It is often a conversation and career stopper for the accused.  Few people want to defend someone accused of being a racist, only to be accused themselves. 

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“Crackpotish”: Washington Post Columnist Attacks Turley For Post Written By Someone Else

 

I previously ran a column about a demonstrably false statement made about my testimony in the Trump published in a Washington Post column by Jennifer Rubin. She never corrected the statement, but I let it go after writing a column addressing the false information in the Post. I now look back at that column with a degree of fondness since at least Rubin was right that I did testify at the hearing. Now Rubin has called me a crackpot for a column that I did not write. The lack of minimal research by Rubin has become something of a signature element. In her latest controversy, Rubin not only responded to those ridiculing me for a piece written by someone else but expressed delight at my forced retirement over the column. Ironically, her Post column the same day is entitled “What If Facts Matter?” — criticizing President Trump and his claims of “fake news.” In fairness to the Post, this latest error was not published by the newspaper though she identifies herself as “Conservative opinion writer at @WashingtonPost, MSNBC contributor” with a banner photo of the Washington Post on Twitter. What is becoming increasing clear is that, as the Post declares, “Democracy Dies in Darkness,” but accuracy dies with Jennifer Rubin.

I wanted also to respond to the criticism of Darren’s argument as “absurd” – a conclusion apparently reached solely on the headline of his column. The characterization is as unfair as it is unexplained in the tweet.

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OSC Rules In Favor Of Kushner On Hatch Act Violation (Sort of)


The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) ruled in favor of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner on whether he violated the Hatch Act in boasting Trump’s reelection in an interview. The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has asked for the complaint to be reopened. There is an interesting twist in the case separate from the merits. The OSC rejected the claim not because it found Kushner’s comments were apolitical but because the interview was apparently not aired on television but was posted online. That seems like a bizarre and facially invalid distinction under the Act.

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Doubling Down: Trump Adds Massive Small Business Program To Daughter’s Portfolio

For years, I have criticized President Donald Trump for his embrace of nepotism with the use of his son-in-law Jared Kushner and his daughter Ivanka Trump as high-ranking advisers in the White House. I was particularly critical recently when Trump gave Kushner a major role in the pandemic recovery. While I disagreed with some of the more over-wrought statements about Kushner’s role, it was still wrong in my view from both an ethical and political standpoint. Now however the Administration is doubling down by putting Ivanka Trump in a key public spot in the $349 million loan program for small business. The American people have a right to know that the trillions of dollars (and hundreds of thousands of lives) at stake are being managed by people selected on the merits, not familial ties to the President.

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Howard Dean Boycotts MSNBC Until They Stop Airing Trump’s Daily Briefing

YouTube Screenshot

I previously criticized former Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair Howard Dean for his view of unprotected speech under the first amendment. He is now taking a different tack than government censorship. He has announced that he will boycott MSNBC until it yields to his demand to stop airing President Donald Trump’s daily briefing. He is calling on other commentators to join his boycott. Dean has curiously not pledged to boycott the other networks, which are also carrying the briefings. The reason is simple: it is news. Moreover, the public in a pandemic has been watching the briefings even though some of us object to some of President Trump’s comments, particularly his attacks on political and media figures. Yet, Dean is only the latest liberal figure or group to try to censor the briefings to prevent public access.

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Trump Continues Assault On Inspectors General With Removal Of Appointed Pandemic Spending IG

We have previously discussed President Donald Trump’s firing of the intelligence community’s inspector general, Michael Atkinson — a move that many of us criticized (particularly after Trump made it clear that the firing was due to the fact that Atkinson informed Congress of the Ukraine whistleblower complaint). Yesterday, Trump unfairly attacked the Inspector General who authored a critical report on shortages in hospitals dealing with the outbreak. Trump appointed Health and Human Services Inspector General Christi Grimm but attacked her as a deep state hater despite a record of service to both Republican and Democratic Administrations. Now Trump has removed Glenn Fine — the acting Pentagon watchdog — to lead the group charged with monitoring the coronavirus relief effort. Fine is highly respected and appointed by a panel of inspectors general. All of these moves are unwarranted and dangerous attacks on our system of Inspectors General that should be condemned by both parties.

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Res ipsa loquitur – The thing itself speaks