Donald Trump with William Barr at the White House in July. The DoJ is investigating an alleged ‘bribery for pardon’ scheme. Photograph: Patrick Semansky/AP
Donald Trump with William Barr at the White House in July. The DoJ is investigating an alleged ‘bribery for pardon’ scheme. Photograph: Patrick Semansky/AP
That’s all from me today. Here’s a rundown of the day’s biggest stories.
US attorney general William Barr said the justice department has not uncovered widespread voting fraud in an interview with the Associated Press. “To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election,” Barr told the AP.
Barr also told the AP that he had given extra protection to the prosecutor he appointed to investigate the origins of the Trump-Russia probe.
A CDC panel recommended that healthcare workers and long-term care facility residents should be the first to receive a vaccine.
The justice department is investigating a potentially criminal scheme to lobby and bribe unnamed officials in exchange for a presidential pardon.
One of Georgia’s top election officials, Gabriel Sterling, made an impassioned plea to the president to tone down his rhetoric disputing the election results because of fears he was inciting violence.
Donald Trump has discussed granting “pre-emptive pardons” to his children and son-in-law in addition to his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, the New York Times reports.
The lame duck president is concerned that Joe Biden’s justice department might prosecute Donald Trump Jr, Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, according to the report.
Pardons that pre-empt criminal charges are not common, but also not unprecedented, with the most famous example being Gerald Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon.
Giuliani denied that he had discussed a pardon with Trump on Twitter earlier today.
Trump has used his pardon power to reward his political cronies, including Roger Stone and, just last week, former national security advisor Michael Flynn.
Another California politician, San Francisco mayor London Breed, is under fire after it was revealed that she attended a birthday party at the three-star Michelin restaurant in Napa Valley – just one night after governor Gavin Newsom did the same.
The party of eight met at the famed Thomas Keller restaurant on 7 November to celebrate the birthday of Gorretti Lo Lui, a local socialite whose husband, Lawrence Lui, is a major hotel developer, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Dining indoors was allowed in Napa county at the time, the Chronicle reports, though statewide guidelines discouraged gatherings with members of more than three households.
The French Laundry offers reservations for a number of different dining experiences, including outside dining with a tasting menu for $350 per person, indoor dining for $450 per person, or a white truffle and caviar dinner for $1,200 per person.
As I mentioned just a few hours ago, California’s political leaders have made a frustrating habit of flouting the very public health guidelines they expect the public to follow.
Newsom’s night at the French Laundry brought together 12 guests to celebrate the birthday of a lobbyist, Jason Kinney. He eventually apologized, saying, “I need to preach and practice, not just preach and not practice.”
Earlier today, San Jose mayor Sam Liccardo apologized for attending a Thanksgiving dinner with family members from five households – more than state regulations which limited to three the number of households allowed for private gatherings.
CDC to shorten quarantine recommendation following Covid exposure
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to shorten its recommendation for how long individuals should quarantine after being exposed to someone with Covid-19, the AP reports.
Since the pandemic began, the CDC has recommended that individuals quarantine for 14 days after exposure. The new recommendations, which could be released later tonight, will recommend that individuals quarantine for 10 days after exposure, or seven days if they test negative for the disease.
The AP cited an anonymous senior administration official, who said “the policy change has been discussed for some time, as scientists have studied the incubation period for the virus”.
Here are some more details about the DOJ investigation of a “bribery-for-pardon scheme” from CNN’s Katelyn Polantz, who broke the story:
At the end of this summer, a filter team, used to make sure prosecutors don’t receive tainted evidence that should have been kept from them because it was privileged, had more than 50 digital devices including iPhones, iPads, laptops, thumb drives and computer drives after investigators raided the unidentified offices.
Prosecutors told the court they wanted permission to the filter team’s holdings. The prosecutors believed the devices revealed emails that showed allegedly criminal activity, including a “secret lobbying scheme” and a bribery conspiracy that offered “a substantial political contribution in exchange for a presidential pardon or reprieve of sentence” for a convicted defendant whose name is redacted, according to the redacted documents.
Communications between attorneys and clients are typically privileged and kept from prosecutors as they build their cases, but in this situation, Howell allowed the prosecutors access. Attorney-client communications are not protected as privileged under the law when there is discussion of a crime, among other exceptions.
The heavy redactions in the “bribery-for-pardon scheme” court filing make it impossible to discern the individuals involved, but there are a few hints.
First, one of the individuals involved is an attorney, though the government is arguing that there is no attorney-client privilege because there was no attorney-client relationship.
Second, the proposed recipient of the pardon appears to be someone who has already been convicted and incarcerated, based on a reference to “the months leading up to [redacted’s] surrender to BOP [Bureau of Prisons] custody”.
The New York Times reported that Rudy Giuliani has discussed a “pre-emptive pardon” with Donald Trump, but the president’s personal lawyer has not been charged or convicted of any crimes.
Justice department investigates "bribery-for-pardon scheme", court filing reveals
The Department of Justice is investigating a potentially criminal scheme to lobby and bribe unnamed officials in exchange for a presidential pardon, according to a newly unsealed court document.
The heavily redacted filing relates to a search of various digital devices that uncovered potential evidence of both a “secret lobbying scheme” and a “related bribery conspiracy scheme” by individuals whose names are redacted.
Under the lobbying scheme, the individuals “acted as lobbyists to senior White House officials” without complying with disclosure rules “to secure ‘a pardon or reprieve of sentence for’” an individual whose name is redacted.
Under the bribery scheme, an individual whose name is redacted “would offer a substantial political contribution in exchange for a presidential pardon or reprieve of sentence for [redacted].”
The court filing relates to the government’s ability to access the communications, and dates back to August. It appears that one of the arguments being made to oppose the government’s access to the documents involves a claim of attorney-client privilege, which the government rejects.
Healthcare workers and long-term care facility residents should receive first vaccines, CDC panel recommends
Jessica Glenza
A government panel on Tuesday formally recommended early doses of Covid-19 vaccines be given first to healthcare workers and long-term care facility residents in the US, generally seen as people who live in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
Together, that group would represent roughly 23 million Americans, disproportionately including women, people of color and low-wage workers who makeup the healthcare labor force.
The recommendation from the panel at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) hinges on a vaccine being approved for emergency use by the US Food and Drug Administration and later recommended by the advisory panel.
“I believe my vote reflects maximum benefit, minimum harm, promoting justice, and mitigating the health inequalities which exist in distribution of this vaccine,” said José Romero, chair of the committee, explaining his vote in favor of the recommendation.
The recommendation will likely be the basis of vaccine distribution for states and US territories, which carry out vaccination campaigns. States must complete their final requests for the leading vaccine candidate by the end of this week.
“In the time it takes us to have this meeting, 180 people will have died of Covid-19,” said Beth Bell, a member of the advisory committee on immunization practices, a US CDC group which made the formal recommendation.
More than 243,000 healthcare workers have had confirmed Covid-19 cases, and 858 have died, according to CDC data. A separate database run by the Guardian and Kaiser Health News is investigating the deaths of more than 1,400 health workers.
Further, while long-term care home residents represent less than 1% of the US population, they represent more than 40% of Covid-19 deaths.
More than 100,000 people living in care homes have died in the pandemic. The advisory panel also recommended vaccination campaigns specifically focus on nursing homes, where the most medically vulnerable live.
This normally unremarkable chain of events has prompted much speculation, due to the timing of the meeting, which began shortly after the Associated Press published an interview in which the country’s top law enforcer admitted that, contrary to his boss’s baseless claims, there is no evidence of election fraud.
Throughout the time that Barr has been inside the White House, Trump’s Twitter account has been promoting conspiracy theories about election fraud.
Hi everyone, this is Julia Carrie Wong in Oakland, California, picking up the blog for the rest of the afternoon.
The San Francisco Bay Area, like much of the country, is bracing for an expected post-Thanksgiving coronavirus surge. Just yesterday, governor Gavin Newsom warned the Northern California ICUs could hit capacity by early December, with the entire state maxing out by mid-December.
This is the tipping point.
CA has worked hard to prepare for a surge—but we can’t sustain the record high cases we’re seeing.
Current projections show CA will run out of current ICU beds before Christmas Eve.
Which is why it’s so frustrating that many California political leaders have flouted their own advice when it comes to social distancing, masking, and following public health guidelines. Newsom has drawn considerable criticism for attending a birthday party at the fancy French Laundry restaurant; senator Dianne Feinstein has been photographed talking to people at the US capitol without wearing a mask; and now San Jose mayor Sam Liccardo is apologizing for attending a Thanksgiving dinner with members of his extended family.
Prior to Thanksgiving, the mayor had urged others to “cancel the big gatherings” and not let their guard down.
On Tuesday, he admitted that he had attended an event with members of five different households and apologized, saying: “I understand that the state regulations, issued on November 13th, limit the number of households at a private gathering to three. I apologize for my decision to gather contrary to state rules, by attending this Thanksgiving meal with my family. I understand my obligation as a public official to provide exemplary compliance with the public health orders, and certainly not to ignore them. I commit to do better.”
I apologize for my decision to gather for Thanksgiving with my family, contrary to the rules. I understand my obligation as a public official to provide exemplary compliance w/ public health orders, & not to ignore them. I commit to do better. My statement: pic.twitter.com/LFhX2LCUf3
US attorney general William Barr said the justice department has not uncovered widespread voting fraud in an interview with the Associated Press. “To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election,” Barr told the AP.
Barr also told the AP that he had given extra protection to the prosecutor he appointed to investigate the origins of the Trump-Russia probe.
One of Georgia’s top election officials, Gabriel Sterling, made an impassioned plea to the president to tone down his rhetoric disputing the election results because of fears he was inciting violence.
President-elect Joe Biden, who is wearing a walking boot due to ankle strain he received while playing with his dog Major, announced his economic team today. Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images
One of Georgia’s top election officials, Gabriel Sterling, made an impassioned plea to the president to tone down his rhetoric disputing the election results at a press conference this afternoon because of fears he was inciting violence.
Mr President, it looks like you likely lost the state of Georgia. We’re investigating, there’s always a possibility, I get it. You have the rights to go to the courts. What you don’t have the ability to do – and you need to step up and say this – is stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence. Someone is going to get hurt, someone is going to get shot, someone is going to get killed, and it’s not right. It’s not right.
Georgia election official @GabrielSterling addresses Trump directly and demands he stop inciting violence under false voter fraud allegations. pic.twitter.com/fckBKJY6mX
Sterling, the voting systems manager for the Georgia secretary of state’s office, said last week that he has police protection around his home because of threats he received after election results were announced.
In the press conference today, Sterling described threats facing people tied to the election. He said technician in one county was told he should be hung for treason and that the secretary of state’s wife is getting “sexualized threats”.
Sterling said: “It has to stop.”
Tensions are high in Georgia, where two runoff elections in January will determine which party has control of the Senate. The state, which usually votes Republican, supported Joe Biden in the presidential race.
House majority leader, Nancy Pelosi, spoke with Treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, this afternoon – the first time the two are known to have spoken since before the election. They discussed a Covid relief proposal she and Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, sent the night before as well as a bipartisan proposal unveiled today.
Pelosi said they spoke about vaccine development and that the any proposal related to coronavirus must ensure the vaccine is free and accessible to everyone. “Additional Covid relief is long overdue and must be passed in the lame duck session,” Pelosi said.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell told reporters this afternoon that he had been in discussion with Mnuchin and the president’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, about what the president would actually sign into law.
“And I think we have a sense of what that is,” McConnell said. “I laid that out in the call that we had a little while ago. We’re going to send that out to all the offices and get some feedback to see how our members react to a proposal that we can say for sure would be signed into law.”
Schumer won't reveal details of coronavirus proposal he and Pelosi sent to GOP ldrs. Says it was a "private proposal."
Barr told the Associated Press on Tuesday that he had appointed US attorney John Durham as a special counsel in October under the same federal statute that governed special counsel Robert Mueller in the original Russia probe. He said Durham’s investigation has been narrowing to focus more on the conduct of FBI agents who worked on the Russia investigation, known as Crossfire Hurricane.
The investigations grew out of allegations of cooperation between Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russians to help him defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.
With the 2020 election approaching, Barr told the AP on Tuesday, “I decided the best thing to do would be to appoint them under the same regulation that covered Bob Mueller, to provide Durham and his team some assurance that they’d be able to complete their work regardless of the outcome of the election.”
Barr notified Congress about Durham’s appointment in a letter today, in which he also explains that he thought he actually appointed Durham on 19 October.
Barr defended the more-than-six-week gap in notification by writing he had “previously determined that it was in the public interest to toll notification given the proximity to the presidential election”.
Donald Trump’s campaign responded to attorney general William Barr’s comments that there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the election in a statement from Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis.
“With all due respect to the attorney general, there hasn’t been any semblance of a Department of Justice investigation,” the statement said.
The statement goes on to say Trump’s justice department has not investigated the Trump campaign’s “evidence” of fraud, which Barr pointed out in the interview is not the role of the federal criminal justice system.
The Trump campaign statement continued: “Nonetheless, we will continue our pursuit of the truth through the judicial system and state legislatures, and continue toward the constitution’s mandate and ensuring that every legal vote is counted and every illegal vote is not. Again, with the greatest respect to the attorney general, his opinion appears to be without any knowledge or investigation of the substantial irregularities and evidence of systemic fraud.”
In an interview with the AP, attorney general William Barr disputed allegations made by Donald Trump and some of his allies that there has been widespread fraud in the election and said people were confusing the role of the federal criminal justice system.
Trump has attempted to undermine the election results by pointing to routine issues in an election – questions about signatures, envelopes and postal marks – as evidence of widespread voter fraud that cost him the election.
Trump and some of his allies have also endorsed more bizarre sources of fraud, such as tying Biden’s win to election software created in Venezuela “at the direction of Hugo Chavez,” – the former Venezuelan president who died in 2013.
“There’s been one assertion that would be systemic fraud and that would be the claim that machines were programmed essentially to skew the election results. And the DHS and DOJ have looked into that, and so far, we haven’t seen anything to substantiate that,” Barr said.
Barr said some people were confusing the role of the federal criminal justice system and asking it to step in on allegations that should be made in civil lawsuits and reviewed by state or local officials, not the Justice department. Barr said:
There’s a growing tendency to use the criminal justice system as sort of a default fix-all, and people don’t like something they want the Department of Justice to come in and ‘investigate.’
He told the AP first of all there must be a basis to believe there is a crime to investigate.
“Most claims of fraud are very particularized to a particular set of circumstances or actors or conduct. They are not systemic allegations and. And those have been run down; they are being run down,” Barr said. “Some have been broad and potentially cover a few thousand votes. They have been followed up on.”
Barr: no evidence of fraud that would change election outcome
US attorney general William Barr said the Justice department has not uncovered widespread voting fraud in an interview with the Associated Press.
“To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election,” Barr told the AP.
Barr’s statement confirms what election experts, including those in the federal government, have been saying all along. It also shrinks the pool of Trump supporters continuing to standby the president’s erroneous and dangerous claims that the presidential election was fraudulent. Barr is one of the president’s most ardent supporters.
Last month, Barr authorized US attorneys to investigate “substantial allegations” of voter irregularities across the country in a stark break with longstanding practice and despite a lack of evidence of any major fraud having been committed.
The unusual move prompted the department’s top elections crime official to resign in protest.
The measure has not been written into legislation. Nor has it been embraced by the Trump administration, President-elect Joe Biden or leaders in the Senate or House of Representatives, all of whom would be needed for passage.
But it comes with the backing of a group of conservatives and moderates who claim it will appeal to a broad swath of Congress.
Lawmakers are hoping to wrap up their work for the year by mid-December but they still have a massive government-funding bill to approve or else risk agency shutdowns starting on 12 December. If the bipartisan coronavirus aid bill gains traction, it could either be attached to the spending bill or advance on a separate track.
Not so much warmth from the White House on this plan.
From @PressSec: “The Trump administration has been in ongoing talks with Leader McConnell and Leader McCarthy about a targeted COVID relief plan. The $908 billion proposal has not been a topic of discussion.” https://t.co/7RaYdJoNxa
President-elect Joe Biden is holding a press conference to announce his economic team, including former Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen for Treasury secretary and Neera Tandenfor Office of Management and Budget director.
“It’s essential that we move with urgency,” Yellen said. “Inaction will produce a self-reinforcing downturn causing yet more devastation.”
Over the weekend, Guardian US business editor, Dominic Rushe, and I wrote about how Yellen can help change course:
Teresa Marez has never heard of Yellen. But she and millions of other Americans have a lot riding on the decisions Yellen will make if and when she is confirmed next year.
The coronavirus has upended Marez’s life. Her savings are almost exhausted and she is worried about her unemployment benefits, which run out next week. “It’s so hard. It’s just such a mess,” said the mother of two in San Antonio, Texas. “We just need Congress to make a decision,” Marez said. “As long as they are in limbo, we are in limbo.”
...As treasury secretary, Yellen will have more power to act – in theory – than she did at the Fed, by setting tax policy, regulating banks and overseeing priorities as the nation tackles its huge debt repayments. The treasury secretary employs 87,000 people and has a budget of $20bn. Yellen will be fifth in line to the presidency and her signature will appear on the nation’s currency.
But the 2020 election handed Biden a divided Congress and Yellen will have to win Republican votes for any major initiatives. To date, the omens do not augur well.
