The Weekly List

This week coronavirus cases and deaths in the  U.S. spiked, adding close to 200,000 reported cases, and by midweek,  more than a thousand Americans were dying each day. Trump pivoted from  denying the crisis and wanting to reopen the country, to suddenly  acknowledging the gravity and claiming if 100,000 to 200,000 Americans  die, he will have done a “very good job” — a remarkable claim! Only two  times in American history, the Civil War and World War II, did more  Americans die. Trump continued to blame governors, the media,  and this week accused hospital workers in New York City — as that city  became the global epicenter of the pandemic — of stealing masks and  selling them off for a profit. Trump made this accusation three times.  As New York prepared for the apex of cases, Trump denied Gov. Andrew  Cuomo’s request for more ventilators, and when asked by reporters Friday  if New York had enough for the expected weekend surge, responded,  “we’ll see.” This week Jared Kushner was introduced at a task  force briefing as leading much of the federal government response,  despite his background as a real estate developer with no public health  and scarce government experience. Kushner parroted Trump, saying the  states are on their own and the national stockpile is not for them, and  then when questioned by reporters on his misstatement on the stockpile,  changed the associated language on the government’s website overnight.  Reporting continued to reveal how poorly Trump has handled the pandemic  response, including spending the first 70 days denying the problem  existed and taking almost no action. This was perhaps the most frightening time since  Trump took office, as he appeared unmoved by the growing number of  American deaths, and unwilling and unable to take any sort of action to  improve matters, as the pandemic continued to ravage the U.S. By week’s  end, the U.S. accounted for 1 in 4 worldwide cases, and 1 in 8 deaths. Throughout the week, Trump tried throwing shiny  coins to change the narrative: from launching a military  counternarcotics operation, to bragging about a phone call with Saudi  Crown Prince MBS on oil prices, to a blistering letter sent to Senate  Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, to firing Intelligence Committee  Inspector General Michael Atkinson late Friday night. But none of these  acts distracted from the slew of American people dying. Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-177/

This week the U.S. continued exponential growth  of coronavirus cases, finding itself with the most cases in the world on  Thursday — surpassing Italy and China. The number of deaths likewise  continued to grow exponentially. New York was hardest hit, accounting  for roughly half the cases, but was also ahead of the rest of the  country in aggressively testing and quarantining. An impetuous Trump, eager to put this all behind  him, and concerned about the stock market and his re-election,  continued to minimize the pandemic, saying Monday he wanted to reopen  the economy at the end of a 15-day period, meaning next Monday. On  Tuesday, he tweaked that slightly to say he wanted to have the churches  full by Easter Sunday, saying it would be “beautiful.” Dr. Anthony  Fauci, who seemed to be the sole voice of reason in the task force,  pushed Trump to be flexible and watch the virus. This week, the daily  coronavirus task force briefing devolved into Trump campaign rallies,  filled with lies and disinformation — causing one death in Arizona where  a man and his wife ingested Trump’s supposed coronavirus cure. This week, Trump shifted from blaming China and  using the term “Chinese virus,” to blaming New York as a “hot spot” — by  week’s end, threatening a quarantine of the state and neighboring New  Jersey and Connecticut. During the week, as confusion reigned with  Trump’s inaction, states were left to fend for themselves, often bidding  against one another amid a nationwide shortage of medical supplies.  Rather than leading and unifying, Trump targeted governors who were, in  his view, not nice enough to him — singling out Michigan Gov. Gretchen  Whitmer as that state saw a surge in cases and deaths for his ire,  refusing to declare the state a disaster, and according to Whitmer,  telling vendors not to fulfill orders for medical supplies. States also  started to follow Trump’s lead and target one another. Congress passed a $2.2 trillion coronavirus  relief package, as more than 3 million Americans filed for unemployment.  Trump continued to attack the media for their coverage of his and his  regime’s failures to lead and take action on this national emergency. Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-176/

This week the United States had the highest  spread rate of the coronavirus of countries reporting, starting the week  with roughly 2,500 cases, and ending the week fourth in the world with  more than 22,000. Countries that had early testing available like South  Korea saw their daily adds ebb to below 100, while daily growth in U.S.  cases was close to 50%. Despite Trump’s promises last Friday for 1.4  million tests this week, a new Google testing website and drive-thru  testing at retailers — none of it happened. Trump continued this week to  hold daily press briefings in which he lied, spread disinformation, and  attacked the media, while self-aggrandizing — resembling and replacing  Trump’s campaign rallies. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded down  another 17%, the worst week since October 2008, and hitting levels below  where the market traded when Trump took office. Goldman Sachs estimated  2.25 million Americans filed for initial unemployment this week — a  record — while the Trump regime asked states not to report their data,  lest the stock market, 30% off its highs, would trade further down.  Several banks said the U.S. economy was already in a recession,  and projected the second quarter gross domestic product would fall  double digits, some estimating a fall of more than 20%. The Senate  reconvened this week, but finalized little as businesses small and large  shut down, and the nation came to a standstill. Amid fear and panic, Trump assured the country  all was well and he had matters in control — blaming China for the  “Chinese virus,” while blustering we are at war with an “invisible  enemy” that he will defeat. Fox News sharply shifted its tone on the  virus, but much of the country, which has not been impacted, viewed it  as a problem for three blue states. Hospitals around the  country — especially New York and California — sounded alarms about lack  of masks and other surgical gear, as well as ventilators and ICU beds.  Trump shifted his tone from promising states help to telling governors,  “We’re not a shipping clerk” — you’re on your own. Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-175/

This week Trump finally was no longer able to  sustain a narrative minimizing the severity of the coronavirus outbreak.  The week started with 387 cases in 28 states, and ended with more than  2,500 cases in 49 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico, with 51 Americans dead.  Trump continued to blame everyone but himself: the Obama administration  for lack of testing, the Federal Reserve for stock market volatility,  the media for creating panic and holding him to account. On Friday, he  called a national emergency as the country was gripped with fear and  uncertainty. The stock market, to which Trump has hitched his  re-election, had another tumultuous week, gyrating up and down with  historic movements, and entering bear territory. A furious Trump  addressed the country some days, and hid on others as one by one, normal  parts of American life, from professional sports to Broadway shows,  were cancelled. Million of K-12 and college students will also start  Monday with weeks long school closures and remote learning, with an  unknown return date. This week, numerous Republican lawmakers who  attended the Conservative Political Action Conference and Mar-a-Lago  self-quarantined due to exposure to those who tested positive.  Nonetheless, all week both Trump and Pence continued to shake hands and,  until week’s end, refused to be tested. The first containment zone was  established in New Rochelle, New York after a single case last week  mushroomed to over 173 in Westchester County by the end of the week. A lack of testing meant the country really had  no idea how widespread the outbreak had become, as reporting indicated  Trump knew about the threat from the virus months ago, but sought to  hide it by minimizing testing and avoid taking action to warn the  public. Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-174/

This week the coronavirus spread in the U.S.  from 15 to 387 cases in 28 states, with at least 19 people dead. The  number of cases is likely well under-reported due to the lack of  available testing kits — one of many signs that the Trump regime is  ill-equipped to tackle what is likely to become a global pandemic. The  lack of verified information, combined with the constant disinformation  put forward by Trump and his regime, led to a general sense of panic, as  travel, conferences, and other events were canceled. The economy showed signs of cracks, with a  highly volatile stock market, and interest rates hitting historic lows  as investors sought safety. Trump tried one day to urge people to go to  work even if sick, then reversed himself, and all along used his own  “hunch” about death rates and spread of Covid-19, parting from  scientists and the World Health Organization. Amid the public crisis,  Friday evening, Trump fired Mick Mulvaney and installed loyalist Rep.  Mark Meadows as his fourth White House chief of staff in just 38 months. As Joe Biden emerged on top of the 2020  Democratic pack, Trump and his allies in Congress sought to launch  investigations into Hunter Biden and Burisma. A federal judge appointed  by George H.W. Bush sharply criticized Attorney General William Barr’s  handling of the Mueller report, saying that he put forward a “distorted”  and “misleading” account of its findings to protect Trump, and his  “lack of candor” had harmed not only his reputation, but also that of  the Justice Department. The judge demanded to see a full version of the  report to determine if redactions were appropriate. Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-173/

This week the coronavirus consumed the country  and the world, as it spread from continent to continent. Trump’s  strategy in recent weeks of ignoring and minimizing the virus’ import  became untenable as his precious stock market plummeted, and country by  country news spread of deaths and disruptions. The global stock markets  have lost $6 trillion in value from the outbreak, while the Dow Jones  Industrial Average and Standard & Poor’s 500 lost 12% and 11% this  week alone, the worst fall since the recession of 2008. Trump held an impromptu news conference  Wednesday, where he openly contradicted the experts by his side. He  spent the week blaming the market’s plunge on the media, the Democrats,  and even the Federal Reserve. Trump’s firing of the U.S. pandemic  response team, and cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and  Prevention’s budget and focus, left the country flat-footed and  ill-prepared. As the week came to a close, the first American  died from the coronavirus, and shortly after the news was publicly  reported, Trump held his second news conference on Saturday afternoon,  appearing somber and disoriented. Negative global economic news  continued to come up, suggesting the stock market’s turmoil was far from  over — and Trump, who has centered his re-election around the stock  market price, started to see polling suggesting trouble. Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-172/

This week the country strayed further from  democracy, as Trump purged the Office of the Director of National  Intelligence. The firings started when Trump learned a senior official  at ODNI had briefed House lawmakers on Russia’s efforts to interfere in  the 2020 election, with the intent to help Trump. Trump fired his acting  director, installing a loyalist with no intelligence experience, who  then started the process of cleaning house of those not loyal to Trump.  Admiral William McRaven, who oversaw the raid that killed Osama Bin  Laden, noted in an op-ed, “We should be deeply afraid for the future of  the nation. When presidential ego and self-preservation are more  important than national security, there is nothing left to stop the  triumph of evil.” At the end of the week, as Democrats were about  to vote in their third primary contest, reporting also indicated that  U.S. intelligence found Russia was interfering in the Democratic  primary, with the intention of helping Sen. Bernie Sanders and sowing  discord within the party. Predictably, chaos ensued as Sanders  questioned the Washington Post for  reporting the story the day before the primary, and tweeted his own  version of deep-state rhetoric, saying the “Democratic  establishment…can’t stop us!” Trump fueled the flames on Twitter and  sought to raise concern with the validity of the Nevada caucus results  at a campaign rally. Trump also issued a series of pardons to  wealthy, well-connected white men — several of whom will able to help  fund his re-election race. He also publicly threatened to intervene in  the Roger Stone case, despite an apparent threat to resign by Attorney  General William Barr over Trump’s continued public remarks about Justice  Department matters. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a  stark warning in a withering dissent opinion, accusing the court of bias  towards Trump. Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-171/

This week, unchecked by checks and balances,  Trump continued his retaliation tour, unabashedly showcasing his will to  control the Justice Department. After career prosecutors made  recommendations for sentencing for his longtime associate Roger Stone,  which were overridden by the DOJ, a mass exodus ensued, nicknamed the  ‘Tuesday massacre’ — a nomenclature now familiar in the era of Trump.  Feeling unshackled, Trump publicly criticized prosecutors, judges, and  even jurors, seeming to openly seize the DOJ as a department under his  control, without a hint of independence. Trump also flexed his political will by  deploying the Department of Homeland Security to impose measures on  so-called sanctuary cities, while inviting the New York governor to the  White House, after suggesting in a tweet that the state should terminate  lawsuits against him and his businesses in exchange for reopening  Global Entry to New York citizens. Trump continued to threaten his  perceived political enemies and the so-called deep state with  retribution for his grievances despite aides’ attempts to calm him down. Senators, now fully recognizing Trump had only  been further empowered by their impeachment acquittal, reigned in his  ability to strike Iran, and expressed odd surprise that this was indeed  the outcome of their lapse in holding Trump accountable. Without  consequences for his actions, the public increasingly worried about what  an unbridled Trump will do next. Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-170/

This was one of the most frightening weeks, as  Trump seized on his impeachment acquittal to retaliate against his  perceived enemies. Within 48 hours, Trump’s Department of Homeland  Security suspended the Global Entry program for New York residents,  Trump’s Treasury Department turned over confidential records on Hunter  Biden to Senate Republicans opening investigations at his behest, and  Trump ousted Alexander Vindman and his twin brother from the National  Security Council and recalled Gordon Sondland from his post as U.S.  ambassador to the European Union. The only brakes on Trump’s momentum in seizing  power were a visual rebuke by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who ripped up  Trump’s State of the Union speech on national television while standing  behind him, and Sen. Mitt Romney voting to convict Trump of abuse of  power, the first senator in U.S. history to vote to remove from office a  president from the same party, denying Trump a strictly partisan vote. Trump closed the week with an event at the East  Room in the White House, where he openly praised only those who had  stood unequivocally by him, while promising revenge against his enemies,  including Pelosi, Romney, and a long list of others, including  institutions like the FBI. Some of us have been calling out Trump’s  authoritarian impulses since November 2016. This week the rest of the  country not already there, caught up! Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-169/

This week, despite explosive new allegations  implicating Trump in leaked portions of the manuscript for John Bolton’s  upcoming book, the Senate voted 51–49 on Friday not to call witnesses,  all but ensuring Trump will be acquitted in the impeachment trial. This  marks the first time in U.S. history that an impeachment trial will  occur with no witnesses. Both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate  Minority Leader Chuck Schumer asserted an acquittal without witnesses  and documents would be meaningless. The gravity of what many viewed as a cover-up  was summarized by presidential historian Jon Meacham, who noted after  the Senate vote, “Trump may well have now become the most powerful  president in American history,” and he is “functionally a monarch at  this point.” Meacham added, “think about the long term implications of  having a president who is above the law.” In fact, Trump’s lawyer Alan Dershowitz actually  asserted Trump’s actions of seeking foreign help were in the U.S.  interest, before reversing himself and blaming the media for  misinterpreting his words. The rest of Trump’s legal team danced around  questions and obfuscated the truth, leading Pelosi to call on them to be  disbarred. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo continued his battle with  NPR, kicking one of their reporters off his plane, while Trump  congratulated him for verbally attacking reporter Mary Louise Kelly,  saying, “You did a good job on her.” Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-168/

This week the Senate impeachment trial of Donald  J. Trump began, even as evidence continued to trickle out. House  Democrat impeachment managers made their case for the two articles over  three days, laying out their argument with an intricate presentation and  appealing to Republicans’ better angels to put partisanship aside for  the sake of preserving our fragile democracy. As the week came to a  close, it appeared Senate Republicans were unwilling to do so. The atmosphere of the largely obfuscated Senate  chamber was described as that of an elementary school classroom, with  Senate Republicans joking and, at times, leaving the chamber in  violation of Senate rules while Democrats were speaking. It was unclear  by week’s end if Republicans would heed the polling which consistently  showed the overwhelming majority of Americans wanted to hear from  first-hand witnesses. At the start of the trial, Trump visited Davos,  Switzerland for the World Economic Forum as staffers sought to portray  him as a hard working president above the fray; but as would be typical  with Trump’s trips abroad, he quickly devolved into making outlandish  statements and insulting U.S. allies. On Wednesday, as he returned to  Washington, Trump was sending a record volume of tweets and fuming over  impeachment and that his defense would be presenting on Saturday, the  “death valley” of television ratings. Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-167/

This week the articles of impeachment were  transmitted to the Senate, and the impeachment trial formally began.  Senators were sworn in, but it was unclear if they planned to follow the  oath they swore to deliver impartial justice. This week the House released hundreds of pages  of documents provided by Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani.  Parnas made stunning disclosures in MSNBC and CNN interviews of other  Trump regime members being “in the loop” on Trump’s plan to withhold aid  from Ukraine pending the announcement of investigations, including Vice  President Mike Pence, former Energy Secretary Rick Perry, and many  others. As the Senate trial was about to begin, the  nonpartisan Government Accountability Office found Trump had violated  the law by withholding Ukraine aid. The government of Ukraine also  announced it would open a criminal investigation into Trump regime  members’ alleged surveillance of former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Maria  Yovanovitch disclosed in the Parnas documents, while Secretary of State  Mike Pompeo skipped scheduled Congressional hearings on Iran, and  largely hid from the media for the balance of the week. Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-166/

This week as the country was on the brink of war  with Iran, we stood alone, with the Trump regime having neglected to  consult with our allies in Europe or the region. Reporting indicated the  decision to strike that precipitated the latest crisis was made by  Trump and Trump alone, amid his shrinking circle of less experienced but  more compliant national security experts. After Iran retaliated, Trump  seemed flat-footed, saying he would address the country that night, then  backing off. The next morning he addressed the nation in a speech which  he seemed to struggle to deliver, full of lies and misinformation, and  which clarified little on strategy or the reason for the escalation. One  of the numerous unintended consequences of the escalation was a downed  Ukrainian Air plane, with 176 passengers killed over Tehran in the fog  of war. The basis for the strike was in dispute during  the week, as the regime failed to provide Congress or the American  people with information to back their ever-changing rationale. By the  end of the week, the regime indicated it was threats to U.S. embassies  that led to the strike, with Trump specifying, without providing  evidence, four embassies in total. Reporting also indicated there was  another planned strike the day Soleimani was killed, targeting a senior  Iranian military official in Yemen, that failed — indicating a broader  attack may have been underway, and further muddying the regime’s account  of events. This week former National Security Advisor John  Bolton offered to testify in the Senate impeachment trial, which Trump  later said he would likely block, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi  scheduled a vote to send the articles to the Senate. Republicans  continued to largely stand behind Trump, even as he nearly brought the  country to war without reason, and as the impeachment trial is set to  get underway. Read the full list: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-165/

Throughout my time keeping the list, I have been  concerned that since Trump would do anything to stay in power, when he  felt he was losing his grip, we risked him taking extraordinary actions.  This week, Trump assassinated Iran’s top general Qasem Soleimani — a  decision he made while vacationing in Mar-a-Lago, and unilaterally,  without seeking approval or consulting with Congressional leaders. As a backdrop, this week additional reporting  and documents released under Freedom of Information Act requests painted  a far more dire picture for Trump heading into a Senate impeachment  trial. As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi continued to hold the articles of  impeachment, the mood seemed to shift with Senate Majority Leader Mitch  McConnell trying to defend his statements about pre-judging the matter  and his actions of moving in lock-step with the White House. This week the country was again rocked by an  anti-Semitic attack, amid a massive increase of hate crimes in U.S.  major cities. Trump remained passive on the rise of hatred of all kinds,  which continued to escalate to record levels in 2019. Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-164/

This was the quietest week in months as Congress left Washington for a  two-week holiday break. After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused to  transmit articles of impeachment to the Senate, Trump spent the week  stewing and repeatedly attacking her on Twitter and in his limited  public appearances. Sen. Lisa Murkowski became the first Republican  Senator to speak out against Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s handling  of the impeachment trial, saying she was “disturbed” by his “total  coordination” with the White House. Trump spent the week at Mar-a-Lago, removed from  White House staffers and consumed with airing his personal grievances  and amplifying far-right conspiracy theorists. He and his allies  attacked Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for cutting out his cameo  appearance in a Christmas showing of “Home Alone 2.” Trump also spent  much of his days quoting hosts and guests on Fox News, and retweeting  allies and conspiracy theorists. This week the media did a bit of reckoning on its coverage of Trump, after Rolling Stone published an interview of “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd, in which he  admitted he has been “naive” in his coverage and complicit in the  spread of disinformation. Evangelical leaders continued their online  battle over whether Trump’s moral unfitness was grounds for his removal. Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-163/