Calling Trump: When connections help steer virus supplies

 

FILE - In this March 19, 2020, file photo, President Donald Trump attends a teleconference with governors at the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters, Thursday, March 19, 2020, in Washington. From left, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf, White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx and Adm. Brett Giroir, assistant secretary for health. There’s the standard process for getting urgently needed coronavirus equipment: send a request to FEMA. Then there’s the other way: have a buddy who can pick up the phone and call the Trump White House. Trump’s team has proudly recounted instances where a call to the White House has produced fast results for those who have an in with the president. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Poolm, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — It was early on a Friday when Jared Kushner said he received a call from his father-in-law, President Donald Trump. Trump was hearing from friends in New York that the city’s public hospital system was running low on critical supplies to fight the new coronavirus — something city officials, nurses and doctors had been saying for weeks.

Kushner, who has taken a lead role in the federal government’s response, called Dr. Mitchell Katz, who runs the city’s hospital system, to ask what was most needed.

And not long after, Trump was on the phone with New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announcing that the Federal Emergency Management Agency would be sending a month’s worth of N-95 masks to the city’s front-line workers.

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“The president’s been very, very hands-on in this,” Kushner told reporters. “He’s really instructed us to leave no stone unturned.”

It was a happy ending to one chapter of a dreadful story: Critical supplies went to a place with critical needs.

But the president’s intervention underscored what watchdogs say is a troubling pattern when it comes to how the Trump administration is doling out lifesaving resources. Despite building a data-driven triage system in which FEMA allots supplies based on local needs, those who are politically connected and have the president’s ear have, at times, been able to bypass that process and move to the front of the line.

White House officials reject the notion that the process is being circumvented, stressing that everyone has been working to quickly get supplies to the places that need them most. That includes navigating complicated global supply chain issues and coordinating complementary efforts by private companies like Apple and billionaires including New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and Chinese business giant Jack Ma. If state and local leaders need assistance, they said, all they need to do is call.

“It’s outrageous that some would even speculate that the resources being delivered by the federal government to the states is somehow based on politics,” said White House spokesman Judd Deere. “This is about saving lives.”

But sometimes it helps to know those in charge.

It was just after 8 p.m. last Saturday when Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York took to Twitter to sound the alarm about critical needs on Long Island, a coronavirus hotspot with about 25,000 people infected. Suffolk Count’s stockpile had run out of personal protective equipment — PPE — needed by local hospitals, nursing homes and first responders, including masks and gowns.

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“We need fellow Americans who can help to PLEASE send us PPE ASAP!” Zeldin wrote.

Minutes later, his call was answered.

“I posted a tweet and I received a call within minutes — literally within minutes — from Jared Kushner wanting to help,” said Zeldin. A day later, the congressman said, 150,000 surgical masks were delivered by a company he’d been connected with by someone close to the White House who had also seen his message. And 250,000 N-95 masks were delivered by the federal government days later.

“Honestly I couldn’t be happier with how quick the turnaround has been,” Zeldin said earlier this week.

While Zeldin isn’t considered a top Democratic target, Trump has also helped vulnerable Republicans secure supplies, raising concerns from critics that he may be using the shipments to bolster political allies.

The president tweeted Wednesday that he would be “immediately sending 100 Ventilators to Colorado” at the request of Sen. Cory Gardner, a Republican who is considered among the party’s most vulnerable senators. To Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette, a Democrat, that looked like “playing politics w/ public health.”

On Friday, another vulnerable GOP senator, Martha McSally, took to Twitter to relay the “huge news” that Arizona would be getting 100 ventilators and to thank “President Trump and @VP for hearing our call.”

Allies of the president have intervened in other ways. Republican fundraiser Ray Washburne helped arrange a call between Trump and high-end restaurateurs including Wolfgang Puck and Jean-Georges Vongerichten, a tenant of Trump International in New York. Trump quickly embraced a proposal to restore the tax break allowing corporations to fully deduct the costs of restaurant meals and entertainment.

“I’ll just get the president on the phone,” Washburne recalls telling the group. “He was fantastic.”

Members of Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago club also have contacted the White House, asking for advice about where to send supplies they had privately procured.

Noah Bookbinder, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a government watchdog group, said it’s always problematic when presidents make decisions based on what they’re hearing from friends, business associates and customers.

“But when we’re talking about life and death decisions that will affect the future of not just individuals but whole communities, it’s particularly appalling that these decisions are made based on the whim of the president and the input of the people who happen to have his phone number,” Bookbinder said.

Billionaire philanthropist Ken Langone, namesake of New York’s NYU Langone Medical Center, panned the idea that anyone was receiving special treatment and applauded the administration’s efforts to make sure everyone gets what they need.

“I’m very impressed with the team effort that’s going on,” he said, adding, “I wish my having known Trump had got me special treatment.”

“There is none of that ... otherwise we wouldn’t have shortages.”

As for Zeldin, the congressman said he had been relying on the process set up by the White House, in which states go through FEMA to get supplies. But “when the stockpile gets down to zero,” he said, “then you have to find another way.”

In any case, he said, now isn’t the time to point fingers.

“There will be an after-action report that is done here and part of what will be done here is analyzing the process of how the federal government communicates and works with the states and how the states communicate and work with the counties,” he said. But for now, “Everyone’s in the same foxhole with their rifles pointed in the same direction and that’s the only way to get through this.”

Bill Maher blasts 'PC' uproar over 'Chinese virus' label: 'We SHOULD blame China'

"Real Time" host Bill Maher slammed the "PC police" Friday night for overreacting to the "Chinese virus" labeling controversy.
As the coronavirus outbreak continued spreading across the U.S., President Trump and others sparked a national debate by referring to the disease as the "Chinese coronavirus" or the "Wuhan virus" because it began infecting people in Wuhan, China.
But critics of the labels called them "racist" and "xenophobic," insisting such terms would incite hate crimes against Asian-Amercans.
Maher mocked the complainers, listing several other illnesses that are named after their locations of origin -- such as the West Nile virus, Spanish flu and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome).
"You can't yell at someone for breaking a rule you just made up," he said, adding, "So why should China get a pass?"
The HBO star singled out Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., for condemning the term "Wuhan Virus" when he tweeted that the virus "is not constrained by country or race. Be just as stupid to call it the Milan Virus."
"No, that would be way stupider because it didn't come from Milan. And if it did, I guarantee we'd be calling it the Milan Virus," Maher reacted. "Jesus F---ing Christ, can't we even have a pandemic without getting offended?"
"Seriously, it scares me that there are people out there who would rather die from the virus than call it by the wrong name. This isn't about vilifying a culture, this is about facts. This is about life and death."

"There are people out there who would rather die from the virus than call it by the wrong name."
— Bill Maher

The "Real Time" host then blasted the "PC police" for saying it's "racist" to attack another nation's cultural practice, pointing to the wet markets that remain open in China.
"It's not racist to point out that eating bats is bats--- crazy," Maher exclaimed before citing experts including Dr. Anthony Fauci who have sounded the alarm on wet markets and the consumption of exotic animals.
"So when someone says, 'What if people hear Chinese Virus and blame China?' the answer is, 'We should blame China.' Not Chinese-Americans, but we can't stop telling the truth because racists get the wrong idea. There's always going to be idiots out there who want to indulge their prejudices, but this is an emergency! Don't we have bigger tainted fish to fry?"
He continued, "Sorry Americans, we're going to have to ask you to keep two ideas in your head at the same time: This has nothing to do with Asian-Americans and it has everything to do with China. We can't afford the luxury anymore of non-judginess towards a country with habits that kill millions of people everywhere. Because this isn't the first time. SARS came from China. And the bird flu. And the Hong Kong flu. The Asian flu. Viruses come from China just like shortstops come from the Dominican Republic. If they were selling nuclear suitcases at these wet markets, would we be so non-judgmental?"
Maher observed that if the Chinese military had deliberately used the virus as a bioweapon against the U.S., "we'd be at war" and that the virus has had a bigger impact on the U.S. economy than China's alleged "currency manipulation" that politicians have complained about.
"This is a dictatorship that for decades enforced a one-child-per-family policy under penalty of forced sterilization, but you can't close down the Farmer's Market from Hell?" the "Real Time" host told viewers. "Maybe to use that iron fist and pound it down like the whole world depends on it because it kind of does. And I hope that if someone told Americans that eating Hot Pockets could cause a worldwide pandemic that we would have the good sense of stop doing it. Although I wouldn't bet on it."

No Surprise Hospital Bill Cartoons

White House says no ‘surprise’ bills for COVID-19 patients

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hospitals taking money from the $2 trillion stimulus bill will have to agree not to send “surprise” medical bills to patients treated for COVID-19, the White House said Thursday.

Surprise bills typically happen when a patient with health insurance gets treated at an out-of-network emergency room, or when an out-of-network doctor assists with a hospital procedure. They can run from hundreds of dollars to tens of thousands. Before the coronavirus outbreak, lawmakers in Congress had pledged to curtail the practice, but prospects for such legislation now seem highly uncertain.

“The Trump administration is committed to ensuring all Americans are not surprised by the cost related to testing and treatment they need for COVID-19,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement.

The stimulus bill includes $100 billion for the health care system, to ease the cash crunch created by the mass cancellation of elective procedures in preparation to receive coronavirus patients. Release of the first $30 billion, aimed at hospitals, is expected soon.

The prohibition on surprise billing will protect patients covered by government programs, employer plans or self-purchased insurance.

Hospitals that accept the grants will have to certify that they won’t try to collect more money than the patient would have otherwise owed if the medical attention had been provided in network.

A group that represents large employer plans applauded the White House action.

“In a time when nothing is certain, patients can take solace in knowing that they will not receive outrageous, unavoidable bills weeks and months after they have survived the virus,” Annette Guarisco Fildes, head of the ERISA Industry Committee, said in a statement. ERISA is the name for a federal law that sets terms and conditions for multistate employer plans.

A spokeswoman for the organization said it’s their understanding that the ban on surprise billing will apply to doctors as well as hospitals.

Medical costs for COVID-19 patients could turn into a political issue in the presidential election, particularly since the battle against the disease could take months and years.

So far, the White House has secured a commitment from the health insurance industry that patients won’t face any copays or deductibles for virus testing. Several major insurers have also announced they’re waiving copays for coronavirus treatment provided within their networks.

But it’s still unclear how cost of care will be covered for uninsured people as well as those who lose coverage because of the economic shutdown to contain the virus.

The ban on surprise billing for COVID-19 care was first reported by Politico.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.

There are over 460,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S., along with more than 16,000 deaths.

AG William Barr on the Russia investigation: 'There's something far more troubling here'

The Russia investigation into President Trump's 2016 campaign was "one of the greatest travesties in American history," Attorney General William Barr said Thursday during an appearance on "The Ingraham Angle."
Barr said he has seen troubling signs from U.S. Attorney John Durham's ongoing probe into the origins of the two-year probe, which resulted in no allegations of wrongdoing against the president.
"My own view is that the evidence shows that we're not dealing with just the mistakes or sloppiness," Barr told host Laura Ingraham. "There was something far more troubling here. We're going to get to the bottom of it. And if people broke the law and we can establish that with the evidence, they will be prosecuted."
Trump "has every right to be frustrated" by the investigation, Barr added.
"What happened to him was one of the greatest travesties in American history -- without any basis," Barr said. "They started this investigation of his campaign. And even more concerning, actually, is what happened after the campaign. A whole pattern of events while he was president ... to sabotage the presidency ... or at least have the effect of sabotaging the presidency."
Barr appointed Durham to review the events leading up to the 2016 presidential election and the origins of the Russia probe, through Trump’s Jan. 20, 2017, inauguration.
During Thursday's show Barr also addressed what he described as abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), saying he believed "safeguards" would "enable us to go forward with this important tool."
" I think it's very sad and the people who abused FISA have a lot to answer for," he said, "because this was an important tool to protect the American people.
"They abused it. They undercut public confidence in FISA but also the FBI is an institution and we have to rebuild that."
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz last year said the FBI made repeated errors and misrepresentations before the FISA Court in an effort to obtain the warrants against former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. The court later found those warrants “lacked probable cause.”
Fox News' Brooke Singman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Mark Levin reveals the questions he'd like the coronavirus task force to answer

"Life, Liberty & Levin" host Mark Levin told Fox News' "Hannity" Thursday night that he had a series of questions "that have been concerning me" for Drs. Deborah Birx and Anthony Fauci of the White House coronavirus task force.
"They tell you to hunker down. How long are we supposed to hunker down until?" asked Levin, who made clear that he was not questioning the sincerity of Fauci and Birx's efforts to fight the virus.
"What happens after we are done hunkering down?" Levin went on. "Doesn't that mean millions of people never had the virus because they successfully hunkered down? Doesn't that mean millions of people will be highly susceptible to getting it again or getting it the first time? They are not developing an immunity.
"Tens of millions of Americans, as a result of this mitigation that Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx are focused on, will not have developed any immunity to this."
Levin then directly addressed Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), questioning why he has been telling the public that coronavirus could be "seasonal."
"Don't you really mean mitigation today eliminates the herd immunity necessary for this society to kill the virus broadly once and for all?" the conservative radio host asked. "Isn't this why you say, 'In the future don't shake hands?' Aren't you really saying, 'In the future, don't touch surfaces, doorknobs, tabletops,' because you know that shaking hands is fine if both people have had the virus, but if somebody has it and somebody doesn't, that virus will be obviously traveling along?"
Levin added that the mitigation strategy doesn't account for the economic impact the virus is having, telling host Sean Hannity that the widespread assumption among politicians and medical experts is that the business community cannot "walk and chew gum at the same time."
"Why aren't you issuing guidelines to states and localities that help them [stay open]? There [are] thousands of small businesses, medium-sized businesses ... who can mitigate and remain open," he said.
Levin claimed that there will be great damage done to the U.S. as a whole if both medical experts and governors with strict restrictions watch as "ten [to] 25 percent unemployment" creeps up in their states.
"Are you tracking the number of people who might have lived but for the directive against so-called elective surgery? Individuals with heart disease, cancer, diabetes, etc.? What are the numbers of suicides so far in February and March that have occurred? We have no idea," the former Reagan Justice Department official added.
"How many people who had the coronavirus are living today because they used hydroxychloroquine? Are they tracking that? They have been very ambiguous about this, I think it's a perfectly good question."
Turning to Birx's much-publicized infection modeling, Levin said he wanted to ask the former Army physician if she has been using the same model from the beginning of the contagion.
"You've said in the course of 20 days that 1.5 to 2.1 million people could have died without mitigation," he said. "A week ago you said 100,000 to 240,000. Now around 60,000. There's something wrong with the model, not just the data. And you say this is due to mitigation, that's one of the reasons that has come down significantly. Maybe so."
However, Levin noted that Trump and his task force are not responsible for restricting commerce beyond issuing social distancing recommendations, including the avoidance of gatherings of more than ten people.
"To be clear," Levin said, "President Trump hasn't shut a single business, the governors did."
Earlier this week, Levin slammed Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, whose strict stay-at-home order led to a 19-year-old woman getting a ticket for more than $200 while taking a "Sunday Drive" near her home.
York County District Attorney Dave Sunday later had the citation dropped, filing a memo that stated the ticket "didn't serve the interests of justice," according to the Harrisburg Patriot-News.
On "Hannity," Levin also addressed so-called "Maduro Republicans & Democrats" in Congress who are utilizing deficit spending in order to help out-of-work Americans.
"Can you name one country, today or in the past, that has grown and created jobs through massive deficit spending?" he asked. "I can name 20 that haven't. Cut it out, get the people back to work, open up these states, these businesses can walk and chew gum at the same time, that's it!"

Sanders says he wouldn't 'drop dead' if Trump guaranteed health care for all amid coronavirus pandemic

Sen. Bernie Sanders said Thursday that he wouldn't "drop dead" if President Trump guaranteed health care to all amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Sanders took a shot at Trump during an interview on MSNBC (fake news) and said Trump has "no ideology."
"You never know what's true," he said. "You never know what's real or not."
The coronavirus outbreak has forced governments around the world to take drastic actions to protect their citizens from a highly contagious and deadly disease and also try to ward off financial ruin.
States across the U.S. have ordered residents to stay inside their homes and only leave when absolutely necessary. Trump previously signed the $2 trillion coronavirus relief package as a lifeline to businesses and families and Congress is considering another massive bill.
"You're hearing it first right here," Sanders told host Chris Hayes. "He may not call it Medicare for All. I would not drop dead if in one form or another Donald Trump got up and said, 'you know we're in a terrible crisis, people can't afford their health care bills I think we should guarantee health care to all people.'"
More than 16 million Americans have lost their jobs in the past three weeks and that number will likely continue to rise until these orders are lifted. When that will happen seems to be anybody's guess. Attorney General William Barr recently mentioned May 1 as a possible date.
Sanders had previously touted his own policy to give health care to all Americans in need.
“Medicare for All” was his signature proposal he wanted to replace job-based and individual private health insurance with a government-run plan that guarantees coverage for all with no premiums, deductibles and only minimal copays for certain services.
Sanders recently suspended his campaign against Joe Biden after an insurmountable losing streak at the polls.
He said he wants to work with Joe Biden but the former vice president needs an agenda to respond to the pandemic. Sanders also described Biden as a good politician with "very smart" people surrounding him.
Biden showcased new proposals on Thursday to lower Medicare eligibility to age 60 and forgive student loan debt for low-income and middle-class families.
"Senator Sanders and his supporters can take pride in their work in laying the groundwork for these ideas, and I'm proud to adopt them as part of my campaign at this critical moment in responding to the coronavirus crisis," Biden said in a release.
Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report

Where's Joe Biden Cartoons

Kansas GOP leads overturn of Dem governor’s limits on church, funeral attendance

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly addresses reporters March 17, 2020, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. (Associated Press)

A Republican-led panel of Kansas legislative leaders on Wednesday overturned an executive order by the state’s Democrat governor that called for attendance limits on church services and funerals amid the coronavirus pandemic.
GOP members of the state’s Legislative Coordinating Council, composed of House and Senate leaders, asserted that first-term Gov. Laura Kelly had overstepped her authority by issuing the order, so they blocked it in a 5-2 vote along party lines.
“It appears to be out of line, extreme and clearly in violation, a blatant violation, of our fundamental rights,” Senate president Susan Wagle, a Republican from Wichita, told the Topeka Capital-Journal.
Kelly had announced Tuesday that church services and funerals would no longer be exempted from a state order limiting gatherings to 10 people, the newspaper reported.
In addition to the lawmakers’ vote, state Attorney General Derek Schmidt issued a memo Wednesday, advising police in Kansas not to enforce Kelly’s order, arguing that while the order contained what appeared to be sound public health advice it also seemed a violation of rights guaranteed under the state’s Constitution.
“Because no Kansan should be threatened with fine or imprisonment, arrested or prosecuted for performing or attending church or other religious services, law enforcement officers are advised to ... avoid engaging in criminal enforcement of its limitations on religious facilities, services or activities,” Schmidt wrote in the memo, according to the Capital-Journal.
At an afternoon news conference, Kelly denounced the lawmakers’ action as “shockingly irresponsible” and said it would likely cost some Kansans their lives. She said her legal counsel would examine the possibility of a court challenge, the Wichita Eagle reported.
“There are real life consequences to the partisan games Republicans played today,” Kelly said, according to the Eagle.

Kelly also spoke out against Schmidt for issuing the memo to police.

“I was so deeply troubled to learn that our attorney general has decided to launch a bizarre, confusing and overtly political attack at such a moment of tragedy and that Republican legislative leaders have chosen to follow suit with a shockingly irresponsible decision that will put every Kansas life at risk,” Kelly said, according to the Capital-Journal.
Schmist responded to Kelly's remarks in a statement.
"I am confident Kansans of faith can be trusted to follow ... important advice without their government threatening criminal sanctions for disobedience," he wrote.

"I am confident Kansans of faith can be trusted to follow ... important advice without their government threatening criminal sanctions for disobedience." 
— Derek Schmidt, Kansas attorney general

The actions by the governor and lawmakers came as confirmed coronavirus cases in the state surpassed the 1,000 mark and deaths increased to 38, the Eagle reported.
At least three clusters of infections in the state have been traced to church gatherings and health officials fear Easter services this coming Sunday could cause even more infections, the Eagle reported.
Governors in 44 states have called for limits on church gatherings similar to what Kelly called for, according to the Capital-Journal.

Barr disappointed by partisan attacks leveled at President Trump, says media on a 'jihad' against hydroxychloroquine

Attorney General William Barr told "The Ingraham Angle" Wednesday that he was disappointed over the partisan attacks leveled against President Trump during the coronavirus pandemic and blasted reporters for waging a "jihad" to discredit the effectiveness of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine.
"It's very disappointing because I think the president went out at the beginning of [the coronavirus pandemic] and really was statesmanlike, trying to bring people together, working with all the governors," Barr said. "Keeping his patience as he as he got these snarky, gotcha questions from the White House media pool and the stridency of the partisan attacks on him has gotten higher and higher."
Barr's criticism toward the media sharpened when he addressed the coverage of hydroxychloroquine and its possible role in the fight against the coronavirus.  He said before the president mentioned the drug, the media was fair in its coverage but as soon as Trump mentioned it, "the media has been on a jihad to discredit the drug," Barr said. "It's quite strange."
Host Laura Ingraham asked Barr about the possibility of extending the shutdown and its impact on the country.  Barr said a depression would make the health care system "weaker."
"We cannot keep for a long period of time our economy shut down just on the public health thing. It means less cancer. Cancer researchers or at home. A lot of the disease reaches researchers who will save lives in the future. That's being held in abeyance," Barr said. "The money that goes into these institutions, whether philanthropic sources or government sources, is going to be reduced. We will have a weaker health care system if we go into a deep depression. So it just measured it in lives. The cure cannot be worse than the disease."
The attorney general lamented the loss of family businesses during the shutdown, saying after the 30-day period the U.S. needs "find a way" to allow businesses to adapt.
"But when you think of everything else, generations of families who have built up businesses for generations in this country and recent immigrants who have built up businesses, snuffed out.  Small businesses that may not be able to come back," Barr said. "If this goes on too long. So we have to find after the 30-day period, we have to find a way of allowing businesses to adapt to this situation and figure out how they can best get started."