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left-of-center2012

US reports 3,100 COVID-19 deaths in one day, surpassing previous record by 20 percent

(The Hill) The U.S. saw its highest single-day coronavirus death toll to date on Wednesday with 3,157. The number was 20 percent higher than the previous single-day high of 2,603 on April 15, and brings the total U.S. death toll to 273,799, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The record high came the same day new hospitalizations exceeded 100,000 for the first time ever and newly reported infections hit 200,000 for only the second time, according to the COVID Tracking Project. Of those hospitalized, 19,396 were intensive care patients, another new high.

My Pet Orangutan

Pompeo invites hundreds to indoor holiday parties

(Washington Post) Following a sharp spike in coronavirus cases across the country, State Department leadership sent out a notice to employees one week ago recommending that “any non-mission critical events” be changed to “virtual events as opposed to in-person gatherings.” That same week, U.S. event planners were told that the guidance did not apply to the upcoming functions they were working on: large indoor holiday parties hosted by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife, Susan, on the eighth floor of the State Department involving hundreds of guests, food and drinks.

Nevilledog

Trump to restart foreign deals, breaking a post-presidency norm

(Politico) After he leaves the White House, Donald Trump is expected to do something no president before him has done: cut multimillion dollar deals with foreign governments and companies for his own private business. The arrangement is already being criticized as one that could be used to pay back Trump for his policies as president or to influence U.S. policy through a former president — and possibly a future presidential candidate.

JHB

Thursday TOONs

Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

At Pro-Trump Georgia Rally, Lawyer Lin Wood Says Don't Vote for GOP Senators in 'Rigged' Runoffs:

(Newsweek) At a "Stop the Steal" rally in Georgia on Wednesday, attorney Lin Wood encouraged supporters of President Donald Trump not to vote for Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue in the state's upcoming runoff elections. "They have not earned your vote," he said. "Don't you give it to them. Why would you go back and vote in another rigged election for god's sake! Fix it! You gotta fix it!"

sunonmars

Roger Stone Says North Korean Boats Delivered Ballots Through Maine Harbor

(Newsweek) Former Trump adviser Roger Stone claimed on Wednesday that North Korea had interfered in the U.S. presidential election. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump continued to assert that fraudulent activity was prevalent during the November election. Stone, who has previously spoken of his respect for some members of the QAnon conspiracy theory movement, was sentenced to 40 months in prison for lying to investigators in connection with the Mueller probe into Russian election meddling during Trump's 2016 campaign. Trump commuted Stone's sentence in July.

muriel_volestrangler

Bill Price encourages GOP to commit voter fraud in Georgia with false registrations

(WSBTV) A Florida attorney is at the center of a new state investigation after elections officials say he recently attempted to register to vote in Georgia and instructed other Florida Republicans on how to do it. Channel 2 confirmed Price registered to vote the day after he made the speech, using his brother’s Hiram address and swearing to an affidavit that he was a Georgia resident and eligible to vote. “When we clearly know that he is not,” said Deidre Holden, Paulding County’s election supervisor.

riversedge

Why GOP's instant dismissal of Barr's election fraud denial is so concerning

(MSNBC) On Tuesday, President Donald Trump’s loyal attorney general, Bill Barr, said he has “not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election.” If this is going to be yet another test of the GOP’s integrity, it’s probably best to keep your optimism in check. This would have been disastrous for Trump if facts actually mattered. Fortunately for the president, the grievance movement he is building rests more on raw belief than any actual evidence that would hold up in a court of law. Cults, after all, are built and sustained on faith, not data.

On cue, much of Trump’s supporters denounced the attorney general. Lou Dobbs of the Fox Business Network lashed out at Barr, saying he is “either a liar or a fool,” while other Trump-friendly media outlets labelled the one-time loyalist “just another card-carrying swamp rat.” None of this is especially surprising, since actual evidence of fraud is beside the point for much of Trump’s base. They simply cannot believe that it is possible that he lost.

Eugene

Trump is said to be livid at Barr, with one official suggesting termination possible

(Washington Post) President Trump remained livid at Attorney General William P. Barr on Wednesday, with one senior administration official indicating there was a chance Barr could be fired — not just for his public comments undercutting Trump’s unfounded claims of election-shifting fraud, but also for steps he did not take on a probe of the FBI’s 2016 investigation into Trump’s campaign. A day after Barr told the Associated Press that he had “not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election,” Trump continued to complain about his attorney general, people familiar with the matter said.