Washington Post: “The Trump Justice Department secretly obtained Washington Post journalists’ phone records and tried to obtain their email records over reporting they did in the early months of the Trump administration on Russia’s role in the 2016 election, according to government letters and officials. In three separate letters dated May 3 and addressed to Post reporters Ellen Nakashima and Greg Miller, and former Post reporter Adam Entous, the Justice Department wrote they were ‘hereby notified that pursuant to legal process the United States Department of Justice received toll records associated with the following telephone numbers for the period from April 15, 2017 to July 31, 2017.’ The letters listed work, home or cellphone numbers covering that three-and-a-half-month period. Cameron Barr, The Post’s acting executive editor, said: ‘We are deeply troubled by this use of government power to seek access to the communications of journalists. The Department of Justice should immediately make clear its reasons for this intrusion into the activities of reporters doing their jobs, an activity protected under the First Amendment.'”

“News organizations and First Amendment advocates have long decried the government practice of seizing journalists’ records in an effort to identify the sources of leaks, saying it unjustly chills critical newsgathering. The last such high-profile seizure of reporters’ communications records came several years ago as part of an investigation into the source of stories by a reporter who worked at BuzzFeed, Politico and the New York Times. The stories at issue there also centered around 2017 reporting on the investigation into Russian election interference. It is rare for the Justice Department to use subpoenas to get records of reporters in leak investigations, and such moves must be approved by the attorney general. The letters do not say when Justice Department leadership approved the decision to seek the reporters’ records, but a department spokesman said it happened in 2020, during the Trump administration. William P. Barr, who served as Trump’s attorney general for nearly all of that year, before departing Dec. 23, declined to comment. The Justice Department defended its decision to subpoena Post reporters’ records as an investigative step of last resort that was not taken lightly.”

A bar owner in northern California was arrested on suspicion of selling fraudulent vaccination certification cards for $20 to several undercover state officers, ABC News reports.  It appears to be the first case of someone arrested for selling fake vaccination cards.

Officials received a tip that Todd Anderson, the owner of Old Corner Saloon in Clement, was selling vaccination cards from the bar.  Undercover agents with the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control went to the bar several times at the end of April and bought fake laminated cards.

“He was in possession of a number of other unfilled-out COVID-19 vaccination cards, a laminating machine, laminate and several other cards that were finished. And it appears that they were waiting to be given to people,” supervising agent Luke Blehm said.

“Attorney General Josh Shapiro today announced Bradford County District Attorney Chad Salsman has pleaded guilty to charges of intimidation, promoting prostitution, and obstruction of justice. As a condition of this plea, Salsman also resigned as the District Attorney of Bradford County. Today’s plea comes as the result of a year-long investigation by the 45th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury in conjunction with the Office of Attorney General and the Pennsylvania State Police.”

“‘Chad Salsman used his position as a private attorney, and then as the District Attorney, to intimidate and silence his victims and interfere with our investigation. Today is a powerful reminder that no one is above the law,’ said Attorney General Shapiro. ‘To date, we’ve arrested 90 public officials for charges related to public corruption, including embezzlement, sexual assault, and other abuses of power. My Office will continue to seek justice for victims as we uncover public corruption – wherever it lies.’ During the investigation, the Grand Jury discovered that Salsman pressured clients into prostitution for legal services and used his power as a private attorney, and then as District Attorney, to repeatedly harass, coerce, and intimidate victims. Salsman’s victims were his clients in legal matters, including cases concerning sexual assault and child custody. Additionally, Salsman attempted to obstruct the grand jury’s investigation while serving as the Bradford County District Attorney” – Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office press release.

A New York state court has ordered an upstate woman to remove a rock decorated with the Confederate flag from the front of her driveway or risk losing custody of her biracial daughter, the Washington Post reports.

In a unanimous 5-0 decision, the appellate justices with the New York Supreme Court said that the woman from Tompkins County had a First Amendment right to display the secessionist flag, but that did not isolate her from consequences for her choice to exhibit it, particularly when it may cause irreparable harm to her daughter.

“Given that the child is of mixed race, it would seem apparent that the presence of the flag is not in the child’s best interests, as the mother must encourage and teach the child to embrace her mixed-race identity, rather than thrust her into a world that only makes sense through the tortured lens of cognitive dissonance,” the court’s decision said.

Consumer borrowing in the United States increased by $25.8 billion in March, a sign that Americans are confident that the economy will soon return to pre-pandemic normalcy and incomes will rebound, the Associated Press reports.

While the US produced a less than stellar jobs report for April, other indicators are pointing to increased faith in an economic rebound, including the borrowing report, stocks hitting all-time highs, and increased consumer imports.

The March increase follows a similar increase in February, when consumer borrowing increased by $26.1 billion.  They were the highest monthly increases since December 2019, prior to the pandemic, and they correspond with a 21.1% increase in household income in March.

Business Insider: “Some Trump advisors this week used the Cheney-Trump feud as an opportunity to cast doubt on McCarthy rising to become the next House speaker. They are pointing out how McCarthy fell short when he first tried to win the job in 2015 before withdrawing and clearing a path for the Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan. And they routinely note Trump doesn’t like to associate himself with losers, even though he lost his last election. One advisor said they recently told the former president that the California congressman appeared unlikely to secure enough votes from his fellow House Republicans should they take back control of the chamber in the 2022 midterm elections. ‘He’s left too many people unhappy and unsettled and time is not on his side,’ the Trump advisor who shared their opinion about McCarthy with the former president said.”

“‘The fringes of Trumpworld may try to drive a wedge as Kevin nears the speaker’s gavel, but the best thing he can do is keep winning,’ one GOP operative said. But other Republicans interviewed for this story said McCarthy wasn’t a shoo-in for the job just because of where he sits now as the House minority leader. One former House GOP leadership aide said McCarthy enjoys front-runner status to succeed Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should Republicans win the majority. But this person added that any flash of weakness from McCarthy between now and 2022 could prompt frenemies to pounce. ‘If he stumbles at all around the next election, it could open things up for someone like Jim Jordan,’ the former GOP aide said, referring to the Ohio Republican and rabid Trump defender who played spoiler and undermined McCarthy’s first bid for the speaker’s gavel.”

“Former president Donald Trump is moving to handpick members of the House GOP leadership team – relentlessly attacking Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the No. 3 House Republican, and endorsing Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York to replace her. He is plotting to take down Republican lawmakers who voted to impeach him for inciting the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, while continuing to stoke the false claims of a stolen election that has become a dangerous rallying cry for the party. And he is playing host to a burbling stream of Republican well-wishers – including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Sen. Ted Cruz – who travel to his private Mar-a-Lago retreat in Florida to pay their respects and post a photo of their ring-kissing on social media.”

“Six months removed from his Election Day loss, Trump has emerged from his West Palm Beach hibernation – refashioning himself as the president of the Republican States of America and reshaping the party in ways both micro and macro. He has also privately revived his claims that he plans to run for president again in 2024, decrying what he views as the ‘low ratings’ of the Biden administration, said one person who has spoken with Trump recently. He rails that President Biden is ‘a disaster’ and argues that ‘Joe isn’t in charge, everybody knows it’s Kamala’ – a preview of his likely message portraying Biden as an unwitting stooge of Vice President Harris, this person said.”

“Nonetheless, Trump is not expected to make an official decision or announcement under after the midterm elections, an adviser said. Trump’s reappearance is fueled by an ego-driven desire to remain at the center of national attention, said former advisers and allies who are in touch with Trump. The defeated ex-president is propelled primarily by a thirst for retribution, an insatiable quest for the spotlight and a desire to establish and maintain total dominance and control over the Republican base, said several former senior White House advisers. He has boasted to some in his orbit that he expects a book deal at some point, though there is no known offer, two advisers said. He is pushing the party to the right, attacking transgender female athletes and criticizing the ‘spiraling tsunami at the border’ under Biden; he is influencing Republican Party personnel, political, and fundraising decisions; and he is prompting a roiling, existential intraparty debate about what it means to be a Republican in the post-Trump-presidency era” – Washington Post.

https://twitter.com/PeterHotez/status/1390494562452484100

Dr. Peter Hotez, a Baylor University researcher and frequent contributor to news programs on networks like ABC, Fox News and MSNBC, has become the target of anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theorists comparing him to Nazi doctor Josef Mengele.

One time B-movie actress (known for such roles as “Sexy Girl” in The Long Red Light and “Woman with Big Hair” in Miracles From Heaven) who has somehow become the chief White House correspondent for Newsmax, Emerald Robinson launches a series of loaded question about “a growing perception that this is really just the third term of President Obama.  What do you say to people who say that?”  Jen Psaki is having none of it, asking specifically who is asking that question, and then again demonstrating the hollowness of the “some people say” narrative in Robinson’s questions.

Politico: “The first statewide Republican nominating contest since former President Donald Trump left office has added a new issue to the top tier of traditional GOP campaign messages: ‘election integrity.’ All four of the leading Republican candidates for this weekend’s ‘unassembled convention,’ where Republican delegates will vote for their nominee at 39 sites around the state, are talking about election and voting rules on the trail and in ads, with some putting forth detailed plans for how they would change Virginia’s election rules. The proposals are an unmistakable response to Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him, which quickly became a cause on the right. ‘Election integrity’ is far from the only thing Republicans are discussing on the trail, with guns, abortion and pandemic policies all playing key roles, too. But the renewed focus on voting laws by four candidates trying to appeal to convention delegates underscores how much this issue is on the minds of Republican voters – and that Republicans who win state office in Virginia and elsewhere are poised to count changing voting laws among their top priorities.”

“‘Election integrity has been a top message that people are concerned about, given some of the allegations that came out of last year’s election,’ said Geary Higgins, the chair of the 10th congressional district Republican committee who has remained neutral in the primary. ‘It’s broader election integrity, but also concern about integrity in this process as well. So it is kind of a two-prong thing.’ Meanwhile, the Republican nominating process itself has been rife with fighting over how to choose the party’s standard-bearer, from the conflict over whether to have a state-run primary or a party-run convention to questions about how the ballots are ultimately counted.”

“The top political consultant to Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller was arrested Thursday on allegations that he participated in a scheme to solicit money and campaign contributions for state hemp licenses issued by Miller’s Texas Department of Agriculture. The consultant, Todd Smith, ultimately took $55,000 as part of the scheme, an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by The Texas Tribune says. Smith and others involved in the scheme are alleged in the warrant to have solicited a total of $150,000 to guarantee a license, including a $25,000 upfront cost for a survey that they said was required to get a license in Texas. Some of the money would also go toward funding unnamed political campaigns, according to the affidavit. The affidavit alleges that Smith committed third-degree felony theft” reports the Texas Tribune and yes, the guy’s a Republican.

Biden isn’t the next FDR he’s the next Jimmy Carter.

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) May 7, 2021

“The Lion Electric Company, a Canadian EV truck manufacturer, plans to build a $70 million factory in Joliet to produce up to 20,000 electric trucks and buses a year and create at least 745 jobs over the next three years.  Construction of the 900,000-square-foot plant will ramp up in the second half of the year, building what Lion says will be the largest medium- and heavy-duty EV truck manufacturing facility in the country. Production is expected to begin in the second half of 2022.

“’Lion’s historic investment to bring its largest production facility to Illinois represents not only a win for our communities, but a strong step forward in our work to expand clean energy alternatives and the jobs they bring to our communities,’ Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a news release Friday.” —The Chicago Tribune via MSN

Carnival Cruise Lines announced that it was considering moving voyage departures out of Florida because of a recently-enacted state law banning businesses from requiring proof of coronavirus vaccinations from its employees and guests, CNN reports.

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed an executive order last month banning the requirement of so-called “vaccine passports” in the state, claiming that it was an issue of “personal freedom” that shouldn’t have government interference.  DeSantis had previously threatened to sue the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the federal government for an ongoing ban on cruises during the pandemic, saying it irreparably harmed the Florida economy.

The cruise industry, however, views requiring proof of vaccination as a common-sense and necessary precaution for its crews and guests.  Carnival Cruises said they could shift departure points to other states to circumvent the Florida ban.

Because Donald and Melania Trump did not want to be annoyed by the noise and construction, the Biden Administration has been forced to rush into construction recommended security upgrades to the South Lawn of the White House that’s left the exterior of the building shielded in construction barriers.

CNN reports that the upgrades require excavation from the upper main driveway to the lower part of the driveway, across acres of lawn.  The plans were developed by the US Secret Service, the National Park Service and the White House to implement the first major security upgrade since the early days of the Obama Administration, which undertook upgrades on the north side of the White House.

Donald Trump reportedly didn’t want to deal with the noise and the requirement that Marine One would have to land on the Ellipse rather than on the South Lawn, which allows a shorter walk from the White House to the helicopter.  (Biden must now take a motorcade to the Ellipse to board Marine One, a security headache for the Secret Service.)  Melania Trump objected because it would disrupt the aesthetics on the back lawn, where she expected to host various events.  The Trumps, therefore, opted to “pass it to the next guy,” said one of the people familiar with the Trumps’ instructions.

In a disappointing April jobs report, the nation added just 266,000 jobs and previous months’ estimates were lowered by a net 78,000, while unemployment rose slightly to 6.1% in a sign that employers are having difficulty hiring workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report.

The April jobs growth was the slowest of the year to date and greatly undercut experts predictions for the month, driven largely by hopes that increases in vaccinations would push people back into the job market.  Pundits expected more than double the amount of new jobs, with ADP predicting 742,000 new jobs created.

The increase in the unemployment rate, even as more than a quarter million jobs were created, is a sign that people are reentering the workforce, but were unsuccessful in finding suitable employment. 

A federal grand jury has indicted four former Minneapolis police officers on civil rights violations for their roles in the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man who was murdered after ex-cop Derek Chauvin kneeled on his back and neck for nine minutes.

The Associated Press reports that Chauvin, Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao face a three count indictment for failing to provide Floyd medical care while in custody, while  Chauvin, Thao and Kueng are also charged with violating Floyd’s right to be free from unreasonable seizure and excessive force.

Chauvin also faces an additional indictment related to the 2017 of a 14-year-old boy whom Chauvin placed in a neck restraint.

I’d like to thank all the great Americans who have reached out over the past few months pic.twitter.com/p8dQrhSAgm

— Lou Dobbs (@LouDobbs) May 7, 2021

“When asked about our persistent partisanship, many political commentators blame politicians for lacking the ‘will’ or the ‘stomach’ for compromise. Getting into fights is more appealing to many of them than working to broker solutions. While there’s some truth to that analysis, it goes deeper than that. Our political system can’t solve our collective problems because we don’t have collective problems; instead, we have Democratic ones and Republican ones. And, these aren’t just minor differences of opinion. When it comes to ranking the most pressing problems in America, Democrats and Republicans are not just in different places, they are on different planets”

“Last month, a Pew poll asked respondents to select the issues that they see as ‘a very big problem in the country today.’ Coming in at first place with 56 percent was ‘affordability of health care.’ On its face, an issue that 56 percent of Americans deem important would qualify as a collective concern. But, it’s not. A significant percentage of Democrats (69 percent), put this on top of their list, but just 40 percent of Republicans feel the same way. Then look at immigration and border security. There you see that almost half the country (48 percent) see this as a big problem. But, again, that is driven mostly by the 72 percent of Republicans who pick this as a top priority. Only 29 percent of Dems feel similarly. For almost every one of these top issues – from the budget deficit to guns – the gap between how important Dems see it and how Republicans view it is enormous. The issue of ‘violent crime’ is only one where the two sides are in pretty close agreement – 52 percent of Republicans put it as a top problem, compared to 44 percent of Dems” – Cook Political Report.